Vlad Holiday

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Kate Lamendola

A close-up of Vlad Holiday.

Vlad Holiday

media release: Romania-born, Nashville-based melancholy romantic Vlad Holiday announced Sept. 13 that his debut record, My Favorite Drug, will be released on November 15 via ONErpm. Along with this news comes the second single “Closer.” Feeling like a covert mission, or a secret known only between two lovers, the deeply layered song seems to endlessly build before it is quickly punctuated.

The single features guest vocals from Cage The Elephant’s Matt Shultz, who is also a co-writer on the track. For careful listeners, Shultz’s voice can be heard singing the “ah ah ah ah” hook and some repeated “closers” in the outro.

On the single, Holiday shares, “This is a love song. It introduces the romantic element of the album. It’s about going with the flow and letting the universe do its thing, rather than forcing things into existence.”

On his upcoming debut album Holiday said, “I’ve been releasing music for years, and a full-length album never really seemed like a thing I wanted to do. But as these songs were being written, I was noticing a pattern. Fragments of a story I had to tell. More for myself than for anyone else. It’s definitely one of those, ‘listen to it in order’ albums.”

Vlad Holiday has made a career of romanticizing the past, the human condition, and looking at love and relationships through dark-tinted lenses. With downtempo crooner tracks all tinged with melancholy, Holiday has built a sonic world of his own that tries to find comfort in accepting the darker moments in life. Having gained over 40 million streams as a completely independent artist, it seems as if he’s resonating with a subculture of people that are also trying to do the same. 

Born in Bucharest, Romania, later having to flee to New York, and now based in Nashville, Holiday’s sound is heavily shaped by the weight of feeling like an outsider always on the move. Building the foundation of his music career with a downtown NYC lo-fi sound, he’s deeply indebted to his love for vintage microphones, tape machines and other old recording equipment; key elements of his signature sound and production style. 

Now in Nashville, there’s an optimism to Holiday’s current chapter as he builds out his next body of work while collaborating with other artists in Music City. Most recently, he co-wrote Cage The Elephant’s “Neon Pill,” “Metaverse” and “Over Your Shoulder” before being joined by Kacey Musgraves on “I Don’t Wanna Party Anymore.” Ahead of his headline tour dates this summer, he joined Cage The Elephant on the road for their Neon Pill Tour. However bright the current moment may be, flecks of Holiday’s past always steep his music in a darkness that shows that he is a human in the middle of his journey.