Holly Whitaker
U.K. trio Honeyglaze's story is one of fate and chance. The band only met for the first time just three days prior to a residency at south London venue The Windmill (where bands including Black Country New Road, Sorry, and Black Midi also cut their teeth) and it was during that run that they came to the attention of Speedy Wunderground label boss Dan Carey. It is Carey who has produced the band's spectacular debut album, due April 29, and who worked on "Female Lead," premiering today.
"Female Lead" finds beauty in the simple task of dying your hair. The band's Anouska Sokolow, inspired by a trip to the movies, seeks to reinvent her look and add a flash of blonde to her jet black locks. Delicate chords and Sokolow's captivating way of rolling out a story reach a head when the plan goes awry. "Oh god, I've let my mother down" she sings as the dye job goes askew.
The song comes with a video in which the band play with ideas of duality and stolen identity. Inspired by classic movies like Casablanca and The Purple Rose of Cairo (plus a little David Lynch), the video is a romantic period piece filled with Hollywood visions and the joy of reinvention. Directed by James Ogram and the band's Anouska Sokolow, the video features Jojo Macari, who you may have seen in Netflix's Sex Education.
"I was overwhelmed by the state of the world during the first lockdown and constantly being surrounded by bad news," Anouska says via email. "It was a time when people were playing with changing their appearance and I felt incapable of writing anything of any actual importance so I decided to write about something as completely arbitrary as dying my hair. I was inspired by the song ‘Leader of the Pack’ by the Shangri-las and the narrative heavy pop songs that were coming out of the Brill building during the 60s."
Honeyglaze have just announced a bunch new shows, including dates supporting Wet Leg plus their own headline tour in May.