Written by Maria Arroyo
The alternative rock band, Holding Absence, shares their fantastic new album, The Greatest Mistake of My Life, which was inspired by a song of the same from an actor and singer named Dame Gracie Fields.
The band began in 2015 in Cardiff, Wales, and features members Lucas Woodland (vocals), Scott Carey (guitar), Benjamin Elliott (bass), and Ashley Green (drums).
After discovering that the song was covered by Woodland‘s great uncle during the ’50s from his grandmother, the band decided that the “the poignancy of its words was worthy of titling Holding Absence’s next record.”
“This album is about telling stories that are presented through the lens of hindsight, regret, and looking back,” The band shares. ‘There are songs that celebrate life when faced with death, and others that speak to the choices we make about how we live our lives. The fear of love, newfound respect for life, and the covering up of depression are all subjects that rear their head.
“The album begins with the short ambient, lo-fi track, “Awake,” that is both immersive and intimate, immediately drawing listeners in. They made a seamless transition from this song into their next track, “Celebration Song.”
Aside from the track being catchy and an overall great listen, deep down, there’s a strong story with a message being told. The more you’re sucked into the song, the more this message becomes loud and clear.
“Curse Me With Your Kiss” is a beautifully crafted song. There’s a strong sense of lyrical structure and different musical ideas that just translate so well. Holding Absence is able to mix the worlds of alternative punk and deep lyricism and sensibility to create an amazingly stunning track.
Another catchy and incredibly put-together song is “Afterlife.” Yet again, they grow the soft spot in my heart for alternative rock to a whole new level, while “In Circles” is both dramatic and cinematic in every way. They harvest this big sound and energy in this track that just makes it impossible not to put on replay.
This next track is beyond incredible, and I wish there was more that I could say, but I felt this song with my whole heart and there’s not a single thing that I would change.
Their track “Nomoreroses” left me completely speechless. “The song is definitely a heavier and more progressive track than people have heard from us in a while,” lead vocalist Lucas Woodland shares, “which is perfect as it represents just how varied the record is. “Nomoreroses” is lyrically a song about a sour relationship with God, looking at how hard it can be to believe in a God that seemingly doesn’t believe in you.”
“Mourning Song” isn’t running far behind for my favorite track on their album. Unfortunately, I’m just now learning to deal with the death of a loved one, as I’ve been fortunate enough to never encounter it before. I’m still not even sure how I feel, but this song really helped a lot, so truly thank you to the bottom of my heart of this song, it has truly helped my heart.
Closing out the album is the title track, “The Greatest Mistake of My Life.” Woodland shares that this cover is an “homage to the original and its strange relationship with my family.” The band shares that “‘The Greatest Mistake of My Life’ exercises emotion in many ways, and that was an important thing for us to do because emotion isn’t rigid – it’s not just love, or joy, or sadness – it’s a lot of things.”
“The Greatest Mistake of My Life” is a stream of incredibly synced songs all stitched together to create one amazing, cohesive project. While you probably could listen to the songs out of order, that enigmatic element, they wanted to portray, and did portray so well, but I guarantee, listening to the entire album in order is completely worth your while.
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