Today marks the release of Journey Through The Roke, the new album from East Anglian duo, Lucy and Jon Hart, better known as Honey and the Bear. It’s also one of our Featured Albums of the Month which Billy Rough reviewed here. In his review, Billy described the album as flitting from “Americana, jazz, and blues, with nods to funk, country, and tradition,” with the album “expertly demonstrating the duo’s skill and confidence. With an exploration of universal, yet topical themes the duo ensures a relevance and freshness pervades their songs. Attractively structured with some superb evocative arrangements, Honey and the Bear prove themselves, yet again, to be a talented pair of songwriters and musicians.”
All of the songs on the album are based on the theme of survival and Jon and Lucy Hart have chosen the track ‘Buried In Ivy’ to be represented by an animated video…the duo’s skill and confidence clearly extends beyond the musical as this wonderful animation demonstrates. It’s also apt that we are sharing this video the day after Earth Day – a reminder that we need to be continually raising awareness about environmental protection.
“We wanted to create something that visually represents where this song came from, whilst challenging ourselves to learn a new skill – something a little different. Like many people, we have been reflecting on the natural world around us a lot during lockdown and we wanted to embody that in some way. A pair of red kites have just returned here recently and we see the fallow deer following the hedge line on a daily basis too. The seals are ever present on the estuaries and beaches here on the Suffolk Coast but unfortunately so too is plastic waste. The humpback whales featured here are borrowed of course but we felt they were a fitting representative of the importance of our seas and oceans. We wanted to look at the balance between humans and the survival of nature, our life support system. It’s obviously a vitally important subject that won’t go away. We wonder if folk singers would even have been aware of these issues back in the 1800’s but that’s where folk music often comes from, telling the narrative of the times.”
While Buried in Ivy is driven by Lucy & Jon’s vocals, the pair also play bouzouki and electric guitar and are sympathetically supported by Graham Coe on cello, Evan Carson on percussion and Toby Shaer on double bass & harmonium.
Journey Through the Roke is out now and can be purchased directly from their own website. Available on CD or as a digital download
https://honeyandthebear.co.uk/