Today, David Holmes shares “Stop Apologising”, the new single from his forthcoming album Blind On A Galloping Horse out Friday 10th November via Heavenly Recordings. The new track follows the recently released single “Necessary Genius”, a comprehensive roll call of the great and good - those ‘dreamers, misfits, radicals, outcasts’ that we’ve lost and just a few who’ve managed to cling on in the churn of the 21st century.
“Stop Apologising” is David Holmes and Raven Violet’s 21st century glam electro-disco anthem. It’s a glorious hymn to the power of resilience and self-belief.
David says, “‘Stop Apologising’ is a song bathed in the wonders of psychedelic therapy - an ode to the over-thinkers who waste so much time worrying about nothing rather than living their lives on their terms.”
Blind On A Galloping Horse is a 14-track interrogation of the last decade, time spent watching a decaying, fraying Britain visibly buckling in real time while tending to his own battles with mental health. Holmes’ soundtrack to this inquiry is at times claustrophobic, often euphoric, driven by the rattle and snap of analogue drum machines, wild oscillations of droning analogue synths and the voice of Raven Violet which beguiles and commands in a way that could part oceans.
Throughout Blind On A Galloping Horse, there are spoken word accounts from Afghan and Ukrainian refugees now welcomed as residents in Belfast, alongside a Palestinian ambulance driver and French and Irish observers of the UK’s turmoil of recent years. Their voices add to the feeling that this record is a call to action, a motivation and a head clearing, slate wiping journey. As the opening “When People Are Occupied Resistance Is Justified” song goes, “I wanna sleep on the wind, I wanna live, I don’t wanna rust / I wanna breathe, I wanna fly, not rot in the dirty dust”. Calls to action have rarely sounded so inviting.
Blind On A Galloping Horse was written, produced and arranged by David Holmes. The album features updated versions of the previously released singles “Hope Is The Last Thing To Die” and “It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love” and a recording of an unreleased song by Holmes’ late friend Andrew Weatherall (“I Laugh Myself To Sleep”). All of the album’s artwork was designed by British graphic designer Jimmy Turrell. The cover shot was taken post riot in 70’s Belfast by local cult street photographer Bill Kirk. On the artwork Jimmy said, “As soon as I saw this image I realised how powerful it was. It's the true juxtaposition of beauty and chaos in Bill's image that makes it so compelling. It feels like a call to appreciate the intricate and often unpredictable balance that defines our world.”
David Holmes is a Belfast born DJ & producer. In his varied professional life, he has produced five of his own albums and over 30 film soundtracks. Having DJed from the age of 15, David went on to run one of Belfast’s most revered club nights - Sugar Sweet - which brought acid house and rave culture to a city steeped in the Troubles. David has produced Noel Gallagher, Primal Scream, and has remixed the likes of Orbital, Jarvis Cocker, and many more. He has also produced highly acclaimed soundtracks for Steven Soderbergh (on over 10 films) Michael Winterbottom , Yann Démange and Steve McQueen which have won him multiple awards including one BAFTA and 2 Ivor Novello’s. Recently with his band Unloved, he created and curated the music for the much-lauded BBC series Killing Eve. His round-about selection of cinematic, library music, rock ‘n’ roll, psych, experimental, unclassifiable and independent music under the banner of God’s Waiting Room continues to appear at venues around the world and on a regular slot at NTS radio show.
“Stop Apologising” is David Holmes and Raven Violet’s 21st century glam electro-disco anthem. It’s a glorious hymn to the power of resilience and self-belief.
David says, “‘Stop Apologising’ is a song bathed in the wonders of psychedelic therapy - an ode to the over-thinkers who waste so much time worrying about nothing rather than living their lives on their terms.”
Blind On A Galloping Horse is a 14-track interrogation of the last decade, time spent watching a decaying, fraying Britain visibly buckling in real time while tending to his own battles with mental health. Holmes’ soundtrack to this inquiry is at times claustrophobic, often euphoric, driven by the rattle and snap of analogue drum machines, wild oscillations of droning analogue synths and the voice of Raven Violet which beguiles and commands in a way that could part oceans.
Throughout Blind On A Galloping Horse, there are spoken word accounts from Afghan and Ukrainian refugees now welcomed as residents in Belfast, alongside a Palestinian ambulance driver and French and Irish observers of the UK’s turmoil of recent years. Their voices add to the feeling that this record is a call to action, a motivation and a head clearing, slate wiping journey. As the opening “When People Are Occupied Resistance Is Justified” song goes, “I wanna sleep on the wind, I wanna live, I don’t wanna rust / I wanna breathe, I wanna fly, not rot in the dirty dust”. Calls to action have rarely sounded so inviting.
Blind On A Galloping Horse was written, produced and arranged by David Holmes. The album features updated versions of the previously released singles “Hope Is The Last Thing To Die” and “It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love” and a recording of an unreleased song by Holmes’ late friend Andrew Weatherall (“I Laugh Myself To Sleep”). All of the album’s artwork was designed by British graphic designer Jimmy Turrell. The cover shot was taken post riot in 70’s Belfast by local cult street photographer Bill Kirk. On the artwork Jimmy said, “As soon as I saw this image I realised how powerful it was. It's the true juxtaposition of beauty and chaos in Bill's image that makes it so compelling. It feels like a call to appreciate the intricate and often unpredictable balance that defines our world.”
David Holmes is a Belfast born DJ & producer. In his varied professional life, he has produced five of his own albums and over 30 film soundtracks. Having DJed from the age of 15, David went on to run one of Belfast’s most revered club nights - Sugar Sweet - which brought acid house and rave culture to a city steeped in the Troubles. David has produced Noel Gallagher, Primal Scream, and has remixed the likes of Orbital, Jarvis Cocker, and many more. He has also produced highly acclaimed soundtracks for Steven Soderbergh (on over 10 films) Michael Winterbottom , Yann Démange and Steve McQueen which have won him multiple awards including one BAFTA and 2 Ivor Novello’s. Recently with his band Unloved, he created and curated the music for the much-lauded BBC series Killing Eve. His round-about selection of cinematic, library music, rock ‘n’ roll, psych, experimental, unclassifiable and independent music under the banner of God’s Waiting Room continues to appear at venues around the world and on a regular slot at NTS radio show.
