Simply 4 singles into her new solo enterprise as Holysseus Fly, you wouldn’t be shocked by the feel and sheen of Holly Wellington’s sound to study that she has already been nicely immersed within the Bristolian music scene for various years. Having already graced a number of the largest phases on the planet – Glastonbury involves thoughts – alongside her bandmates in Ishmael Ensemble, Wellington is nothing in need of a consummate skilled. Identified with most cancers in 2019, and fortunately surviving its evils, she was inspired to seek out her personal particular person creative voice and legacy. As Holysseus Fly, she charts this turbulent, but triumphant, journey.
Bringing the nicely of her highly effective vocals to soul-bearing matters, Holysseus Fly’s upcoming debut EP Birthpool is bound to meander with emotion, vulnerability, and a blues-inflection a lot akin to FKA Twigs or NAO. Nevertheless, it’s a sound that might be underpinned by themes of defiance and empowerment, in addition to showcasing Wellington’s signature gloss with each factor in place and every be aware drawn out to radiant perfection. The newest reduce from the gathering, “Educate Me”, gives a extra up-beat and sharp-tongued facet of the prism.
“I wrote “Educate Me” as a enjoyable reduction from the heavier moments on the EP, however its message is simply as essential, persevering with the narrative of empowerment, this time by a feminist lens,” Wellington explains. “Educate Me pokes enjoyable at mansplaining and wonders how it could really feel to have the entitlement of a privileged, cis-gendered white man. Anybody within the music business that doesn’t determine as it will know the way it feels to combat loud, patronising, overpowering voices that assume they know higher. I don’t need us to make ourselves smaller, or really feel we have now to speak or play music like them to be revered, we’re sufficient as we’re.
With a wink and obtrusive side-eye, Wellington adopts a playfully bombast character to stage with the insufferable patriarchy she takes intention at. Collaborating with Jack Liley on the observe’s visible, she notes “the video options the primary dance routine I choreographed with Bethany Kyle for my reside reveals. China Bowls created a 20-foot cape to visually elevate the finale of the music. A illustration of rising above all of it, changing into my very own star, with out want of exterior validation from anybody.”
Already a confirmed expertise alongside her bandmates, Wellington is appropriate: Holysseus Fly is a marker for her rising star as a solo artist. Hatching an simple skill to entice and enthral, her creative mix of vulnerability and empowerment is refreshing, each untouchably shiny, but utterly approachable.