Hexexie/Holiday Sidewinder
生平 > 单飞（2012至今）

Sidewinder relocated to London in late 2012 to pursue a solo pop career; she briefly returned to Bridezilla for their final dates. She told Zac Bayly of Oyster magazine in August 2014, "The allure for me with pop music: it's universal and it shows that we're all human, that we all have these common feelings despite age, race, socio-economic backgrounds and all that. Pop is genuine. Although lots of pop songs are definitely calculated, there's something about the chemistry of them that gets a reaction from so many people." She explained why she left Bridezilla, "working with a team can be limiting, you know? In a group it's such a democracy and you're working towards a common goal and whatever, but everything's so laboured. This has been really quite emancipating for me."
In March 2014 she independently released a single, "Carousel", written with Mike Chapman (Blondie's producer) and shot the accompanying video on the Brighton Pier with choreographer Holly Blakey. Pop Justice premiered the track, with a contributor saying, "it sounds both completely demented and extremely brilliant." Robin Murray of Clash stated, "There's a sense of classicism here, in the way that Holiday can reconstitute languid, widescreen pop into something thrillingly new." Australian singer-songwriter Sia tweeted about the single, revealing that she used to babysit Sidewinder. The Hairpin's Jia Tolentino wrote, "I read somewhere that having Sia Furler as your babysitter means that you are contractually obligated to produce great pop music for the rest of your life, which explains this new single from Holiday Sidewinder, very much a kooky, cotton-candy, retro-dream-pop jam."
In March 2015 FBi Radio's Nicholas Watts interviewed Sidewinder and previewed her new material, including tracks with song writing and production team, Biffco; she described a song, "I wrote this in a church in the south of France, in the middle of a Sunflower field, having a kind of intercontinental love affair." In December 2016 she released a cover version of East 17's Christmas track, "Stay Another Day". Clash premiered the video which she directed herself, Murray described its, "glacial synths and sun-washed vocals." FMS-Mag's writer called it "another sparkling gem" from "a dreamy pop sensation." In October 2017 she released a single, "Casino", via through Personal Best Records. Sosefina Fuamoli of The AU Review observed, "this is a return we have been hanging out for ages... [it] heralds a new chapter for Holiday as she continues to mine the depths of some hectic psych infused disco-pop and present a final result that is almost insatiably good."
Paper's Justin Moran premiered the follow-up single, "Tra$h Can Luv", in February 2018, which he described: "Singer-songwriter [Sidewinder] has officially gone solo to become a global pop sensation... Her sound marries Debbie Harry nostalgia with Róisín Murphy experimentation, which comes together flawlessly on her new single. In August of that year she released "Leo", which Zeba Blay of HuffPost felt was a "pop-esque anthem about being an unapologetic heaux." The track appeared on Paper, together with an interview by Jhoni Jackson, where she explains, "I always write from experience and add a dose of fantasy. I was a hopeless and foolish romantic, frivolous cheater, and serial monogamist. Every relationship was bumper to bumper. So I am now conclusively (and for the foreseeable future) a free and empowered Sex-positive movement independent lover. Still learning though. Who knows what's next. Conflama for life, whether you like it or not." Harry Webber of Life Without Andy noticed that it was, "Addressing the double standards that women experience when it comes to the world of dating, normalising behaviour that for some reason has different implications based on your gender, encouraging strength and erasing shame – [she] is clearly not afraid to examine the burning issues facing many women in the world today. However, expressing these ideas in a four minute bubblegum pop video is her true masterstroke."
In May 2019 her single "Baby Oil" was released, which was featured in Guardian Australia's Nathan Jolly's 20 best Australian tracks of the month. He explained, "[it] is so effervescent you'll need an insulin shot from all the sugar, with a Game Boy-esque riff, drum machines from an 80s-imagined future, and the same sex-positive message that has shone from her past few solo singles. The guitar solo that closes the song would be at home on the Purple Rain soundtrack, as would the sultry lyrics. 'Baby Oil' feels like sneaking into an R-rated movie or listening to Madonna records and wondering what it all means – but feeling it nonetheless."
Sidewinder performed her original tracks, "Tra$h Can Luv", '"Baby-Oil", "Whispers" and "Leo" live on United Kingdom reality TV show, Made in Chelsea, Series 17 Episode 07. In May 2019 the title track, "Forever or Whatever", from her debut album was released. The Line of Best Fit's Olivia Swash premiered the track and wrote, "[she] slams picture-perfect 'keeping up with the Joneses' lifestyles... her droll lyrics take a swipe at the assumption that a nuclear family is the culmination of happiness, singing of white picket fences and four-wheel drives." She supported British rock band, the Feeling, on their twelfth anniversary tour of their debut album, Twelve Stops and Home.
Sidewinder's debut album, Forever or Whatever, appeared in October 2019 via Personal Best Records. Album of the Year's correspondent, TheBravesDH, felt, "her first batch of songs that shows she can fit right in with those others [Cameron and Callinan] in terms of wit and humor. These are funny, catchy songs that owe a lot to the synth pop of the 80's." Her second album Face of God followed in May 2021 on Lab78 Records, which was produced by Nick Littlemore (Lost Valentinos, Mercy Arms, Mika). Sidewinder partly based its lyrics on Littlemore's poetry and diaries. They made a rough recording of it over five days in a Hollywood studio, while Littlemore was also working on his indie project Two Leaves in 2016. Littlemore later reworked it with New York-based studio musicians. Face of God was described by Cat Woods of Audiofemme as "cosmic disco via transcendental dance, taking elements of psychedelic indie rock, electronica and new wave synths to result in a highly-referential, wholly new sonic playground."