Holy Felix – Cellophane
Similar artists: Nine Inch Nails, YUNGBLUD, Queens of the Stone Age
Genre: Alternative Rock
Hybrid recipes can be the most wonderful thing. But would you buy your favourite coffee if they’d suddenly decided to combine it with stew? Would you buy a loaf of bread if one day they decided to fill it up with chocolate-covered strawberries? At the very least, you’d ask questions before giving them your business. They ought to really know what they’re doing.
Music is much the same way. Pop music, in particular, has progressed through daring, crazy artists looking at styles that should normally not go together and asking themselves, “Well, why not!” Still, achieving a good result requires skill and a crystal clear vision. Otherwise, you just end up with the kind of mix that AI can produce, and nobody listens to anything other than as a joke.
Holy Felix’s “Cellophane” is a great and unlikely mix of 2000s-era Trent Reznor and modern pop-punk. It makes you feel as if you’re listening to it while stuck in the crawlspace of your house. But the anger is so bubbly that it also makes you wonderfully anxious for more. Best of all, this is not gimmicky, either. It’s a blend that could have easily failed, but fortunately, Holy Felix got it right.
Dark Miles – Your Heart Is An Empty Street
Similar artists: Peter Murphy, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Mark Lanegan, The Afghan Whigs
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Sometimes, you have to wonder about the people who insist on only listening to cheerful pop music throughout their lives. How can they? And, has their life been so free of any struggle that they feel no need for music that reflects the challenges of life? Truly, this lot is much more suspicious than the folks dedicating their existence to collecting every black metal vinyl that’s ever been printed in Norway.
There’s a now-famous bit of interview with actor Ethan Hawke in which he quite accurately explains the appeal of art for most people. He says that the vast majority of them find it when they need it when they’ve fallen on hard times. Or, they find it when they are stunned by love and feel powerless to resist it. You can’t really depend on your CNN report to guide you through life when you feel this way.
Dark Miles’ “Your Heart Is An Empty Street” does just what it says on the tin. It’s a song that seeks out emptiness and melancholy on every street corner. But this is not done simply to encourage a celebration of misery. No, it’s a way to find meaning through misery. And, certainly, it’s a way to exercise the singer’s strong, expressive baritone singing that is reminiscent of the great Mark Lanegan.
