If 2020’s EP, Lonely Beast was very much borne of and discussing solitude, Holding Onto The Holy is about how you must remember to love life, even when the world seems to be changing and falling apart. Both come from very personal places but are equally full of universally relatable themes and shared feelings. And this latest album is, perhaps, a response to some of the questions posed by that earlier EP.
The album has its roots in a 10-day COVID quarantine where a combination of a scratchy throat and access only to an old microphone combined in the perfect vocal storm to give him a completely new voice – one of the more unusual silver linings of the pandemic. From this launch pad, he took inspiration from pop past and particularly artists such as Roy Orbison, Harry Nilsson, and The Velvet Underground.
From here, he prioritized having fun and the freedom to explore, rather than worrying about more technical aspects or pre-planned sonic pathways, and wandered along roads that connected folklore and daydreams and childhood cartoons and, particularly, his relationship with his wife and collaborator Hannah Connolly.
From the sweet and sweeping opener, “There You Go Again,” which deals with the complexities and rewards of love and relationships, to the more joyous and beat-driven, shimmering pop meets island vibes of “The Wave,” from the spacious and mercurial indie of “I Still Love You” to the piano ballad of “Like You Do,” this album covers a lot of ground within its own spacious, atmospheric, and creative borders.
It is an album that pushes Eric’s sonic boundaries beyond the more understated sound of the Lonely Beast and really gets down to matters of the heart in a way that many artists might shy away from for fear of being too revealing, too personal, too vulnerable, even.
But that is one of the album’s main selling points. In a world where, even as artists, we don metaphorical armor, shield ourselves behind masks, and adopt anonymity for safety, here is an artist prepared to bare all and show emotions, someone who isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his album sleeve.
