Bad Honey’s new single ‘Weak When You’re Near’, produced by Grammy winner Guy Massey, was released last week.
In celebration, the up and coming jazz, funk and electro-pop duo took over Servant Jazz Quarters for an enchanting evening on Tuesday. Lydia Clowes and Teresa Origone, who were previously known as LVNA, met at University in London.
The duo kicked off with ‘Feet Off the Ground’, from last year’s ‘Better in Time’ EP. “Feet off the ground, we’re not coming down,” sang Lydia as Teresa glanced across her keys at a measured pace. The crowd didn’t doubt that she is not coming down – Lydia has an angelic voice, especially on the higher notes. Even the couples canoodling in the corner sit up to pay attention. Their faces screwed in concentration, the venues lights illuminate the occasional smile beneath Teresa’s metallic hairclips and Lydia’s swooping blonde fringe. Support is provided by drummer Jaleesa Gemerts and bassist Mercy Welbeck.
The set is a medley of older and new tracks. The two most recent, ‘Weak When You’re Near’ and an untitled number dubbed ‘The swoopy song’, were both produced by Guy Massey and hint, both sonically and emotionally, at a new maturity for the pair. The more poppy twist of their new sound cuts across the sultry downstairs of Servant Jazz Quarters. While ‘Weak When You’re Near’ steps away from the more funk influenced sound of their previous work, the bassline of ‘The swoopy song’ incorporates it into something newer.
The new lyrics are more secure and content in love than last year’s EP. ‘Motions’, a crowd favourite played early in the set, features Lydia crooning “I’m going through the motions, how long will this last? It’s really testing my devotions, is this my past? Round and round and round I go.” By contrast, new track ‘The swoopy song’ includes the lyrics: “We fly together, we build strength from each other, you’ll never go in circles with me” – a clear departure, and perhaps sign of a new personal direction.
‘Weak When You’re Near’ has an energy that resonates across the venue, but the electronic keys seem too loud for the small building and are better balanced with the vocals on the studio recording. There are many talented musicians playing in the pubs and clubs of Hackney, but with their new material, Bad Honey have a freshness which most do not.
I had caught up with the band earlier to discuss their new track, inspirations and Norwegian log cabins.
The new song opens with the seemingly disappointed words “I thought love was complete happiness where I’d be smiling all day long, I thought love would be rainbows and butterflies,” but its tone is hopeful and its tempo upbeat. Lydia explained their lyrics: “We’re saying when you’re falling in love, you kind of have this thing where you want to fully immerse yourself in it but there’s also that little part of yourself that’s a little bit scared.”
The lyrics have an interesting inspiration. “I’d walked a marathon the night before we did this song and it was an overnight one so I’d not slept,” Lydia said. She added: “It was so weird and I felt really out of control with myself, and then this song happened.”
The song was produced by Guy Massey, who won a historical album Grammy for mixing The Beatles’ ‘The Original Studio Recordings’. Did his rock credentials impact the track? “I think the song would have never sound like a rock song,” said Teresa. “I wouldn’t be able to make the same thing twice so it’s always going to be different and it’s always going to evolve,” she added.
“Guy’s really chilled and if you just met him in the street you wouldn’t think, that man is a Grammy winner” said Lydia. “It’s amazing what he’s done. He was recording Oasis stuff at Abbey Road, stuff that you almost can’t really imagine happening,” she said. “Apart from the little Grammy that’s in the corner of his room, when you catch a little glimpse that you remember.”
They have had a hectic week since ‘Weak When You’re Near’ was released. Lydia has been thinking non-stop about “The gig, the song, I hope everyone comes to the gig, I hope everyone listens to the song, but it is also really exciting then when we be playing I know it’s going to be great.”
“l had actually tried to pick here for our last two gigs, but it’s actually quite busy and we’d not managed to find a suitable date. There’s just something really nice and cosy about this venue.”
Their last EP, 2018’s ‘Better in Time’, took them a long way from London. “We have a friend from Norway and he moved back after graduating and built a studio in his family cabin on an island” explained Lydia.
They loved it so much that the experience impacted their music. “It was amazing because obviously we all know each other and we were just on this island with 80 people living on it and there are no cars allowed unless you’re a doctor. There are no shops so you have to get on a boat. It’s the perfect place to go and record something” she said.
Bad Honey are supporting Tommy Ashby at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell on 10 April and are performing at Love Supreme festival at The Roundhouse in Camden on 13 April.
