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MH-282 Holobody - Riverhood  Riverhood is the first release from Holobody, the sibling duo of Felix Green and Sea Oleena, two talented artists in their own right who’ve together crafted a masterpiece from elements of gospel, hip-hop, and electronically-propelled folk. Album opener “Unfold” is a sentimental soliloquy, and its seamless juxtaposition first into the playfully rapped “Hurricane Season” and then into the instrumental "Stomp Coda" sets the tone for the genre-hopping on the rest of Riverhood. Brother and sister trade vocal duties throughout the album. "Riverbed" is a beautiful hymn of death and rebirth with a chorus washed in reverb. Sounds seem to merge and collapse, until the listener paddles into the void and disappears. Other highlights are the hypnotically spiraling “Prelude” and the psychedelic closer “Acid Rain” with each song taking the album in a new and usually unexpected direction. Perhaps the most striking moment is the duo’s take on the traditional hymn “Down to the River and Pray,” which begins with reverent beauty before taking a sideways turn into percussive celebration and ambient experimentation. All of these pieces are drawn together on Riverhood into a whole that is lush, vibrant, and extraordinarily inviting. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| Holobody’s Riverhood is going to fit perfectly, right between your M83 and Tennis albums. - Potholes In My Blog / Highly recommended. - Paper / Listen if you like: Her Space Holiday, Stereolab, Atlas Sound, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Suicide, Mazzy Star, The Flaming Lips, Toro Y Moi, Beach House, Radiohead, The Stone Roses. - Eastern Surf |
| Reviews |
| Cross pollinating musical styles in the way that many do can be disastrous. The free-form musical spirit of “anything goes” can turn into a murky mess. It takes finesse to do it right. But the Canadian duo Felix Green and Sea Oleena (siblings Luke and Charlotte Loseth) created a genre bleeding album in a way that is shape shifting and fitting to how the band has defined themselves. I cannot think of anyone else this duo can be lump summed into. It’s really hard for me to wrap my head around Riverhood. I like to listen to albums like these and contemplate what the musicians were thinking and how they came to put everything together in the context their mind works. But for Holobody, I cannot dissect it. The music is subtle in many ways and obvious in others. It’s hard to put your finger on their mindset. By the time you have an inclination, you are seven songs in and moving swiftly through the rest of the album. I love how they can blend Neo-Folk with a jolt of Trip Hop, and then add some subtle Hauntology and Dream Pop jubilee all together. “Hurricane Season” is deeply infused in the pop continuum yet builds post futurism in the music they create. The song is a celebration for cyclonic electro sway. “Riverbed” only amps up the energy. And to pull everything in together, “Procession” is like being electrocuted by angels. This mix match is all compiled together very well that you want to listen to the album for the essence of it acting like an album in whatever format you find it in. Where Luke has served as producer for two of Charlotte’s albums, it’s Riverhood that became an avenue for playful experiments and layered sounds. Conjoined, the two have created quite a delight. - Zap Town |
