Her blissful new album ‘Not The Girl’ is out now…South Coast songwriter Holly Macve seems to construct entire worlds with each passing album.
Out now, wistfully evocative full length ‘Not The Girl’ is a gorgeous listen, with her sunlit arrangements offsetting some potent lyricism.
Drawing inspiration from the works of Sylvia Plath, her songwriting is drenched in pop elements, while nodding towards classic elements.
With summer now in full swing, Holly Macve set some hazy, sunny day picks to Clash…
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Teenage Fanclub – ‘The Sun Won’t Shine On Me’
This is a track from the newest Teenage Fanclub album and it’s honestly one of the most perfect, beautiful songs I have heard in ages. It has a joyful, happy and nostalgic feel about it but it’s also so sad and poignant lyrically. I heard it a few months back for the first time and must of been in a vulnerable mood because tears were shed.
As an artist it’s one of those songs that you hear and you think ‘Damn, I wish I had written that’. It’s short and simple yet so powerful and brilliant.
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Dolly Parton – ‘The Bridge’
I will stick to the ’Sad/ Happy’ vibe with the next song, and I believe Dolly Parton is the master of this…
’The Bridge’ is one of Dolly’s early recordings, from her 1968 album ‘Just Because I’m A Woman’. It’s a story about a woman who becomes pregnant with a man who abandons her and she ends up committing suicide which is signified by the abrupt ending. It was pretty controversial for a woman to be singing and writing about these things back then in 60’s Tennessee.
In my eyes Dolly is one of the best story tellers of the century and she’s a huge inspiration to me personally, and as a woman in the music business.
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Daniel Johnston – ‘Life In Vein’
I think Daniel was such a gift to this word – I’m such a fan of his brutal honestly and imagination. Everyone looks for different things within music but I’m always so tuned in with the lyrics of a song, and he was such a unique and inspiring lyricist.
There’s a great documentary about him which I keep coming back to The Devil And Daniel Johnston – I’d highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it – it’s a real insight into his world.
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George Harrison – ‘I’d Have You Any Time’
This song was written by George Harrison and Bob Dylan (how beautiful). There are some sweet pictures of them in Woodstock together during this time. I also came across a very rough demo of this somewhere on the dark web and now I cannot find it! If anyone knows where I can find it let me know…
I’m such a huge fan of George and his guitar playing. I’m also a huge Dylan fan so this song makes me very happy.
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Holly Macve’s new album ‘Not The Girl’ is out now.
Photo Credit: Maximillian Kinghorn-Mills
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