Johnny Hollow – S/T

Johnny Hollow isn’t only about music. The visual side is equally important. With sounds and images they paint their tales about madness and passion. Their website is pure visual extravaganza. If you solve the online riddles you can listen to their music and watch some clips too… They also made a lot of work from the cd booklet, which looks very stylish. You would almost forget about the music. Which would be a shame, because the melancholic, dark cinematic music of Johnny Hollow is of a high level.

The album is quite hard to describe, because it incorporates various styles and influences, from triphop to darkwave (Projekt) to shoegaze to classical music. The female vocals are an important and strong factor, they range from mysterious to sexy. At times a male voice keeps her company. The songs often have unconventional structures, rich textures and sudden turns. Interesting things are being done with rhythms. Some nice sounding classical instruments are used, like piano and cello. There is a lot of variation present, slow, haunting, minimal pieces are alternated with dramatic, energetic pieces with a very full sound. This album certainly has a lot to offer, especially atmosphere. My personal favourite track is the truly beautiful ‘Gone’, in which piano, cello, male and female voices build a delightful subtle song.

artist: Johnny Hollow
label: self-released
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