OSCAR Dawson is operating by the theory, "If someone has a great idea, I wanna hear it," when it comes to recording Holy Holy's fifth album.
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The first single off the yet-to-be-completed album, Messed Up, was released earlier this month and served long-term fans with the most unexpected left turn yet.
Given Holy Holy's modus operandi to continually shape-shift from album to album, that's a massive statement.
Messed Up opens with western Sydney rapper and producer Kwame singing over a euphoric wall of synths and beats before Holy Holy vocalist Tim Carroll chimes in on the second verse.
Dawson, Holy Holy's multi-instrumentalist and producer, admits feedback from fans on social media has been mixed, but he and Carroll always want to keep pushing boundaries.
"We're really respectful of the people who buy our records, go to our shows and buy our merch and vinyl, it's amazing," Dawson says.
"I never forget that, but also we feel like we can't only make music for what we think they might like."
Since the release of Holy Holy's '70s rock-influenced debut When The Storms Would Come in 2015, the duo have constantly changed their sound.
Paint in 2017 introduced synths to their rock sound, before My Own Pool Of Light (2019) and Hello My Beautiful World (2021) pushed their brand of indie-pop further towards electronica.
That's built a reputation of reinvention for Holy Holy. Does that create its own pressure?
"I would feel more pressure to stay the same, actually, because that's scary," Dawson says.
"Like how do you make something in the same vein that we've done before, but different enough to not be boring and the same? That's just nudging a dial, that's hard.
"Whereas doing a collab with Kwame that fell into place and we liked the song. I'm not saying it was easy, nothing ever is, but that just feels good and it just happened in a way."
Messed Up is the first track of what is expected to be an album of collaborations.
The record is being recorded at Dawson's home studio which was finished a year ago and is also used for tracking other acts.
"There are a lot of collabs, some of which we're still working on," Dawson says. "In other cases, they're actually happening.
"Not every song will be a collab, but a bunch will.
"It keeps the magic alive a bit. Something different, something interesting for us.
"We like people and working with different people. It's more exciting for us."
The collaboration with Kwame came about while working with Macksville-bred Indigenous rapper Tasman Keith in Sydney.
After hitting a brick wall while working on a bass line, Keith suggested phoning Kwame and getting his input on the track.
A short time later Kwame arrived and took an instrumental version of Messed Up home and brought back a completed melody and lyrics the next morning.
"It's pretty rare that something happens quickly like that," Dawson says. "He must have just felt some inspiration, I suppose.
"It was a lucky opportunistic collaboration that doesn't happen very often.
"Sometimes things are very thought out and planned and it's very painstaking.
"This was not like that, it fell into place."
Holy Holy are heading out on the road with Kwame next month to celebrate the release of Messed Up.
Indie band Clews and Ethiopian-Australian artist Medhanit are hitting the road too.
Holy Holy play at UOW, Wollongong (April 14); Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle (April 15); Torquay Hotel (May 4) and Kambri, Canberra (May 26).