Maximalist Ambition - Holobody’s Cycler
Photo by Angelicdata
I first saw Luke play in 2019 at the now closed La Plante in the Mile-End. He was performing solo (he played an instrumental electronic set of songs from his album Sleep Debt) and right away I realized that Holobody’s music was going to be an important part of the Montreal underground music scene.
I’ve also seen him perform a solo piano set in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic at Le Piano where he covered The Beatles, played stripped down versions of Phosphorus, and the songs that he was going to release in 2022-2023. His latest release is called Cycler (12 songs and exactly 1 hour long) and is accompanied by two EPs (III and V) which were released before the album. There’s an amazing music video for ‘’Hi Power’’, giving us a glimpse into Luke’s world, at the intersection of magic, technology, and tradition.
Holobody’s music is out of this world. On one of his earlier tracks, ‘’Uriel’’, he overlaid a channeled message from an angel, found on YouTube, onto a meticulously designed 6 minute instrumental track. This is only a small example of the immense work that goes into every one of his musical productions. The recorded material is extremely professional, but it is the ever-changing live arrangement of the songs that truly make Holobody stand out. His album release show at MAI/SON was beautifully stripped-down and his POP Montreal set was fully electronic. No two shows are the same.
There’s a mythological aspect to Holobody’s music that is apparent once you’ve immersed yourself for long enough in his discography. Animals like the lion and the lamb appear regularly throughout the songs. The sun and the moon are also symbols that recur often. These are all a part of the story that Luke is telling, the world he is creating with his music. One of the most interesting characters to see the light in Holobody’s universe is the Cycler. The album starts at the beginning of the circle and makes its way around the zodiac, stopping along the way to make the listener experience something different on each track. Luke is interested in the number twelve and its significance in our culture, the precise timing and track number of Cycler is therefore no coincidence: it’s a beautifully planned homage.
A self-taught musician, Holobody knew from a young age that this is what he wanted to do, and started experimenting early. Dozens of unreleased songs, with which he used to hone his craft, are kept in a digital vault on his Soundcloud. The time spent practicing was not wasted, as is apparent in the quality of the songs that make their way to the listener through more popular streaming platforms.
Another important aspect of music making that is important to Luke is the process of healing. Through his initiative and participation in the now-gone ‘’Sleepover Drone’’ at La Plante, Luke has been able to fine-tune sublime drone music which he releases through his other project: Good Sine. He says that the more celebratory music he makes as Holobody, and the meditative and healing drones he makes with Good Sine, are both critical parts of who he is as a person.
The album Cycler has a long list of contributors and collaborators. It was important for him to ask as many of his musician friends to join him as possible. A lot of these musical contributors are singers and musicians that have careers of their own. The result is an album that is never boring, always offering the listener something different to focus on. Luke once described his music as ‘’maximalist pop’’ which means - to me - that the tracks have a lot of sounds going on at the same time. It’s perfect listening because it demands your attention. I also like the description ‘’experimental pop’’ as the songs are designed to be catchy, with verse and chorus, but there is a self-taught element that cannot be ignored. It’s more than pop music, in a way, and that makes it that much better.
When asked why he isn’t more popular than he currently is, Luke states that it might be because the musical output of the project has been so different. He’s released solo, instrumental, and full band albums and this might’ve had an effect on his popularity. As with many other musicians emerging from the pandemic haze, he is honing in on the true essence of Holobody and it certainly shows in his latest release. 2023 was a busy year for the band as they played POP Montreal and toured in Ottawa, Toronto and other locations. He says that there are no typical Holobody shows as he always adapts his performances to the audience he will be playing for.
One of the main reasons Cycler sounds much more whole than his previous releases is that the full band and slew of collaborators is a brand new thing for Luke. Cycler shares parallels with an earlier release called Wandering, but it’s as if the latter was on steroids. Whereas Wandering is about heartbreak, Cycler is about being too ambitious. Luke candidly says that Cycler is about everything. The album Cycler was produced with the financial aid of a recording grant, and here Luke says he went all-in. He intentionally wanted to make a full blown record. As the money was being spread thin, the writing eventually informed new songs that were added to the mix. The final result after a year and a half of work in four different studios is 22 songs. The scope of the project nearly burnt him out, he says, but he emerged with content which he is very happy about. Cycler, in the end, is about everything inside of the circle: megalomania, ego mania, self-importance, ambition, heartbreak, being in love…
Each of Cycler’s twelve songs represents a symbol from the zodiac. The meaning is hidden inside of the tracks, or if you go on the official Holobody website you might find some information about this. Luke is admittedly vague about this concept, however, as he wants there to be more than one interpretation possible with Cycler. To Luke, a song represents a specific place, a psychic area if you will. That means that a couple songs on Cycler share melodies and themes from previous songs and albums. It’s important for Luke to go back to these psychic places. I think this only strengthens and reinforces the Holobody universe. The last song on Cycler, ‘’Clear As A Bell’’, is also a line that is repeated in an earlier song of his called ‘’Lamb’’, for example. It’s refreshing and comforting to hear these recurring symbols, melodies, and words.
The album is divided in two parts. Side A is Light and Side B is Dark. The sheer scope of Cycler makes it a crucial element of the Holobody story. It’s a consistent and grandiose chapter of a universe that is ever expanding. The contrast of the two live versions of the album (the piano set and the party set) represents, yet again, the duality of being that is so important to Luke’s worldview. Although Cycler is a full-blown maximalist album, the campfire test applies to everything Holobody does. The songs can be played in a stripped-down version and that to me is what makes each track on the album, and the EPs, extra special: they really do all sound like perfectly crafted earworms that heal and excite me the more I listen to them.
Holobody, constantly working, is planning to record two new albums over the winter. Music is forever coming out of him and his bandmates, and for that all of Montreal should be grateful.
Highlights from III, V, and Cycler:
In the Sun
Hi Power
Lucky
Cycler
Clear as a Bell
3 Feet Up
Lion
Half of the Time
Love is a Palace