There’s a certain illustrative spirit imbued within the indie-pop hybrid genres of today. Illustrative in a literal sense, yes – I think of how embedded the practice of illustration and graphics are within the world building of bands and ensembles – but also, the illustrative energy it takes to create a band, make a sound; and coax success within the pared back characterisation that ‘indie’ as a subculture is known for.
Honeymoan is a project by vocalist Alison Rachel, producer Josh Berry and guitarist Skye MacInnes; born out of Cape Town, the trio have found themselves – at times – continents apart, and yet are calling in a climatic new era, one that seems to be more evocative than ever before. The band who have had both a local and international following for years, playing at local favourite festivals such as Endless Daze as well as a stellar show at last year’s Rare Cassette in Paarden Eiland, have spent the last few months performing sold out shows in London. Following the hardships that ensued due to the pandemic and confronting creative saturation in an increasingly competitive industry, the band now prepare for their first full album release, fused together in an evolved direction, and focused vision.
The ever-present tension of the digital-analogue debate – especially as it concerns the indie scene in South Africa – is presented by Honeymoan as part of their organic sonic development ahead of their new album.As Skye explains in reflecting on their journey, “in the beginning, we kind of had a shoe-gazey, sort of indie sound, which were initially going to carry on – but I think when Josh joined, his very specific production style introduced this interesting avenue for us. Previously, we had always approached music from a traditional way of working; everyone in the room, trying to work out the parts together on instruments, and then it kind of changed to us being able to write and produce simultaneously, rather than first writing it and recording it afterwards. I think that’s definitely influenced how our sound has developed, and there has been a lot more electronic influence over the years, but I don’t think that’s necessarily intentional, in a way that’s just happened as we’ve been able to work with more tools.”
In a world demanding constant production and outcome of artists, Josh comments on how their ability to be patient with making music has led them where they are now, saying “We’ve learned to take a step back and get to place where we just try to bridge that gap between finishing songs, and then actually being finished – in sense that we’re going to want to release it. We’ve all got to be obsessed with it, and it’s got to be the only song we listen to over. The biggest thing for me when I joined was shifting the pressure off the guitars, and onto Alison and her vocals. We love the sounds of bands, and we love that aesthetic – and we aren’t going to electrify everything, but being able to sequence and produce digitally in a more integrated way in our process, I think is important sonic development for us.” With the strength of their trio, each person holds a specific vantage point regarding their sound – as Skye says, “I listen to a lot of metal and punk, and am inspired by guitar sounds; traditional instrumental arrangements – and that’s where I approach it from, but I think this is why I’m so grateful for Ali and Josh, because together we are able to fuse things and find a balance.”
For a few years, the band has had to create intermittently; with Ali and Skye living in London, and Josh being based in Cape Town. As Josh now heads to London, Honeymoan will be together on a regular basis- without having to rely on meeting up only a few times a year to create and record. , Although, to consider that their work until now has been a long-distance endeavour is quite something. With this distance, has been the ability to work on Honeymoan as an evolving project, as Ali says, “I’ve always loved performing and being physical – I was a dancer growing up. I had never really sung or written before, so Honeymoan has been this amazing testing ground for us to figure things out and play. Josh sent me to vocal training, so I’m definitely improving. Even in the beginning, we put out two very distinct singles; one was kind of like a pop, RnB leaning track, which is vocal heavy – and the other was this cute, pop-punk song which was very washed out vocally, and the responses were quite stark. The one song did really well, and that track was responsible for us actually pursuing the project. We make jokes sometimes that our audience is split between those who prefer either song.”
During the pandemic, the band recorded their much anticipated full length album; and like many of their contemporaries, found themselves in the liminal land of an ‘even playing field’ – in which everyone had created work and seeking its proliferation. Instead of relying on this space though, predicated mostly on luck-of-the-draw – Honeymoan saw the opportunity to deepen their respective crafts, and unified purpose for the project. Alison reflects, “we found ourselves in a time where there is so much music in the world, which is amazing – but it’s so difficult to cut through the noise, and if you made it before 2021, it’s pretty chilled, and we had some success prior to that, and have developed a bit of an audience, so we’ve been in a better state than a lot of emerging artists; but it is really challenging.”
For Honeymoan’s thematic messaging, Ali lets in me on their joke – as the principal songwriter and vocalist, she says, “well, I date a lot, and so I joke that I use this band as a form of therapy – processing the people that I have had relationships with. With this latest album, we were putting together the ‘thank you’s’ for the vinyl sleeve and Josh was like, ‘lets thank all of Alison’s exes’. The stuff I write about is not necessarily that unique – but its my unique perspective, and we want our music to explore the very human ways of experiencing life, love and so on.’’ This honesty is well reflected in the band’s music, particularly for audiences like theirs for whom indie-style music is always seeking to attain a measure of vulnerability. The latest single is the first drop from the album; , ‘Sorry Like You Mean It’ grapples with heartache in an energised, hyper-pop mood – the music video shows Alison coursing through the track head-on with the camera; its a real special feat to take a subject like this and make it feel good, hopeful; spirited. Alison explains, “we actually finished this album during the pandemic, and we were patting ourselves on the back; I left for London, and so did Skye. We struggled to find anyone to put it out; and because of that post-pandemic time, labels had a huge pool to choose from. We had high expectations – but that’s what Josh was talking about earlier, is the ability to reflect back and be honest; when we listened back, there were a bunch of tracks that we weren’t actually that set on. So we went back to the studio and recorded four new songs.” Not only that, as Josh explains, “we recorded four new songs in two weeks, when we were all in Cape Town for Rocking The Daisies, and we spent every single day in the studio; Sorry Like You Mean It was one of those songs. This album reflects a lot of what we have learned.”
Keep a lookout for Honeymoan’s full length album and in the meantime;
STREAM ‘SORRY LIKE YOU MEAN IT’ HERE
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO HERE
Images by Alix-Rose Cowie @alixrosephoto @alixrosecowie
Written by: Holly Beaton
