If It's Too Loud...

The Huntress and Holder of Hands is one of the rare artists whose quieter songs are more intense than their louder, more rock songs. MorganEve Swain's latest, "Absence," is one of those quiet and intense ones. For the first half of the song it's just Swain's vocals and guitar. Some harmonizing gets added in towards the end of that portion of the song, which just adds to the intensity. By the time the band kicks in, it's almost a relief since the intimacy of the first half heightened the emotions of the song. The full band joining the song adds a catharsis to the song, but doesn't dampen any of Swain's emotions. You can listen to "Absence" below. For more on The Huntress and Holder of Hands, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram .

We first discovered EDT (aka Emily Dix Thomas) playing cello in The Huntress and Holder of Hands' band, so it's fitting that they would release a split single together. The Huntress and Holder of Hands' song on the 7" is "Ritual," and it's everything we love about MorganEve Swain's musical project. It's hauntingly beautiful, with a thick layer of tension covering the entire song. It's folk, but mostly due to the instruments being used. If you could make grunge using traditional folk instruments, that's what "Ritual" would be. "Rocky Coast" is EDT's contribution, and it fits right in with The Huntress and Holder of Hands' song. "Rocky Coast" is more traditional folk than "Ritual," but it's just as dark and haunting. These two songs sound like they truly belong together, and they complement each other ideally. Personally, I can't pick a favorite between the two as they are simply perfec...

The Thing in the Spring has been a southwest New Hampshire staple for quite a while now, sporting some of the most eclectic line ups around. This is especially impressive since Keene, NH (and Peterborough before it) isn't exactly the hippest or most metropolitan of areas. They certainly know what they're doing, especially since the 2024 festival is four days of amazing music. The whole thing kicks off on Thursday night with an eight band bill that includes Modern Fools, Paper Castles, Jake McElvie, and Rick Rude. Friday is a rager that boasts The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, and Prefuse 73. Saturday gets a little weird with Earth, J. Pavone String Ensemble, The Huntress & Holder of Hands, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. Sunday is my personal favorite and features Buck Meek, Jolie Holland, Mal Devisa, and Lily Seabird. Of course, there are many, many more artists playing that all deserve our attention. The Thing in the Spring will take ...

The Columbus Theater has been hosting a series of benefit shows for Maggie Siegel, and this past Saturday saw a line up that included The Huntress & Holder of Hands, Tall Teenagers, and Smith&Weeden. I went for The Huntress & Holder of Hands since I knew the other bands by name but had never heard them. I left with two new favorite bands. It's going to be easy to compare Smith&Weeden to Deer Tick. They're both Rhode Island bands that play a country-fied version of noisy rock and roll, but it's hard not to since they're both Rhode Island bands that play a country-fied version of noisy rock and roll. While Deer Tick have been delving into a more straightforward and mainstream version of rock lately, Smith&Weeden are staying right in the country/rock genre. Songs like "Wondering" and "Boys in Bands" are these gems of alt-country: Way too country to be rock and way to rock to be country, but perfect for those of us that love the m...

Peterborough, NH is a surprisingly fun little town in south central part of New Hampshire. One of the things that makes it cool is the annual music festival The Thing in the Spring. Every single year it's shocking how diverse and huge the artists they get are. 2019 is no exception. Running June 5-9, they're bringing such artists as indie rock/electronica artist Dirty Projectors (performing solo), shoegaze/post-rockers Bardo Pond, folk artists Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Ryley Walker, Boston legend Thalia Zedek Band, actor/comedian turned singer Noel Wells, blog favorite The Huntress & The Holder of Hands, experimental rockers Sunburned Hand of the Man, Trinary System (featuring Mission of Burma's Roger Miller), and many more. Shows happen over multiple venues, including the UU Church and a free show on the roof of the Toadstool Bookshop to close out the weekend. For more information on The Thing in the Spring, check out their website . You can get a weeke...

Avalon is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking albums of the year. With her first full length as The Huntress and Holder of Hands, and the first since losing Dave Lamb, her husband and Brown Bird bandmate, MorganEve Swain has crafted this amazing album that keeps what we loved about Brown Bird and growing from it. Avalon keeps the eastern European folk sound prevalent in much of Brown Bird's catalog, keeps the metal leanings of Axis Mundi , and adds in some of the noise of indie rock. It's an album of loss and rebirth. It may look back fondly, but it moves on from a horrible loss into something brand new, while still cherishing the past. Plus, it includes "Borealis," which may be my favorite song of 2017. Songs of note: "Borealis," "Shake Off Your Flesh," and "Creatures in Flight."

Another busy week of releases, so this'll be a two-parter. Album of the Week : Artist : Lenore. Album : Lenore. Quick Description : Debut album from a new favorite duo here. Why You Should Listen : You wish First Aid Kit was more musically adventurous. Overall Thoughts : Easily my favorite of this week, and it doesn’t even come close. Sort of a more complex First Aid Kit, there’s gorgeous harmonies to go along with interesting songwriting and a haunted sort of feel. I was continually surprised by this throughout my listen, and I simply can’t wait until I get another opportunity to dive back in. Recommendation : This is my favorite album of the week, and it should be yours, too. Artist : Deer Tick Album : Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 Quick Description : Two releases from the somewhat twangy indie rockers. Why You Should Listen : There's enough good here to give some time to it. Overall Thoughts : Deer Tick is officially in “we’re releasing a double album” territory with an...

Somehow it feels like it's been forever that we've been waiting for a full length album from The Huntress and Holder of Hands with just an occasional song here and there to tease us along. Finally, we have news that MorganEve Swain's debut album will be released in September. Along with that news is the first single off Avalon, "Borealis." Judging just by this one song, it has been well worth the wait.  "Borealis" starts off as a quiet, haunting folk song, the kind of sound that has dominated Swain's solo work. About mid-way through, the song switches moods and becomes the kind of upbeat Eastern European influenced folk song Swain and her husband Dave Lamb mastered in Brown Bird. Towards the very end, the track devolves into a metal meets Sonic Youth blast of noise before going back to haunting folk. As anyone that's been reading this blog for a decent amount of time, songs swerving off into unexpected directions is kinda my sweet spot, so ...

Photo by Mikael Kennedy In all the Halloween excitement, I almost missed out on this completely. MorganEve Swain's father used to have a Halloween mixtape (which makes him a super cool dad, in my opinion) that included songs like "Bad Moon Rising" and spooky sounds. It also included a song called "The Werewolf," but no one knew who sang the song. Decades later, MorganEve Swain, aka The Huntress & The Holder of Hands discovers that the song is by Michael Hurley, who I am completely unfamiliar with. This Halloween, she recorded her own version of the song, complete with wolf howls. It's an incredibly creepy and somehow beautiful cover, and I just wish I had been able to listen on Halloween itself. I guess there's always next year. You can get The Huntress & The Holder of Hands' version of "The Werewolf" over on her Patreon page . While you're there, you should also consider donating.

Normally I wouldn't post about a YouTube clip for an unreleased song, but I'm really excited about any new music from The Huntress & Holder of Hands. Plus, they linked to this clip from their Facebook page, so it's obviously approved by them. Recorded live at a house show in Vermont on March 5, "Shake Off Your Flesh" captures some of the sense of foreboding in Brown Bird's Axis Mundi , and even though it still falls into the folk/Americana category, you get a hint of the metal influences that were finally explored on Axis Mundi . This might be due to the hypnotic base line that goes throughout the song. Also, since the band is composed of six members, it's hardly a MorganEve Swain solo project. You can watch a performance of "Shake Off Your Flesh" below, courtesy of YouTube user  nnmvt vidoes . There are also more videos of the performances on their YouTube page, so check those out. For more info on The Huntress & Holder of Hands, che...

Earlier this week, I was checking out the website for Brown Bird to see if there was any new word from The Huntress, MorganEve Swain's new project. I hadn't heard anything since "Call to Arms" was released in the summer of 2014, and I didn't discover it until this past March . A day or two later, and The Water Street Demos  was released. Now named The Huntress and Holder of Hands (presumably to avoid confusion with the metal band Huntress, which I did when they released an album earlier this year), there are now three songs to check out. "Call to Arms" is represented on here, along with "These Hands," which has the most haunting violin I've ever heard, and mostly instrumental "Etude." All three songs are moody and dark. They're absolutely beautiful and I highly urge you to listen, but this is definitely a departure from the dance worthy songs of Brown Bird.  The Water Street Demos  is being sold to help finance a full ba...