Much-loved UK band Black Honey have today shared the video for their new single, ‘Fire’, taken from their critically-acclaimed second album ‘Written & Directed’, out now on FoxFive Records. The ambitious and cinematic project sees the band push their sound to new heights, earning them their first ever top 10 record, charting at #7 – an incredible achievement for an independent U.K. rock band.
‘Fire’ is a powerful and unapologetic anthem, delivered defiantly by lead singer Izzy Phillips and dedicated to all women and marginalised people. The visual for ‘Fire’ was created by regular collaborator Craig Hemming, and follows animated characters struggling with the trials and tribulations of being an oppressed person and focuses on the fire and strength inside all of us. In Izzy’s own words: “Every woman or marginalised person has a fire in them even if it’s just a tiny flame. I wanted this song to feel like a war song to listen to that flame and fight for it with no apologies. The video is the first character animation we have made and has been a dream of mine for a long time. We created characters that represented different people from different worlds who are all part of one greater story and are connected by their inner flame.”
‘Written & Directed’ is Black Honey’s second album. It follows their outstanding self-titled debut released back in 2018 when the world that surrounded the Brighton four-piece looked and felt like a very different place. Black Honey however are still the bad-ass, truly original band they have always been, they’ve just graduated from the intriguingly anomalous newcomers to becoming one of UK indie’s most singular outfits. They’ve travelled the world and released a Top 40 album; graced the cover of the NME and become the faces and soundtrack of Roberto Cavalli’s Milan Fashion Week show; smashed Glastonbury and supported Queens of the Stone Age, all without compromising a shred of the wild, wicked vision they first set out with.
‘Written & Directed’ delivers one, very singular, message, aiming to unashamedly plant a flag in the ground for strong, world-conquering women. For fierce frontwoman and album protagonist Izzy B. Phillips – it’s the most important message she could send to inspire her cult-like fanbase and fill the female-shaped gap that she felt so acutely when she was growing up and discovering rock music for the first time.
With a typically hyper-visual world referencing grindhouse cinema, kitschy pulp films and a flip-reverse of female cinematic representation all primed to unfurl and explode around them, ‘Written & Directed’ is the sound of Black Honey strapping in and saddling up, of harnessing their quirks, and, as the Phillips has always hoped, riding them joyously into the sunset.
Full UK tour dates:
24th June – Banquet Pryzm, Kingston (Social Distant)
7th July – Rochester Castle (supporting The Libertines)
24th July – Truck Festival
1st August – Y Not Festival
7th August – Get Together Festival (Headlining)
13th August – 110 Above Festival
14th August – FestEvol, Liverpool
28th August – Victorious Festival
3rd September – Halifax, Piece Hall (Supporting The Cribs)
14th September – Jumbo, Leeds
15th September – Action, Preston
16th September – Vinolo in-store, Southampton
17th September – Sound Knowledge in-store, Marlborough
18th September – Cornwall, Eden Project (Supporting IDLES)
23rd September – Brighton, Chalk
4th October – Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
5th October – Birmingham, The Castle & Falcon
7th October – Glasgow, St Lukes
8th October – Manchester, Academy 2
9th October – Newcastle, Think Tank
10th October – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club (Community Room)
12th October – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
13th October – London, Heaven