Song of the Day: HOLY – All These Worlds Are Yours

By Stephanie Garr

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Morning Show with John Richards, is HOLY’s “All These Worlds Are Yours,” from the upcoming album All These Worlds Are Yours, available January 26th on PNKSLM Recordings.

HOLY – All These Worlds Are Yours (MP3)

Stockholm-based HOLY is the garage-psych brainchild of Hannes Ferm of Umeå, Sweden. Their debut album Stabs was co-released on Refused's Dennis Lyxzén label Ny Vag Records, and Ferm's ambitions have grown with new album All These Worlds Are Yours, set to be released in January on Stockholm label PNKSLM Recordings. The set promises to be heavier and more exploratory, starting with the title itself, which takes from astronomer Jon Willis' 2016 book All These Worlds Are Yours: The Scientific Search for Alien Life. In a sense, Ferm's search starts within his own head. A pervasive feeling of alienation feeds into the dynamism of the album, especially its title track.

The nearly nine-minute piece sprawls but never sputters, rushing in with crunchy, dissonant guitar that scales its way to the heavens, before a piano drops in with Bowie-esque finesse and Ferm eases into a droopy-eyed, '60s pop haze -- "nothing is real," he languidly lets slip. There's just a touch of Tame Impala as the track hypnotically builds until it all spins into a sludgy, shambolic finish.

As of now, HOLY only has a few European dates set for 2018, but you can follow him on Facebook or Bandcamp for updates. And check out a video below for "ððð", another track from the forthcoming full-length.