“You’ve watched my death and resurrection.”
Having recently ended their Live and in Monochrome tour, Welsh quartet Holding Absence are making hay while the sun shines with the release of their third studio album The Noble Art Of Self Destruction (TNAOSD). With the tour comprised of rarely performed songs and some that have never been performed live harking all the way back to their first album, and held in mostly ‘grass-roots’ venues, it’s been the perfect prelude to bring them to the culmination of this trilogy of albums.
This collection, as is typical of Holding Absence, is cohesive as ever and whilst not perhaps the most ‘boundary pushing’ release of this year, it is filled with catchy hooks, choruses and beautiful melodies that they are so well known for. It is representative of the band with crisp, clean production and solid writing from start to finish.
‘Head Prison Blues’ opens with a catchy riff and, as aforementioned, a classic and memorable hook. Underpinning this is a solid performance from drummer Ashley Green who adds well utilised fills to keep things interesting and sets them apart from other bands of this genre. It’s a bit of a throw-back to the glory days of ‘emo’ with a small acoustic moment in the last bridge. “A Crooked Melody” is this album’s “Monochrome“. It’s simple yet effective with an arching melody (ironically), a thoroughly ‘belt-able’ chorus and is definitely a windows down in the car moment. It’s anthemic and uplifting and will certainly be a crowd pleaser live.
Lyrically poignant, “False Dawn” feels like a coming-of-age moment for Holding Absence and possibly vocalist Lucas Woodland personally, which perhaps is explanatory for how quickly this album has come around following their tour. Reminiscent of early Funeral For A Friend and Taking Back Sunday there is much appeal for those of us of who grew up with bands of that ilk in our regular rotation.
“Scissors” offers a change in tone and key from the first three tracks and is arguably the ‘meatiest’ track on the record, offering the most variation vocally and musically across it’s four-and-a-half minute duration. With beautiful ebb and flow reaching the peak mid chorus, it brings palpable emotion to the fore, before fading away into acoustics taking us seamlessly into “Honey Moon“. The latter kicks in with rousing chords and sincerity. This is where vocalist Luke Woodland explores the higher end of his range so beautifully and as the ‘ballad’ of TNAOSD, it is his moment to shine and should be simply enjoyed for that moment.
Jarring analogs kick off “Death Nonetheless” before it gets underway with some excellent fills and blast beats, which continue throughout and lend to showcasing the post-hardcore side of Holding Absence more so than other tracks from this collection. The bridge reprise of ‘death to the beat of the drums overarching / death nonetheless is constantly marching’ is almost choral and harks back to early A Day To Remember tracks such as “Downfall Of Us All“. With an eerie minor key lurking in the background and grounding the track, “Her Wings” sets a more melancholy tone than those in the first half of the album. This is something that could’ve been leaned into a little harder and the emotion that it brings in the quieter moments is somewhat lost among a massive chorus, overshadowing some of the delicacy that lies beneath musically.
“These New Dreams” is incredibly relatable and is truly a moment of insight, ‘these new dreams they keep me open / ashamed of all the things I’ve thought I’m trying to absolve myself’. It’s lyrically beautiful and a contrast to some of the darkness demonstrated in their first album such as those of “Penance“. It’s hard to not feel like this is the beginning of a different era for the band, not dissimilarly to the release of the colossal Take Me Back To Eden from Sleep Token, which equally marks the end of a trilogy and is littered with lyrics full of reflection, redemption, forward movement and hope.
“Liminal“, I feel, is a little out of position on this record. It would perhaps have been better placed prior to “These New Dreams” and borders on same-y compared to the earlier half of the album both musically and in sentiment. By comparison “The Angel In The Marble’ couldn’t be a more perfect closer. The keys are fantastic and offer a solid foundation with the strings rippling through them supporting a typically lilting melody. Lyrically there is just so much to unpack here and it’s bordering on perfection. The inspiration for the album art work, Kintsugi (the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold), it turns out is in fact the entire inspiration for this last track. ‘I’m a puzzle, I’m a painting, I’m a work of art in the making’. The whole sentiment is moving, relatable and wholly achieved without a moment of disingenuity.
As mentioned before whilst The Noble Art Of Self Destruction doesn’t break new ground for Holding Absence as a band, it confirms that they have certainly found themselves within the genre and do what they do incredibly well. The difficulty with this is that there isn’t much to elevate this collection but there is equally very little to criticise, if anything. It’s a wonderfully accessible album, possessing enough substance and sentiment across the board to appeal to most, whilst remaining sincere and vulnerable. Holding Absence, to my mind, bridge a little travelled gap these days between the mainstream and alternative genres, a place few bands sit and certainly few do as skilfully as they do. For this alone they should be commended and there is plenty to come still from them.
7.5/10
The Noble Art Of Self Destruction is out August 25th via Sharptone Records, and can be pre-ordered here.