Holy Moly!
| Holy Moly! | |||||||||
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| Studio album by Blues Pills | |||||||||
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Publication |
August 21, 2020 |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast | ||||||||
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
41 min 32 s |
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Blues pills |
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Studio (s) |
Lindbacka Sounds, Narke |
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Holy Moly! ( Engl. : ! Holy cow ) is the third studio album of the Swedish blues rock - band Blues Pills . It was released on August 21, 2020 via Nuclear Blast .
Emergence
Line-up change
After hundreds of concerts on the previous album Lady in Gold , the band decided to take a break in 2018. Singer Elin Larsson explained in an interview that she had problems with her vocal cords because of the many concerts . Instead of the hoped-for recovery, the year was marked by death and separation. Among other things, Elin Larsson and her bandmate Zack Anderson ended their relationship. On November 21, 2018, the band announced the departure of guitarist Dorian Sorriaux. According to Elin Larsson, on the last tours it became more and more apparent that Dorian Sorriaux would feel less and less comfortable in rock and that tensions within the band increased.
“We were at a point where we thought the blues pills were over. In the end we struggled "
Songwriting
After Dorian Sorriaux left, Zack Anderson switched from bass to guitar. The new bass player was Kristoffer Schander, who has been a long-time friend of the band for years and played in a band with drummer André Kvarnström as a teenager . Anderson described his switch to the guitar as a natural development. Hiring a new guitarist might have changed the band's style drastically, even if Dorian Sorriaux was not previously involved in the band's songwriting.
The album was written entirely by the singer Elin Larsson and Zack Anderson and, with a few exceptions, were built on the guitar , while the band worked a lot with organ , piano and choirs on the previous album Lady in Gold . According to Anderson, this change came "out of the gut." Since the musicians arranged the material themselves, the songs would remind you of the rawness of the first songs. This rawness also applies to singing. Elin Larsson explained that in some places she would literally scream the soul out of her body.
Recordings
Over the years, the band set up their own recording studio in an old factory building in the province of Närke , where the musicians began working on the third studio album in autumn 2018. In contrast to the first two studio albums which were produced by Don Alsterberg, this time the musicians took the production into their own hands.
“We were actually open to working with producers, but it just didn't happen. The people we found interesting either didn't have the time or we couldn't reach them. So we started recording demos ourselves . Over time, we found that they sounded so good that we can publish them. "
The album was recorded completely analog in the band's own recording studio, Lindbacka Sounds . According to Zach Anderson, that the band produced the album itself just happened that way. Mixed and mastered was Holy Moly! by Andrew Scheps, who has previously worked with artists as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers , Adele and Lana Del Rey .
In contrast to the first two albums, Holy Moly! no cover version . According to the band, this was simply forgotten. Elin Larsson added that the Blues Pills covered the song Sleep Now in the Fire from Rage Against the Machine for a live stream. In addition to the tracks that appeared on the album, the band would have recorded other songs that, according to Larsson, could possibly be released as an EP .
publication
On March 6, 2019, the album was announced and the first single Proud Woman was released. At the same time a music video was released , directed by Patric Ullaeus . The album cover created by Daria Hlazatova was released on March 19, 2020. It depicts the devil embraced by kindness and sadness. The second single, Low Road , was released on April 10, 2020 along with a music video, which Patric Ullaeus also directed. The guitarist of the band Spiders John Hoyles has a guest appearance. Single number three was Kiss My Past Goodbye and was released on July 10, 2020. The fourth single, Rhythm in the Blood, including a music video, was released on August 21, 2020.
The album was originally due to be released on June 19, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the release had to be postponed indefinitely, also because pre-orders for the album stalled. Postponing the publication of physical sound carriers in the event of a digital publication on the planned date was also not an issue.
“We were out of the window for years and the income from album sales was supposed to make a living. We can't just release the album for Spotify , because the money that is earned through streaming goes to a large extent in the pockets of the streaming services. "
The album was finally released on August 21, 2020. The album will be released as a regular CD , a double CD in a digipak together with the EP Bliss and on LP in four different colors. In addition, the album appears as a vinyl box set and as a vinyl box set in the Mailorder Edition . Both contain the album on CD and LP, the Bliss EP and an art print. The mailorder edition is limited to 300 copies.
background
| Track list |
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According to the band, the songs come from a dark time in their lives when they experienced loss, anger, fear, grief and change. The album would be a process of rebirth. Originally the album was supposed to be called Alone Together . However, the musicians found out that other artists have used this title. Holy Moly! was intended more for fun and ended up being used, also because, according to Elin Larsson, "would go with the vibe of the 1960s".
The first single Proud Woman was released on International Women's Day . The song is a power hymn for all strong women and girls that they can hear when they need strength or just want to have fun. According to the singer Elin Larsson, it would have been time for such a text to be written.
“When you're a woman or non-binary in the music business, it sometimes seems like gender is more important than music. As a woman, you are belittled, threatened, stared at, ridiculed, and bullied in a way that men in the music industry rarely see. And yet there are women who have made as strong a mark on this business as men and still do, despite all the obstacles that are thrown in their way just because they are women, which makes their achievements even more meaningful . "
Low Road is about being your own greatest enemy. Man tries to flee from his own demons only to find that this is not possible. The song Dreaming My Life Away is about a friend of Zack Anderson who is a drug addict and "would throw his life away." With the song California , Zack Anderson remembers his old homeland California , where he lived before moving to Sweden . It's also about always closing a chapter for people and opening a new one. According to Anderson , Rhythm in the Blood , written by Elin Larsson, would be a "fun song with no deeper meaning". The text was inspired by the Game of Thrones series .
In Kiss My Past Goodbye it comes to stay true to yourself and let go of the past. Another fun title would be Bye Bye Birdy . It is about a toy duck that was placed on the mixer during the recording . The song Wish I'd Known is about a close friend of Elin Larsson's who died of a heart defect in 2018 . Song from a Mourning Dove is about Elin Larsson's dog, who was hit by a bus in an accident in Gothenburg and killed. The final song, Longest Lasting Friend , is about depression from which Larsson suffered for a long time.
reception
Reviews
The German magazine Metal Hammer chose Holy Moly! to album of the month. Matthias Mineur described the album as a “forward-looking statement” and the band would “not deviate an iota from their remarkable consistency, either in terms of composition or production”. Elin Larsson's voice would have been given "full attention in terms of an even more economical instrumentation". Mineur awarded 5.5 out of seven points. Juliane Kehr from the German magazine Visions wrote that the band “crush their polished image with impetuous smack instead of continuing on the path towards glossy radio soul”. The Blues Pills would have “succeeded in the feat of not delivering a mere copy and first serving your own gut feeling”. Kehr awarded nine out of twelve points for the “convincing mixture of Larsson's new self-confidence paired with driving hard rock energy”. For Boris Kaiser from the German magazine Rock Hard it would be Holy Moly! “Not the easiest album”, especially since “the artistic furor that made the first two albums so indispensable would be missing”. Nevertheless, the album offers "highly concentrated concentrate that still nobody in the genre does better, that gets under your skin and always offers that twist that sets important bands apart from the crowd". Kaiser awarded eight out of ten points.
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
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| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
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4th (… Where.) | ... |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
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89 (… Where.) | ... |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Nadine Wenzlick: Again from the beginning . In: Visions , issue 329, page 16
- ↑ Dominik Rothe: Dorian Sorriaux leaves the band. Metal.de, accessed on November 22, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Martin Stark: Back from the past . In: Rock It! , Issue 119, page 10
- ↑ a b c d e Ronny Bittner: We thought the band was over . In: Rock Hard, September 2020, page 18
- ↑ a b Maximilian Blom: Straightforward into the future . In: Rocks , issue 03/2020, page 11
- ↑ a b c Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - "Holy Moly!" - Cover artwork revealed. Rock Hard , accessed March 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Frank Thiessies: No pill break . In: Metal Hammer , September 2020, page 40
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - "Holy Moly!" - to be released in August. Rock Hard, accessed June 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - 'Proud Woman' video from the upcoming 'Holy Moly' album released. Rock Hard , accessed March 6, 2020 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - 'Kiss My Past Goodbye' video put online. Rock Hard, accessed July 13, 2020 .
- ^ Matthias Mineur: Blues Pills - Holy Moly! Metal Hammer, accessed August 19, 2020 .
- ↑ Juliane Kehr: Blues Pills - Holy Moly! . In: Visions, issue 329, page 84
- ↑ Boris Kaiser: Blues Pills - Holy Moly! . In: Rock Hard, September 2020, page 98
- ↑ Blues Pills - Holy Moly! GfK Entertainment, accessed on August 28, 2020 .
- ↑ Blues Pills. OCC, accessed August 28, 2020 .