BIO: Holly XO is a singer-songwriter from St. Paul, MN. Her debut album “Dear Holly,” is a chronological telling of recovery from codependency and a search for independence. The songs tell the story of Holly’s adulthood beginning at age 18 when she became involved with a man 10 years her senior, and what happened when she left him 17 years later. As each track unfolds, the listener gets closer to the inner-workings of her heart and hears her evolve from suffering, to personal responsibility, and finally to the call to reclaim her life. The album was recorded at the Library Studio in NE Minneapolis by producer Matt Patrick. Holly XO performed all instruments and vocals herself, and the base tracks of guitar/piano and vocal are done in single takes in order to create the most visceral and all-consuming immersive experience possible. While the subject matter is dark, the collection of songs aims to offer a feminist and spiritual message through experience, strength, and hope.

SHORT BIO: Holly XO is a singer-songwriter from St Paul, MN. Her debut album “Dear Holly,” is currently in production at the Library Studio in NE Minneapolis and will be released in 2026. All vocals and instruments were performed by Holly herself, creating a visceral and immersive listening experience.

Electronic Press Kit

Listen to “Dear Holly by Holly XO

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn
Holly XO

  • Description:
    What is love? What is infatuation?

    Lyrics:
    Avery looks into my eyes
    Your worried brow
    Waxes and wanes
    How can I say I’m in love with you?

    And I said, “I’m not so sure”
    But there you were, without hesitation
    My trepidation
    Faded and blurred

    Never have I ever felt this way
    So unafraid
    So bravely beats my heart

    You don’t have to write me poetry
    Or sing to me
    This is just the start

    It’s just the prelude
    Prelude to the afternoon of a fawn

    Wait - don’t say a word
    Let me stay tangled
    Obtuse, absurd

    Oh boy, unexampled
    Tasting your angles
    Sunshine bleeds for the birds

    Avery looks into my eyes
    Your worried brow
    Waxes and wanes
    How can I say I’m in love

    Oh no.

    I’m in love with you.

The Spider and the Fly
Holly XO

  • Description:
    What we don’t like in other people is often what we don’t like in ourselves. Often I find I am attracted to those who share my worst qualities.

    Lyrics:
    Dreamy and delicate demon
    The eyes that reside on my skin
    That tricky and tender young traveler  
    Won’t stop sucking the blood of my sins

    He’s a lover 
    He’s a liar 
    If he’s a spider 
    Does that make me the fly?

    I never claimed to be perfect
    All that is dark turns me on
    Cause the badder the boy the better the burn
    While he’s drinking the dregs of my song

    I’m chaotic
    And quixotic
    Is he the spider?
    Or am I? 

    Pretty and jagged
    He’s running me ragged
    Loves me loves me not
    I don’t know 

    Dreamy and delicate demon
    Won’t you stay for a while 
    Let’s get tricky and tender together 
    How I live for the points of your smile 

    You’re a lover
    You’re a liar 
    You’re a poisonous spider

    Ha,
    So am I 
    Yeah,
    So am I 

Sick, Sad
Holly XO

  • Description:
    I tried to be everything he wanted. I tried to be him. I tried to move on, but I was left with me. And I’m so sad it’s made me sick.

    Lyrics:
    I’ll remember the kisses
    Our lips raw with love
    You gave me everything you had 

    How kindly I offered 
    Those last bits of me
    Broken, blistered and bad 

    Sick, sad, sad, sick
    Everyone knows and you know it
    Sad, sick, sick, sad
    I blink my eyes
    And I blow it 

    A light in his window
    Our noons and our nights
    Our bodies together and spilled 

    Flowering currents 
    Your leg is my leg 
    Immediate, forever, and still 

    Sick, sad, sad, sick
    Everyone knows and you know it
    Sad, sick, sick, sad
    I blink my eyes
    And I blow it 

    Ah
    You feel like crying but nothing comes out 
    Ah 
    I’ll be your lover but never out loud 

    Sick, sad, sad, sick
    Everyone knows and you know it
    Sad, sick, sick, sad
    I blink my eyes
    And I blow it 
    Get back in his bed and I know it
    I blink my eyes
    And I blow it

About a Filmstrip
Holly XO

  • Description:
    The bad decisions I’ve made, and the horror I’ve endured, replay in my memory like a filmstrip.

    Lyrics:
    Don’t know what made me think it would be different this timeI wouldn’t sink into the river with my heart strung on your line
    I wouldn’t swallow my indifference I wouldn’t give you

    My pride

    I’ll be your whore when you want me I’ll be your maid when your mad
    Keep you coming keep you cozy and pretend to understand 
    I can put you in my mouth but I can’t reach your hand 

    Your hand

    Lay me down and fuck me over
    Wake me up when it’s over

    I want to be completely and utterly
    Enmeshed and codependent
    I want to saturate myself with you
    And mix our business with our pleasures

    ‘Cause what’s the point of my autonomy
    If all I do is to endeavor 
    To be chained up to the bedpost 
    And let his morphine drips 

    ||:Let it drip:||

    (I’ll work for bullets and
    I’ll work for pills if you’ve got them
    Don’t get the wrong idea 
    I sleep outside ‘cause it’s safe here)

    Lay me down and fuck me over
    Wake me up when it’s over

    Don’t know what made me think it would be different this time 
    Wouldn’t sink into the river with my heart string on your line 
    Lights they flicker like a film strip 
    While your morphine drips 

    ||:Let it drip:|| 

    (I’ll work for bullets and
    I’ll work for pills if you’ve got them
    Something to wash them down
    These thoughts are all that I have now
    Don’t get the wrong idea 
    I sleep outside ‘cause it’s safe here
    I’ll work for bullets and 
    I’ll work for pills) 

    Lay me down and fuck me over
    Wake me up when it’s over

    ||: Is it over? :||

    I’ll work for bullets and 
    I’ll work for pills if you’ve got them
    Something to wash them down
    I sleep outside ‘cause it’s safe here

Numb3r B700m
Holly XO

  • Description:
    My father hated my husband. After he passed I became more ashamed of what happened and the things I did. When I left my husband, I started having dreams of telling my father. In my dream he always flies out the window right before I wake up. I long for his voice and I cry for the moments I lost when I was too codependent to see myself the way my dad saw me.

    Lyrics:
    Wishful thinking
    Got you dreaming
    In the rapturous mouth of June

    Walked the hallways 
    Through your doorway
    We stood in this empty room

    You were facing 
    Trepidation
    Though your heart was still black and blue 

    You opened the dusty slats
    Of that old stubborn window 
    And flew

    I can’t love you 
    Like the energy fields do 
    The stars won’t allow me to 

    So hold my hand
    While your legs are still on land
    I’ll always remember you 

    Now I know the difference 
    Between what was really real 
    And just a little bit of homegrown paranoia

    Feel the gush of the mud 
    Overtaking my feet 
    It’ll crush me but god I love the 

    Dream (2376005)
    It seemingly seems to me (2376005)
    Dream (2376005)
    It seemingly seems to me (2376005)
    Dream (2376005)
    It seemingly seems to me (2376005)
    Dream (2376005)

    I can’t love you 
    Like the energy fields do 
    The stars won’t allow me to 

    So hold my hand
    While your legs are still on land
    I’ll always remember you 

    Wishful thinking (I was thinking)
    Got you dreaming (I was dreaming)
    In the rapturous mouth of June

    Walked the hallways (I’m in the hallway)
    Through your doorway (I’m in the doorway)
    We stood in this empty room

    You were facing (I am facing)
    Trepidation (tribulation)
    Though your heart was still black and blue 

    You opened the dusty slats
    Of that old stubborn window 
    And flew

    I can’t love you 
    Like the energy fields do 
    The stars won’t allow me to 

    So hold my hand
    While your legs are still on land
    I’ll always remember you 

    I’ll always remember you

Wayside (For Audie & Erin)
Holly XO

  • Description:
    Being independent involved some work that required me to enter an inpatient facility for 30 days. I had two friends inside that place. I’ve run into both of them since, and I miss them.

    Lyrics:
    Nice to see you today 
    I called out your name
    It wasn’t the same - it was you
    In a vacuum of gray 

    You and me me and you
    After all we’ve been through 
    Do you still drink Mountain Dew
    In the morning when you wake?

    When you wake

    Are you eating are you sleeping
    Did I catch you weeping
    When I asked you if you’ve seen your son?

    Lavender seeds and ripping up weeds
    With our bare hands
    Wasn’t that fun? 

    Nice to see you today
    I called out your name
    It wasn’t the same - it was me 
    I’ve escaped 

    And I miss you and I love you
    Always
    Forever on the wayside 
    Always 
    Always

Dear Holly,
Holly XO

  • Description:
    When you are as sick as I was, you are faced with a choice - fall to your death, or fly. Whichever you choose, you have to jump.

    Lyrics:
    Time waits for me at my doorstep
    Impatiently sighing her breath 

    The tap of my tread
    And the sounds of my steps
    Can’t keep up with the beat in her head

    She’s a still rotting stick while I stumble 
    Infectious impulsive and mean

    Albeit consistent
    She’s ever persistent
    And cries out my name when I leave 

    Teetering above the the street
    From the ceiling to the mezzanine
    All the swelling in your hands and feet will subside

    Did you read it in the prophecy
    Did the tea leaves speak your destiny 
    Did you know it’s your responsibility to fly?

    To fly

    We, oh we were 
    Carrying out our birthright
    Our god given mission 
    To jump from the sky 

    And I oh I think 
    This balcony’s starting to buckle 
    It’s finally time 
    To fly 

    Time waits for me at my doorstep
    Impatiently sighing her breath 

    The balcony’s starting to buckle
    Just like my father said