motel void

The Huntress and Holder of Hands rose from profound loss — songwriter MorganEve Swain continued the project after the passing of her husband and longtime musical partner Dave Lamb, with whom she had previously captivated audiences as the duo Brown Bird. Since Lamb’s death in 2014, The Huntress and Holder of Hands has evolved into a vessel for grief, anger, hope, despair, and ultimately a kind of hard-earned compassion.

I have a real soft spot for music rooted in americana or tinged with that eerie, gothic-country atmosphere, and this project embodies both beautifully. Their last full-length, Avalon (2017), received widespread critical acclaim, and Shake Off Your Flesh, with more than three million streams on Spotify, has become something of a modern classic within the genre.

The new single Promethean is just as captivating. It builds on unsettling, almost disturbing strings and a striking, redemptive melody that weaves its way through the song. The atmosphere feels deeply cinematic. After the haunting opening vocals, a dense and heavy section takes over, eventually breaking into a beautiful string-driven bridge before unfolding into an epic finale. There’s a hypnotic quality to it all, even a subtle krautrock pulse beneath the surface – truly a remarkable piece of work!