“I didn’t decide to release a solo project,” Delilah Holliday explains in a melancholic tone during a conversation on the roof of a recording studio in Mexico City. “It just happened and it was hard. The wheels fell off naturally,” she continues. Before she started releasing songs on her own, the London-born singer was part of a riot grrrl punk band called Skinny Girl Diet along with her sister Ursula. Despite the pain, she shows no regrets and highlights that being alone has given her greater freedom in the versatility and variety of genres she can explore.
This has even changed the way she performs on stage. Whereas in the past it was just her and a guitar, now she appears behind turntables and a computer. She has swapped punk for techno. “I feel like there were a lot of similarities between the two genres. I wanted to explore it, just like the ambientand I ended up mixing it with the social commentary of living in London, and being born and raised there.” The result is songs with hypnotic rhythms, which he dances wildly to in his performances, accompanied by social and political criticism, a tradition in British punk.
Growing up in Holloway, north London, Holliday witnessed the rise of issues such as housing affordability and crime, as well as the effects of gentrification, the displacement of residents and the changing demographic makeup of the community. “Sometimes you can feel powerless in the face of this, and I think the best way to do that is to transmute it and turn it into art,” she says.
What she has created is her album Pricelesswhich is made up of two EPs that he released over the past year and whose relevance does not fade. Themes such as crime, hopelessness for the future, drugs and the desire for change (political and personal) are embellished by complex rhythm sequences with a dark touch that make you want to dance. But they also lead to a moment of introspection: “I think the political mixes with the personal because it affects you as a human being. All these decisions are made by people you will not know and who do not care about normal people,” he says. In addition, he explains that this type of music came to him naturally.
“It felt right at the time,” she says, which was important as she was going through a difficult time as a songwriter. “I didn’t like who I was. But then I thought that all the experiences that led me to this point were ‘priceless’ in the sense that we should be proud of our personal experiences, of our path, and not on social media where we can get so lost in our own minds comparing ourselves to other people. You should be sure of your path and value it,” which is where the album’s title comes from.
And how does one lose sight of their goals? In the modern music industry, where Spotify determines success (while offering minimal reward to artists), it can be easy to do so. “It’s almost a necessary evil that you have to kneel to. But if there was a world that didn’t have to be like that, then I would choose that. But on the other side of the coin, there’s great music that’s accessible to people no matter where they are in the world. I think as long as you’re doing it authentically to yourself, you can feel safe. I think if you start wanting to get into TikTok trends and your numbers are going to be like that, you can feel safe. streaming “When you get to a certain level, you lose your soul. So you have to stay true to yourself and do what you love.” That’s personal. As for the audience, he says, “I hope I can give them some comfort with the art I make. And if they listen to it, they can feel good.”
Looking to the future, Holliday hopes to blend this new techno sound with guitars, mixing the punk past with the present, where she now feels more confident and free to do what she wants. “In another world I would still be in the band, but I’m glad I’m not.”
