HOLIDAYS ON ICE
The Luxury Of Wasted Space
Cloudy But Fine
It may seem an odd way to start a glowing review, but Holidays On Ice will never be huge. Gentle, insistent pop from 40-something industry veterans (in this case Angie Hart of Frente! fame and Dean Manning from Leonardo’s Bride) has never been particularly like to shift many units. Shame that, from the pulsing, dusky opener So Easy, The Luxury Of Wasted Space is an immersive and achingly lovely delight.
These traits (the ache and the pretty) reach their apex on lead single Faces In A Passing Car, building from a single bass line to a quiet symphony of bells and sampled voices, and Falling Up, all jangling guitars and Strawberry Fields Forever-styled Hammond organs. These are representative; a slow build from sparse electronica to melodic release that just stops short of ecstatic, all held together by Hart’s breathy vocals.
On the face of it, it’s a little slight, a little too ambient and unassuming. But with each listen it works its way a little further under your skin. Part of the charm of never being big is you can make music for its own sake.
CHARLIE LEWIS
