Holy Holy To Embark On Indefinite Hiatus, Announce Accompanying Tour

Australian rock band Holy Holy have announced that they’re going on hiatus. Despite the sad news, fans will get to farewell the group during a national tour in May and June.

Since forming in 2011, the duo—comprising singer and songwriter Timothy Caroll and producer and composer Oscar Dawson—Holy Holy released five albums, achieved a double platinum single, one platinum and four gold singles, and over 150 million streams on Spotify alone.

Holy Holy promise to dig deep into their expansive catalogue for the tour and bring “a line-up of special guests” along for the ride.

Dawson quipped, “We’ve booked a run of shows at some of our favourite venues across the country, and we can’t wait to share these songs with our fans one more time. We’ve always loved playing live, hanging out with the support bands, and meeting the crowd after the shows to hear their stories. This is going to be a special run. The hardest part will be picking the setlist.”

The tour will see Holy Holy stop in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Brisbane, and locations such as the Central Coast, Torquay, Launceston, and more. You can find all the tour dates below.

Pre-sale tickets will be available on Thursday, 30 January, at 10 am local time (register here for access) before the general sale opens on Friday, 31 January, at 10 am local time. The band’s warm-up shows, happening next month, are on sale now. You can find tickets via the band’s website.

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In a statement, Caroll said of the hiatus announcement, “Being in HOLY HOLY has been one of the greatest honours of my life. The memories we made and the songs we wrote will stay with me forever. I’m so grateful to our team, our collaborators and most of all, our audience for how much they have given us.

“Next year, I’m moving to Sweden for a couple of years, and Oscar is living in London, so now feels like a good time to step away and work on other projects.”

Caroll continued, “We'd like to give a special shout-out to Ryan Strathie, our incredible drummer and long-time collaborator, and Graham Ritchie, our bass player and spirit guide, two of the most talented musicians we've ever had the pleasure of playing with and two of the most gracious and lovely people too. It's been such a privilege working with them both.”

Discussing the shock news with The Music, Caroll says it’s time for a break and to find some time to exist “without that constant wheel of touring, writing and releasing music.”

“We started writing songs for Holy Holy in 2011. And now, all of a sudden, it’s 2025,” Caroll says. “It’s been a pretty incredible period for us as a band, filled with so many experiences and so much creativity and opportunity.

“I feel so grateful to have had the chance to be in all these incredible studios, working with these talented musicians and having whole teams of people helping us release music. And then adding in all the live performances, playing festivals, touring the country and playing our own headline shows, it's been so much fun, and we've made so many memories that will stay with me forever.

He adds, “I never really thought that was on the cards for me as an artist to get to experience something like that. It always blew my mind that it happened for us, and that people were interested, and that we were able to become a band that could tour in Australia and make it a part of our lives.”

Caroll also acknowledges that being in Holy Holy comes with “a fair amount of intensity,” outlining their output and consistent touring over 12 years in the band.

“Both Oscar and I kept side jobs going the whole time—Oscar works as a producer, making albums for really incredible and important Australian acts like Ali Barber, Alex Lahey, Teen Jesus [And The Jean Teasers], Grinspoon, and The Vanns, and I started this music festival [Panama] in Tassie.

“In that same time period, I’ve had two kids, so it’s been a really fulfilling but also intense period,” Caroll admits. “And now, for a range of reasons—I mean, I'm moving to Sweden next year for two years [Caroll’s wife is Swedish, and the pair were always planning to spend a few years in Sweden], so that's a part of it—but it just feels like the right time to stop and take some time to exist without that constant wheel of touring, writing and releasing music and trying to keep driving the project forward.”

Dawson added, “It is the tenth anniversary of our first record, When The Storms Would Come, this year. We reflected on this, and what other things we've done, and where we're both headed - geographically, and more generally - and it seemed to make sense to stop.

“Decisions happen very slowly, and then, all of a sudden. This one might have been percolating for some time, and then we spoke late last year and realised - it's time to take a break from this thing.”

Describing the decision to take a break as “necessary,” Dawson expressed concern about the Australian music scene—particularly listeners receiving so much music from international artists.

He explains, “People have a hunger for music; we are an open-minded country - and yet, we experience such a powerful deluge of culture from outside our borders, it honestly feels overwhelming.

“At times, it feels like our wider culture wouldn't be bothered if Australians continued to make music, or didn't. I'm not sure if that's true - but the weekly charts suggest it might be. It's a function of the size of our population, sure, but it's also to do with structural things - the weight of streaming, social media algorithms, and so on.

“Frankly, I also think it's our culture here. We tend to love what comes from outside. So, I feel bittersweet and, not to overstate it, I worry about the actual existence, in the long run, of music-making here. This isn't about Holy Holy, it's about the people who are 10, 15, 20 years old, right now, making beautiful art and great sounds. Is there a path for them? How can they be heard?”

He concluded, “I hope, whatever happens with the bigger entities - artists, or streaming platforms, or social media platforms - we retain our own vibrant and unique musical cultures, across the land, in all their diversity, and that they somehow find the space to flourish. Again, with some important exceptions, it really hasn't felt like that has been the case for some time.”

Presented by triple j