03 The Ten Rules

04 Bad Luck

Critical acclaim is something The Holy Sea have achieved consistently since ‘Blessed Unrest’ their debut release from 10 years ago.  Praised for their ‘moody genius’ and ‘provoking depth,’ The West Australian was moved to declare that ‘occasionally there is a schism in the musical world, a tremor of greatness.’
 
Their second release ‘A Beginner’s Guide to the Sea’ took 7 years to see the light of day. The intervening years saw frontman and main songwriter Henry F Skerritt move east from Perth to Melbourne to pursue a career in curatorship and art history, all the while performing solo or with keyboardist Dan Hoey.
 
The Holy Sea evolved to the current line-up of  guitarist Victor Utting, drummer F. David Bower and bass player Andrew Fuller (since replaced by Gavin Vance) in 2007, performing regularly around Melbourne before reaching their full contingent with the addition of backing vocalist Emma Frichot and multi-instrumentalist Gareth Skinner.  The release of ‘A Beginner’s Guide...’ which Drum Media called “evocative, rousing, brilliant!” saw them create a word-of-mouth buzz, backed up by strong live performances they had honed in Melbourne.
 
That buzz increased when the band were invited by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds to appear at the inaugural All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Melbourne & Sydney. As Beat Magazine’s Simone Ubaldi noted, “It was a good way for the old guard to anoint The Holy Sea as the new authentic poets of Australian folk-rock.”
 
After ATP, the band set to work on their next project, ‘Ghosts of The Horizon’. Unlike ‘A Beginner’s Guide...’ which was mostly a product of Skerritt’s solo period, the songs for ‘Ghosts...’ were composed and arranged as a band, although the lyrics remain Skerritt’s.  Veteran producer Dave McCluney worked with the band in what was very much a collaborative effort.  

