david holmes has always been an interesting figure in the world of music.
many would suggest that he’s a lucky b*stard who has ridden the wave of good fortune with his name being stamped all over those very high profile movies, but it was always clear that beyond the attitude heavy dj sets, credit reels, was a deep rooted passion for music.
of all genres.
whether the passion involved reviving lost funk-n-soul nuggets via his various mixtapes, or the superb live band free association setup, techno, 60s psyche pop, or beat heavy rock-n-roll, there was david giving the music air to breathe and find a whole new audience.
however, throughout all this magpie induced obsessions, david had an eye, and ear out for fuzzed up guitars and heaven sent melodies.
the first time he put his money on such a groove was via his failed, but often brilliant, 13 amp record label that helped one such band, joy zipper, find an audience, and release a genuine classic, the record label troubled american whip.
so i guess it’s right that this fourth ‘solo’ album, that has a back story of parental devotion and childhood memories, revisits the same type of fuzzed up melodies, simplistic pop songs, albeit with the results being pushed through a big fat ‘make this sound massive and eno-esque’ filter.
well, i say this is a "solo" album.
that’s not strictly true.
if you read the small print across all of his albums (soundtracks included), you will quickly realise that david likes to surround himself with the same gang of studio friendly musicians, and for the holy pictures, he has again called in favours from the gang, with such folks as stephen ‘flykkiller‘ hilton, pati yang, hugo nicholson, leo abrahams, donald skinner (thus giving this particular listener some julian cope memory rushes), and most surprising of all, power pop maestro, jason falkner, all adding extra attention to the detailed manipulated layers of sound.
as for the magpie tendencies, this time, the reference points are clearly signposted.
riffed up, twang heavy album opener, i heard wonders, is a perfect update of the jesus and mary chain with its layers of fuzz and open eyed wonder, love reign over me is all spiritualised via some loved up screamadelica emotion, the title track being a direct pointer to joy zipper, motorik grooves, culminating in three closing tracks that bring about a aural calm brian eno would be proud of.
perhaps one reason that this album works far better than his previous releases is due to the fact that david has ditched the ‘guest vocals’ and dropped his own soft focus vocals deep in the mix, making the concise 43 minutes a more complete listen, and, having lived with this album for a week, i can easily say that it has dominated my playlist ever since i bought it.
this just ticks so many of ireallylovemusic’s buttons it’s not true.
all in all, the holy pictures is a beautiful widescreen ambient-drone-pop masterpiece that actually has more to do with the minimalist/classic/guitar treatments of the free association soundtrack for code 46, than anything else in his catalogue.
so, if you are hoping for another big beat via hollywood groove monster, move along now, instead david has crafted a far more enjoyable, personal, timeless album, and i for one, am loving every spin more and more.
let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another eight years for the followup.