Black Honey share new single ‘Up Against It’
Today rousing indie rock rebels Black Honey kick off 2023 with another fervent firecracker from upcoming new album A Fistful of Peaches coming March 17th. ‘Up Against It’ is Izzy’s open letter to her younger self, and in turn anyone struggling out there, urging them to “give yourself a break, kid.” Life can be cruel and tough but you will find your way through.
The joy-dispersing video is directed by Izzy from the band and finds mini-pop kids becoming Black Honey live. If this doesn’t warm your cold January heart, nothing will. Watch here.
“This song is an open letter to my younger self. And to every young discriminated and marginalised person out there. I want so bad to give them an anthem that was instead of “fuck the world” would give them a screaming discovery of new found kindness towards themselves.
Troubled young people give themselves the hardest time of all. I want to tell them that you are hurting and things are harder than you ever thought they could be, but all you have to do is show up for yourself every day. Things aren’t always going to go to plan but I know that future you is fucking proud of who you are now. And you will look back on yourself with huge admiration. Give yourself a break kid, you were up against it.”
Recently, Black Honey announced their third studio album for March this year alongside the anthemic, grunge laden single ‘Heavy’. Rising from cult underground favorites on their self-titled 2018 debut through to a genuine breakthrough success story on 2021’s Top 10-charting follow up Written & Directed, firebrand frontwoman Izzy Bee Phillips, guitarist Chris Ostler, bassist Tommy Taylor and drummer Alex Woodward, have amassed a legion of fans to their constantly shifting canon of fizzing, visceral indie and nostalgia-soaked pop.
On A Fistful of Peaches – Black Honey’s most personal, revealing album yet and a record that embraces every side: the palatable and the monstrous, the hopeful and the pitch black.Where Written & Directed showcased a band able to dip into seemingly disparate genres and pull them together into their own, its follow-up feels more pointed and streamlined.
The almighty album opener ‘Charlie Bronson’ and the first track they shared from the album, is possibly the weightiest, most gnarly track the quartet have penned to date. Then came the woozily anthemic ‘Out of My Mind’ showcasing a different side to the band’s capabilities. They are still able to swing from poppier dynamics on ‘Cut The Cord’ into a full on mosh-inducing chorus on ‘Tombstone’, but uniting them all with a more solidified outlook than ever. On the sweeping, Killers soar of ‘OK’, the singer looks outwards to a friend in need, craving a place filled with less worry.
With A Fistful of Peaches, Black Honey have done something personal, they’ve done something new and they’ve done something brave. Across the record, their third album still rings with the same musical sass that’s seen them easily find a home on the Academy and Arena stages of the country, but it’s also found a new space that’s less indebted to outside influence – to a sort of cultural moodboard of their inspirations – and more just about their real, lived experience in the world.
As Izzy summarises: “Most of this record is me trying to figure out where the line is between normal mental health and when you’re having breakdowns every day that then become part of normal. I thought everyone cried everyday, I thought everyone had traumatic flashbacks and nightmares. This album is like, what the fuck? I didn’t have to have that? It’s like opening a new door to a future that I didn’t think possible, but it’s also soured by the realisation that I had to suffer through so much that I shouldn’t have had to. I don’t know what I’ll make next but it won’t be where I was when I made this.”
As a document of a person and a band in constant development, A Fistful of Peaches is Black Honey’s most important one yet.
A Fistful of Peaches TOUR DATES:
Black Honey will support the new album live with a 15 date tour across all major UK towns and cities this spring, closing with a show at London’s newly revamped KOKO.
Tickets are available HERE
24/03/23 Bedford – Esquires
25/03/23 Norwich – Arts Centre
26/03/23 Birmingham – O2 Academy2
28/03/23 Exeter – Cavern
29/03/23 Bristol – Thekla
31/03/23 Brighton – CHALK
01/04/23 Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
02/04/23 Sheffield – Foundry
04/04/23 Manchester – Gorilla
05/04/23 Newcastle – University
06/04/23 Glasgow – Classic Grand
08/04/23 Liverpool – District
09/04/23 Stoke – Sugarmill
11/04/23 Southend – Chinnerys
12/04/23 London – KOKO
