Close your eyes and become immersed in the soundscapes and transported to another state of mind, a most potent and pure combination of perception-altering collection of pieces of music thrilling to the senses. This is music with a logical purpose, and there is always a progression. There are infinite free wheeling electronic sounds but there is an overall tonal framework.

Hollan Holmes’ second album for Spotted Peccary, Emerald Waters, is an electronic paean to the beauty, power and importance of water, both calm and dynamic. Here, a plethora of synthesizers ebb and flow around each other like shifting tides in a sonic mix of Berlin School sequences, traditional melodic structures and emotional chord progressions—all infused into enchanting electronic landscapes.

To celebrate the release, the artist will join a live chat on YouTube for the reveal of his “Emerald Waters” video at 1 pm ET January 14, 2022. Join or set a reminder notification at this YouTube channel.

The first track of Emerald Waters is all about motion, with many things happening at once, creating a tapestry of powerful proud melodic punchy layers, calm on the surface but obviously very energetic below. The sound is a tight purposeful weave demonstrating sustainable energy in motion: “Hydroelectric” (6:10). Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity produced from hydropower.

The third track, “A Ribbon of Life” (6:00), is an homage to all the elements of ecology, joyful whirling, dancing and calling, little bells and circles of melodic weaving signs of life and its gradual rise and fall with each successive undulation. In those chasms from which no one returns, new and varied features of the coast are constantly opening up. The whole surface of the sea becomes one dizzy whirl of rushing, writhing motion, bounding, and crashing, and coiling in an anarchy of enormous power, subdivided into myriads of waves, but the rage quiets and there are rapid small movements, transparent currents blending and bubbling. “Tales from the Abyss” (7:15).

“The River” (5:57) has an epic sound, an imaginary massive cathedral organ creates the sense of a rippling moving body of water, winding its way towards the distant blue sea, full of life and motion as far as the eye can reach. Imagine that all the streams in the world, small as well as large, the tiniest brooks no less than the enormous rivers, flowing unceasingly into the oceans.

Water is a versatile substance that makes life as we know it possible. This album of wonder elicits visions of layered power, is uplifting, contemplative and emotionally moving. There is considerable science in this celebration of the constant evolution of all the blips and beeps portraying fluid dynamics of futuristic relentlessness.

Emerald Waters, the album, is uplifting, contemplative and emotionally moving, with its sharper, icier precision and fascination with melody and repetition and textures, and with implied messages about technology’s impact on the planet. This album of wonderful water, elicits visions of layered power, is uplifting, contemplative and emotionally moving. There is considerable science in this celebration of the constant evolution of all the blips and beeps portraying fluid dynamics of futuristic relentlessness. In one word: Fantastiche!

Holmes shares the one fleeting moment that inspired Emerald Waters: while driving across a bridge in Del Rio, Texas with his father, he was suddenly transfixed by the creek below. He recalls: “The water was gin-clear and possessed all the colors of the blue and green spectrum. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. That ten seconds stuck with me my entire life.” Holmes—who has since developed a reputation as a serious fine artist, visually and musically—has reconnected to that same creek and the watery mystery it implied, summoning forth a life-long sense of its power and significance, both in his life and ours. Emerald Waters celebrates water, the greatest natural resource on our planet, for all its necessity and majesty.

To recapture that moment in sound, Holmes used creative sound palettes like the Spectrasonics Omnisphere and Valhalla DSP Space Modulator, to paint the Emerald Waters in cosmic tones. “The River” like its namesake, is both restless and restful. A rippling sequencer entwines with a triumphant bassline to capture the constant motion of the current while a spritely melody evokes fractals of sunlight scattering across water. In another track, “Leviathan” is an ascent from the depths; first, a rumbling like a storm on the ocean floor, and then a swirling arpeggiation uncoils and rises, yielding an airy melody that gives a glimpse of the surface. Such is the nature of Holmes’s inspiration where even flowing water through arid lands suggest a deep, imaginative experience that explores a universe of spatially evocative sound.

Holmes reveals the impetus for creating this album, “The music I wrote for this album is an attempt to convey the beauty, importance and power of water in our world. This music is a mix of elements of Berlin School, some traditional melodic structures and emotional chord progressions, infused into an electronic music landscape. It is intended to be uplifting, contemplative and emotionally moving.”

The album is dedicated to the Devils River Conservancy, and the extremely important work they do to preserve one of Texas’ crown jewels, the Devils River. Emerald Waters is the full-length follow-up to Holmes’ renowned Spotted Peccary release, Milestones (SPM-4401), an energetic and passionate album that delivers a fresh and flawless take on the timeless art of synth-based soundscapes.

Composed and recorded by Hollan Holmes in The Decompression Chamber, and mastered by Howard Givens, Emerald Waters is now available for physical purchase in CD format and in 24-BIT AUDIOPHILE, CD QUALITY LOSSLESS, MP3 and streaming formats. The CD version arrives in a factory-sealed 6-panel gatefold package with artful package design by Daniel Pipitone.

Tracklist:
1 Hydroelectric
2 Hell or High Water
3 A Ribbon of Life
4 Tales from the Abyss
5 The River
6 Taken by the Current
7 The Sublime Shimmer
8 Changing Course
9 Leviathan
10 Fathom
11 Emerald Waters

About Hollan Holmes:
Hollan Holmes was born into a family of music lovers. Holmes’ father, mother and sister each had their own musical interests, thus Holmes was listening to a wide variety of music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Perhaps more significantly, he grew up in a house with a piano, which served to feed a thirst for the creative process of making and playing music. The formation of his first band took place during his high school senior year, an interest which was further fueled by his discovery of synthesizers and the purchase of a Moog Prodigy, courtesy of a loan from his grandmother. Holmes still owns and uses (and must regularly calibrate) that old analog classic. In the early ‘80s, he discovered Jean Michel Jarre and later, Tangerine Dream, both of which would forever alter his musical direction. https://hollanholmes.bandcamp.com/

About Spotted Peccary Music:
Portland-based Spotted Peccary Music is North America’s finest independent record label with a focus on deep, vast and introspective soundscapes. For over three decades, the artists of Spotted Peccary have been on a mission to develop, produce, publish and release ultra-high-quality, deep-listening experiences that engage the listener and exceed expectations. Every release is carefully prepared in a variety of high quality formats from MP3 to high-res studio masters. Explore more than 165 titles and 45 artists released over 35 years at www.SpottedPeccary.com and www.AmbientElectronic.com

Links:
Spotted Peccary Album Page: https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/emerald-waters/
CD unboxing video: https://youtu.be/33-hsI3rD7g
Bandcamp: https://hollan-holmes.bandcamp.com/album/emerald-waters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollanholmesmusic/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/spottedpeccary