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| Holy Esque "At Hope's Ravine" (Beyond the Frequency) At Hope's Ravine is the debut album by Holy Esque. It is a primal, muscular, and utterly elemental work - a true epic in an era when such an epithet is overused. Here, bold is beautiful and the Glasgow quartet's messages of hope and grief, escape and yearning are writ large across sonic skies. This is epic 21st century music occasionally reminiscent of Boy-era U2, early Simple Minds and Echo & The Bunnymen or perhaps more contemporary bands such The National, The Walkmen, Interpol and Titus Andronicus. Holy Esque's music is comprised of tones and textures. Peaks and troughs. Brush strokes and breaking waves of sound. Here chiming guitars interweave with emotive synth embellishments, and all shot through with Pat Hynes' inimitable vocals, delivered from a dark place somewhere deep within his very centre. His is a voice that shifts from breathless, searching soul to an impassioned roar strong enough to topple buildings. Some reviewers have likened his tremulous waver to Fergal Sharkey, others with that of Ellery Roberts of late Manchester band Wu Lyf, with whom Holy Esque have toured, but make no mistake Hynes' voice is an entirely unique entity, an extra instrument. A force of nature. "I didn't even know I had this voice until two years into the band, " says Hynes. "I was oblivious to it. When I did finally sing it was like 'What is this?' because I didn't have the vocabulary to describe or define my voice as having this wild vibrato or tremolo, or whatever you want to call it. We're just not people acutely aware of the correct musical terminology. But over time I've learned to hone the beast and use it to gain greater emotional leverage. A lot of people don't like my voice. It's a love-hate style thing that seems to divide opinion, but that's OK. All the singers I like have a need to express themselves. It's about releasing these feelings trapped inside."... HOLY ESQUE At Hope's Ravine Format : CD/LP/Digital Labels : Beyond The Frequency Release Date : February 26 2016 Territories : France, BNL, Spain, Italy write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |