Some artists depend wholly on outside producers or bandmates for guidance on musical quality control. George Holman, who records under the moniker Peacock Affect, is an exception to that rule – not only is the Exeter, UK-based musician his own harshest critic—he’s discerning about which songs see the light of day. In Holman’s hands, his influences feel new, thanks to impeccable, spacious arrangements that give the music room to breathe. Holman is a versatile vocalist with expressive range; he’ll switch from keening falsetto to a low-register growl, sometimes in the same song. Peacock Affect’s music is successful because of its purity and lack of artifice, Holman isn’t afraid to make himself vulnerable, but he does so with purpose and clarity. “Usually, I have piles of lyrics next to my bed and poems I write on my phone—just random lines and stuff,” he says. “I just enjoy writing songs when I feel like it, when the moment takes me,” he continues. “It’s important that I write a song when I feel like writing a song, not when I have to or need to. It’s definitely the way forward—for me, anyway. I’ve heard Eminem apparently goes in the studio, and they just work at it. He writes great stuff, but that’s just not the way I work. I just do it when I feel like it. I feel that’s the way most art should be made.”—Annie Zaleski

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