IN 2016 Holy Esque released At Hope’s Ravine, an album where cool, post-punk scepticism was tethered to a sense of fortitude and resilience.
If there were rays of light on the grey concrete of that debut, Holy Esque – frontman Pat Hynes, keyboardist Keir Reid, drummer Ralph McClure and guitarist Hugo McGinley – have gone further into the shadows with their follow-up.
Recorded at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne, Television/Sweet is a bitingly cold album that broods and swirls like a more industrial Jesus and Mary Chain, the notorious noise-makers from East Kilbride.
Hynes and Reid grew up in the brutalist, post-war satellite town, and feelings of detachment and alienation seep from this record: an album which feels very, very now.
Television/Sweet’s final lyrics see Hynes's soulful rasp intoning: “I’m so lost in this dark age, tell me what to do, help me out”.
“That’s the final distillation of all the thoughts I had when I wrote the record,” says Hynes. “‘Television’ is alluding to the digital age and ‘Sweet’ is the idea that we can never get enough of it, we always want more.”
If there was a tagline for the album, Hynes says, it would be along the lines of “the human experience in the modern digital age and all the weird and horrible aspects of that”.
The album’s harsh but dream-like sound took its cues from Hynes’s lyrics. They address deceptive online identities (the collar-grabbing He, Spectral Electra), political polarisation (lead single I Am The Truth) and most frequently, the disconnection and dissatisfaction often experienced in the online world.
“We are more connected than ever, but we’re more lonely than we’ve ever been. People are losing touch with the basic human aspects of life, that sense of community, that physicality and being around people, true things,” says Hynes.
“The further we go into this wonderful digital age, the further we go from things that truly matter to us. I feel that no-one is really talking about this stuff. People’s social skills are suffering, they don’t know how to interact in the real world – they freeze because they think they are being judged. So they go online and sit with a computer game, because that’s the easier thing to do.”
Television/Sweet was produced by Grammy winner Jon Schumann, who, Hynes says, “immediately got where I was coming from” and the fact Holy Esque are predominantly a live band.
“He managed to capture our live energy while helping us with a more digital sound, which is obviously very appropriate,” says Hynes, noting how the band have a very strong following in Germany and in other parts of Europe.
Following multiple dates there this year, Holy Esque play their final show of the year at the Barrowlands on December 14 as the main support act for Glasvegas, who are playing a short tour to mark the 10th anniversary of their acclaimed debut album.
“I’m beyond excited,” says Hynes. “I’m really pleased with the record but we want more people to hear it, and this will be our first show there. It’s one of those opportunities you wonder if you will ever get, and I can’t wait for us to seize it.”
December 14, Barrowlands, Glasgow, 7pm, £25. www.facebook.com/HolyEsque glasvegas.net
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here