Holy Garden District’s sophomore album, Ghost Rent, is out April 5th, 2024!
Ghost Rent was recorded in June 2022 by David Badstubner at Frogville Studios in Santa Fe, NM, with additional recording, as well as mixing and mastering by Ben Clary.
The album is streaming on all platforms, and available for purchase as a digital download or on vinyl at holygardendistrcit.bandcamp.com
Melon Light
Racing boldly over the horizon of the post-everything landscape, Holy Garden District’s debut full length Melon Light uses its eight tracks to define a singular sonic vision of instrumental rock that coheres into something otherworldly even while touching on some of the great mysticism of the band’s home in the Southwestern United States. With songwriting that’s equally thunderous and delicate, the band takes the rock three piece template to create intricately-woven studies of rhythm and melody that never outstays its welcome in any given headspace. Guitarist Ben Clary and bassist Cole Wilson play almost as if there is one instrument between them, with an idiosyncratic approach to harmony that imbues each track with cathartic points of release. All the while, drummer Dylan McDowell helps shape the space of each passage with a relaxed command. This three-pronged approach gives the listener a feel that the band constantly challenges itself while never being overly fussy, instead crafting clear-minded exercises in unmoored energy and expression.
The songs unfold like pieces of one long conversation on life and its awesome dynamic range, from heartache to ecstasy and everything in between. On tracks like “Diatom,” the band kicks up cosmic dust in a flurry only to watch it float back down in the follow-up “Bingo Rocket Starman,” showcasing a horse sense for storytelling even in a wordless medium. Turns like this lend Melon Light a feeling of organic showmanship as though each track could have just as easily been a product of spontaneous creation as much as meticulous craftsmanship. It’s likely a bit of both, and the result is a moving journey for any listener.
Melon Light will be released on Matron Records on June 5th, 2020; due to the current circumstances of releasing a record during a pandemic, the release will be digital first with a vinyl pre-order to ship at a later date. Holy Garden District will also release a series of live but socially distant performance videos to support the release.
You can get the single “Bingo Rocket Starman” now when you pre-order the album on bandcamp!