Holy Other

Overview

Laneway seems like an odd place for the Australian debut of Manchester producer Holy Other, who prefers to play in near-complete darkness. I found that out via Google but it’s difficult to see why you’d want to experience his music in any other way. Combining sexy slow grooves with disarming club-suited vocals that sound halfway between a dream and a nightmare, these tunes don’t need a veil of darkness to make them more mysterious, but a cloudy room full of jerky strobed bodies would certainly intensify things in a really cool way.

Having just released his debut album Held, the follow up to last year’s vehemently received With U EP, Holy Other has recently toured with the likes of Beach House, Amon Tobin and Thom Yorke & Nigel Godrich’s Atoms for Peace. Performing in Goodgod’s smoky Danceteria for his only Sydney Laneway sideshow, this is a chance to hear his more recent vocal-heavy tracks alongside the five pieces of moody atmospherics that were not unfoundedly heralded as contemporary masterpieces. Take someone who hates house music or RNB so you can grin smugly in the darkness with the knowledge that their perceptions will be forever changed for the better.