Originating from a jam session between friends in Cape Town, HONEYMOAN is bursting onto the alternative pop scene as a creative and colourful force to be reckoned with. Pairing witty, bold lyrics with exhilarating guitar and clean beats, the band’s debut album ‘Sorry Like You Mean It’ provides listeners with a dance-inducing soundtrack that defies genres, allowing the band to remain contemplative yet playful.

The band are now on their UK/EU tour, recently playing at the intimate yet vibrant Glasgow venue, McChuills. When live, front-woman Alison immediately fills the stage as she jumps to the beat of the album’s catchy first track, ‘Pickup, Don’t Pickup’. Throughout the night, HONEYMOAN’s personality infected the already-electric Glasgow crowd- their stage presence doing their songs the justice they deserve. Playing a set filled with the album’s most energetic tunes, as well as some older fan favourites, the trio were able to highlight the lively guitar solos that make their sound so unique.

The now London-based band released their debut album earlier this year. Consisting of eleven tracks, the album delves into toxic relationships, mental health, regret, and growth, underpinned with a tone of intimate conversation, almost like we’re at a sleepover with the band. The band state that they found it difficult to visualise an audience for their music when creating songs in what they term a ‘vacuum’, and yet the album comes across decisively interactive. We are invited to laugh, sing, dance, and cry alongside the band through the accessible and relatable nature of their songs.

Not only is the album an example of dynamism in music, but so is every track. The fun, pop elements of ‘Show You Off’ balance out the awkward, almost toxic lyrics about being ashamed of a partner, a secret that we get to be in on. In more mellow moments, the guitar solos in ‘Bad News’ and ‘Seriously, Good Luck With That’ both lend the tunes an element of electronic, alien-sounding depth, pairing with ethereal vocals which come across especially well when listening alone. The dancey portions of the album are juxtaposed with more chilled out singles such as ‘Your House, Last Sunday’, where producer Josh took an opportunity to play with Alison’s vocals, subtly warping lyrics such as ‘you make me lonely’, creating a sense of meditative space.

The listenability of the album gives HONEYMOAN a platform to explore personal issues without confronting their audience with an abruptly melancholic sound. Alison explores what it feels like to be in a relationship with someone who is suffering with mental health issues in ‘Shortcuts’ and ‘Sorry Like You Mean It’. Here, she takes an incredibly raw approach to the double-bind of caring about someone whilst needing to look out for yourself, all set to a backdrop of turbulent guitar and clear basslines. Much of the album becomes a cathartic release of emotion, lending the group a clean yet chaotic versatility- an honest look at one’s own mistakes while celebrating that that is all they were; mistakes. Movement and growth exist as underlying themes to the ever-changing album, explored particularly in ‘Sit Right’. Following the band’s move from South Africa to the UK, the track confronts the move to the city ‘full of all our big dreams’ where it becomes vital to focus on the little things; ‘peeling paint’ and ‘garden snails’. As the album debuted after the move, it almost acts as a stepping stone between their two lives. We are led to wonder where the band will take us next, as the sheer range of their sound speaks volumes to their potential.