December 2018 saw more music released by artists and bands from Guernsey than I can recall in one such focussed period, so that’s why it’s taken me a while to get to this one.

Hollie Lucia first came to my attention as half of ‘dream-pop’ duo Tonight The Skies around six years ago and, through that band, she instantly gained a reputation for her impressive vocal performances as their sole record became one of the most well-regarded to come out of the island in recent years.

More recently she’s been seen as bassist and co-vocalist for ‘grungeadelic’ rockers Dolmens but, following them going in hiatus after last summer, she launched her own solo music with a special show at Guernsey’s Priaulx Library that also celebrated the release of her first single, Scales-Weights.

From the moment it begins the mix of haunting vocals and simple but effective guitar and piano is captivating.

This builds as the track goes on with subtle bass parts added to the mix and then a harmonica (supposedly purchased from the gift shop in Herm) but all the time it remains centred on the core that is Hollie’s vocals.

I would imagine for a producer it could be very tempting to add additional instrumentation and, for wont of a better description, studio tricks to fill out the space in the song but thankfully here they haven’t, this allows Hollie’s vocals the space to be the focus and keep the soul of them and the music intact, including that you can hear the noises guitar being played.

From speaking to Hollie recently this may be down to the fact that this was originally intended as a demo rather than a single for release but, if she hadn’t said that, there’s no way you’d know and Scales-Weights makes for a very strong start for Hollie as a solo artist that looks set to continue with the upcoming second single Bunny Bunny and more.

You can find out more about Mikal Dyas’ artwork for Hollie’s single here