Not The Girl Holly Macve

• 1Bird04:43
• 2Eye of the Storm04:10
• 3Be My Friend04:02
• 4You Can Do Better03:38
• 5Daddy's Gone03:55
• 6Little Lonely Heart04:30
• 7Sweet Marie04:36
• 8Who Am I03:27
• 9Not the Girl04:11
• 10Behind the Flowers05:17
• 11Lonely Road05:07
• Total Runtime47:36

Info for Not The Girl

Hands up if you’re a sucker for music that rips your heart clean out of your chest, throws it to the ground and, without mercy, cha-chas all over it. Fans of said genre may already be familiar with the deep timbre of Brighton-based alt-country’s Holly Macve; new recruits are going to catch on quickly by way of cinematic new album ‘Not The Girl’.

Having taken ample time off between records to explore and re-arrange her sound, Holly’s second album is dressed in a multitude of textures ranging from yearning heaviness over moody, tear-stained moments to grunge-infused dreamscapes.

Deeper and darker than debut album ‘Golden Eagle’, ‘Not The Girl’ is laced, not only with a firm sense of direction, but a distinct air of intent: Holly Macve is reaching for higher ground. An ambition that is most notable on title-track ‘Not The Girl’ with its slow-moving dramaturgy, but it’s on murder ballad ‘Behind The Flowers’ that Holly shows the full extent of her songwriting prowess. Entirely fictional of course, the track tells the haunting story of a girl who kills her abusive father. Dark imagery gives life to even darker imagination (“the last word he said was the first time I felt free”) and creates a sense of morbid fascination –a definite must listen for true-crime lovers and amateur detectives.

An album that is as expansive as it is concise, ‘Not The Girl’ sees Holly Macve tighten her sonic influences. Making full use of her disarming vocals and intricate grasp on emotion, Holly has taken the often intimidating second album in her stride. Stepping out of the shadows of comfort and into the blazing limelight, ‘Not The Girl’ is the poetic sound of liberation.

Holly Macve

Holly Macve
is currently one of the rising stars of the folk-country music scene. A heavenly voice, a devastating emotional delivery, and her magnetic stage presence make her one of the most interesting newcomers today. Despite her young age – Holly Macve is only 21 years old -, her debut record “Golden Eagle” reveals she’s experienced enough strive to last a lifetime: parental splits, heartbreak, early career pitfalls… Born in Western Ireland, Macve and her sister were whisked away “in the night” by her mom from her errant father, to live with her grandparents in Yorkshire. In her new home, she’s soon discovered her family’s big record collection: lots of blues and Bob Dylan shaped her impressionable mind, before she herself discovered the likes of Leonhard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Gillian Welch. “Words are my main love,” she declares. “I love songs that tell stories and take you somewhere else. I’ve always been drawn to that old country sound with it’s simple and memorable melodies. I enjoy music that feels timeless, that you don’t know quite when it was recorded.” At the age of 18 Holly moved down south. She worked in a café, while singing on open mic nights. Bella Union boss Simon Raymonde was a regular customer at the café when he caught wind of this astonishing young talent, with her vocals notes of Welch, Patsy Cline and Paula Frazer (Tarnation), and the timeless melodies, altogether evoking the Appalachian Mountains and the Wyoming prairie rather than the Brighton seafront. Holly subsequently fled back to Yorkshire after a lost love and sense of direction, and wrote the songs that became Golden Eagle. “I was depressed, lost and lonely, in a dark place,” she recalls. “So the songs are a bit fatalistic.” These fatalistic songs, however, brought her a lot of recognition from many different sides as well as some beautiful support slots such as Villagers, John Grant, and Benjamin Clementine. She was also chosen as one of the few newcomers to play the prestigious Reeperbahn Festival 2016 “Anchor Award for International Emerging Talent.” It’s looking pretty good for Holly Macve!

"Golden Eagle, her debut album, has a strong country or bluegrass flavour – though some songs, such as Fear, deploy more unpredictable chord sequences. Her lyrics, with their themes of heartbreak (All of Its Glory) and hard luck (No One Has the Answers), are a good fit. Thanks to the sparse instrumentation and producer Paul Gregory’s deft use of reverb, there’s a timeless feel to Golden Eagle." - THE GUARDIAN

This album contains no booklet.