The Hotelier formed in June 2009 when lead singer Christian Holden met Chris Hoffman, Zack Shaw, and Sam Frederick while attending high school in Dudley, Massachusetts. In 2009, the band released their first EP, titled We Are All Alone, which received little success outside of Massachusetts. At the end of the year, the band released Two Song Demo. In 2011, the band released their first album, titled It Never Goes Out, receiving some attention.
Originally named The Hotel Year, the band changed its name because they did not think the name was particularly good, and there was a band called My Hotel Year which they did not want to be confused with.
The band released their second album in 2014 titled Home, Like Noplace Is There, which brought the band to attention in the emo revival scene. After releasing the album, vocalist Christian Holden stated in a blog post on the bands Tumblr that "Our new album deals with some real dark stuff. So to all my brooding and slightly damaged friends, have your a happy album or Rugrats in Paris nearby. It’s partly about my experience with friends and loved ones in the past three years which were very complicated, toxic, and abusive. But laid within is a lot about the deconstruction of self for personal growth and transformation. I hope it helps you live and stuff. Apparently we are emo now." Home, Like Noplace Is There ranked at number 1 on the AbsolutePunk staff's top 30 albums of 2014, and number 6 on the users' top 50 albums of 2000-2015. According to Marc Snitzer, writer for the Philadelphia City Paper, The Hotelier was named one of two bands "leading the emo revival". The release of the band's sophomore album was ranked number seven on Alternative Press's list of the "12 Biggest Moments of The #EmoRevival in 2014". Leor Galil, writer for the Chicago Reader named it his favorite record of 2014. The band was also featured (for their second album) in a Boston Globe article highlighting the best music from Boston in 2014. The album was included at number 29 on Rock Sound's "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list.
The band was featured on Property of Zack's "Artists To Watch in 2015". The band performed at the 2015 Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain. In the spring of 2015, the band supported La Dispute and Title Fight on their co-headlining tour.
On 15 February 2016 Christian Holden wrote a blog post on the band's Tumblr account in which they mentioned an impending album announcement for an album entitled Goodness. The album was formally announced the next day. At the same time the band released a trailer for the album set to the song Goodness Pt I, a song sold as a limited edition numbered vinyl during the band's 2015 tour.
The band premiered their second single titled "Soft Animal" on April 22, 2016. The album itself was released a little over a month later, on May 27, through Tiny Engines.
Dendron
The Hotelier Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
felt better off.
Salutations to your son.
Awoke to find you heading out
with your white collar undone.
You placed a bar,
I played a game to see how low that I could go.
We develop mental pictures
Do you recall the imagery from when i drove you away?
Through others' rose prescription lens,
man I'm sorry every day.
because We intersect internally
and then we take what we have and we run.
and It all starts to unravel
until we're less than we were carrying before.
I guess I expected more.
Wake me up.
Pictures of you smiling in times
when I just couldn't be around.
Hold me up.
Count my rings to see how many winters
I've been stuck here under ground.
Swore I'd not burn out.
Digging through the memories
that made you feel alive when you were young.
You were right to doubt.
Broken since foundations
in the structures you were building came undone.
Part of your charm was
the way you would push me from
all of the traps that I just couldn't see.
Figures the one that was there to
have tripped you up
would be the one
was set there
by me.
Wish I was there to say goodbye when you went away.
Wish I was home but noplace was there.
I cut off my arm at the bone in solidarity.
Capital teaches that there's less when you share.
I felt the noose tighten up on your collar bone.
I felt the gun in the small of your back.
Engraved in the stone
by request and recurse of friends dead is
"Tell me again that it's all in my head."
The lyrics of "Dendron" by The Hotelier paint a vivid picture of a person who has disconnected from their past, and the devastating impact that has had on those around them. The opening lines describe how this person has cut ties with their old life and moved on, leaving their loved ones behind. They are depicted as heading out into the world with their "white collar undone", suggesting a lack of care or concern for the consequences of their actions.
The next lines describe a "game" that the singer played with this person, trying to see "how low" they could go. This game seems to represent a kind of downward spiral that both individuals were caught up in. They were "following their fathers down the drain", as if they were trapped in a cycle of dysfunction and despair that had been passed down from previous generations. The singer expresses regret for their actions, saying that they are sorry "every day" for what they did.
The chorus of the song is a plea to be rescued from this downward spiral. The singer asks to be "woken up" from the nightmare of their past and to be held up by others. They talk about feeling stuck "underground", as if they are buried alive in their own memories. The song concludes with haunting imagery of someone who has passed away, and a request to have their pain acknowledged: "Tell me again that it's all in my head."
Line by Line Meaning
You cut your ties,
You ended a relationship abruptly
felt better off.
You felt better without the said relationship
Salutations to your son.
A greeting to your son
Awoke to find you heading out
Woke up to see you leaving
with your white collar undone.
Your collar was undone indicating some kind of emotional turmoil
You placed a bar,
You set a standard
I played a game to see how low that I could go.
I lowered my standards to see how far I could go
We develop mental pictures
We create images in our minds
and we're following our fathers down the drain.
We imitate our fathers' bad habits
Do you recall the imagery from when i drove you away?
Do you remember the thing that made you leave?
Through others' rose prescription lens,
Through others' positive perspective
man I'm sorry every day.
I regret every day for my action.
because We intersect internally
Because we have a deep connection
and then we take what we have and we run.
Then we take our chance and run away.
and It all starts to unravel
And everything falls apart.
until we're less than we were carrying before.
Until we lose more than what we have
I guess I expected more.
I had a higher expectation
Wake me up.
Wake me up from my misery
Pictures of you smiling in times
Pictures of you happy in the past
when I just couldn't be around.
When I couldn't be there
Hold me up.
Support me
Count my rings to see how many winters
Count how many winters passed
I've been stuck here under ground.
I've been depressed and locked down
Swore I'd not burn out.
I promised myself not to overwork and stress.
Digging through the memories
Recalling old memories
that made you feel alive when you were young.
That made you feel alive in the past.
You were right to doubt.
You were correct to mistrust.
Broken since foundations
Broken since the beginning
in the structures you were building came undone.
In the projects that you were working on, everything fell apart.
Part of your charm was
One of your alluring qualities was
the way you would push me from
The way you challenged me from
all of the traps that I just couldn't see.
All the traps that I couldn't avoid
Figures the one that was there to
Ironically, the person who was there to
have tripped you up
Happened to be the one who hurt you the most
would be the one
Was the one
was set there
Planted there
by me.
By my action
Wish I was there to say goodbye when you went away.
I wish I was there to say goodbye when you left me.
Wish I was home but noplace was there.
I wish I felt at home, but I didn't.
I cut off my arm at the bone in solidarity.
I made a big sacrifice.
Capital teaches that there's less when you share.
Society teaches us that we lose when we share with others
I felt the noose tighten up on your collar bone.
I felt the depression and anxiety tightening up on you
I felt the gun in the small of your back.
I felt the pain of loss, impacting everything you do
Engraved in the stone
Written in stone, permanently
by request and recurse of friends dead is
By the request and instruction of friends who passed away is
"Tell me again that it's all in my head."
The phrase 'Tell me again that it's all in my head' is engraved.
Contributed by Violet Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Fabulous Killjoy
Perfect album from start to finish.
Eric Twing
This song is perfect and beautiful, but not in like an average way, it brings out your frustration and anger in a way that kinda just makes you let go
DanPick
1:43 This bit with the backing vocals is so simple, but must be on my top 10 musical moments
Crusty Crustacean
What a way to end an album. This song and your deep rest have a very special place in my heart. It hits deep.
Z V
This album changed my life.
ParablesFromPurgatory
Same here. I happened to stumble upon it shortly after my former best friend passed away. We had a falling out about 2 years before. I’m still fucked up over it. This whole album got me through that grief in a way that was cathartic and tbh it saved my life. “Part of your charm was the way you would push me from all of the traps I just couldn’t see. Figures the one, that was there to trip you up would be the one that was set there by me”. RIP Landon. Man I’m sorry every day.
Alejo Cairoli
This song is perfect
12 Valver
Christian we need a new album!!
Fabulous Killjoy
I don’t think we’re getting one anytime soon. Could be wrong though.
wlndbeach
@Fabulous Killjoy lot of the indie emo bands from the past 10 years all broke up. something like joyce manor's an exception i guess