Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

Holly Fitzgerald – The Tide (2021)

With a reputation for emotional, engaging and captivating performances, Holly Fitzgerald can ensnare your senses at her live gigs. Capturing audiences at various events, including Lock Stock and the Birmingham Music Awards’ Grand Summer Party, Fitzgerald has a breadth of experience from which to draw. Yet, it is not her prominent presence in the UK music scene that makes her popular, but rather her diverse and original sound. With airplay from BBC West Midlands, Brum Radio and several stations in America and Australia, Fitzgerald is gaining an international following. But, who is Holly Fitzgerald?

A innovative singer-songwriter from the West Midlands, Fitzgerald has a knack for creating genre-defying music. Merging elements of pop, jazz and rock, this songstress can blow you away, according to Thrive by Pao. The latest addition to her well-received discography is the single ‘The Tide’.



Following a collaboration with Birmingham-based rapper T8PES, Fitzgerald returned to the studio to record new material including her latest single ‘The Tide’. The first release in 2021, ‘The Tide’ adopts an acoustic-inspired sound amidst her old-school jazz style. Unlike her haunting single ‘Telepathy’, the new track is upbeat and engaging with a flowing melody. Yet, while there is a smoothness to the languid new single, Fitzgerald showcases her eclecticism with underlying darkness in the mix.

Influenced greatly by Fitzgerald’s love for jazz, ‘The Tide’ has a natural genuineness to the melody. The simplistic incorporation of guitars and drums compliment her bold vocals enhancing their poignancy. Blanketing the steady instrumentation with her warm voice, Fitzgerald adds robustness to the evocative track. Moreover, the similarity to Sade increases the huskiness and “smokey room” quality in ‘The Tide’.

As if flowing along with a tide, Fitzgerald highlights her versatility traversing several genres within a single song. The prominent style is jazz, however, there is a leaning toward soul and blues with underlying contemporary pop…you really don’t know what to expect. What I can say is that Fitzgerald’s tone inserts a sense of mischief and sensuality to a track that “speaks of lost love and growth mixed with the beauty and futility of hindsight”. This is my first experience of Holly Fitzgerald and I completely understand why people love her!

For more from Holly Fitzgerald check out her official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.

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