Honeyglaze - Shadows in the bedroom

To mark the release of their debut album, we caught up with Anouska, Yuri and Tim of Honeyglaze via Zoom. The interview quickly turns into a thoroughly enjoyable chat, and the three of them tell us about their experience with producer Dan Carey and how their songwriting process is changing over time. And, amid all this, our shared passion for the music of Squid and Cate Le Bon comes out…

Congratulations on your debut album! I really loved it! How are you feeling about the album's upcoming release? Just two weeks to go…

Yuri: Two weeks!?

Tim: It's great that it's coming out. This is the end of a really long process, so it's really great!

Anouska: I'm excited!

Yuri: Yes!

How come you decided to title the album with your band's name? Was it a kind of statement, like: "Hey, this is us!"?

Yuri: While we were recording, we felt like the album was kind of everything we were as a band. It's a document of the time we spent together and of who we were at that moment. I think that's why "Honeyglaze" felt like the right title.

Anouska: Yes, I think it has an introductory value. These were the first songs we wrote, and with this record we're introducing ourselves to whoever will listen to us.

Tim: It's also nice to never say too much, to only ever say what you need to say. When you add a title, you also add a bit of information, and we didn't want to do that. These are the songs: that's it.

There's a huge variety of styles on the record, but also a strong underlying cohesion. Where do you find inspiration for your songs?

Yuri: Uhhh…

Tim: Everywhere?

Yuri: [nods and smiles] Yes, everywhere!

Anouska: I think we try to incorporate everything we happen to see and hear around us.

I love the song "Burglar". Especially the image of this burglar coming to steal your time from you, probably the happiest time you have. I think these lyrics express our fragility and our weaknesses well. Sometimes we feel defenseless in the face of our anxieties. That's why I find the song truly intense and, I can honestly tell you, moving. Can you tell us more? What does this song mean to you?

Anouska: The song is based on a poem by Charles Bukowski, and I took a lot of inspiration from it and reused some of its lines. Yes, it's really nice, this vague dreamlike state… feeling time slip away and that sense of the early hours of the morning. And when I brought it to the guys, it was really easy to finish writing it.

It was your first single! A slow, dark song, over five minutes long, was really a bold choice! Why did you choose this track as your "introductory single"?

Yuri: [laughs]

Tim: Well, nobody knew us back then, so the first single certainly wasn't going to be the most marketable one. The song is one of our favorites, and in a way it's the beginning of us as a band.

Anouska: I think we didn't want to come out swinging right away with a pop track. We wanted something slower and more reflective, and then move from there towards something more rhythmic and melodic. It was fun to "introduce ourselves" with that track! [In fact, the second single "Creative Jealousy" is much more pop, ed.]

I like the irony of "Female Lead" and I think it works well with the lovely pop melody. Anouska, did you actually do what you sing about in the song? Did you think about dyeing your hair blonde like Madonna?

Anouska: No, I didn't, but during lockdown everyone was cutting a fringe or experimenting with hair colour. I found it amusing, and I often feel tempted by those kinds of drastic changes. It seemed like a funny situation to try and write something about, but no, I never went blonde.

Maybe in the future.

Anouska: Maybe...

Tim: You should have done it for the video.

Yuri and Anouska: Yes!

I get the impression that "Creative Jealousy" differs from every other track on the record. [Yuri nods] It almost feels like this "creative block" led you to something new. What can you tell us about this song?

Yuri: Wow!

Tim: I think "Creative Jealousy" and "I'm Not Your Cushion" were written shortly before we had to stop seeing each other because of lockdown. I think that was a moment when we were really excited and were trying to change the songs as much as possible. Originally it was a little bossa nova-ish thing on a keyboard, and then Yuri and I changed its rhythm. When we started recording demos, we tried to see what would happen if we made everything a bit more unstable and shaky.

Anouska: I think before it was a much cleaner song, and as soon as we started playing it, it became darker and darker.

On the record you sing about a feeling of constant inadequacy, you talk about struggling with self-esteem and feeling like you don't fit anywhere or in any circumstance. So I'd like to ask you, Anouska, if I may [she laughs]: is songwriting a kind of empowerment for you, or a way to fully express yourself, or a combination of the two?

Anouska: Yes, I guess it's a combination, but I find that most of the time it helps to turn those feelings into something positive. It's a bit like a sense of frustration, and doing something productive with it, rather than just carrying that feeling inside me, is helpful. Everyone struggles with all these things...

"Childish Things" is probably my favourite song. I was truly struck the first time I heard it. It's a great conclusion to a rewarding musical journey and it makes you want to listen to the record again from the start. The "revelation" at the end is quite brutal, though. [Yuri laughs] Do you really think we're all blind in some way?

Anouska: I think when I wrote the lyrics, I realised that everyone's in the same boat. Everyone has the same feelings, everyone is just wandering around not really knowing what they're doing.

Yuri: It's always been the last song we played at our shows. I think it hits perfectly when you end the show with that song and then there's silence... I think it's fantastic!

Tim: Originally, our whole set was very quiet. Yuri would sometimes play with brushes and we'd try to keep things light while backing Anouska. On that song, though, we played as loud as we could. Also, “Start,” the opening track, has samples from “Childish Things” to create a kind of mirror effect, or loop, as you listen through the record.

Oh, I hadn't noticed that!

They're just some background vocal parts... and it has the same chords.

What's the “most childish thing” you've done recently? [they laugh]

Anouska: I didn't say it, but I definitely did something childish yesterday. My roommate wasn't home, so I put a slice of American cheese in her bed... [we laugh] I'm waiting to hear the feedback!

Tim: I posted a screenshot of an interview, but I didn't want to infringe any copyright, so I replaced the words in the article with lines from a fake radio show I made as a teenager.

Yuri: Unfortunately I've got nothing to say...

Anouska: Yuri is very serious and grown-up.

Tim: Right?

Yuri: Although yesterday I accidentally spat on myself. I felt like I had something in my mouth, and while trying to spit it out, it ended up all over my body. [laughs]

Anouska: Daniel, I don't know if that's what you wanted to hear.

That's fine, that's fine.

Anouska: I don't know if it's useful...

Tim: Are you going to publish it?

Maybe… if it's okay with you, Yuri, I could transcribe it.

Yuri: Sure!

Tim: I'd love to see it transcribed!

Yuri: Yeah! [laughs]

“Childish Things” is the longest song on “Honeyglaze” and it takes its time building in intensity. When you write your "heavier" tracks, do you already set out with the idea that it'll be a layered piece, or do you only gradually realize you can push further and stretch the song out?

Anouska: I think the song originally only had three verses and was slightly shorter. But we played it live a lot and kept extending the build-up section, especially once we got the pedals and could add another layer of intensity.

Yuri: I think that's really it! Once we got the drive pedals we were like: "Okay, we can take this a step further and add another section and play it even louder!".

What's your writing process usually like?

Tim: It depends on the song.

Yuri: Yeah. Anouska wrote most of the songs on the album without me and Tim. It was just chords and melody, and then Tim and I would build our parts around that or tweak little things slightly. But now we do a lot more directly together. We're trying things out together and trying to create new sections together.

Anouska: Yeah. "Half Past" is the track closest to how we write now, because we wrote it fairly late and it was the song, among those on "Honeyglaze", that we worked on most collectively.

I find the atmosphere of the single covers and the album cover really intriguing. Could you tell us more about that, and about the dark iconography you've chosen for the band?

Yuri: All the covers, except the one for "Burglar", were made by an artist called Agnes Treherne. She makes these beautiful paintings that we stumbled across online by chance. We got in touch with her and she really liked our music. And that's how this sort of collaboration came about.

Tim: The "Burglar" cover, on the other hand, was made by Bug Shepherd-Barron. The dreamlike atmosphere fits the song really well. And Agnes's work also lends itself really well to our music. I guess we just like that kind of aesthetic…

Dan Carey produced your record. What was it like working with him? He's practically a legend in South London by now, right?

Yuri and Tim: Yes, he really is a legend!

Yuri: He's a wonderful person to work with. The scale and intensity of our shows have grown a lot since we met Dan, and he also gives you a lot of confidence.

Tim: He really believes in the music he works on. That's helped us a lot. Having someone who knows exactly what he's doing and who, at the same time, really appreciates it, has made us more confident in our artistic choices.

Anouska: He gave us a lot, and then he took the time to listen to what we had to say. He was really patient and encouraging! A lovely man!

Is there an album you prefer among the ones he's produced?

Yuri: Uhh, tough question!

Tim: Really hard to decide, he's worked on like half of my favourite music.

Yuri: Well... Squid's music is phenomenal! "Town Center" and "Bright Green Field" are probably among the recent releases I love most.

Tim: Yes, I'd also say "Bright Green Field", and then probably something by Chairlift.

I also love the albums by Kae Tempest!

Yuri: Ohh, yes!

Tim: Yes, they're really beautiful!

I read in another interview that you love Cate Le Bon. She's among the songwriters I love most. Have you ever had the chance to see her play live?

Anouska: I was supposed to go see her a couple of weeks ago, but I ended up being away and missed her... but this year we'll be playing at some festivals where she's also on the bill.

Yuri: Yes, at Green Man.

Anouska: I'm so excited, I can't wait to hear her play!

She's phenomenal!

Tim: She's magical, right? She looks a bit like some kind of alien!

Anyway, how cool that you're playing at Green Man! Have you been there before?

Tim: Yeah, we love that festival. We played it last year.

Anouska: It was the first festival we ever played together!

Tim: It was our first gig outside of London.

Anouska: It was insane! A magical experience, really fun!

Tim: I actually went seven years ago too, which is pretty hard to wrap my head around... It was surreal and really crazy!

I can't even imagine what the line-up must have looked like...

Tim: The headliners included Slint and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Wow!

Yuri: [eyes widen] Oh my god!

Right!

Yuri: How cool is that!

And now? What does the future hold for Honeyglaze?

Anouska: We're breaking up!

Tim: Yeah, Noush has left… [they laugh]

Yuri: No, I think the next step for us is to go on tour. We'll be away starting mid-April for a month and a half, playing almost every night… it'll be fun…

Enjoy it!

Yuri: Yeah…

Tim: Will we survive?

Yuri: Good question…

Are you planning to tour the continent as well?

Anouska: Probably in the future! It's definitely something we'd like to do!

Yuri: Probably next year!

Well, then I hope to see you play live soon! Thanks for this interview: it's been really great talking to you!

Tim: Yeah, come to one of our shows!

Yuri and Anouska: Thank you. Bye, bye!

(April 2022)

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