Common Holly

Common Holly is the musical project of Montreal-based singer/songwriter Brigitte Naggar, whose work merges acoustic, electric, and electronically treated layers into personal, asymmetrical compositions. Her first release for Barsuk arrived with the 2019 album When I Say to You Black Lightning, her second full-length.

Though born in New York, Naggar relocated with her family from Brooklyn to Montreal while still an infant. Both parents were instrumentalists, and her father presented her with an initial guitar during her teenage years. After setting performance aside to attend McGill University, she recommitted to music following graduation. Under the Common Holly name, she recorded her first album, Playing House, alongside co-producer Devon Bate; the set also included a contribution from composer/pianist Jean-Michel Blais and surfaced in 2017 via the Australian-U.S. imprint Solitaire Recordings. During this period she performed alongside Julia Jacklin, Half Waif, and Tim Darcy.

Extensive touring occupied much of 2018 and included her SXSW debut, while she also joined Fred Thomas on the album Aftering together with fellow road companion Anna Burch. In 2019 she supplied guest vocals for Ada Lea’s What We Say in Private, after which Bate once again served as co-producer on the October release When I Say to You Black Lightning, marking Common Holly’s introduction on Barsuk Records.