ALBUM REVIEW: The Greatest Mistake Of My Life – Holding Absence

Despite their debut, eponymous record only hitting shelves two years ago – HOLDING ABSENCE already feel like a different proposition now. From album artwork colour palette, to their theatrical presentation in videos: this is inescapably chapter two. The Greatest Mistake Of My Life ushers in change visually, but boasts evolution sonically. The Cardiff quartet’s knack for delivering emotive hooks hasn’t just been retained here; it’s been built on.

While the band have previously (and unfairly) been pigeon holed into emo, and “sad boy rock” categories, this new record puts their sound closer to THE CURE than it ever was MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. Its tales of naivety and failure in romance may well be familiar, but its hearty delicacy makes it endearing all the same.

Non-intro opening track Celebration Song lyrically acts as a neat temporal shift. In an album set to fixate itself on the past, it’s warming to hear vocalist Lucas Woodland gratefully beckon “I lost so much along the way and that’s fine, cause I’m alive“. And though The Greatest Mistake Of My Life looks through a dark lens, it doesn’t take long to figure out that the grander message being conveyed by HOLDING ABSENCE is one of self acceptance/love.

Musically ahead of their years – HOLDING ABSENCE make no bones about letting you hear the albums oxymoronic title play out in retrospect. Drugs and Love‘s stunning melodies speak of Lucas‘ fear of the paths he would be willing to traverse if it meant his sadness would be quelled. So transparent is his desperation, you feel a personal connection to his story. Even in all its beautiful grandeur, it’s arguably the darkest moment of the four piece’s career – but it’s also the best.

nomoreroses moves The Greatest‘s… crosshairs from romantic failures to spiritual cynicism. It’s a deviation from the bands norm, not just conceptually, but thematically too. Lucas growls out his lack of faith with passages like “The harder that I pray, the more you make it rain“, and Scott Carey‘s guitar lines have rarely been lower in tempo. Its intellectual, hardened stance looks to act as a cleansing interlude before the emotive scars get reopened. For all intents and purposes – it works.

The Greatest Mistake Of My Life, as you’d expect, sounds at its best when it plays the role of cinematic pop juggernaut. Singles Afterlife, Beyond Belief, and In Circles have infectious characteristics that make them undisputedly accessible, without stripping them of credibility.

But the charming synth builds on Curse Me With Your Kiss highlight the development of HOLDING ABSENCE more than anything else the record can boast. With a glitched opening that gives way to Ashley Green‘s snare breaking passion slams – the ideal emotive platform is built for Lucas to deliver his, by this point, predictably colossal vocals. Die Alone (In Your Lovers Arms) sees the band tread new water, too. Woodland shares vocal duties with his sister, Caitlyn – a fitting touch on such a personally encroaching album. But regardless of sentiment, the way his soaring hooks are manipulated around this tale of only realising upon death, that you don’t love someone, is nothing short of his finest moment yet.

To say that The Greatest Mistake Of My Life is an example of HOLDING ABSENCE growing up would be reductive. In essence, the band’s debut record carved a formula for them that would have seen them comfortably exist if replicated. More than maturity, this album finds the Welshmen discovering new ways to elevate their sound to heights previously undiscovered. In 2019 they made you stand up and take notice, now? HOLDING ABSENCE are one of the hottest properties in British rock.

Rating: 8/10

The Greatest Mistake Of My Life is set for release on April 16th via SharpTone Records.

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