Manchester is at its best this time of year. The gig calendar is full, as are the pubs and bars surrounding each venue. This evening, hoards of winter coats and scarves are crammed inside YES’ Pink Room for Honeyglaze, who return to the city riding the wave of their sophomore album, Real Deal.
Real Deal, the follow-up to Honeyglaze’s 2022 self-titled debut, has seen the band grow in both sonics and profile as gorgeous, melancholic soundscapes and punchy, art-punk noise has rocketed Honeyglaze up the BBC 6 Music playlist and onto larger and larger stages. The Pink Room – a venue with a reputation for platforming artists on the ascent – host a blinding Honeyglaze set tonight, made up of their two studio efforts to date.
Real Deal saw Honeyglaze give themselves the space to experiment and to be vulnerable: it’s a winning combo on record, and the silent reverie in The Pink Room this evening affords the band a space to bring such sonic manoeuvres to life. The first four songs are all from the new album, the driving drums (Yuri Shibuichi) and ominous bass (Tim Curtis) of ‘Safety Pins’ give way to the intimate observations on the mundane and sensitive lovesick tones of Anouska Sokolow. ‘Safety Pins’ launches into a fuzzy, percussion-heavy breakdown with Sokolow providing brilliant, gravely guitar.
‘Cold Caller’ is a similar spectacle: Sokolow finds beauty and deep sadness in talking to telemarketers through loneliness, as well as further astute remarks of finding companionship through a phone screen. Again, this cut builds to a rich crescendo – this time the overarching sentimentality of the number takes the lead, as each member soars in creating a gorgeous sonic wall.
Honeyglaze engage the crowd in a game to decide what tune they’ll play next. Someone shouts ‘Wonderwall!’, but The Pink Room cheer in favour of ‘Female Lead’ from the debut. The tracks from their eponymous first album blend seamlessly with new cuts as ‘Burglar’ flows into the wistful ‘TMJ’. They’re a band on the ascent, and tonight showcases Honeyglaze as a brilliant live outfit: for songs that are so intimate and intricate, there is not a note out of place or a drum beat off-time.
A triple play of ‘Ghost’, ‘TV’ and ‘Don’t’ is an invigorating way to end the evening, allowing Honeyglaze to stretch their muscles. ‘Don’t’, the lead single from Real Deal, is already a fan favourite and as the drums punch through the malaise, it is easy to see Honeyglaze kicking on even further from here.
featured image: Holly Whitaker
