Also Eden - Holy Books and Credit Cards 1: Promises (EP) (2026)

Also Eden release their first new music since 2013 with Holy Books and Credit Cards 1: Promises, the first in a series of three EP’s planned in 2026. The band describe their new EP as ‘a series of observations about how perceptions of events – from the very personal to the global – shape us into the people we are’. Comprising artists as talented as Huw Lloyd-Jones and Simon Rogers, who have played with other projects, it will be interesting to hear what they have produced under the banner of Also Eden.

Also Eden dates its roots right back to 1993 when Huw Lloyd-Jones met Ian Hodson in a short-lived metal band, but a friendship was born which eventually developed in to Also Eden in 2003. They had originally been called just ‘Eden’ but soon realised that was a fairly common band name, so changed it to ‘Also Eden.’ Also Eden have always been very promising as a band with some quality albums, and even played the Night of the Prog Festival at Loreley. However, they have also been a band seemingly cursed at times, including a brain haemorrhage for Lloyd-Jones at one point, and then after his departure in 2009, his replacement Rich Harding suffered a serious bike accident. Such ill-fortune has impeded their progress. The band ground to a halt after [Redacted] in 2013 but in the meantime, their members have not been totally idle. Huw Lloyd-Jones has developed the successful Summer’s End and Winter’s End progressive rock festivals, whilst also singing with Unto Us on their only album in 2014, and similarly on Midnight Sun’s only album in 2018, alongside keyboardist Ian Hodson. Simon Rogers also played on Ghost Community’s only album so far in 2016. It appears that these artists were looking for something but not quite finding it, so perhaps reviving the Also Eden project will be the musical home for which they have been searching?

Thirteen years is a long time to wait for new material so is it worth it? Well, the short answer is definitely ‘Yes’.

This may be an ‘EP’ but with a duration of about 35 minutes (albeit with an acoustic bonus version of one track) this is a sizeable chunk of new music, not too far short of what some old LP’s used to last… and what a consistently high quality 35 minutes we are offered. Promises starts with a tribal drum intro by new drummer Guy Monk and the whole band gradually join in ramping up the tension with Ian Hodson’s synth welcoming in a driven rock passage. This is an engaging song with memorable hooks and lyrics. Lloyd-Jones has shared that:

‘Promises is a love song. Its message is very simple: don’t overthink. Take each day as it comes and do your best to embrace whatever it brings. That’s not easy in the world today but there’s solace in the company of loved ones.’