Biography
Holly Holden is a singer and songwriter from London. A long-term love affair with Latin America and the Caribbean and many years spent music-making in the region have shaped her unique sunny, Spanglish soul-pop sound.
Holly formed electric trio Holly Holden y Su Banda with David Beauchamp and Frank Clarke in 2015. Together they performed at major UK festivals including Glastonbury, Greenman and Boomtown and shared stages with Vicente Garcia and Johnny Flynn in London. They also played at international music festivals in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and New York.
In 2017, released six-track EP ‘Tropical Soul’, and, shortly after, Aguá Salá - a bossa-bolera recorded in Cartagena, Colombia with Christhian Salazar Rivera. Her debut album Green Guava came out in August 2020.
Since returning to London in 2022, after a stint spent living in Mexico City, Holly has been working on a new album - al andar - with multi-instrumentalist and producer Greg Sanders (Juanita Euka, Teotima, Lophae). Composed on a Venezuelan cuatro and written mostly in Mexico and Colombia, this record has a more acoustic, folkloric sound than her previous releases and features some of the most respected and talented artists in the London Latin music scene. Al andar is scheduled for release in July 2025, and the first single Te Vi Volar is out on March 7th.
Aside from her solo project, Holly has been a member of the all-female and non-binary vocal collectives Deep Throat Choir in London and El Palomar in Mexico City. Holly is also a member of Johnny Flynn's River band and The David Tattersal Group and has recorded vocals on albums by Cosmo Sheldrake and The Wave Pictures. In 2013, she toured as a vocalist with dubstep producer Mala in live performances of his acclaimed album ‘Mala in Cuba’. Holly recently recorded an EP with Havana-based producer DJ Jigüe, due to be released on Guampara Records.
Press
“a songwriter of great subtlety”
- Clash
"Wow, just wow, what a voice!"
- Mark Toal, Fresh on the net
“Infectious, euphoric and optimistic”
“Holly Holden is a modern example of an artist who thinks beyond borders”
"Her sound has an element that makes us vibrate…There is no point in trying to put a label on [it]. According to Holly there are no labels, nothing is pure and music in its essence is a conversation.”