You can read many a meaning into an album title like ‘Away Beyond The Fret’; if you were to take fret as referring to a state of anxiety, then maybe this music is going to ease us past that temporary trauma. Or perhaps it is a reference to a fretboard, a suggestion that the limitations of a traditional instrument body will be transcended by the endless possibilities this music offers? I would imagine Honey And The Bear, the East Anglian duo Lucy and Jon Hart, enthusiastically embraced that fluctuation of definition because they themselves are an outfit that contains multitudes and offer far more layers of intrigue beneath the elemental acoustic topcoat they present us. Indeed, further investigation tells us that they were thinking of ‘fret’ in a closer-to-home sense, referring to it as Robert MacFarlane did in his meditation on words, ‘Landmarks’, as an East Anglian term for the mist or fog drifting in from the sea.
Home for this husband-and-wife musical cottage industry remains the bracing Suffolk panorama with its picturesque rural surround and dramatic coastline. But this new record, the third under their Honey and the Bear alias, arriving a mere four years after their debut, appears to draw on rather closer-to-home themes than the swirling Lucy Hart-created art-nouveau splendour of the album cover might suggest. They have recently become parents, a profound life-changing moment that naturally dismantles then reconstructs the nuts and bolts of any who experience such a lightning jolt, and it is hard not to sense the change seeping into their music. Indeed, ahead of the album’s release, Lucy herself has spoken of “looking at the world with a fresh perspective, like a newborn babe”.
It is tempting to look for obvious clues of domestic subject matter, yet this is only obliquely present in the ballad Daughter, a song actually singing about the first female doctor, Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson, to advance equal rights for women in medicine; the music soars with the couple nailing their respective harmony parts. The personal certainly is addressed directly at the album’s end on the gentle lullaby Stay With You. It is a tender tune that Lucy sings directly to her child with warm, aching wishes such as “Before I leave this earth, I want to know you, know that you have everything you need”. In recognition of the weight behind the sentiment, Jon’s electric guitar accompaniment offers the lightest of graceful strokes, fully in tune with the music’s requirements.
Do not let my description fool you into thinking this is in any way too mellow or an overly sentimental album; there is plenty of Suffolk grit and roughage to get our hands dirty—quite a bit of sonic thrust in places too. Head In The Stars celebrates the work of the British-born astronomer Cecilia Payne, now considered one of the most important figures in the history of astrophysics but who battled with misogyny throughout her career. The song imagines Cecilia’s father sharing his pride in her relentless efforts, the feel of which is captured in the music. The way the song propels itself has a giddying effect, a piece of music that scoops the listener off their feet and launches them into the air with unstoppable momentum. The Suffolk Hero, inspired by longshoreman and unlicensed pilot Joshua Chard, who saved 100 lives at sea, sails into view on a wave of acoustic guitar chiming in the wind, then flips open the lid, unpacking a cornucopia of floating wind arrangements and a beautiful choir sound courtesy of Suffolk collective Pop Chorus. Even though the recording sessions were aided by the contributions from Sam Kelly’s The Lost Boys band members, the two multi-instrumentalists at the heart of Honey & The Bear are nothing if not versatile. Inspired by the seasons, a song like Silverlace Green recalls the early sounds of Simon & Garfunkel to these ears, something in the adventurous acoustic guitar underlay and the unifying strength of a tuned-in vocal marriage lending the music a timeless quality. As for Finn’s Jig, written for a ‘gorgeous little guy’ they met at a festival, well, it might read like a music review written sixty years ago to describe a “foot tapper”, but I do notice this is exactly what my feet are independently doing as the song plays…Finn’s doting big brother, Ash, who requested they write the song, will undoubtedly be pleased as punch.
The Mighty Oak captures the sound of calm after a trauma, of fresh light shining down on a wreckage. The story itself speaks to a superstition wherein the Aldeburgh lifeboat crew keep three acorns in their pocket thanks to the belief that a rescue mission tragedy survivor avoided perishing because he carried acorns (like most superstitions, it need not stand up to close reasoning). Do You Keep It Underneath introduces itself as a testimony to the power in Lucy and Jon’s harmonious vocals and correctly asserts that this is all the song needs, being embellished by nothing more than a bodhran rhythm. The album opener, Dear Grandmother, sings of “three generations and six million chances”; it sounds like a couple determined to find grace and hope in an ever more turbulent world. The pensive strums introducing 5500 Miles also evoke a sense of instability, whilst the arrangements incorporating traditional shanty patterns only serve to enhance the narrative story – inspired by the true story of the Salvadoran fisherman José Salvador Alvarenga, who was cast adrift for 14 months.
On The Trying, the emotion is illustrated by some rather bluesy guitar chord flashes and a fuller, brooding instrumental sound. These subtle sonic variations throughout the album keep every twist and turn a fresh experience. On Over Land Over Sea, a distant, echoey whistle solo is a good deal more haunting than one might reasonably expect it to be. It is clear that Honey And The Bear have become accomplished in the art of reflecting their own lives through music. Whether you can look to the past and recall the optimism of that plentiful moment, hope to get there sometime ahead, or relate in the present tense, the feeling they sing of in Make This Land Our Home seems tangibly like Lucy and Jon painting their recent past, especially for the listener. It is a song that captures the magic of new life, fresh hope, nest building and plan-making. That they have captured such profound personal moments within an album that also incorporates folklore, history, nature, superstition, and awe-inspiring tales, is a remarkable thing indeed. They live it like they sing it, with open minds, ears and hearts.
Honey and the Bear Tour Dates
4th November – Album Launch Event @ Snape Maltings, Suffolk
11th November – Grayshott Village Hall, Nr. HINDHEAD, Surrey
12th November – Tetbury Goods Shed Arts Centre, Gloucestershire
15th November – J2 Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
17th November – The Live Room Saltaire, Saltaire, Shipley, W. Yorkshire
19th November – Nettleham Live, Nettleham Village Hall, Lincolnshire
2nd December – Swanton Novers Village Hall, Melton Constable, Norfolk
6th December – Costa Winter Festival, Hayling Island, Hampshire
14th January – UK West Coast Folk Festival, Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Tickets and details: https://honeyandthebear.co.uk/gigs/
Pre-order ‘Away Beyond the Fret‘ (Signed CD/Download) – https://honeyandthebear.co.uk/product/away-beyond-the-fret-pre-order-album-cd-or-digital/