Honey Harper are set to release their sophomore album Honey Harper & the Infinite Sky on Oct. 28 via ATO Records. The innovative, genre-bending outfit have shared their first cut from the project today (Aug. 16), which serves as a modernized, groovy throwback to classic country-rock of the 1970s.
Anchored by enveloping guitar riffs and bright piano accompaniment from co-founding members William Fussell and Alana Pagnutti, “Broken Token” is an engaging, swampy story-song that transports listeners to a time gone by.
“‘Broken Token’ is our take on a new kind of southern rock anthem, whether you were home in 1973 or 2073, we wanted to take you all the way there,” Fussell explains in a statement. “We wrote and recorded the song in just 30 minutes taking cues from the Allman Brothers Band’s bluesy breed of Southern rock and the Grateful Dead’s pastoral lyrics, unfolding in soulful harmonies and free-flowing rhythms.”
Watch Honey Harper’s performance video of “Broken Token,” recorded live at Los Angeles’ EastWest Studios, below:
Honey Harper & the Infinite Sky features 12 new songs, including “Broken Token,” with from accompaniment longtime bassist and contributing writer Mick Mayer, pianist John Carroll Kirby (Solange, Steve Lacy), Spoon keyboardist Alex Fischel, guitarist Jackson MacIntosh (Drugdealer, Jessica Pratt), pedal-steel player Connor Gallaher (Black Lips, Calexico) and TOPS drummer Riley Fleck.
The project promises to put a new spin on traditional country music elements and themes, creating a space for listeners to examine their own criteria for what deserves the label of “real country.”
“[Cultural theorist] Baudrillard talks about how the world we live in is so far removed from the original source, it’s impossible to distinguish between what’s authentic and inauthentic,” Fussel says. “But with country music, every former generation questions the authenticity of the new guard: in the ’60s all the players from the ’50s said, ‘That’s not real country music,’ and that way of thinking has kept repeating itself to this day. With this record we wanted to question and play with the idea of authenticity, to push against the limits of country and hopefully create something that’s never been done before.”
honey harper and the infinite sky album cover
You can catch Honey Harper out on the road as support for Amanda Shires this fall. The national tour kicks off on Sept. 6 in Asheville, N.C. and makes stops in Washington D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, Portland and many more cities before wrapping up on Nov. 20. You can find a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates at their official website.
Honey Harper, Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky Track List:
1. “Reflections”
2. “Ain’t No Cowboys in Georgia”
3. “Broken Token”
4. “One Thing”
5. “Tired of Feeling Good”
6. “The World Moves”
7. “Boots Mine Gold”
8. “Hard to Make A Living”
9. “Lake Song”
10. “Crystal Heart”
11. “Heaven Knows (I Won’t Be There)”
12. “Big Sky”
13 John Prine Lyrics That Prove He Wrote Like No One Else
Prine’s lyrical stories were both fantastical and simple; he wrote with a Midwest-bred honesty and humor that kept listeners on their toes. His catalog, spread over 18 albums, contains vivid stories (“Lake Marie”), insightful looks at the human condition (“Hello in There”) and sweet love songs (“Aimless Love”).
These 13 Prine lyrics — largely pulled from his songs’ choruses — are some of his very best: