Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday has released “Autonomatic,” the latest single from his new solo project HOL1D4Y.
The fuzz-heavy track appears on Holiday’s upcoming debut solo album, Topology, which is set for release on September 25. Holiday previously introduced the project with its first single, “VERIDREAM.”
Explaining the title of the new song, Holiday said: “Autonomatic: It’s a word I came up with by combining the words: autonomy and automatic. Autonomatic: The built in or intrinsic desire for autonomy.”
The song explores humanity’s evolving relationship with machines and artificial intelligence, particularly the possibility of increasingly advanced technology developing its own desire for independence.
“Especially with A.I, technology is progressing so rapidly it is so much more than a tool to finish an essay for us,” Holiday explained. “If machines truly start to make decisions and ‘think’ for themselves…the natural progression could be that it will want to be like us in the deepest ways it can understand. We are free. We are autonomous.”
“Autonomatic” arrives with a music video produced and directed by Aaron Eisenberg and Holiday. Visuals will play a significant role throughout the HOL1D4Y project, with Holiday planning a visual component for every song on Topology.
“For this project the visual aesthetic is especially important to me,” he said. “I want to evoke different feelings in the listener and viewer, and it’s so much more effective when there’s both elements (audio and visual) present.”
Watch the video for “Autonomatic” below.
Holiday recorded and self-produced Topology at his home studio, with the project developing from a daily routine of recording new musical ideas. The album also features drum performances from Holiday’s Rival Sons bandmate Michael Miley, which Holiday reshaped and incorporated into the songs.
Work on the record continued following a serious bicycle accident late last year that left Holiday with six broken ribs, a shoulder injury and a head injury. During his recovery, he continued developing the material and eventually decided that many of the compositions needed lyrics.
Topology also marks the first time Holiday has handled vocals on his own recordings.
“What surprised me was that they stopped feeling like instrumental pieces,” Holiday said. “They seemed prepped for a story. Once I realized that, the words came quickly. That’s when I knew it was time to step into this new role — I needed to be the one to tell these stories.”
Topology arrives September 25 (pre-order).
