By Deb Kloeden, Adelaide correspondent
Review: Holy Holy, ‘Darwinism’ Australian Tour
Venue: Fat Controller, Adelaide. 3rd November, 2016
Australian Indie/rock band, Holy Holy, have just begun their Australian ‘Darwinism’ tour by kicking off in Adelaide. ‘Darwinism’ is the first single to be released from a new album they are working on. This is the preview taste of exciting new things from the band since the release of their debut album ‘When the Storms Would Come’, which was released in July 2015.
Holy Holy is unique in that the key members of the band hail from completely different parts of the country, (Brisbane, Melbourne & Launceston). You might think that this would make it impossible for a band to work, however they are definitely proving that assumption wrong. Having just returned from a tour of Europe & UK, they took the opportunity to write some of the material for their new album while on tour, which will be released early 2017.
Previously they had played in Darwin, while on an Australian tour, which is where the new single ‘Darwinism’, was born, in a hotel bathroom, late at night, while the rest of the band slept. Lead singer & songwriter, Tim Carroll had the urge to play this particular night, and recorded some rifts and initial ideas on his phone, which they later developed into the new single.
Adelaide was lucky enough to hear some of the new material from this album. They opened with MSG, one of the new songs to come, and also played ‘Shadow’, ‘Willow’ and ‘True Lovers’ from the new album. Finally, towards the end of their set, they played ‘Darwinism’, which has been getting lost of airplay on Australia’s national radio station, Triple J. The song has a catchy beat and chorus, which is easy to sing along to. The track builds in momentum to an extravaganza of frenzied guitar strumming, then finally strips back to the delicate vocals of Tim Carroll. The video for ‘Darwinism’ intersperses a beautifully spot-lit, live performance, with flashes of juxtaposed images, like cells multiplying, animals & creatures and finally destruction on a massive scale. Presumably, these are references to Darwin’s theory of evolution and his philosophy of survival of the fittest. There is a double Darwin symbolism in this track as the genesis of the song was born in Darwin, Australia.
Holy Holy naturally also played several songs from their debut album ‘When the Storm Would Come’, which were popular with the crowd, being more familiar. The final song of their set, before encore, was ‘You Can’t Call Love Like a Dog’, which was the single from this album, and a real crowd favourite. They also played ‘Impossible Like You’ from their debut EP, ‘The Pacific’, which was released in March 2014.
I have been interested in Holy Holy for a while now, so I really enjoyed finally catching one of their shows. Brisbane artist Alex L’Estrange and popular Adelaide musician, Jesse Davidson, admirably supported them. Jesse was supported on stage by a band of friends that included Adelaide’s sweetheart, Timberwolf. In fact, I had fun spotting the Adelaide musicians at this event, who came out in impressive support. Holy Holy are touring Australia for the remainder of November, so if you get a chance, make sure you catch them somewhere.
BAND MEMBERS:
Timothy Carroll – vocals/guitar
Oscar Dawson – lead guitar
Ryan Strathie – drums
Graham Ritchie – bass guitar
Special guest Matt Redlich – producer/keys
PHOTO GALLERY
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From Darkroom to Lightroom in 4 decades.
Deb is aPhotographer, Music Lover, Ex teacher, and traveller.
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