Album Review: Neon Waltz - 'Honey Now'
Like the name would suggest, Neon Waltz’s latest album is sweet as honey.
It’s an exciting time for Scottish band Neon Waltz. With a shift in the band dynamic, a new album, and exciting announcements about upcoming tours, there really is no better time than the present to get to know these guys. Made up of brothers and guitarists Kevin and Jamie Swanson, vocalist Jordan Shearer and percussionist Darren Coghill, the lads have gone from strength to strength since meeting at school all those years ago. Their new album is a symbol of both endings and new beginnings-produced in a castle barely 3 miles from home, they believed that with a new sound and a new look, they should look back at where they came from. Over the course of the pandemic, the band moved from being a 6-piece to a 4-piece and this idea of transition and redefining the kind of music they want to make comes through stunningly on this record.
Opening with the titular track ‘Honey Now’, the album starts quite brilliantly with an ‘A’ chord. Whether done on purpose or not, it's a real signifier that we are starting afresh and rewriting what it means to be Neon Waltz. The alphabet has started again and with this blank canvas, the guys can show us who they have become. When producing this song, it was important for the guys to not veer too far from the original demo recording. They’ve made comments on how some parts have evolved and been reworked and rerecorded, but they largely stayed true to how the song was first conceptualised. Exploring themes of alienation and the ways to overcome the feeling of being different and disconnected from those around you, its a stunning reintroduction for fans of the first album to the band as they are now.
‘If I said the right words to you now, would you take me to this other world? I only want to stay for a little while. Run into the fields with me, honey, now. Trip and you will feel what it’s all about - I’m only here because I feel left out’
Shearer’s tone is dreamy and perfectly transports you to a hazy and warm space. Whilst his lyrics speak to a sense of feeling like an outsider, his vocals alongside the instrumentation expertly draw you in as a listener. Though he feels different, there is a suggestion that we are going to be different too and in that shared difference, there is a sense of belonging. We might be the outcasts and the ones who are left out, but we have one another. Shearer and by extension the rest of the band invite us to look inside of their heads and see them for who they really are, noting also that we need to ‘practise what we preach’ and do the same. With this openness and lack of judgement, we can continue with the rest of the album.
‘As Good as Gone’ dials things up a notch and from the get go there is emphasis on the percussion. The drums and bassline create a real sense of movement for the track; we are going somewhere and getting there fast. The vocals start far lower in Shearer’s register, indicating again that theres space to grow and move up as the song picks up speed. Tapping into this urgency and immediacy was very important during the songwriting process as the band put in their own words:
‘It’s about frustration - a lot of demos of songs are met with negativity and this was happening a lot to us at that particular time. It’s about the frustration caused by gatekeepers.’
This exasperation is made clear with the heavy distortion that runs throughout the track. Its a noted shift from the opening song and allows for Neon Waltz to really demonstrate their range both musically and emotionally. We are gifted with this sonic fullness; we get to see their potential across genres and styles and as such begin to recognise the many dimensions of the band.
Next is ‘The Stranger Things’, which was the first track written for the album. This was created, recorded and mixed when the band first became a 4-piece so was their first shot at their new sounds. Written off the back of debit album ‘Strange Hymns’, this track illustrates just how much the band have evolved. During its early conception, they explain
We had to learn to write, record and perform in a totally alien way…This time round we had to shake that up and figure out different ways to bring these songs to life – a whole new creative process, born out of necessity as much as anything else.
The instrumentation of the track sticks to basics and shows off the Swanson brothers’ abilities at applying classical guitar melodies to modern songs. The instrumentation is clean and bright and Shearer’s tone has an effortless clarity to it; they’ve musically wiped the slate clean and are getting back to the fundamentals as they navigate this new setup and sound.
A particular favourite is ‘Thoughts/Dreams/Regrets’. Released as one of the singles to promote the album, it feels the most personal to the band in terms of how it explores their vulnerabilities and the realisation that the band as they knew it was fading away. With the sounds of wind rushing through a tunnel and a steady beat to guide us, no time is wasted getting into the intentions of this track.
‘All my life this is what I wanted to be and if it's through I might be scared of what this is coming to… And if that's the view I should prepare-not everyone's gonna pull through’
They talk about a feeling of disillusionment towards the music industry; the business they got into at the start of things is no longer the one they find themselves in and as such they don’t recognise why they’re doing it. Their initial motivations and goals are lost amidst the noise around them and they’re afraid of what they are becoming. The chorus lyrics are particularly powerful in illustrating this uncertainty at who you are and the idea of no longer knowing why you started the journey:
‘I'm in love with you, I'm no stranger to the truth. I'm in it for the only thing keeping me right. All my dreams and regrets, they don't ring true to myself and if it's through I might be scared of what this is coming to’
Ultimately, it is a song about change. It looks into the direct impact of the band’s reshaping, framing this shift as the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. Shearer’s repetition of chorus lyrics at the end of the track symbolises his and the band’s determination to work through this uncertainty. His insistence on ‘I'm in it for the only thing keeping me right’ becomes a kind of mantra, reminding him the reason why they keep pushing on.
To cap everything off is ‘This Time Next Year’. This track feels like a deep breath after a long journey; you’re looking back at how far you have come with a mix of emotions. Incorporating nostalgia, wistfulness but also a quiet excitement for what's next, it's a stunning way to finish the album. Anthemic and demonstrating the band at their most unified, it celebrates the men they are today and champions all they have gone through to get to where they are. Whilst we had pep talks earlier on with tracks like ‘Birthday’, this is not just an acceptance of change but a real embrace of it.
Composed, deeply thoughtful and illustrating real vulnerability, ‘Honey Now’ is the soundtrack of young men looking inside themselves. An album that is totally unafraid to delve into difficult emotions, it pushes Neon Waltz into a headspace where they are forced to confront themselves and the reasons why they decided to make music. It cements the band’s profoundly underrated status and for old and new listeners alike is a fantastic introduction to who the band are. They are preparing to go on a UK tour throughout October, with a special show at London’s MOTH club announced for the 6th.They also just announced this week their support slot for Inhaler in November so there are countless opportunities to hear and experience this album in person.
Words by Kirsty-Ann Thomson
