Alternative singer-songwriter Gabby Holt premieres her debut EP, The Star and The Devil, a collection of six tracks probing her past connections.
Gabby explains, “In tarot, The Star card comes after The Tower and The Tower is all about something on a shit foundation that falls apart, suddenly, sometimes terribly and everything crumbles. The Star, being right after that, that’s when the healing, rejuvenation, renewed sense of hope happens. The Star is represented by Aquarius which is the water bearer, it’s also connected to the divine and a wish fulfilled. The Devil is all about addictions, sex, toxicity, obsessions. It’s represented by Capricorn. In the original Rider Waite Tarot deck, there’s a guy and a girl naked chained together but if you look closely, it’s not locked, and they can walk away at any moment. These songs are all me in connections with people who are unavailable for whatever reason and in my abandonment wound, I’m wanting it to work out, fix them, not ready to let go, not understanding what it means to let go, mistaking sexual lust for love, etc.—that’s my Devil. Obsessively wanting to be in connections where both people don’t have the right containers for each other. These songs document me on that journey of healing.”
She goes on to add, “It’s still giving voice to that part of me that was in it. It’s okay to be human…it’s a really human thing to feel that way.”
Produced by Gabby Holt and Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Typhoon, Deertick), the EP features Joe Mengis (Eels) and Charley McGowan on drums, Sean Tichenor on bass, and Bryan Owens on additional guitar.
Mysteriously attracted to the guitar at an early age, Gabby felt at home with the instrument as carried it with her throughout her childhood and adolescence. Later, in high school, she sneaked into Portland Open Mic nights, followed by plunging into the Portland music scene. Playing in various bands, she finally met Daniel Riddle and joined King Black Acid, which she later began co-fronting.
Prior to 2020, Gabby and her band performed regularly, selling out shows in Portland, along with opening for Floater.
Entry points on The Star and The Devil include “Songbird,” opening on gritty alt-rock guitars riding a finessed, powerful rhythm. Gabby’s Siren-like voice imbues the lyrics with edgy, luminous timbres, giving the tune hints of shoegaze surfaces.
“One More Time” rolls out on dark, fierce guitars atop crunching drums, and then takes on savage energy, shifting and altering on luscious textures and rippling flows of harmonics. A blistering guitar solo injects the tune with ferocious colors as Gabby’s crème de la crème tones invest the lyrics with bravura timbres.
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“The Devil In My Head” travels on bluesy-flavored snarling guitars, while Gabby’s crystalline, edgy vocals infuse the lyrics with dreamy filaments exuding purposeful sensations.
Gabby Holt has it going on! The Star and The Devil is simultaneously muscular and compelling, yet the delectable femme fatale voice of Gabby Holt saturates the songs in posh, exotic hues.
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