Introducing Holylight, the queer alt-rock project of Dublin-based songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Rosenberger, who first started putting music out all the way back in 2017. Over the years, they’ve put out tracks in fits and starts before releasing a debut EP, titled BeautyPain, which was a milestone moment in 2024. It’s clear that this artist never truly steps away from creativity as they quietly work away on new song ideas until they’re just right for listeners.
This all brings us to today with the fresh release of new single ‘everything goes’, a mature evolution of Holylight‘s sincerity, introspection and atmospheric intensity. It revolves around the singular, unavoidable truth of our existence; that time waits for no one. As Rosenberger simply puts it, this reality can be both cruel and kind, “like getting handed a coffee by your favourite barista for the very last time, or realising that it has been two whole years since you’ve last thought about the ex you swore you’d never get over.”
It’s a certainty that’s put at the forefront, with the mantra, “everything goes, everything flows down the river, all that you love and everything that you’re ashamed of,” opening the song and repeated throughout to really drill the message home. Fittingly, this universal idea is wrapped up in the soft grittiness of Holylight‘s 90s-inspired grunge-meets-shoegaze sound, built on fuzzed-out chords and winding guitar notes.
We’re led down this lazy river of distorted textures and reflective vocal melodies, but this all changes at the track’s halfway point, where Holylight suddenly steers us through more dangerous waters, as though through an unexpected whirlpool or thunderous waterfall. This latter half is an explosion of tightly wound drum patterns, heavy guitars and an incendiary riff, all the while Rosenberger pushes against the inevitable tide of time with the simple command, “hold on.”
At just two minutes long, ‘everything goes’ almost rushes by, but it leaves a lasting impact with its direct approach. This one is slacker-rock for the philosophers.
You can listen to ‘everything goes’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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