Austin Koukal - “Hold”

Olympia, Washington-based recording artist Austin Koukal has completely blown our minds with “Hold,” his latest offering to the gods of indie folk.

In the description of the song, Koukal mentioned that he makes alternative music with a heavy hip-hop influence, so when we pressed play on “Hold,” we were not quite prepared for how ethereal and graceful its sound waves would enter our ears. In fact, in its three-and-a-half minute runtime, the track manages to hit everything that we love about the folk genre, from its cinematic intro to its divine, concluding crescendo.

More importantly, Koukal has the rare ability to use his voice to hit the styles of two of our favorite artists: Bon Iver and Novo Amor. In fact, the vocals within “Hold” are so beautiful that we do not even care what the lyrics are– they are an instrument in and of themselves– and the way that they’ve been doubled is another one of the boxes that we wish all folks songs would check. The call and response between his falsetto and tenor have turned this into one of the best songs we’ve heard all year.

Once you press play, you will find a pleasant and peaceful experience, perfect for forgetting the malaise of modernity, with some acoustic guitar layered over the top of some reasonably surreal synth padding. And its not until around the two-and-a-half minute mark where this song reveals its full-bodied craftsmanship, as it swells to more than double its original sonic size. The bottom line is that “Hold” is a masterpiece and it should be studied by anyone who is thinking about submitting a song to our blog.

-TM