Holy Moly & The Crackers - Take A Bite (2019)

Earlier this year Holy Moly & The Crackers’ co-front person Conrad Bird talked about his apprehension about some of the new directions coming from the band; eager to please, the nerves were less about the quality of the music, and more about their accessibility. How would their gypsy folk fans relate to a newer, slightly poppier, more polished, collection of tracks?

Earlier single All I Got Is You set expectations with a high energy search for the pop charts. Still layered with traditional HM&TC instruments (violins, horns and accordions) the track achieved the aim of sounding like Holy Moly, but pushed the boundaries into new directions. Which, really, is how you could describe the album; this is Holy Moly as their usual ‘up for it’ selves, whilst at the same time being inspired by their search for progression. Highlight Upside Down pushes the pop sound to its zenith whilst This Little Light proves that they’re still folk at heart. No need to be worried Conrad!