Honey Beard is an Irish/Canadian Electronic Dark-Pop duo from Toronto, Canada. They have been creating music since 2012 drawing on early inspirations such as Depeche Mode and The Doors. Honey Beard released their debut EP “THOUSAND MILLION THINGS” back in June 6th 2015 to much fanfare and have since been touring all over Canada in support of its release finally finishing up back in Toronto in time for their 2015 Indie Week showcase in October. Honey Beard followed up a successful year of shows with a TIMA nomination (Toronto Independent Music Award) for best pop act for 2015.
I review music on its individual strengths and weakness and not moronic comparisons to other groups or records of the past. And though I could easily correlate Honey Beard with half a dozen superb electronic bands, not least my all-time favorite Depeche Mode – the bottom line is, as a body of work, a “THOUSAND MILLION THINGS” features superb songwriting, musical arrangements and synthesizer programming. The music is simply that good. Somebody else cited this album as an example of incredible synthesizer production. He’s right. My mind was blown. Each song has some hook that grabs your attention and then sucks you in.
Moreover, when listening to the lyrics on this album, you can really feel all the emotions in the songs, which I think is part of what makes it so great. The songs are both beautiful and thought provoking – there are emotions there that I think anyone can relate to. Obviously the words or lyrics of any song need to be translated into audible emotion to really capture the listener’s attention and empathy. A simple task for Honey Beard, considering they handle the lead vocals and harmonies excellently.
“THOUSAND MILLION THINGS”, I don’t think is intended to be the hyped- mainstream, commercial music that is out there, instead the duo keep their integrity and uniqueness in adhering to their dark and intricately developed compositions. Notwithstanding this fact, Honey Beard’s music will grow on you for two main reasons: their portentous and uncompromising music helps to connect with a part of the human psyche and soul that many groups fail to capture. The psychotropic beats are an addictive pulsating cure and a hypnotic source of therapy.
In “THOUSAND MILLION THINGS”, Honey Beard will transport you with their alternative synth/pop sounds into futuristic places, into your own dark emotions and into a ray of hope amidst your struggles and dour existence. Technology has matured to a level that permits such artists as Honey Beard, to create beautiful melodic tapestries on which to ride the senses and imagination, while maintaining a touch of vintage. Something they do extremely well right from the opening track, “Drive” and then ably continue, in “Stretch in the Evening”, “Electromorphosis”, “Into The Night” and “Superstellar”.
“THOUSAND MILLION THINGS”, truly shattered all of my expectations. Having listened to it numerous times, I can say with a pure conscience that there’s not a single dud – in fact, there’s not even one song that I’ve had trouble warming up to on the very first listen.
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