Premiere: Holy Nowhere Share New album ‘Soft Return’ – stream It Early Below
Soft Return Out December 8th via Mint 400 Records
Holy Nowhere is the new project of Seattle musician Steve Sachs. After growing up in New Jersey, Sachs first started making fuzzy indie rock with his previous band, YJY. The band disbanded after the release of their album in 2017, The Enduring YJY, and soon after Sachs moved to Seattle, looking for a fresh start. After a while, Sachs began writing again, sketching out a series of demos that he would complete with fellow indie musician and producer Dana Why. The resulting tracks form his new solo debut album, Soft Return.
The full album is out tomorrow on December 8th, but ahead of the release Holy Nowhere are sharing an early listen of the full record, premiering with Under the Radar.
Working remotely, Sachs and Dana sent demos coast to coast, honing them into a series of indie pop gems laced with sharp hooks, hypnotic electronics and Sachs’ edgy lyricism. There’s a restless and sometimes nihilistic undercurrent to many of the record’s tracks, but what stands out most on first listen is Sachs’ penchant for insistent melodies and the refined sheen Dana brings to the production end. The record opens with the catchy rhythms and elliptical guitar riffs of “Save You,” but quickly spins into sunny indie rock with “Infinite Mirror,” immersing the track in iridescent guitar tones. Later, “You’re Moving On” offers a sparse and luscious effort, colored equally by ripples and acoustic guitar, while that reflective tone emerges again with tracks like “Wailing Loon.” Finally, the album closes on a sparkling and beautifully catchy note, “Just a Memory”.
Sachs says of the album, “This record is called Soft Return. In typography, a hard return is a change in text used to start a new paragraph, while a soft return is used to start a new line directly below the current line of text. The whole process of making this record was like a series of soft returns. There were no breaks in the momentum and nothing was imposed. Ideas seemed to come when they were needed, people seemed to arrive at the right time with offers to collaborate on production or videos, and when it was all over, a company contacted about distribution and promotion. All that’s left to do now is get it out into the world and let it find its audience. —— One last note: I can’t say enough about what an incredible partner Dana is. My name (or at least my nickname) is attached to these songs, but Dana is just as responsible for this record as I am. You’d be hearing voicemails from my phone without him.”
Dana Why continues, talking about the album, “Working with Steve on the Holy Nowhere record was pretty much the ideal remote recording situation. He had all these demos stacked up, so he would pick the ones he wanted to develop further and send them together, the whole structures worked out on guitar and vocals. He was kind enough to give me almost complete reign over the arrangement and production choices, which was a dream come true for me. He really trusted my vision. His songs are so powerful and classically structured in a way that mine rarely are, and I think working within those boundaries helped elevate both of our strengths. His simple but elegant guitar parts and instant earworm vocal melodies held the top, so I concentrated most of my efforts on the drum machine and bass. Once the groove felt right, everything else was cake. After two or three songs, we had a pretty clear direction of where this record needed to go. Some of Steve’s references were Grizzly Bear, Radiohead, Beach House and Portishead. I’m really proud of how we channeled those influences into a tight little pop record all our own.”
Check out the full album below and pre-order the record here, everywhere tomorrow, December 8th via Mint 400 Records.
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