Listen to World War Me : HERE
“Greg Holden is an artist who wants to do good, a tall order for anyone nowadays, but I feel safe with him leading the charge.” - Baylen Leonard (The BBC & The Bluegrass Situation)
Just in time for Brexit, Los Angeles based artist and UK expat Greg Holden has released his fourth studio album World War Me in conjunction with BMG Recordings.
The songs that make up World War Me are the spoils of a psychological war that was waged in Holden’s mind, which he has coined as his “Great Existential Crisis of 2016. It was then and written during the ongoing Existential Crises of 2017 & 2018” says Holden. After moving his life across the country from New York City, and being dropped by his label partner upon arrival, Holden started to question is worth and relevance. So he did what any artist questioning their worth would do to perpetuate their pain - he started googling himself. Holden came to realize his biggest successes were not from music written with the intention to get people to buy, stream, embed, playlist, swipe up or listen, but songs that were written with a purpose and for causes. “The Lost Boy” (9 Million + streams on Spotify) raised $80,000 for The Red Cross and contributed towards building schools in Africa. “Boys in the Street” (18 + million streams on Spotify) was written for Everyone Is Gay, an organization supporting the LGBTQ youth community, and “Home,” made famous by American Idol’s Phillip Phillips, has been used by countless organizations.
To exacerbate this internal mental battle, Holden decided to record World War Me himself. This DIY mentality spread to the entire album process. Holden put together the artwork for the album, took his own press shots, built a new website and even wrote his own bio. The result is a stunningly honest and self-reflective body of work. Holden wrote the five of the nine songs on the album with his good friend and fellow esteemed songwriter Garrison Starr, and with the exception of “On the Run” recorded by the legendary producer/songwriter Butch Walker, recorded every song on the album himself, in his home studio in Los Angeles.
The very first song written for the album, "I’m Not Your Enemy" was written the day after the 2016 election with Garrison Starr, while the two were on tour in Europe. Garrison being a lesbian, and Greg being an immigrant in the middle of his Green Card application, both felt extremely on edge, unwanted and abandoned by the country they called home. Instead of coming at the problem with anger though, they attacked it with love and penned “I’m Not Your Enemy” hungover the next day, and performed it that night to an arena of ten thousand.
“This beautiful melody will lure you in, like a hummingbird to the nectar, and replenish your sense of hope. It was never about fighting against something, at least not in total; there is a component that needs to awaken inside each heart, one at a time.”
- ChillFltr (on “I’m Not Your Enemy”)
The album finds a perfect balance between feelings of warmth and empathy with songs like “I’m Not Your Enemy,” and “Something Beautiful,” that promote love and understanding, and defiance, with tracks like “The Power Shift” and “Chase the Money,” penned about the world’s ruling class and our culture’s obsession with money and power.
Holden will be playing songs from World War Me live this Spring on tour in the U.S. and in Europe. “My little album baby is finally coming out into the world after two years of mental instability and fear”, says Holden. “I’m excited for everyone to learn it and sing it back to me on tour, so I can feel self-righteous and arrogant again.”
#WorldTourMe
4.25 The Red Room at Cafe 939 - Boston, MA
4.26 Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 - New York, NY
5.1 Ortlieb’s Lounge - Philadelphia, PA
5.2 Jammin Java - Vienna, VA
5.5 The Basement - Nashville, TN
5.10 Freilichtbühne am Kalkberg - Bad Segeberg, Germany
5.12 Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands
5.14 Ponyhof - Frankfurt, Germany
5.15 Zehner - München, Germany
5.16 Hangar 49 - Berlin, Germany
5.17 Altes Pfandhaus - Cologne, Germany
5.19 Nochtspeicher - Hamburg, Germany
5.23 St Pancras Old Church - London, United Kingdom
5.24 The Eagle Inn - Manchester, United Kingdom
6.1 Lost Lake Lounge - Denver, CO
6.3 Sunset - Seattle, WA
6.4 McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel - Portland, OR
6.6 The Hotel Utah - San Francisco, CA
6.7 Moroccan Lounge - Los Angeles, CA
Press Materials:
https://smarturl.it/GregHoldenPR
https://www.gregholdenonline.com/
https://twitter.com/gregholden
https://www.instagram.com/gregholden/
https://www.facebook.com/gregholden
https://www.youtube.com/gregholden