Melbourne-based indie-pop charmer, Holly Hebe's newest release is yet another ethereal slice of emotion-filled pop.
A songwriter not afraid to lean into intimate, vulnerable subject matter, 'Ghost Of You' will enchant with poignant lyricism that details the mourning of an old romantic relationship."'Ghost Of You' is about the sadness of realising that something has been lost along the way and there has been a shift in dynamic over time," Holly says.
With a sound fans of Holly Humberstone, Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo will resonate with, Holly will perform a trio of intimate shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in August.
Before then, here Holly delves into her love of recording found sounds and incorporating them into her own compositions.
"I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse, but I often can't go a day without noticing some sort of weird sound in whatever environment I'm in and quickly recording a voice memo of it," shares Holly.
"I love collecting snippets of sounds and my phone feels like a little audio scrapbook of places I've been.
"This habit has manifested into my music and formed my early identity as an artist.
"I love building rhythm out of these random sounds or hiding them in the production of my tracks as little moments of ear candy for listeners. "Here are my top 5 favourite moments of found sound in my music."
1: Golf ball - 'Sink'
Hidden in one of the choruses of my very first track, 'Sink', is a sample of a golf ball being dropped into the hole. I was playing mini golf once with my family and I remember being obsessed with the rhythmic qualities of this sound, its plastic-y timbre and how it reminded me of popcorn popping.Most of the drum beat in 'Sink' is made up of these weird sounds that I had collected and recorded on my phone. When I got to the second chorus, I knew it needed some sort of boost, but a regular snare felt too obvious so I trawled through my voice memos and found this recording.
2: Garden birds - 'We Are Fine
At the start of my track 'We Are Fine', you can hear the birds that would sit in the fruit trees in the back garden of my parent's place. These birds used to pop up in nearly every recording I did as the piano room overlooked the garden.I used to hate it and I'd spend so much time trying to soundproof the room with mattresses and pillows to get the cleanest recording. However, when it came to producing 'We Are Fine', I originally had the opening riff recorded on a VST piano, and found that it sounded so empty and lifeless.
That's when I realised that I had played the riff so many times on my real piano, and every time it had been accompanied by the birds. So I got out my phone and recorded the birds, as well as the piano riff on my iPhone. Every time I listen, it instantly takes me back to that room.
3: Pedal sounds - 'hardpilltoswallow'
In my family home there is a beautiful antique pianola that's over 100 years old. It has slightly detuned with age, and it creaks and crackles when you play it. The sustain pedal in particular, has the most interesting sound to it when you press it down, and creates this beautiful, raw and gritty ambience to any recording.In my song 'hardpilltoswallow' I wanted to highlight the rawness of the lyrics through the production. A while ago, I recorded a voice memo of just the piano pedals moving up and down. I had used these in the drum beat of 'Sink' as well as adding it to soundscapes for various other projects.
When I recorded 'hardpilltoswallow', I placed the microphones in a way that would pick up on these creaks and crackles. It's not very revolutionary; this raw aesthetic has its own strong place in the landscape of music production. However, there's something particularly eerie and beautiful about the sounds that my pianola makes that I just love using in recordings.
4: Teeth Chattering - 'Sink'
This is less of a found sound and more of a found sample, but I love it so much that I had to include it here.When I was producing 'Sink', I was in the thick of studying music concrete, as well as foley sounds in music. I found this bizarre sound called 'chattering teeth' in a sound library and it sparked my interest straight away. You can find it in the sparse verses of 'Sink'; it's pretty weird but it instantly draws your attention to the sonic landscape of the track which I love.
5: Melbourne Tram - 'Ghost Of You'
I have so many voice memo recordings of weird sounds I have found while walking around in the city, but the tram sound seems to continually pop up in every field recording I do. I am always so fascinated how a sound can transport you back to a very obvious place or moment.In the opening verse of 'Ghost Of You', I embedded an atmospheric recording I took while on St Kilda Road, outside the Arts Centre, and placed it so that the tram bell occurs in a gap in the lyrics. It fits the sound world so well, as 'Ghost Of You' is full of bell-like synths and glockenspiel.
Since its release, I have had people message me about this sound, saying they couldn't tell whether it was in the recording or outside in real life, which I think is so funny and a reaction that's very uniquely Melbourne.
Holly Hebe 2023 Tour Dates
Thu 17 Aug - Golden Age Cinema (Sydney)Fri 18 Aug - Junk Bar (Brisbane)
Sat 25 Aug - Wesley Anne (Melbourne)
