Keli Holiday, the solo project of Peking Duk’s Adam Hyde, has dropped a fizzing new single, “horsepower”.
On his first single under the Keli Holiday moniker in two years, the artist nostalgically nods to classic ’90s Britpop with swaggering vocals (or think early Kasabian), while still retaining his signature cool groove. The energy is, of course for one half of Peking Duk, turned up to the maximum.
What is “horsepower” about? Let Holiday himself explain. “A woman that takes over any room for better or worse. A woman that’ll pick you up in a Rolls Royce and drop you home in a hearse. A diamond studded Gucci top with a shotgun in her purse. Powerful, strong, scary and sexy. That’s horsepower,” he poetically says.
“horsepower” follows Holiday’s 2022 debut album, KELI, which garnered over two million streams and earned support from NME, Happy Mag, Life Without Andy, and more publications.
In a 2021 interview with Tone Deaf, Hyde explained the vision behind his Keli Holiday project. “It’s kind of like this flamboyant dude who is heartbroken from a relationship, but he’s decided to embark on his own journey through holidays,” he said at the time.
“Is it art imitating life? Is it life imitating art? Who knows? All I know is it’s a fuckin’ fun time, and I can’t wait to bring this show on the road again because the live show really, really encapsulates all that is Keli Holiday, and I feel once you can see it in the flesh then you can kind of get a feel for it more.”
Away from his solo project, Hyde has been busy working with Reuben Styles as Peking Duk. The pair collaborated with the one and only Darren Hayes on an updated version of Savage Garden’s classic hit “I Want You” last year, which was streamed over four million times on Spotify alone.
Peking Duk also hit the live circuit as always, including performing at New Zealand’s iconic Rhythm & Vines Festival at the end of 2023.
Keli Holiday’s “horsepower” is out now.
