The Holy Pictures

The fifth studio album was Holmes's first since The Free Association in 2003. It dropped the imaginary-film-soundtrack approach of his earlier records for something more personal. He called it his most personal record and sings most of the vocals, which was not the plan at first: once the music was nearly finished he realised no one else could sing on it. The closing track, The Ballad of Sarah and Jack, is a tribute to his parents. Singles were I Heard Wonders and Holy Pictures, and the album was nominated for the 2008 Choice Music Prize, which went to Jape's Ritual.

Pitchfork's Stuart Berman wrote that it points to European rock sources, among them the Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Spiritualized and Neu!, and that it has no film framework or found-sound dialogue linking its ten songs. He thought The Ballad of Sarah and Jack arguably the most absorbing track. AllMusic's Thom Jurek called the album engaging, at times stunning. Holy Pictures was later used in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.