The Huntress and Holder of Hands phoenixed from the loss of songwriter MorganEve Swain’s husband and musical partner, Dave Lamb (Brown Bird) in 2014 and has since evolved to encompass the anger, hope, despair and compassion of the greater good. Grief, after all, when shared, becomes a unifying force.
Ten years after the band’s debut album, Avalon, and with MorganEve now also a full-time member of DIY Americana outfit The Devil Makes Three, The Huntress and Holder of Hands returns with Babylon, which will be released June 5th 2026. As the title suggests, the collection grapples with corruption, confusion and violence but also redemption, hope, and sanctuary.
Recorded at Providence’s Machines With Magnets and Dirt Floor Studio in Middletown CT, the album is heavier and fuller than its freshman effort, employing Swain’s cousin Matt Swain (Two Feet) on drums, as well as Death Vessel’s Joel Thibedau and Penn Sultan (Museum Legs, Last Good Tooth) on percussion and atmosphere. Christopher Sadlers returns with dynamic electric bass—alternately sludgy, distorted, driving and supportive— while Liz Isenberg and Emily Dix Thomas provide swelling layers of cello, bowed string bass and vocal harmonies. Tied together throughout with electric guitar, violin and vocal lead by MorganEve Swain, the result is a mature album full of urgency.
Tracklisting
- Promethean
- Timbre Inaudible
- Doctrine
- Absence
- Ritual
- Desert Song
- Rocky Coast
- Bildgewater
- Beast
- Thunderstorm
