Loss has always loomed over the music of the Huntress And Holder Of Hands. Led by MorganEve Swain, the Providence, R.I.-based project first emerged following the 2014 death of Dave Lamb, her husband and musical partner in the beloved DIY folk duo Brown Bird. Over the years, her grieving process has expanded outward into something heavier, louder and more communal, absorbing anger, resilience, tenderness and hope along the way.
Swain brings that same restless emotional intensity to Babylon, the latest self-released LP from the Huntress, due June 5. Distorted bass, layered percussion and bowed strings contribute to a shadowy atmosphere that feels both earthy and apocalyptic, fed by arrangements that come by their emotional weight with a finesse that’s often quite delicate. The port in the storm is Swain’s voice, which can shift from whisper to incantation in a matter of seconds.
“Beasts We Are,” the album’s latest single, provides one of the most macro views on the album. You might even call it a protest song.
“It’s about ghosts and the stories we tell ourselves,” says Swain, who’s also now a full-time member of the neo-trad Americana trio the Devil Makes Three. “It’s about our responsibility to the place we call home. It’s about ugly pasts and shared histories, shared grief and where we find ourselves now as a species—and an appeal to each other to care enough to do something about it.”
We’re proud to premiere the Huntress And Holder Of Hands’ “Beasts We Are.”
—Hobart Rowland
See the Huntress And Holder Of Hands live.
