HOLY WATER

something about Ray Charles’ ‘America The Beautiful’ had grabbed me over the summer of 2019.

i wanted to challenge myself to write a song with some old school, soul, maybe even hymn-like DNA in it. coming from a very four-chord rock & punk songwriting background, it felt like a bit of a project.

I wasn’t thinking about releases or even if it would be an ‘as sirens fall song’ or whatever. I do my best not to think about anything consequential when i’m writing; it seems the moment i stop ‘fucking around’ is the moment the ideas stop coming.

this fell out of me in a night spent at my piano - one of those rare ones where it just comes together all by itself.

i promptly stayed up for two days straight stacking harmonies and mixing the demo. the boys came over, we fleshed out the instrumentals together, and we booked our first session with Neil Kennedy to record it. all happened super fast.

THE MUSIC VIDEO

it’s surprisingly hard to get actual, functioning churches to agree to let a band like us come in and record a music video for a song with lyrics like these.

we managed to secure XChurch in Gainsborough. it’s this gorgeous old church that’s now a sort of community/art space. super cool vibe. a few friends have shot videos there and when we arrived we realised we’d actually played there years ago, in a little cafe on the side of the building. until we found XChurch we were pretty stumped. I mean, where else are we gonna shoot a video for a song called ‘holy water’? huge relief when they said yes.

we finished shooting at about midnight, and collectively realised we were going to have to figure out getting that bloody piano back into the van before we could leave. i’d had to take the thing apart almost completely just to get it out of the pub we rescued it from - + it still barely fit in the van. no chance I was leaving it behind, though. it lives in our HQ now and I’m so glad we got it home. it’s actually a fuckin lovely piano.

as we heaved, screamed and to-me-to-you’d our piano out of the building, a local man appeared from the row of houses opposite and wandered over the road to let us know that the community facebook group had decided XChurch was having their piano stolen. the police were on their way.

i didn’t have to say much, to be honest. i think he saw hair colours & eyeliner and put two and two together pretty quick that we weren’t burglars. he slipped his jacket off, grumbled something like ‘come on then’ and almost single-handedly lifted the piano into the van. star. i don’t know his name but i sincerely hope he’s having a good day, wherever he is.

LISTEN & DOWNLOAD:

LYRICS

Don’t you ever think you need a lover,
not a friend?
Don’t you worry?
Tell me what to be and
I will gladly break and bend,
It’s so funny.

like the cigarette on my lips
you are a habit I just can’t kick
Despite my reservations
you are everything that I need

But it just ain’t the same,
I don’t wanna be a tortured poet
I know that I painted my own sky black
So pull my walls down and take me with you

And gimme some of that sweet Holy Water
sweet Holy Water
God damn, you’re a good friend but
God damn you are a means to an end yes
sweet Holy Water

Nights all filled with blood,
white wine and lace
Maybe someday we’ll make sense
of the time that we waste
They told me to keep doing me
but my arm just aches
So let’s both find out
how hollow love tastes

And gimme some of that sweet Holy Water
sweet Holy Water
God damn, you’re a good friend but
God damn you are a means to an end yes
sweet Holy Water

And we finally got through
something no-one understood
Like getting to the end of infinity
I’m more than the tattooed tragedy
They’d have you and I believe

Sweet Holy Water
Sweet Holy Water
Sweet Holy Water
Sweet Holy Water

Gimme some of that sweet Holy Water
God damn, you’re a good friend but
God damn, you are a means to an end yes
Sweet Holy Water
Sweet Holy Water

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