Holy Pinto Shares New Single "Us, Forever" Ahead of WEDDING SEASON LP
British songwriter Aymen Saleh describes the track as a meditation on the cycle of addiction.
Holy Pinto, the indie-pop project of British songwriter Aymen Saleh, has released a new single, 'Us, Forever,' ahead of his forthcoming album, Wedding Season, due September 14. Saleh announced the album this summer, and 'Us, Forever' marks its latest single, a theatrical indie-pop track driven by piano, horns, a pulsing beat, and Saleh's storytelling.
'Us, Forever' is a song about the intoxicating cycle of addiction and the ways we get stuck within it,' Saleh explains. 'The familiar fireworks, once alluring and exciting, now simply explosive, or even dull. The cyclical-feeling guitar riff was originally built over a hip-hop sample - the song leans fully into that broody emotion. It took a while to sharpen the edges, with the offbeat accents creating a sense of urgency despite its contained nature.'
There is some of Death Cab for Cutie's emotional clarity and plainspoken lyricism in Saleh's songwriting, some of Ben Folds' melodic bounce and piano-minded craft, and a lot of Jens Lekman's gift for turning awkward, funny, highly specific observations into something bigger and sadder than they first appear. But Wedding Season does not play like a neatly assembled set of influences. It sounds like one songwriter following his own thoughts farther than usual and refusing to stop when the songs get messier, stranger, or more revealing than expected.
Wedding Season is a meticulously assembled record. Saleh spent years tinkering with arrangements, reworking songs and chasing sounds that could not have been captured by simply plugging in a band and playing them straight. Parts of the album began in Washington, D.C., in the basement of Bartees Strange, much of it was written and recorded in Saleh's apartment above a Brady Street bar in Milwaukee, interspersed with DIY sessions in spaces including a rural Wisconsin boat warehouse, a southern Illinois cathedral and an industrial piano repair shop.
Along the way, he became less interested in documenting songs in their simplest form than in building a record that could hold all the strange little details he wanted it to hold: room tone, overheard stories, bits of atmosphere, moments of humor, moments of panic, and the ornamental flourishes that make a song feel inhabited.
'Us, Forever' encapsulates the richly detailed world of Wedding Season, showcasing Saleh's gift for pairing deeply personal storytelling with ambitious, cinematic arrangements.
'Us, Forever' by Holy Pinto is out August 21st. Wedding Season is out September 14th.
Holy Pinto Live
9/5 - Milwaukee, WI - Vivarium
Wedding Season - Track Listing
1. Dandelion i
2. Us, Forever
3. Us, Married
4. NOLY
6. Death Is In The Air
7. She Loves You
8. One Tattoo
9. Reunited
10. Pharmacy
11. Special
12. Complaint Dept.
13. Us, Against The World
14. Mr. Writer
15. Monster
16. We're All Doomed Forever
17. Billboard
18. Dandelion ii
Holy Pinto Bio
Holy Pinto is the indie-pop project led by British songwriter Aymen Saleh. It began in his hometown of Canterbury, England, and is now based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Starting out in the UK with a raw, youthful punk sound, Holy Pinto gradually evolved into colorful, genre-defying indie-pop. After falling in love with life on the road - through a mix of carefree independence and serendipitous moments - Saleh eventually made Milwaukee home.
They released their debut album 'congratulations' in 2016, earning acclaim from outlets like The A.V Club and launching an extensive run of international touring. That momentum carried into 2019's coming-of-age follow-up, Adult, released shortly after Saleh settled stateside.
A shorter record titled 'Milwaukee' followed in 2020, documenting the relocation to his new adopted hometown, drawing praise from local press and national outlets including NPR, who named Holy Pinto to their coveted SXSW 'Austin 100' list.
Holy Pinto then teamed up with Bartees Strange in 2021 for the single 'us, married.' Produced by Strange, the track marked a clear expansion in sonic scope, also shaped by Saleh's pandemic-era collaborations across pop, hip-hop, and afrobeat.
That collaboration marked the beginning of a deeply self-explorative journey toward 'Wedding Season' - a meticulous, years-long labour of love and ambitious concept album set for release in fall 2026.
Photo Credit: Bobbie Knopp
Photo Credit: Bobbie Knopp
