California duo Blood Honey are rising the ranks with their off-brand alt pop with dark electronic undertones.
The duo – Kevin and Jackie – first met, they bonded over their music taste. Noticeably trailblazers like Nine Inch Nails, Portishead, and Massive Attack.
Blood Honey are an eclectic band who bring their own unique spin on their dark alt pop with moody 80s synths and ear-worming choruses.
The band’s sophomore release ‘Put You Out Like A Flame’ is an intoxicating lo-fi follow-up to their debut release. It highlights Jackie’s effortless vocals, from her talk-singing that draws you into the chorus that won’t let you leave.
Accompanied by gritty guitar, echoing percussion, and moody synths, the new single puts Blood Honey at the forefront of moody alt-pop and we’re simply loving it.
Jackie shares: “As an Asian woman, I get stereotyped as being soft and submissive. In ‘Put You Out Like a Flame,’ I’m turning the tables on that trope and owning my power.”
Whilst bonding over their favorite artists, Kevin was studying cognitive neuroscience, but ultimately dropped out of a PhD program to chase after his dream of playing music. Jackie had been struggling to live on her own after being kicked out at 18, but eventually gave into her parents’ wishes and went back to school. However, an Ovarian Cancer diagnosis forced Jackie to drop out.
A long, hard battle resulted in the loss of both her ovaries but also resulted in the start of Blood Honey. “I spent most of my life bending to the will of other people and societal pressures, but this experience forced me to lean on my intuition and have faith in myself and my choices.
“Now that I understand so closely how finite our time is here, I know I can’t spend it living for anyone but myself,” she shares. J
ust a week after her final cancer-related procedure, Kevin reached out to Jackie with some demos and a proposition to write some songs together.
“We started writing our first song the week after Jackie’s last surgery, which was an overall unstable time. I didn’t have a place to live. Jackie was in a lot of medical debt,” Kevin adds. “Our music explores power balances and the struggle for control over addictions, relationships, and emotions.”
Now in May 2021, Blood Honey has two singles under their belts (‘Game Baby’ was the debut), the band are well on their way to become household names.
