Taking his talents from his native Chicago to sunny Los Angeles is a singer-songwriter, musician, and award-winning film composer Dave Cavalier who recently released his lead single, "The Hold," from his forthcoming debut album, 'Civillianaire.'
Dave Cavalier's sound has drawn comparisons to Jack White and Robert Palmer from outlets like The Huffington Post, with Billboard attesting that he has some of the "greatest tracks you've never heard of." The Berklee College of Music graduate took his talents to Hollywood, where he's shared billings with Eddie Vedder, Don Henley, Kendrick Lamar, and many more.
Now, Cavalier is set to release his upcoming debut album, 'Civillianaire,' on March 18, 2022, starting the venture with his exciting lead single, "The Hold." This thrilling banger is a dynamic piece of sonic mastery that displays the trials and tribulations of realizing a lover is gone for good, but Cavalier turns that experience into something far more exciting and cathartic.
Peeling back the first layers of "The Hold," we're met with a chilled piano and a sample of a lively restaurant, but it doesn't take long for Dave Cavalier to take over with darkness and drive. Once his airy and powerful drums start to pump, the recording artist sets the scene with his ominous and haunting vocal delivery while the screeching guitars lift us towards the hook.
Dave Cavalier's dynamic performance in this track is captivating, and what's just as thrilling is the gritty and edgy rock instrumentals that give listeners a sonic reminder of the strength and power within. Although his lyrics drift from sadness to anger, the overall listening experience provides this overwhelming cathartic journey that flushes all the unwanted energy out of our system.
Feel the burn and "The Hold" in Dave Cavalier's latest single, and find his debut album, 'Civillianaire,' on all streaming platforms come March 18.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Dave Cavalier. We're thrilled with the overall experience you've provided on your recent hit, "The Hold." During which moments or experiences did you feel inspired to create this piece?
Over the pandemic, I think a lot of us went through some pretty significant, personal shifts in our lives. I took a lot of time to focus on myself, investing in a number of different areas like building a home studio and taking on sobriety. Musically, "The Hold" was a culmination of about a year and a half of producing songs I thought nobody would ever hear, and lyrically, it was a way for me to cope and make sense of the transition I was making into a much healthier lifestyle. It was a confusing time, but also the simplification of life, to an extent, really helped me focus on myself, which was what I hoped was conveyed through the music.
Seeing that your lyrics in "The Hold" are rather emotional, why did you choose to create such a high-energy and exciting instrumental?
When I think of "The Hold," I genuinely envision a battle or a war because that was exactly how I felt at the time in terms of dealing with my personal issues. There was a tension and looming darkness of this invisible thing that had this literal hold on my emotions and directed a lot of my actions, most of which I wasn't really proud of, and I struggled with that. I was combating it every single day, and "The Hold" was an attempt to make sense of that really complicated time, like a snapshot of the fight.
What sort of listening experience did you want to offer your audience when listening to "The Hold?" What did you want them to feel and take away?
Sometimes simply acknowledging somebody's pain by acknowledging your own shared experience is just as valuable as offering solutions. "The Hold" doesn't provide any solutions, but I like to think if you're enduring a similar struggle, the sound and feel of that track will connect with you. I hope it helps those listeners feel just a little more understood and part of a larger community of people who can empathize. For those who don't have that personal experience, I hope it helps to tell my story deeper.
Why did you want "The Hold" to be the lead single off your upcoming debut album, 'Civillianaire?' How does this single prepare us for the project?
For this record, I didn't have any interest in leading with a "hit" necessarily. I wanted to focus on a track that people would find interesting instead. "The Hold" travels a lot of different places sonically in a very short amount of time, it sounds epic, but it doesn't take eight minutes to get you there. We tell our friends about new things that pique our interest in unique ways, and I hope listeners will feel similarly about this music. Thematically, this particular story is the cornerstone to where all the others derive from. The album itself has highs and lows, but each song is in some way connected to my journey overcoming this obstacle, so it only made sense to showcase the song that represented that struggle best.
