On August 25th, Holding Absence celebrates the conclusion of their opening trilogy of albums with the release of The Noble Art Of Self Destruction. A record all about being a work in the making, a painting made up of 1000 mistakes to form something beautiful, the band find themselves in very different positions going into this closing chapter. Not only is the album more hopeful and assured of itself than in the past, but since the release of The Greatest Mistake Of My Life (2021), the band are now full-time. We caught up with Lucas Woodland to talk about the album but first, to touch on the PPL Momentum Music Fund that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Having helped generate over £22 million for the UK music scene, funds like this keep musicians afloat. In a time where artists are being stripped of their ability to support themselves, these donations don’t just give the musicians a push, they allow them to pursue their dreams. Whilst Woodland admits that it’s still “tough out here”, having worked at a music venue in Cardiff, he knows the importance of giving back and rising all the tides for the UK music scene. A great example of this is their live in monochrome tour, made up entirely of small venues that aren’t always on the circuit with a local support opening each night. Feeling incredibly fortunate to be able to make music their careers and be able to give back, Woodland looks back at this chapter with fond memories.
“A big part of that tour for us was every night we had a local support that we handpicked so it was like, we were that band for so long, we weren’t even that band because no one would pick us back in the day but I think we are such proud disciples of the scene”
“To be honest, every time I think about their tour, I feel very at peace with how well it went and the fact that we didn’t have to do it but we wanted to do it”
The live in monochrome tour serves as a perfect end credits before heading into their third album, The Noble Art Of Self Destruction. Ending with a victory lap of everything they have accomplished from where they started, their new chapter serves as a sum of all those parts. Imitating life in his art, both the music and Woodland himself are the canvases in question that have had to be moulded one step at a time into the version you now see. With each release serving as a snapshot of the trajectory in that process, what would the version of himself that put out their self-titled release in 2019 think of the trilogy closer?
“I’ve got to be honest, at that point in my life, that was probably the hardest period of being in Holding Absence… I think album one Lucas just knowing that album three had come out, would be the biggest celebration I think. Even me now, if you told me we were to release six albums, album three Lucas is just going crazy over that concept”
Holding Absence have always been a widescreen cinematic band, which plays into the trilogy aspect of their albums and the clear arch that takes place through them. Woodland uses the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon to illustrate how his mind is drawn creatively to both those things but not what stands in the middle grey area of them. The band takes this approach in aiming to connect with the listener, whether it’s through the quality of the music or the deeper layers and themes running through it. It’s art that knows exactly what it is and through the three-album span, Woodland hopes that a listener would take both elements, sonically and thematically, with them if they were to movie-marathon the discography.
“I think first and foremost, the quality and the level of music quality, I truly believe so you know, by the end you definitely feel a shift of sonic and performance-based evolution. But, I think the coolest thing is the fact that the third album finishes on such a hopeful note. The lyric ‘I’m a puzzle, I’m a painting, I’m a work of art in the making’, it’s this idea that there’s always more work to be done but you should be really proud of whatever stage in the process you’re on right now. The first album wasn’t very hopeful, the second album started hopeful and ended quite miserable and I think then for this album to finish on such a high note, I think it almost caps off the whole trilogy”
“To your question of what would old Lucas think, when we played Penance, which is the first song I ever wrote lyrics for for Holding Absence, we played that on the Monochrome tour. That was five years later and I got very very emotional on stage a couple of nights because I was like suicidal and stuff when I wrote that song and now five years later, I’m living the best life I could imagine so there’s definitely been a hopeful story behind the scenes and I think you would definitely feel a hopeful story on the front line as well”
The Noble Art Of Self Destruction serves as a phenomenal touchstone for the trajectory of the band, the music and the people who pour themselves into it. The fact of the matter is, it wouldn’t matter what album one Lucas would think of their third album. TNAOSD is a testament to the past four years and a product of each puzzle piece fitting into place to form a bigger picture. Whether it’s playing the new songs live on their upcoming UK & EU tour or looking back at it as they head into album six, having this body of work to show for all the ups and downs can never be taken away.
The Noble Art Of Self Destruction is available from August 25th via Sharptone Records.
You can also catch the band live on their upcoming UK and Europe tour throughout November.
Watch the full interview below:
