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"On Holder’s new (and appropriately titled) Uncomfortable Truths, the Austin songwriter digs deep into her own feminism with clear-eyed honesty. Some tunes are as expansive as Holder’s native Texas, while others are as close and claustrophobic as a troubled relationship. Throughout, Holder’s confessions give her strength and anchor the LP.” - No Depression

"Much of the album reveals raw footage of real life. Holder manages to somehow wrap up the sometimes painful narratives with a positive bow. Not always neatly wrapped, but the message of a change of mindset prevails." - American Songwriter

"Ali Holder, Uncomfortable Truths: Fourth LP serves a breakthrough with brilliant, bruising confessionals and defiant, compassionate anthems, cutting the space between Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann." - Austin Chronicle

"Longtime local music scene fixture Holder will celebrate her fourth release since 2013. 'Uncomfortable Truths' isn’t necessarily a concept album, but it’s held together by four tracks collectively titled “speak” that seek to give a voice to those who too often go unheard. Musically holder draws from both traditional singer-songwriter forms and more modern indie influences." - Austin American Statesman

Holder’s sound is purely her own. Slow and beautiful, the live song possesses a darker, serious tone, pairing perfectly with her lyrics of introspection, dreams, and fate. – KUTX 

Ranking among Austin’s brightest songwriters. – Austin Monthly  

Across her latest record, Uncomfortable Truths, singer-songwriter Ali Holder exposes every raw nerve of her life. "Speak 3" and "Speak 4" are among her most profound and intimate confessions. Each acoustically-wrought track scrawls out depictions of mental health and sexual assault, respectively. Together, the accompanying visuals complete a "Speak" series, created with Austin-based artist Seela Misra. 

"Mental health is something that has a huge place in my life. As someone who battles both depression and anxiety, I am intimate with the incredible stigma of mental illness," Holder tells Wide Open Country. "Due to my privilege, I believe it's my responsibility to try and help provide support to others with mental illness. To bring awareness to mental health. To de-stigmatize it. To help others advocate for themselves. To help others feel less alone."

"Speak 4" arrives 10 days after a leaked draft detailing the Supreme Court's opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling that protected women's bodily autonomy under the Constitution. Holder originally wrote her mournful ballad "well before the pandemic," and its message rings even brighter now. 

"I recently saw Margaret Atwood and Gloria Steinem speak. The reality that this battle is still being fought, that we are actually moving backwards, is crushing," offers Holder. "The reality that the United States in 'The Handmaid's Tale,' a work of fiction, is becoming more and more like the United States we see in our non-fiction lives every day. It is terrifying." 

Over a stunning, visceral arrangement, Holder digs into her Texas upbringing and ""being culturally raised to stay small, to be polite, to make sure everyone else is comfortable. It's about being gaslit, when a man has put you in an inappropriate situation and they get called on it," she continues. "I have lived with sexual harassment my whole life. I have lived through sexual assault. However, I have had the privilege of therapy, the support of loved ones, and the luck to have made it out alive."

Uncomfortable Truths intertwines additional themes around chronic pain and domestic violence, as well as a Pueblo myth about La Loba (or The Wolf Woman). In all, it's an exquisite, emotional, and musically-cathartic record. - Jason Scott, Wide Open Country

 Speak Two is about the privilege of being born into a middle class family. Having the foundation and support to go to college and take risks. Anyone could end up unhoused at some point in their lives. There’s so much judgment about the unhoused. The truth is that some of them have had hard luck their whole lives with no support to rely on. Some have untreated mental illness and addiction issues. It goes back to systemic racism and poverty. The system we live in has not set people up to succeed. Most don’t have access healthcare or mental healthcare. I could go on and on about the injustice of poverty. Housing, food, education, mental and physical health care should be a right. It’s the responsibility of the privileged to share their resources and time to make other’s lives more livable.

 "It’s heady material, but rather than coming off preachy, Holder finds a place of introspection and honesty as the song reaches its stirring climax." - Caleb Campbell, Under the Radar

 Speak One is about the privilege of being a white bodied person in a systemically white culture. Fixing this system involves white people recognizing their privilege. People who have the privilege of whiteness must use their voice and take action on every level of the system. From our neighborhoods to our legislation. George Floyd may have broken the dam, but this is a life threatening country for people of color. It has been that way since it was built upon the backs of slaves hundreds of years ago. It is our duty to change this cultural mindset and structure.

"The video explodes with the anxiety and tension of the song, a roaring rock backing overlaid with Holder’s weary vocals in a balance of hope and fury and determination." - Doug Freeman, Austin Chronicle