Holliday Howe Releases New Single Scarz

Sydney-based hyperpop producer & singer-songwriter Holliday Howe (she/her or they/them) continues her ‘hyperemo’ era with new song scarz premiering on triple j, following her hotly anticipated cover of American Football’s midwest classic never meant in June and an acclaimed set of showcases at BIGSOUND 2022 & EMC 2022. Ruminating on a shattered relationship, scarz pummels through the streetscape of LA; an evocative tale of ‘breakup whiplash’ which changes its mind as often as its subject.

Describing the track, Holliday says, “Usually after a break up, I get this insane amount of clarity from the benefit of hindsight and suddenly memories of the “sweet nothings” I had been told turn sour. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced it, but I call the phenomenon “break up whiplash.” That’s what “scarz" is all about.

This guy used to exclaim how similar we were and left me wondering if he really just wanted to be in a relationship with himself. I didn’t know what covert narcissism was when we first started dating, but I think I know a lot more about it now.

This is a pretty angry song and it changes its mind a lot, and doesn’t quite know what it wants to be… it mimics exactly who it was written about.”

Holliday plays two shows this week in Sydney: 13th July in the Oxford Arts Factory main room alongside Agony, Cherry Chola & lilpixie; and 15th July at The Burdekin headlining Bubblegum Club. 

 
Holliday Howe is Sydney’s finest cyber-hyper-popstar, producer and songwriter. A graduate of Goldsmiths’ Bmus Pop Music course, Holliday spent years drinking in the influences of London’s ultra-inventive club scene whilst honing her own particular melancholic brand of hyperpop. Now back in her hometown of Sydney and hot on the heels of her revelatory debut mixtape My Friends Live In My Pocket, Holliday returns with a new musical & aesthetic twist. 

The heady bangers & shimmering sentimentality reflected on Holliday’s debut EP, inspired by the likes of Charli XCX and PC Music, blends seamlessly with the music bubbling under the surface of her childhood memories: hints of The Postal Service, Bon Iver, and even midwest-emo revivalist Brakence are present in her new direction. Kicking her ‘hyperemo’ era off with a rousing cover of an American Football classic - already garnering ardent praise from the TikTok set - Holliday pays no heed to classic genre markers like hyperpop & glitchcore: this is post-genre music for the post-internet age. Melding twinkly midwest emo guitar riffs & garage breaks one moment with ASMR glitch beats & distorted 808s the next; Holliday’s fresh direction combines all the music she’s obsessed over for the last 15 years in one glorious emotional burst - a sound unique to Holliday, with her delicate production doing as much storytelling heavy lifting as her lyrics. Appropriately for the artist with one of the strongest claims to the hotly contested origin of the genre name ‘hyperpop’, Holliday is again blazing her own path.

Last track ‘never meant’ was inspired by a breakup, with the original American Football track being her ex’s favourite song. While originally released as a quick TikTok, the huge online response clamouring for an official release led Holliday to finish the track properly & record a visualiser inspired by the 2014 music video; whilst teasing with extra snippets. These teasers, playing on fans’ comparisons to Skins UK & Holliday’s own ‘Australian Football House’, have over 300k views, 40k likes, & 100 videos using the sound.

Previous tracks including Digital Affection and 2000 have featured on triple j, FBi Radio playlist, Fresh Finds (Spotify), Music Feeds, The Music, AU Review, AVYSS, Dummy; 20+ editorial playlists across Spotify, Apple, TIDAL & Deezer (including the coveted Hyperpop playlist), and Holliday has played shows in London, New York, L.A., Chicago, Austin, Sydney, Brisbane & more. With the hyper-tide rising in Australia, Holliday is ready to step into the limelight.