News: Holy Holy hang up their halos and announce grand guest-filled Hiatus Tour

“Being in HOLY HOLY has been one of the greatest honours of my life. The memories we made and the songs we wrote will stay with me forever. I’m so grateful to our team, our collaborators and most of all our audience for how much they have given us,” singer Timothy Carroll says. “Next year, I’m moving to Sweden for a couple of years, and Oscar is living in London, so now feels like a good time to step away and work on other projects.”

Caroll continues, “We’d like to give a special shout-out to Ryan Strathie, our incredible drummer and long-time collaborator, and Graham Ritchie, our bass player and spirit guide, two of the most talented musicians we’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with and two of the most gracious and lovely people too. It’s been such a privilege working with them both.”

HOLY HOLY leave us with a catalogue of five iconic albums, a double platinum single, one platinum and four gold singles, and over 150 million streams on Spotify alone. Known for their deep, idea-dense songwriting, ever-evolving sound, and penchant for working with collaborators and guests, HOLY HOLY will play one final series of shows around the country before calling it a day for now.

“We’ve booked a run of shows at some of our favourite venues across the country and we can’t wait to share these songs with our fans one more time. We’ve always loved playing live, hanging out with the support bands, and meeting the crowd after the shows to hear their stories. This is going to be a special run. The hardest part will be picking the setlist,” jokes guitarist producer Dawson.

For this hiatus tour, HOLY HOLY promises a setlist featuring songs spanning over a decade of their work, along with a lineup of special guests. Over the years, the duo has shared the stage and collaborated in the studio with notable artists such as Sumner, Queen P, Kwame, and Clews.

“We have always loved writing and performing with other artists; sharing a song with someone creates a special kind of bond, and when you get up on stage and perform together, you become like family. So we’ll be hitting up our contact lists and seeing who we can convince to come down and party with us,” says the band.

As to whether the band will perform again in the future, the answer is uncertain. “For now, having a break and getting lost in other projects is what feels right. We’re not sure what comes next, but we’ll always love the times we had in HOLY HOLY”

Pre-sale tickets for HOLY HOLY’s A Grand Hiatus Tour are available on Thursday, 30 January, at 10:00 am local time. General on-sale tickets are available to the public on Friday, 31 January, at 10.00 am local time.

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HOLY HOLY – A GRAND HIATUS TOUR
Presented by triple j | Pre-sale tickets here
Friday 09 May – Adelaide – Hindley Street Music Hall
Saturday 10 May – Perth – Freo Social
Thursday 15 May – Torquay – Torquay Hotel
Saturday 17 May – Melbourne – Forum
Thursday 22 May – Wollongong – Anita’s Theatre
Friday 23 May – Central Coast – Drifter’s Wharf
Saturday 24 May – Sydney – Enmore Theatre
Thursday 29 May – Launceston – Ducane Brewery
Friday 30 May – Hobart – Odeon Theatre
Saturday 31 May – Tasmania – Forth Pub
Thursday 05 June – Gold Coast – Miami Marketta
Friday 06 June – Queensland – Kings Beach Tavern
Saturday 07 June – Brisbane – Fortitude Music Hall

Warm-Up shows:
Friday 14 February – Coffs Harbour – Hoey Moey
Saturday 15 February – Byron Bay – The Beach Hotel
Saturday 22 February – Newcastle – Over The Ditch Festival
Tickets available now from holyholymusic.com

About HOLY HOLY:
HOLY HOLY manifested something when they gave themselves that reverent name in 2011. Since then, Oscar Dawson and Tim Carroll have carved out a sound that blends indie pop, art rock, and bittersweet lyrics—a combination that’s deeply felt and uniquely theirs.

Liam Gallagher heard their devastating truth when he went to a show in 2019, calling them his favourite new band. The Mad Mancunian tweeted the lyrics to Sentimental and Monday to his 3 million followers: ‘Darkness is nothing but a lack of light – as you were LG x’

Dawson and Carroll met while volunteering in Southeast Asia and reconnected in 2011 during their twenties. Despite living in different parts of Europe—Carroll in Stockholm and Dawson in Berlin—they shared demos and wrote songs remotely, coming together to collaborate in share houses and flats whenever distance permitted. Soon after, they both returned to Australia and began releasing music with the Pacific EP (2013) featuring the critically acclaimed debut single ‘Impossible Like You’. Next came their debut album, When The Storms Would Come (2014). These releases introduced their distinctive style – guitar-driven with echoes of Knopfler and Young and lyrics that carry the weight of Oberst and Springsteen, filtered through a unique Stockholm (Carroll) meets Melbourne (Dawson) lens.

Their sophomore effort, Paint (2017), radiated confidence with tracks like ‘That Message’ and ‘Shadow’ and featured the triple-platinum hit ‘True Lovers’, which has since racked up over 50 million streams. My Own Pool of Light (2019) pushed their boundaries further, blending ecstatic Gorillaz-inspired pop with moments of raw introspection like ‘Teach Me About Dying’.

On Hello My Beautiful World (2021), which peaked at #4 on the ARIA Albums chart, HOLY HOLY further expanded their sound, collaborating with CLEWS and rapper Queen P. Their most recent album, Cellophane (2023), which also claimed the #4 spot on the ARIA Albums chart, solidified the band’s reputation as a “songwriting factory,” showcasing seven collaborative tracks—a testament to their commitment to amplifying Australian musicians, a cornerstone of their legacy that will endure for years to come.

With over 170 million streams across platforms, a dedicated half a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and 23 consecutive singles added to triple j—10 of which topped the station’s most-played list—HOLY HOLY has become an inescapable force in the Australian music scene. As the duo prepares for their imminent hiatus and Grand Hiatus tour, this marks the end of a remarkable chapter for one of Australia’s most influential musical acts.