With a run of recent shows both in his adopted home of Milwaukee and in overseas locales like Austria and Hungary, Holy Pinto—the musical moniker of English-born singer/songwriter Aymen Saleh—has been keeping quite busy of late. However, unless you were at Vivarium on August 28 to attend his unconventional listening party and Q&A session done months in advance of his “super secret” album’s release, it’s probably been a while since you’ve heard anything new from the Brew City transplant.
Today, that lengthy gap that spanned more than two years between singles, came to an end with a long-awaited follow-up to Saleh’s 2022’s “us, married” song and video that’s a preview of what’s to come on the forthcoming Holy Pinto record. The just-released song, entitled “Death Is In The Air,” manages to mask themes of loneliness and longing with disproportionately delicate vocals and uptempo instrumentation. Much like the indie rock project’s previous single, this Holy Pinto song was recorded with producer Bartees Strange, who also provided musical accompaniment on electric guitar, synthesizer, and even offered some hand claps to the recording.
Ironically, “Death Is In The Air” signals new life for Holy Pinto, as it’s the first publicly available taste of what’s to come on the upcoming full-length album. As we wait for that whole album’s release, we suggest you listen to the latest track below (or on Spotify) and catch a solo Holy Pinto outing from Saleh at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on Friday, November 1.