Holy Spirits

I am so happy to present this video and this interview that it nearly hurts. I’ve been corresponding with Michael and Aaron of Holy Spirits for about a month now. And it has been a process of communication and connection that I’ve really only experienced with friends and family over the internet. Turns out, I’ve grown very fond of them.

Both the interview and the video are firsts for me. Experiments in my range of ability. So I hope these find you well, and give you something interesting to read and watch today. Making these was one of the more pleasurable things I’ve done while running this blog. Enjoy! - smokeDONTsmoke

I don’t think I’ll ever get over the wacky climate variations in SF. The weather varies almost drastically from one neighborhood to the next. Holy Spirits compliments such factors. From my fog laden neighborhood, to the warm, sunkissed areas; perfect melodic folk for your travels. The music swells, swirls and envelops you in a glowing warmth. This is music to lose yourself in… - Unholy Rhythms

God Bless the Internet.
About a week or so ago, Holy Spirits started following me on Twitter. I still get the notification emails from Twitter about my new followers, so, I obviously had to check this Holy Spirits out. And believe me, it was the best decision I made all day.
Holy Spirits is the Brooklyn-based band that is literally blowing my mind with their amazing take on making music. “Tongues” was the first song I heard and I was completely amazed by how they made this song work. It begins with a bang and goes into silent breaths and Ooo’s, followed by gorgeous harmonies into a chorus rounded out by hand claps. If this isn’t art, then I don’t know what is.
Each demo on the band’s MySpace is a separate masterpiece and they all fit together like paintings in a gallery. For fans of Grizzly Bear or Local Natives. You really need to head over to their MySpace and listen for yourself. Your browser will not leave that page for days. - Wholly Roller

Originally hailing from Fort Benning, Georgia, the two friends Aaron Hodges and Michael Barron relocated to the still cherished Mecca of everything that's hip and rad experimental, and apparently, in Brooklyn the two have found the perfect environment for their amazing project Holy Spirits (now with Rob Alvarez as additional member), a band devoted to complex folky pop music, very harmony-driven yet very much leaning towards that certain latter day experimentalism that put this very borough on everyone's map in the last couple of years. Bridges, a track from their debut EP The Afternoon's Blood, is a splendid tune with breathtaking instrumentation and amazing harmonies, equally uplifting and demanding, and without doubt one of the finest things I've come across this year. Well done, guys. - No Fear of Pop

i have a confession: while i love the beach, chillwave, and summer, i grew up in the woods. during my summer vacations, i probably went hiking and camping more-so than i did swimming and surfing. so when it comes to music, i often get much more attached to songs that remind me of those days, nights spent in the middle of the woods, exploring, nature. so, it’s no surprise that brooklyn’s holy spirits are on rotation for me right now. their own brand of quirky, experimental folk pop is incredibly endearing and intimate, very akin to phil elvrum’s own brand of woodsy folk yet aaron hodges and michael barron have definitely already carved out their own niche in the genre. these are tales about the moon, nature, and our relationships with these things. really beautiful stuff, and it comes highly recommended. you can stream the amazing bridges above, and then head over to their myspace to listen to more tracks. - Boy Attractions

I wasn’t too familiar with the band Holy Spirits until I was directed their way via Twitter. Glad I’ve made this find. This fresh track entitled “Tongues” comes off the band’s latest release, an EP named The Afternoon’s Blood, which is an album that consists of beautiful vocal harmonies that instantly bring to mind comparisons to songwriters like Bon Iver or even Jeff Buckley. The track’s gentle string arrangements hypnotize, with repetitive handclaps that sound like raindrops dripping down the shingles of an antiquated house. - Neon Musical Insight

So a couple of my blog bros have mentioned this guys before but why should that stop me? The first half or so of ‘White Walls’ is a different track then their others, while still consistent with their intimate melodies. This posses a simple electronic sound effect that sounds as though the oxygen is leaking from the escape pod and the battery is running dead. On top of that is a falsetto harmonic voices from Michael and Aaron. Once you’ve reached the half way point you’ve felt the build and will enjoy the build. At the end when you’re a changed person, I suggest you move on to their track Tongues. - Head Underwater

The Afternoon's Blood is the self-released EP from Brooklyn band, Holy Spirits. The music is absolutely beautiful; in a similar fashion to Fleet Foxes the vocal harmonies and layering are splendid, the lyrics are poetry, and their sound is some of the most delightful folk music around. They were also recently featured on a mixtape put together by Matthew Wipple of Cymbals Eat Guitars over on International Tapes' mixtape series. - See The Leaves

I immediately got goosebumps after listening to Holy Spirits first track ‘The Afternoon’s Blood’, I haven’t heard such lovely two-part male harmonies since church choir when I was a kid. The soft folk instrumentation flows like the tide just below their soft falsetto voices. There is something sacred about it, infused with the kind of musical authority of the holy spirit, slipping through cracked wooden floors and gently bouncing of white walls, their debut EP is something of a transformative, meditative experience. Just lovely. - Friends With Both Arms

Holy Spirits reached out to me a week or so ago, and I’ve spent some good time on their myspace. Enough to say they’ve got some of the rawest stuff around. They have a simple bare-bones structure, with floating and even lofting harmonies. Aptly named Holy Spirits, cause they’ll have you thinking you were in church with how sacred their sound can get. They have been getting some much deserved attention recently, and after a few listens I couldn’t bring myself to ignoring them. - smokeDONTsmoke

The Summer’s coming to a close.

It’s drifting down slowly. Not yet the crack of lightning, and the splash of rain that comes with Fall. Nor the heavy silence, and weighed down branches of Winter… But the clouds are gathering.

New York’s Holy Spirits are those clouds. Rolling in from the east, dark and filled with long sweeping winds. The kind of winds that croon their dark organ sounds across the sky, filling it with their wistful harmonies. The kind of winds that pull the leaves from trees as they pass, leaving them twisting to the ground in their wake. The kind of winds that stir up the oceans, and pickup waves to push them ever farther up the sand, until they claw at the very cliffs.
Yes, It’s a stark picture these songs paint. But no less beautiful for it. - Dead As Digital

Brooklyn-via-Georgia’s Holy Spirits just friended me on myspaces and I’m fully wrapped up into their excellent psych-folk demosongs. Quiet but full, with liberal use of classical guitar and harmony. These are Grizzly Bear-inspired melodies and absolutely worthy of the comparison. Start with the epic “Tongues” - yvynyl

"Folk illuminations traversed by epic sound swells––high above a crepuscular landscape, the ghost of Vic Chesnutt floats along to the tempo of a wobbly metronome before melting into a base of hooky songwriting, borrowing its airy movements from the orchestrations of The Microphones." - Altered Zones

Post of songs. - All, Everyone, United