The trio known as
Holy Hive -- singer/songwriter
Paul Spring, bassist
Joe Harrison, and drummer
Homer Steinweiss -- first grabbed fans with their evocative 2019 EP
Harping. That release introduced listeners to their dusky, falsetto-steeped brand of retro-pop that drew upon the trio's shared love of late-'60s style soul and psych-inflected folk music. It's a vibe they continue to explore on 2020's warmly textured
Float Back to You. Produced by
Steinweiss at his co-owned Diamond Mind Studios in Queens, the album sounds like a lost cult classic.
Steinweiss was a longtime member of the powerful old-school soul, funk, and R&B outfit
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and brings a similarly inspired ear for earthy, analog vibes to his work here. But where
the Dap-Kings mined the more robust and muscular end of vintage soul,
Holy Hive take a more introspective approach. Tracks like "Didn't You Say" and "Hypnosis," balance crisp Motown grooves and guitar jangle with a moody psychedelic undercurrent. Similarly expressive, "Embers to Ash" showcases the group's more spectral leanings akin to British soul luminaries
the Zombies. We also get the yearning "Oh I Miss Her So," with its airy harp from
Mary Lattimore and a lyrically supple, jazz-informed solo from
the Roots and
Dap-Kings trumpeter
Dave Guy. "Red Is the Rose" is a moody and darkly hued chamber piece again marked by deft horn arrangements and disarming harp flourishes. Yet more classic folk intimations abound as the group summon the plaintive sweetness of
Simon & Garfunkel on "Be Thou By My Side" and cross
Neil Young with
Van Morrison on the title track, all before sinking woozily into the hippie dream ballad "You Will Always Be By My Side Forever." Interestingly, while
Holy Hive nail the vintage vibe they are going for, they also have a knack for subtly updating the sound of their influences. At times they push the drums forward in the mix hip-hop style, or semi-bury their ghostly croons in the arrangement like some kind of proto-shoegaze band. It's an approach that helps to elevate the haunted, vintage-vinyl romanticism at play throughout all of
Float Back to You. ~ Matt Collar
