Fancy a bit of rock? Which variety? Alt? Metal? Kraut? Punk? You’ll find it all here, along with a smattering of pop and prog, in this dual single release by Finnish quintet The Holy who offer up a taste of their second album ‘Mono Freedom’ which will be released on 17th April, 2020. It comes in the form of two songs, ‘Twilight of The Idiots’ and ‘No Trial in the Dark’, which front man Eetu Iivari insisted went out at the same time as they follow each other on the album for a reason. The tracks “open the window to The Holy’s inner world of 2020 - way deeper than just releasing a regular single”, he says.
The bar is a high one. Previous album ‘Daughter’ was an EMMA (Finnish Grammy) nomination as critics’ choice. Reviews praised their “honest” song writing and lyrical themes which included topics such as the 1990s Finnish economic recession and its reflection on the youth of its time. Perhaps it’s time for a song about how the coronavirus is ravaging Helsinki. They sound like the sort of band which would do just that and make it fun.
‘Twilight of the Idiots’ is a piece of powerful soft rock which could be Peter Bjorn and John with Electric Light Orchestra strings. About halfway though, if you look at the chart on Soundcloud, it dips like the middle of an egg timer as vocalist Eetu launches into a Donald Trump-like tirade against Fake News and the media in general before a strident pulsing rock beat picks up again and carries the track to its conclusion.
‘No trial in the Dark’ has a similar chart dip – this is obviously something they’ve worked on at the training ground – but on this occasion it marks an incongruous little piano break which is almost classical in tone. On either side of it though is that melange of styles I referred to in the opening paragraph, delivered commandingly and which suggests they are probably a live band that its worth making a detour for, coronavirus or not.
Speaking of which The Holy are scheduled to tour festivals across Europe this summer, before a headline tour in fall 2020.
You can find them on Facebook.