Scott Holden's debut album, SCOTT, demonstrates that Kyma is not just for sound effects. Kyma was used throughout the album for subtle processing that enhances rather than contradicts the raw bluesy style. Kyma connoisseurs will appreciate the chopper applied to the guitar part on "Spooky" and the swarm-following harmonizer on "No Stone Unturned". More subtle and more pervasive is the Inverse Compressor that Holden designed and applied to all the drums, and the multiband compressor with random settings that he employs as a permanent part of his guitar effects loop. His lightly processed vocals are routed through cascading compressors and delay filters in Kyma and his custom-designed harmonizer is so realistic that most listeners will assume it is multi-tracking. Discussion(Descriptions, reviews, discussion):
In a style best described as Texas blues/rock (with a nod to Zeppelin), Holden opens himself up to us with an almost painful honesty, his raspy wail giving voice to the sense of betrayal evident in the lyrics. Somehow, though, the energy in the instrumental parts seems to triumph over the bitterness of the words making it sound more like catharsis than depression. By the time you get to "Be Your Man" it sounds like SCOTT is more about the beginning of a new chapter than it is about dwelling on past wrongs.