Lieve

Lieve is the long-awaited second album by British electronic music producer Holy Other. Emerging from an extended stay at Bidston Observatory on the Wirral, Lieve was recorded throughout 2020 in the North West of England. Using the acoustics of the observatory the cavernous basement and the geometrically-perfect wooden domes he recorded and resampled material that would become the bedrock of the album.

A marker in the sand as Holy Other's first output since 2012's critically acclaimed Held, these recordings including the voice of NYX's Sian O'Gorman, violin from Simmy Singh and saxophone from Daniel Thorne were cut, manipulated and pieced together to form this latest.

How does one break up with a place? Ever tried to leave those problems behind? No matter how hard one tries to reshape oneself, the past remains. This is an album about L(i)eaving, coming to terms with the past, and trying to live in the present.

Much like his past work, Holy Other leaves the listener to draw their own semantic conclusions from the record. The lyrics are ambiguous ghostly voices, whispers and stutters interwoven with his signature sound palette. Still, the expressive mood from prior releases remains intact, even if these intimate textures and deft rhythms pick up more mature questions about false starts and failed escapes.