Holy Oak
“Second Son”
Second Son
There is something extremely beautiful yet creepy in Holy Oak’s new album. Here is Holy Oak’s self-description: Singer-songwriter Neil Holyoak has been a student of anthropology, a small-time sheet metal salesman, nihilistic futurist, amateur rifleman, left-handed socialist, soft alcoholic and prison warden of his own soul. His music actually reflects all of that (except the sheet metal salesman, but I think he could actually sell anyone anything. Holy Oak’s voice is beautiful, but his lyrics are so different, the voice might throw you off. As with Adam Green, Holy Oak’s voice is in direct contrast with the strangeness of his lyrics. As Flood Magazine says:
(Holy Oak) toasts a motley assortment: doctors, pirates, grandmothers, the aforementioned bloodsuckers, all of it delivered in a in a spirit of camaraderie that’s flecked—just barely—with mourning. “Here’s to the lovers who took my heart,” he sings, “And gave it back.”
I love Holy Oak’s morbidity, his gorgeous vocals, his rich arrangements. He is definitely worth the listen.