Photo by Laura Allard Fleischl
Infusing the actual blood, sweat and tears of band members into the pressings of vinyl records is a flex usually reserved for the heaviest of heavy metal bands. It’s a statement of intent, passion, but also the kind of offering you would normally find in music dedicated to Satan himself.
Well, Black Honey aren’t quite Satanists. With tracks centered around nostalgic American movies and lounging on sunny beaches, they’re about as far from burning in hell as someone like Keanu Reeves. That’s what makes it all the more bizarre that the blood, sweat and tears stunt feels so quintessentially them.
Starting up in the city of Brighton, which is one of the UK’s most vibrant music scenes, a band like Black Honey know better than anyone the struggle of standing out in the crowd. For this band, it took years of effort, single after single, EP after EP, until they finally stuck the landing with their debut. Mixing their love of classic American cinema with rock infused teenage angst, their self titled album was a bold attempt in turning inspiration into invention.
They didn’t quite nail it though. And since then they have steadily been grinding, keeping their heads down, and doing enough to make sure their next step in the industry is enough to make an echo in a city of rebounding footprints.
In all truth, that’s what makes it so hard not to marvel at their latest output. Titled Written And Directed, it’s a pleasure to hear a band like this twist their cinematic inspirations into a sound which is so uniquely them. With only thirty minutes from the opening to the credits, Black Honey’s sophomore rips from one extreme to the other, taking the listener through a myriad of retro sounds whilst finally nailing the cinematic influence which was first tested in their debut.
In this respect we get tracks like “Believer”, a soul stirring belter which uses the Christian faith as an analogy in learning to believe in yourself. Elsewhere there are songs like “I Like The Way You Die”, which spins a tale of Tarantino bloodlust into an empowering female anthem, breaking down every single male ego by pulling the trigger on some hard and western sounding guitar licks.
At times it might make the mistake of putting its style over substance, but ultimately Written And Directed is a bold and dynamic statement from a band who have not only found themselves, but are screaming their discovery from the rooftops. It may have taken time, but the blood, sweat and tears of the last seven years is abundant inside every note of Black Honey’s new album. In more ways than one.