Holly (album)

Holly is the debut album from Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Nozuka. The album was named after his mother Holly. It was first released on March 19, 2007 in the United Kingdom and April 3, 2007 in Canada. It was then released in the United States on April 15, 2008 by Glassnote Records, peaking at numbers six and 30 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and Independent Albums charts respectively. To promote the album, Nozuka toured across North America with appearances at talk shows.

Holly
Studio album by Justin Nozuka
Released	United Kingdom: March 19, 2007 Canada: April 3, 2007 Netherlands: May 15, 2007 France: February 25, 2008 United States: April 15, 2008 France (re-release): February 9, 2009[1]
Recorded	2006–2007
Genre	Pop acoustic soul
Length	49:21
Label	Outcaste Coalition Glassnote
Producer	Bill Bell
Justin Nozuka chronology
Holly (00000001) You I Wind Land and Sea (2010)

Promotion

On February 6, 2008 Nozuka announced an 18-city cross-Canada tour with fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Hayley Sales, beginning at Nanaimo, BC's Queen's Hotel and finishing at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre.^[2]

On August 14, he announced his first U.S. headlining tour with American rock group the Gabe Dixon Band, beginning at Buffalo's Town Ballroom and finishing at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.^[3] He made his U.S. television debut by appearing on the talk shows Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Good Morning America.^[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
BBC Music	favourable[6]

Jo-Ann Greene of AllMusic praised the album for the different facets of love it explores, Nozuka's songwriting and vocal performance, and arrangements in various genres, calling it, "A stunning debut, whose lyrics and atmospheres linger on long after the last (hidden) track has played."^[5] Jamie Fisher of BBC Music also echoed Greene's review, praising Nozuka's mature (despite his age) storytelling and singing voice, and choice in vocal notes, concluding "[it's] a superb album, filled with raw quality. Just enjoy."^[6]

Track listings

Standard track list

All tracks are written by Justin Nozuka, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Down in a Cold Dirty Well"	4:27
2.	"Golden Train"	3:09
3.	"Be Back Soon"	4:21
4.	"Mr. Therapy Man"	3:39
5.	"Supposed to Grow Old"	4:22
6.	"After Tonight" (Justin Nozuka, Haydain Neale)	4:06
7.	"Criminal"	4:06
8.	"I'm in Peace"	3:41
9.	"Oh Momma"	4:54
10.	"Save Him"	5:26
11.	"If I Gave You My Life" (Nozuka, Pete Cugno; includes hidden track "Don't Listen to a Word You've Heard")	8:10

Japanese track list

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Why (demo version)"	2:58
13.	"Lullabye"	4:52

DVD

1. "After Tonight" (music video)
2. "I'm in Peace" (acoustic studio video)
3. Interview

Personnel

Adapted from the Holly media notes.^[7]

Musicians

Bill Bell – acoustic guitar, atmosphere guitar, B3 organ ("I'm in Peace"), bass, electric slide ("Mr. Therapy Man"), handclaps, marxophone, percussion, piano, snaps, ukulele ("Mr. Therapy Man") Pete Cugno – piano ("If I Gave You My Life") Davide Direnzo – drums, percussion Damhnait Doyle – vocals ("If I Gave You My Life") Kevin Fox – cello ("Golden Train", "Oh Momma") George Koller – bass, upright bass ("Mr. Therapy Man", "Supposed to Grow Old", "If I Gave You My Life") Justin Nozuka – acoustic guitar, handclaps, snaps, vocals

Production Jeff McCullough – recording at Wellesley Sound Studio Bill Bell – producing, mixing, additional recording at Soleil Studio Phil Demetro – mastering Artwork Filip Matovina – cover art Krystina Kavanagh – layout Andrew Whitton – photo credit

Chart performance

Chart (2008–09)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[8]	23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9]	79
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[10]	6
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[11]	30

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
United Kingdom	March 19, 2007	CD	Outcaste	[12]
Canada	April 3, 2007	CD	Coalition Entertainment
	July 24, 2007	Digital download		[13]
United States	April 15, 2008	CD, Digital download	Glassnote	[14]