Discover new Music Introducing: Verity Holloway
Verity Holloway, is a London based artist whose vulnerable lyrics weave stories through her haunting yet hopeful musical arrangements. Raw vocals alongside distorted cello and accordion, her music guides you through a range of emotion, from sorrow to admiration.
Alongside playing intimate shows in London, she has recently released a new single titled ‘Ruined’. This song came out in January of this year, accompanied by a stop motion video ‘The Adventures Of Rue’. This little music video was created by Verity at home, with scrap bits of cardboard and other materials to create the set and was shot on her phone. (see below) Last year Verity recorded her debut album at Middle Farm Studios in Devon, recorded to tape with producer Peter Miles and a lovely group of talented musicians.
The record is due to be released later this year.
Here are social media links if you’d like to stay up to date:
Artist q+A
Imagine: there has been some kind of government censorship on music and you’re only allowed to listen to five albums on repeat for the rest of your life. What albums are you taking with you until your dying moment?
1. Wild is the Wind - Nina Simone
Nina, there is no one like you. Picking just one album, impossible. I almost chose ‘Little Girl Blue’ which I have on vinyl and have played A LOT. Instead, I’ve gone with Wild is the Wind, as this record has pulled me through a few emotional trenches. Specifically ‘What more can I say’, a song I wish would never ever ever end. Miss Simone, the emotion you emulate through your voice, I feel every note charging through my veins and racing straight to my heart. The crescendo in this song hits so hard and then the song ends leaving me desperate for more.
This record transports me to early mornings spent opening the bagel shop, morning sun creeping through the window. I can smell the bagels turning golden, as I scoop schmear into metal containers. The city is waking up to the sound of Nina’s fingers chasing up and down the piano keys. I love you Nina, you're one of a kind, what more can I say?
2. Blue - Joni Mitchell
I know it’s a cliche, but ‘Blue’ is a timeless album that cannot be faulted. These songs really are like tattoos, I know them so well. They bring me comfort whilst also tapping right at my heart. I had ‘Blue’ on CD at home growing up, I feel it opened up my heart to music in a transformative way. No one writes quite like Joni and I’m not sure anyone ever will. The way I heard these tracks as a child and how I hear them now has in many ways shifted. My younger ears heard travel and adventure in her lyrics. Now I hear the vulnerability in the words she sings, the sadness and longing, but also the peacefulness that comes with observing and accepting life. Joni has a way of lyricism which I feel is unmatched, she is so cleverly cryptic yet hits right on the nose. Picking this album as my only Joni album was hard no doubt, as two of my favourite songs are ‘Peoples Parties’ from Court and Spark, and ‘Coyote’ from Hejira and that’s without even mentioning ‘Both Sides Now’. However, I will stick with ‘Blue’.
3.Either/Or - Elliott Smith
The year is 2023, it’s 6am, the sun has barely risen on a gloomy winter morning, you drag your sorry self in your unironed shirt onto the 73 bus, headed for town. You are Miss Misery, on her morning commute, working as a waitress in a cocktail bar (private members club). Soho is a different place this time of morning, the streets are dirty, rats shamelessly cross your path. The early birds are up, clearing the trash from the night before, whilst those in stilettos, smoke in doorways yet to go to bed. This is not what you imagined working in the ‘big city’ would be like, nevertheless your journey from home to work is the exact length of ‘Either/Or’ by Elliott Smith, so everything’s going to be okay.
4. Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
In come the drums, like the sound of feet running, your heart beating fast and booming in your chest. From the moment this album begins you’re swept into a different world, one with wide open skies, you feel the wind rushing through your hair with the ferocious sense of freedom.
Kate Bush’s lyricism has had a huge impact on me, her surrealism intertwined with earnest feeling, there is innocence that still carries so much depth. At the age of 16, Kate Bush was everything to me, and this album played a huge part in keeping excitement in life for me. This record takes you on a journey and seems to dip into many genres. Her vocal playfulness in the title track adds so much spirit, the strings throughout keeping you on your toes, I feel as though this record has influenced how I write and the sound I seek.
5. MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana
My teenage angst was supported by Nirvana in my time of need, most youths in the 90’s would’ve felt the same I’m sure, however for me it was 2015. Nevermind was buzzing through my earphones constantly as I moped around school in my oversized hoodie, my aura reeked of teen spirit. Whilst I am often drawn to poetic folk lyricism and raw soulful vocals, there is also nothing I crave more than crunchy guitar, headbanging and a sweaty screaming front man. Nirvana was my window into that world of music, I have chosen this live album due to its ability to transport me to a different era and if I close my eyes, I can imagine I’m there in New York, 1994. A few favourite tracks are ‘Something In The Way’, ‘Come As You Are’ and their cover of ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’. Nirvana was my gateway to the grungesphere, from Fugazi to Smashing Pumpkins to Joy Division to Mazzy Star. Music that has cathartic healing powers.
Bob Dylan famously said, about writing his music, that it “isn’t him” — something else took over entirely, like a trance, and when he snapped out of it, he had some of the most lyrically profound music in front of him; music that he had trouble taking credit for. What does songwriting look like to you? Is it reaching a transcendent flow-state, or is it a way simpler process?
For me writing songs has always felt like a need more than a task. I rarely sit down with the conscious intention of writing a song. People often ask what comes first, lyrics or melody, but I find they usually just come hand in hand. Most songs of mine have been written sitting in bed, maybe after a few pints, when I’m deep deep in my feelings. Those times when I can’t be honest with someone, when I’ve been unable to articulate my big old feelings. It’s a release, I need it. Saying that, some songs I’ve written in a more reflective state, these songs seem to present themself in a way to try and help me understand something, to try and find meaning.
I relate very much to what Bob is saying, I think writing songs can feel like an out of body experience, you can find yourself playing and singing a song so easily as if it has always been there, waiting for you to play it.
Do other art mediums (i.e. painting, sculpture, film) inform how and why you make music? Who are some of your favorite artists outside of the art form of music?
Yes, 100 percent. I would say film plays a huge part in my life, I often feel as though I am watching life through a cinematic lens. There are many films that I believe have shaped me as a person and the music I make, especially movies with amazing soundtracks. The first that springs to mind is Baz Lerman’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. I loved this film from quite a young age, from the maximalist art direction to the Shakespearean language, the dramatic depiction of love to the diverse soundtrack. At age 13 we had an assignment at school to record two songs, I did ‘Exit Music for a Film’ Radiohead and ‘Kissing You’ Des’ree, both from the soundtrack, both so theatrical and gut wrenching.
Other directors and cinematographers that I admire are Andrea Arnold, Ang Lee and David Lynch. I think they all capture vulnerability, sensitivity and realness in their movies whilst also drawing you into their hauntingly beautiful cinematic world.
Puppets are also mediums that I’ve always been drawn to. As a child I loved E.T, and of course John William’s iconic soundtrack. Stop motion and animation have also had a big impact on me, films like ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ Wes Anderson, ‘Corpse Bride’ Tim Burton and ‘Coraline’ Henry Selick. I recently created my own mini stop motion movie as a music video for one of my songs. It was something new I hadn’t tried before, the result is very janky, but was super fun to make. It fills me with so much excitement that you can create a whole world with just your hands, if you light it and film it right I think you can really feel transported.
I feel I cannot talk about movies that inspire me without mentioning these music films that have heavily influenced my love of music; ‘The Commitments’, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains’, ‘Once’ and ‘Sing Street’.
Whilst music is the most important thing to me in the whole wide world, I actually think I am quite a visual person. Alongside my music I also create videos, almost like vlogs but I think more ‘slice of life’. I love filming life around me, trees, the sky, friends and everyday things that seem so simple or even mundane. There is so much beauty around us all the time, I find that creating and editing my videos allows me to take time to appreciate these things. I allow silence and space in my videos, the purpose is not always to entertain but to instead reflect the true nature of living, when you are doing nothing except ‘being’.
Is there someone in particular that has greatly inspired your current music taste? How have you carried this into your artistic expression?
The day I discovered Joan Baez, is when I really stepped into the universe of folk. Joan is someone who has always championed other artists, with rendition upon rendition of traditional folk and political songs. There is this footage of Joan performing ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’. The performance is haunting, you can hear the audience gently singing along with her. I was so moved by this, I went on to find out who else has played this song. Along my trail I fell in love with so many other trad folk songs, songs that I recognised, maybe I had heard family members singing them. These are songs that rarely have any writing credits, they are songs that have been passed on, sung by mother to son and so on. I feel it is a reminder of the power that music holds, that it is embedded within all of us and that it is a natural part of human existence. People sing, they always have and they always will.
You’ve been assigned aux for the spaceship ride to Paper Moon. What are you playing?
I’ll Be Seeing You - Billie Holiday
We lift off, foreheads pressed against the windows as we watch the trees below us shrink smaller and smaller. Billie’s raspy nostalgic voice is singing a song that tinkers at our heart strings.
Space Song - Beach House
What else could you listen to as you break through the atmosphere into the ocean of infinite stars, this song is hard to listen to without feeling like you’re floating through space.
We’re in space on our way to the paper moon…
Only You - Yazoo
Stars/Feelings - Nina Simone live in Montreux
Who Knows Where The Time Goes? - Fairport Convention
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning - Ben Webster & Oscar Peterson (Version)
People - Barbara Streisand (from Funny Girl)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor
Far Away - Martha Wainwright
I Think Of You - Rodriguez
English Rose - The Jam
Take It With You - Cameron Winter
Reflections After Jane - The Clientele
Luna - The Smashing Pumpkins
Alien Love Call - Turnstile & Blood Orange
Vincent - Don McLean
Somewhere over the Rainbow - Armen Ra (theremin version)
Single Art: RUINED
