Greg Mackintosh and Nick Holmes have revealed the latest single from their brand new dark wave project Host, a pulsing electronic single titled "My Only Escape".
The third single from their debut album IX, which will be released on February 24 via Nuclear Blast Records, "My Only Escape" is yet another display of lush nuance that showcases the band's vast range of influences.
Vocalist Nick Holmes commented, "Musically, this track has an intentional repetitive element that builds throughout the song, this is also mirrored in the lyric idea, as in the repetition of an everyday life held in such poor regard. The feeling of actually being physically scared, acts as an acceptable relief from day to day drudgery."
Watch the lyric video below. Stream "My Only Escape" on all platforms here.
In relation to the project itself, Greg Mackintosh comments: "Host is something that I had in mind for a few years but never had the time to do it justice until now. It’s taking the concept of what we attempted to do on the Paradise Lost album 'Host' but approaching it in a modern context. It’s part 80s goth, part electro , part rock but none of them specifically. The emphasis is on hooks and atmosphere. It’s quite a challenge to make miserable music catchy and hopefully we’ve achieved that to some degree."
Pre-order IX on various formats here.
IX tracklisting:
"Wretched Soul"
"Tomorrow's Sky"
"Divine Emotion"
"Hiding From Tomorrow"
"A Troubled Mind"
"My Only Escape"
"Years of Suspicion"
"Inquistion"
"Instinct"
"I Ran" (A Flock Of Seagulls cover; Digipak bonus track)
"Hiding From Tomorrow" (Lustmord Remix; Digipak bonus track)
"Tomorrow's Sky" (GosT Remix; Digipak bonus track)
"Hiding From Tomorrow" video:
"Tomorrow's Sky" video:
"Tomorrow's Sky" (Gost Remix):
The origins of Host do not trace back to the 1999 Paradise Lost album bearing the same name but instead to the West Yorkshire music clubs of the mid-to-late 1980s. WhileHolmes and Mackintosh were already certified heavy metal fanatics (“metal thrashing mad” as Holmes equates), they were equally drawn to the New Wave and Goth music scenes. The pounding rhythms, sublime melodies and undercurrent of darkness drew them in, creating immediate earworms and a desire to delve further.
Mackintosh finally put plans into motion during the pandemic for a venture that would merge his penchant for sound design with the moods and atmosphere of 1980s dance-pop and Goth. The project was originally a solo pursuit until he asked Holmes, his longtime Paradise Lost songwriting partner, to join. 'Host' was selected as the name as a tip of the hat to the aforementioned album that found Paradise Lost in an unprecedented period of experimentation that eschewed their metal roots and also challenged their fanbase in ways like never before.
“We always stood by 'Host' as an album,” says Mackintosh. “This project is not totally connected to that album, but some of the ideas are extrapolated. We’re taking the basic premise and trying it out now. And, really, it was something fun and interesting for us to do. We’ve been doing Paradise Lost for a long time and got an itch to try something different from where PL is now. I could take PL down this route again. Who knows? It may happen if we live long enough, but I thought, ‘Why not now?’ I had the time to do it.”
Host is:
Nick Holmes - Vocals
Greg Mackintosh - Guitars, Synths & Programming
(Photo - Balazs Szabo)
