Common Holly – They will draw halos around our heads
Paper Bag Records / Keeled Scales
Released on February 27, 2026
Following the acclaim of last year’s cerebral full-length Anything glass, Common Holly returns with a collection of songs unified by their austere manner and intimate production. Delivered late in winter, the EP They will draw halos around our heads contains gorgeously delicate performances and rich instrumentation, all while maintaining a fervent stillness.
Opener “Specialness” graces ears with the wistful spirit that underlies the brief but welcoming experience that is They will draw halos… Without words, it sets the tone, and in this context, you see its successful function within the record’s unguarded statements.
Whether advice or warning, a song tells you that “you have to look like something now” and that “you have to wear your body out”; is it a brutal critique or sincere assurance? The gentle rhythm masquerades as hesitance with passages that fool you into thinking you’ve caught a mistake. Full and varied accompaniment blossoms and demonstrates the tonal range of the EP; lush, but carefully so.
The title track drifts through punctuated guitar and a somber story of resignation. “With the art pressed out of you / you mingle with nothing”. You fall in a coiled rubato of helplessness. This is the standout track of the bunch, but remains a part of the whole rather than an outlier. The rhythm picks up, accompaniment fills out, and introspection is sparked with questions almost as calls-to-action; “what will you let them do? / what will you let them make of you?”. If what we become is in our own hands, what should we grab onto?
You’re shifting your attention from your hands to your feet, taking on the call-to-action and “putting one foot down at a time”. It’s a song moving forward while also looking back, taking some ownership of the steps we make. “How intrusive,” you think, “to hear this piano’s private noises?”. The somber melody resolves pensively with a hopeful adoration of “all of this”.
A well-documented spark of inspiration, the closing track “Dyson” was written and recorded in a short period of time, and was chosen as the lead single. Here is the true outlier of the record, not least for the sudden switch in tone, with imagery turned candid and a buoyant ostinato not yet heard.
What makes They will draw halos around our heads particularly striking is its sense of brevity; no parts overstay their welcome. It’s in the incredible emotional mass of each chord, in the butterflies stirred by its measured restraint; from ornamental flourishes to short, gestural figures, you suddenly notice something sacred in the ordinary. Although no stranger to such brevity and restraint, it shines bright here in a brief and honest glimpse into Brigitte Naggar’s musical world, and foreshadows something great to come.
