REVIEW

CD Review: Steve Holy - Brand New Girlfriend

Written by Rebecca Wright
Published August 08, 2006

Steve Holy's second album Brand New Girlfriend effortlessly combines country and pop music with a decidedly '50s feel. Holy successfully fuses the two styles into something refreshing and new. He began performing on stage in the early '90s at the Texas Mesquite Opry, singing Roy Orbison and Elvis songs. After several years of performing in clubs, he was signed to Curb Records. His chart debut came in late 1999 with "Don't Make Me Beg," followed by two more Top 20 singles, "Blue Moon" and "The Hunger." His fourth single, "Good Morning Beautiful" was featured on the soundtrack to the Jennifer Lopez movie "Angel Eyes" and became his first #1 song, topping the charts for five weeks.

Steve_Holy_flowers.JPG Brand New Girlfriend is the perfect showcase for his talent. The album's title cut is a smartly delivered song about moving on after a failed relationship, while “Come on Rain” is about trying to salvage a crumbling relationship. “Brand New Girlfriend” begins with a dramatic spoken word introduction that quickly evolves into a raucous beat with rock overtones. Holy co-wrote the song “Baby Don’t Go,” in which he slips into a Roy Orbison-style falsetto that shows off his vocal range. Songs like "Men Buy the Drinks (Women Call the Shots)" and the straight-up rockabilly of "Hurry Up" continue the good-time feel, while ballads like "Only the Lonely Talking" edge are reminiscent of Chris Issak.

"I love John Conlee and of course everybody loves George Strait, especially if you're from Texas," he says, adding, "I'm a big Conway Twitty fan too, and love a lot of the 1950’s and '60s guys. All them could sing anything, from the fun stuff to ballads, and that's what I'm all about. When you perform, you'd love to be able to make everyone scream and cry — that's everyone's goal. And I think we've got that."

With Brand New Girlfriend, Holy has succeeded wonderfully at blended several styles—country, rock, rockabilly—to create a fun, yet introspective album that has something for everyone from country to light rock fans. Holy has proven that he has tremendous vocal range and fans that have enjoyed singers of the past such as Roy Orbison, Del Shannon or even Gene Pitney, will probably find Brand New Girlfriend an enjoyable listen.

Rebecca is a freelance writer, concentrating in the areas of film, television and music criticism. Her B.A. is in the Humanities with an emphasis in film and writing.She holds an M.A. in American and British literature with an emphasis in dystopian literature and detective fiction.
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CD Review: Steve Holy - Brand New Girlfriend
Published: August 08, 2006
Type: Review
Section: Music
Filed Under: Music: Country and Americana
Writer: Rebecca Wright
Rebecca Wright's BC Writer page
Rebecca Wright's personal site
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