Brighton might not be the obvious place to discover a great new alt-country talent, but thankfully it was where Bella Union’s Simon Raymonde went searching. There at an open-mic night he stumbled across a 20 year old Irish-born, Yorkshire bred singer by the name of Holly Macve; Simon recalls how on opening her mouth Holly silenced a crowd of “beery boys.” The rest, as they may well soon say, is history.
Whilst no details have yet been shared of a full length album, Holly has been working with the likes of the Corals Bill Ryder Jones and Lanterns On the Lake’s talented guitarist Paul Gregory. This week, Holly has shared the video for her stunning new single, “Corner Of My Mind”. The track is a thing of haunting beauty; the gentle tick of an acoustic guitar, embellishments of piano and electric guitar, and slap bang in the foreground is Holly’s magical voice. Her tone reminds me somewhat of the songstress Marissa Nadler, her melodies Imogen Heap, her inflections could be from First Aid Kit; it’s a truly special instrument, and one it seems inevitable the world will be hearing a lot more of in the future. In regards to the footage, Holly states “We decided to not plan much before we starting filming, hoping to just stumble across the right imagery and atmosphere needed to accompany the dark nature of the song. All the shots were filmed in Holme Moss near my hometown in West Yorkshire which is where it was written.”
You can catch Holly Macve at a number of festivals
The Fat Angel Sings 