Held
Forget witch-house, grave-wave, and whatever other spooky electro subgenres are being championed by taste-making blogs. Holy Other is the real deal. The Berlin/Manchester–based producer keeps his name and identity shrouded in mystery, right down to donning a mask during live performances. His 2012 debut album, *Held*, offers up nine indie-electro compositions that are beautifully melancholic and haunting without a trace of irony. “(W)here” opens with synthesizer notes painted in the darker hues of new age tones. Armed with what sounds like a blend of modern and vintage drum machines, Holy Other manages to blend R&B melodies with gothic moods to tread uncharted territory. Those same synthesizers seem to make heavy inhalations and exhalations in the following “Tense Past,” over which he loops high-pitched samples of Eastern female vocal parts. Both this song and the darkly atmospheric “Past Tension” share DNA with vintage 4AD recordings—it’s easy to envision this side of Holy Other opening for Dead Can Dance. But there\'s another side to Holy Other steeped in sultry soul and R&B, as heard on the standout cut “Inpouring.”
'Held' is the eagerly anticipated debut from one of the jewels in Tri Angle's crown, Manchester's own Holy Other. It's not any kind of departure from last year's striking With U 12", but a subtle refinement of its themes: the same quietly anguished, crepuscular vibe reigns, and virtually every sonic element - from Burial-esque vocal clips to the synth pads, hell, even the drums - seems to sigh. For all their DNA-level foundation in US hip-hop/R&B and British soundsystem music, the crashing waves of 'Tense Past' and the magnificent 'Love Some1' owe as much to the airy gothic grandeur of This Mortal Coil as they do to, say, Keyboard Kid or Clams Casino. On the rather more lithe, club-attuned 'Inpouring', the clicky, scuttling drum patterns deftly summon UK garage and the taut d'n'b minimalism of Instra:mental's mid-decade work, while 'U Now''s teasing suggestion of a footwork riddim opens up more space for yet more melancholy drift. Subdued, heartbroken and drug-hazed, this is perhaps one of the most satisfying iterations of the Tri Angle aesthetic yet, and an impressive statement in its own right.
Manchester-born producer Holy Other's debut full-length builds on the bedroom territory of his previous EP With U to reveal a bigger, messier story. Held is a wholly sensual, painfully physical modern love album.
One of the most eagerly anticipated electronic debut albums of the last few years, reclusive and enigmatic UK producer Holy Other's Held does not disappoint. It is an album of contradictions: Holy Other's productions are minimal and sparse, but richly layered and deeply textured, with washes of synths, sampled and treated vocals and tight, subtly-structured drums.