Holding Absence’s new album, ‘Modern Life Is Lonely’, marks a shift for the Welsh post-hardcore band after completing the trilogy of records that ended with 2023’s ‘The Noble Art of Self Destruction’. Frontman Lucas Woodland says the album looks outward rather than focusing chiefly on his own psyche, examining loneliness, connection and the social effects of technology; its central message is that shared isolation can itself be a source of solidarity.

Woodland describes being a musician in a niche scene as a lonely experience, while recalling how formative musical moments such as My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ made him want to create connection for others. The title reflects the idea that many people feel separately isolated, and the artwork reinforces the record’s man-versus-machine theme: the band’s new mascot, Y4-BB0, reaches towards cherry blossom displayed on a vast LED screen but cannot touch it.