Watch Holly Macve at the Paste Magazine East Austin Block Party Presented by Ilegal Mezcal

Our first day of the East Austin Block Party recording session was well underway when Holly Macve joined us at the Coral Snake on Wednesday afternoon, and she brought a soulful, romantic energy, entrancing the whole room, playing two new singles and a song off her EP Time Is Forever.

Full Session

For her first song, she played the then-unreleased brand new single “Wonderland”. Wonderland is whimsical and deep, showing Macve’s full vocal range, with honey-sweet lilt and trilling vocals

“Wonderland”

With lyrics like “Tonight, I will not look back /Rose-colored glasses, on the past/ No hope of mending the china/ Once it’s been broken, there’s always cracks” it’s easy to see why Macve’s metaphors have struck a chord with fans of alt country and blues. She lists Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen amongst her earliest influences, which really shines through in her longing lyrics.

Second, Macve played “Daddy’s Gone”, a beautiful and somber “what if” to a father that wasn’t around, and the bittersweet thought that somewhere out there, they may be wondering about you in the way you are about them.

“Daddy’s Gone”

“Daddy’s Gone” features lyrics like “Something’s missing, in my soul/ Something’s given up on trying to feel whole/ He never loved me like he should of, /I never loved him like I could have” pinch in a way that is really intense as Macve conveys all her lost love with every note.

Macve has also caught the eye of fellow romantic songwriters like Lana Del Rey, with whom she released Suburban House on her label Loving Memory Records.

“Suburban House” was the last song Macve played for us during her session. “This song is one I released late last year, and I had the privilege of recording it with someone very special,” Macve said “an artist very dear to my heart, her name is Lana Del Rey. She’s been a great supporter of mine.”

“Suburban House”

Listening to Suburban House, in both melody and lyrics, it’s evident that Macve and Lana Del Rey were natural-born collaborators. As she sang “It only takes one look /To catch a stranger’s eye / And imagine a life /Flashing colors while I’m blue,” the music wraps around the listener and threatens to consume them whole. The emotional pangs felt when listening to Macve’s inner world strike a similar chord to that of Del Rey’s in the best way, one that works off of and grows from another. Through her love for her inspirations, Macve treated us to a session that was mesmerizing and dreamlike.

Thank you to Holly Macve, Coral Snake Austin, and our friends at Ilegal Mezcal that help us put on these amazing East Austin Block Parties each year. Come back next week for more of our session coverage from Austin.