Hollow Hand, the musical vehicle of Max Kinghorn-Mills, will release a new album called Your Own Adventure on March 3 through Curation Records. It follows up his criminally overlooked 2018 album Star Chamber and features contributions from Tim Smith (Midlake, Harp), Spencer Cullum, Holly Macve, Ryan Pollie and Oliver Newton.
The first single to be shared from the project is “Heaven Just Watched”, with Kinghorn-Mills revealing: “Chaos reigns & London is in flames, 1666. The lyrics for ‘Heaven Just Watched’ are based on a diary I kept when I moved into London to work on music. I was reading Peter Ackroyd’s definitive biography of the city & totally immersed in the mythology & hidden rituals which form the foundations of the city’s architecture. I imagined myself walking through those streets. Nothing has meaning, there are no gods, choose your own adventure.”
Despite the dark and destructive themes, “Heaven Just Watched” maintains Hollow Hand’s usual style of buoyant, psych-tinged indie rock. It gallops its way through visions of buildings on fire, black rivers and blood, the guitars buzzing with destructive glee, making the whole thing feel devilish – in a very enjoyable way. As the song progresses with melodic distortion and tight harmonies, the imagery becomes all the more lifelike, and we feel like we’re dancing merrily on the ashes of the once great city.
The video for “Heaven Just Watched” takes things even further, with Kinghorn-Mills commenting: “I had an idea for a video and called up my good friend James Sharp (a wonderful person & film maker, ‘The Jangling Man: The Martin Newell Story’, 2022). I’d been re-working my way through the history of Folk Horror, reading Alan Garner, MR James, watching essential 1970s films & the BBC ‘Play For Today’ series. James & I compared notes, came up with a storyboard & then with the invaluable help & skillset of Holly Macve, we started to put together the costumes. Fans of the film genre might notice some references in our film.
“It wasn’t an easy video to make.. I’d find myself wearing this cape & hat, pacing across cold, misty fields in Sussex at 5am wondering what I was actually doing here. James and I are really happy with how the video came out, I think of it as a little homage to all of those great writers & film makers who’s influence we share & admire.”
Watch the video below or find “Heaven Just Watched” on streaming services.
Hollow Hand’s new album Your Own Adventure arrives on March 3 through Curation Records (pre-order). You can find the project on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
