Over the course of their first two albums, 2011 debut ‘It Never Goes Out’ and 2014’s ‘Home, Like Noplace Is There’, The Hotelier explored what it means to grow up. They dealt with the anxiety of youth, making your own way in what can be a pretty daunting world; how to figure out who you are, and what you want to do with your life. The Massachusetts band return this month with the latest chapter.
“I feel like the more you learn about life and the world, the more you end up feeling like you don’t know,” says frontman Christian Holden of ‘Goodness’, the next instalment in The Hotelier’s story. “And I think that may be an ‘engaging with wisdom’ sort of thing – learning to understand that we don’t know certain things. Maybe that’s what we’re learning.”
One thing’s for sure, they’ve a knack for writing lyrics that resonate. Fans of The Hotelier are definitely fans of The Hotelier. “It’s possible that there’s just so many words that it’s bound to connect with somebody,” Christian muses.
“But I’m not sure. I mean, when I’m making music, I’m making pieces and elements of it that I would have wished to have when I was growing up listening to music. So maybe that was effective – maybe I was able to make something that other people were also longing for in music. But maybe it’s also that music is strange and complex, and people have different emotions toward different things.”
Either way, Christian’s not remotely worried about how their new material will be received. “I think there’s enough stuff that The Hotelier had done prior, that it feels familiar. It doesn’t feel like we’re trying on new shoes, it feels like we’re wearing them in, if that’s the metaphor. So yeah, I don’t tend to worry about it too much.”
Looking ahead to the UK dates with Into It. Over It. – and their “buds” Rozwell Kid – Christian says it’s a pairing that came about naturally. “What happened was we were booking this tour for ourselves,” he starts, “and it didn’t really work out the way we wanted. Evan [Weiss] was asking us if we wanted to do the US tour that they’re on now, actually, and we were like, ‘We’ve already got plans to go to Europe, but do you want to meet up with us there?’
“I’m looking forward to seeing buds that I met the last time we were here – I mean, the UK was really fun and exciting the last time but right now I’m in Switzerland and seeing it for the first time, then we’re going to Italy, and Austria and Oslo… So this half of the tour is really exciting, there’s more mystery. I think that all the shows in the UK are going to be really really good. I’m really excited for them, and excited to play this new set that we have and perform the new songs.”
