ALBUM REVIEW: The Noble Art Of Self Destruction – Holding Absence

When The Greatest Mistake Of Your Life turns out to be the best decision you’ve ever made, what do you do next? For HOLDING ABSENCE, the answer lies in crafting a stadium-sized soundtrack for self-therapy sessions. Billed as the finale of a trilogy of albums exploring love, loss, and the person you become as you pick up the pieces, The Noble Art Of Self Destruction maximises the cinematic sadness they shaped on The Greatest Mistake Of Your Life. If Afterlife’s chorus could cause an avalanche at a club show, These New Dreams has the power to send shivers down the spines of tens of thousands, lighters in the air and lungs working overtime to sing along word-for-word.

The Noble Art Of Self Destruction is the Oppenheimer of alternative music, and HOLDING ABSENCE the Christoper Nolan of this parallel universe. Bassist Benjamin Elliott, drummer Ashley Green, guitarist Scott Carey, and vocalist Lucas Woodland have woven a rich conceptual tapestry of depression, imposter syndrome, and self-love, told by an unreliable narrator lost in a labyrinth known as the mind. Every track blends together, breathing new life into each moment, simultaneously sharing the spotlight and stealing the show. 

Opener Head Prison Blues screams into the void, cymbals chiming dissonantly into the distance, before erupting into its explosive chorus with the impact of witnessing the death of a supergiant in the night sky. It’s in this moment HOLDING ABSENCE set out their stall: they’re ready to become Britain’s biggest alternative band. In Head Prison Blues lies a nucleotide that forms a strand of DNA running throughout The Noble Art Of Self Destruction. As Lucas confesses he “Locked myself inside a cell with my own sins / And every day is a different conviction”, it’s clear that what we see and what we think doesn’t match up what those around us do, reiterated by the way it juxtaposes the beautiful, soaring sonics, highlighting the chasm our minds create.

That chasm comes to life clearest as the anthemic, soaring harmonies of False Dawn buckle like paper under the pressure of a pair of Scissors, as the former cuts straight into a shot of the latter. If False Dawn’s empowering woah-ohs lament that “prophecies of me have been seen, that I just don’t believe in”, Scissors employs sinister screams, pulse-intensifying drums, and razorblade riffs to “Sever the parts of my soul I’ve infected with poisonous cells / Or pass the elastic and rope with a dull pair of Scissors, I’ll cut it by myself”. 

Much like Nolan masterfully delivers with Oppenheimer, much of The Noble Art Of Self Destruction’s magic lies in its ability to make you feel like you’re the fly on the wall, every emotion yours as much as it’s theirs. Honey Moon’s campfire confessional is a future first dance, its acoustic chords carved into your skin as you bear witness. Liminal’s swaggering Empire State Building-sized structures, led by Green’s masterfully monolithic drumming, is a crash course in depression’s catch-22 cycle, leading you to chase your own tail around your mind as Woodland wears his heart on his sleeve, confessing that “every time I turn a corner I’m stuck, stuck in the middle of it”.

The Noble Art Of Self Destruction is not for the faint hearted. Like leaving the cinema after seeing Oppenheimer, it’ll leave you feeling emotionally heavy, yet every concept is accessible. And whilst all 10 of its tracks are behemoth-sized bangers in their own right, there are three standouts that show the future lies in superstardom for HOLDING ABSENCE. Death, Nonetheless is a fan favourite in waiting; a feedback-induced coma of dissonance melodically clashing with world-conquering percussion, building fervently to the goosebump-inducing stadium-shattering gang vocals of “Death to the beat of the drums overarching / Death, nonetheless is constantly marching”. These New Dreams is the love song you’ve lost yourself looking for, the ode to those in our lives that stitch us back together when we cut ourselves open and bleed out our failures. Pianos and synths glimmer off into the distance as Woodland delivers one of his most soul-crushingly beautiful vocals, moving you to tears as he admits “I’ve been holding onto better days…”, and concluding he’s “trying to love myself”. 

And finally, closer The Angel In The Marble shatters all expectations, answering in a single song a question many have struggled with: how do you follow-up The Greatest Mistake Of My Life? But if anyone deserves an Ivor Novello, it’s Woodland for his moving monologue that lets you know that for all of the self-hate and self-loathing life can leave you with, ultimately, everything will be okay in the end. And if it’s not okay, it’s not the end, as he defiantly declares “I am a puzzle, I am a painting / I am a work of art in the making / Trust in your hand and trust in the process / I am a work of art in progress / I learn from my flaws and I cut myself open / Bleed myself better golden and broken / Now all I have left is a handful of hope and a thousand laments / Regrets I can’t leave unspoken“.

On The Noble Art Of Self Destruction, HOLDING ABSENCE stake their claim for the throne of British music’s future. Be sure, this album will be this band’s breakthrough, and it’ll likely top end-of-year lists the world over. But even more pressing, don’t be surprised when you’re left crying and smiling simultaneously by the end of it. This album is a triumphant masterpiece made to be heard by the masses, so play your part. 

Rating: 10/10

The Noble Art Of Self Destruction is set for release on August 25th via SharpTone Records.

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