News: HONNE announce new album OUCH and share new single ‘Girl In The Orchestra’

To mark the announcement, the duo share the wonderfully nostalgic ‘Girl In the Orchestra’ alongside a beautifully animated video from artist Jenny Jokela. The arrangement for the song unlocked an overarching sonic idea for the album. Buying up all kinds of childhood instruments – tin whistle, cornet, glockenspiels, guitars, autohar and more all make their way on to the record – HONNE sought to re-create both the sound and atmosphere of their formative years learning to make music together. “When I was younger, I joined my school orchestra cause a girl I liked played the flute. I didn’t even read music at the time so was quite out of my depth. School crushes were always a little hard to navigate and could end up being quite painful. ‘Girl In The Orchestra’ tells this story”, Andy explains.  Jenny Jokela shares, “’Girl in the Orchestra’ is a hand painted animation, using acrylic paint on paper. I feel the painted technique and look matches and adds texture to the warm and funny tone of the love story that is central to the video.”

2021’s Let’s Just Say The World Ended A Week From Now, What Would You Do? pushed the duo as far as they could go. Laden with unbelievable features – including walk-on roles from Khalid, Griff, Niki and Pink Sweats – it reinforced their global stature, seeing them co-write and co-produce RM from BTS’ track ‘Closer’ in 2022. Closing their deal with Atlantic, the future is going to look a little different.  The new album is being released through their own Smile More Recording / AWAL Recordings, and for their radically ambitious independent era HONNE want to remove the gloss, and show the emotions underneath.

OUCH is impeccably detailed and wonderfully entrancing, it’s also informed by profound shifts in their own lives. Andy Clutterbuck has become a father to two young children, balancing his commitment to the group to his own burgeoning family life. For James Hatcher, too, adulthood has come calling – he got married to his long-time partner just before sessions began.

“The new album is largely about my kids,” explains Andy. “It’s about the wonderful things they bring to your life, but then also the isolation parenthood can bring, before coming through the other side. It’s a playful way to say: it’s wonderful, but it’s going to hurt.” For James, too, shifts in his personal life have impacted on his creativity – he feels “grounded” by marriage and unafraid of disapproval.
           
The album is built as a narrative, beginning with a teenage crush and closing with the responsibility of family life. ‘Girl In The Orchestra’ may be a sweet tale of adolescent infatuation at a school music group, but ‘Dents In The Sofa’ is an incredibly powerful message from the brink. Andy’s wife had a difficult experience during the birth of their first child, and it’s something he still finds hard to fully discuss. “If there weren’t any NHS staff or doctors around she probably would have died,” he notes. “There was this moment in the hospital when a big red button was pressed, the room flooded with doctors and I was pushed to the back. The lyrics imagine she had gone, and there’s just a dent in the sofa where she once was. It’s a dark story, but it’s ultimately a positive experience to come through it.”

Touching on everything from early 90s hip-hop production to slick 21st century pop via torch songs and ballads, OUCH is testimony to the frenetic creativity only HONNE can conjure. Recently taking the decision to move out of their long-time studio, the pair decamped to South London, occupying a space in Deptford. Near-neighbours included Oh Wonder and Tom Misch, with this creative community – and extra space – re-booting the pair’s approach to music-making. “It was definitely fun to make,” James grins. “It was a reminder that what we do is enjoyable. When you do it a lot, you can get stuck in your ways. But it’s OK for it to be fun! We’ve re-learned how to relax and try new things.”

Every single aspect of HONNE’s new album feels expertly detailed. From the cover art – a design taken from Shanghai based illustrator Sheng Chen – to the music videos, the pair have overseen every single aspect of the project. “One of the things we’ve been looking forward to is for this album was being able to go back to how we started,” says Andy. “It’s very us, everything we’ve done is made by us, and we wanted to be across it all and take back control. It feels really nice to get it back and put your stamp on everything.”

A real-life coming of age tale, it closes with a tender moral from a father to his children. Andy states: “The album finishes with a message to my children, basically saying: life is good, but you only get one so make the most of it while you can.”

OUCH tracklisting
Serenade in E Major
Girl In The Orchestra
SHHH
Imaginary
Songs In My Head
Say That You Will Wait For Me
it’s only ever been you
Dents In The Sofa
HAPPY DAY
Strawberry
Fishyyy
Backseat Driver
better     with     you
B I K E
Lean On Me
LIFE __ you only get one