So where does the ambition lie? ‘’We want to play gigs on the moon.’’.

It’s clear that Black Honey have set their sights high, the band, creating a ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ of an album by blending pop, rock and hip-hop together have challenged ideas around indie and pop culture to create their debut self-titled album Black Honey.

Having only formed in 2014, the Brighton based band have already toured with fellow Brighton band Royal Blood, supported Queens of the Stone Age and since then, their growing fan base have been anticipating the release of their self-titled album. Front Runner Izzy, completely obsessed with how cinematography could play out in a bands output, begins her movie tonight in front of a sold out show at Bristol’s Thekla, with the first track of the album, the vengeful, mid-western ‘I Only Hurt The Ones I Love’.

Black Honey’s cinematic melodies transport the crowd into Izzy B’s ‘movie scene’ mind as the band perform each track from their new album like cuttings from a discarded movie reel and change the mood of the venue in an instant, going from badass to romantic to heartbroken in a matter of minutes but regardless, the crowd are transfixed in the mystic, hazy mood of Izzy’s psychedelic, dark, cinematic lyrics. 

Co-written by Royal Blood, ‘Into the Nightmare’ is where the crowd really kick off, Izzy, previously explaining that life is about being the villain not a victim, stars as her own villain, aggressively singing into the microphone “Cos if crazy is, as crazy does, then you look a lot like falling in love”.

Black Honey mix the heavier indie rock material of ‘into the nightmare’ and ‘What Happened to you’ with songs such as ‘Baby’ and ‘Blue Romance’ (The most romantic song Izzy’s ever written) where the mix of mystical tones from the band, Izzy’s haunting voice and the spiralling hazy purple lights convert Bristol’s Thekla into its very own romance scene as the crowd sway in unison, ‘Baby’ even sends Izzy into her own little bubble as she dances to the music of her own mind which the band bottle up into carefully constructed melodic tones.

Wanting the album to be brand new, Izzy previously mentioned there wouldn’t be any re-releasing of material, but that doesn’t stop them from playing their biggest hit ‘Corrine’. The crowd respond by jumping around to the heavy drum and bass provided by Tommy Taylor and Tom Dewhurst and Izzy, without hesitation jumps into the crowd and starts dancing and bouncing off the energy she was responsible for creating.

Black Honey end the show with their new hit, the upbeat, Lana Del Rey feel, ‘Midnight’ the lights of the band’s colours aggressively switch over the audience as Black Honey close their impressive set on the high they deserve, and just like a cult movie, they left the crowd wanting more….

Review and Photos by Abbie Barton