Let's Just Say The World Ended A Week From Now, What Would You Do?

About

Some titles take on a life of their own as soon as they are written. Such is the case for London-based electronic pop duo Honne’s third album, <i>LET’S JUST SAY THE WORLD ENDED A WEEK FROM NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?</i> “We were out in LA in February 2020 when Andy [Clutterbuck, one half of the band] wrote this line—a hypothetical question asking who would you hold close if everything went wrong,” James Hatcher tells Apple Music. “Within a matter of weeks of getting home, we were in lockdown and it took on a whole new meaning.” Hatcher and Clutterbuck have been making artfully-crafted, earworming pop since their debut release, <i>Warm On A Cold Night</i> in 2016. Here, the pair have tapped a selection of formidable collaborators, including Khalid, Griff and Arlo Parks, to create songs that range from the funk-laden “WHAT WOULD YOU DO?”, to early-2000s R’n’B ballad “THREE STRIKES” and the joyous pop of “BACK ON TOP”. “This is a record all about the things that are most important to us,” Hatcher says. “There’s a lot of love in the album.” Read on for his thoughts, track by track. <b>“IDGAF ABOUT PAIN”</b> “It’s hard to describe what a relationship is like in a two-minute song but I feel like we get close here. This song is about loving someone so much that you’re almost willing to endure anything and to do anything to make them as happy as possible. Yet, you also need to find a balance and to look after each other. We wrote it with a great friend, Tobie Tripp, who plays strings on a lot of our music.” <b>“COMING HOME” (feat. NIKI)</b> “We’re on tour or away writing a lot and, although we really love it, it comes with some sacrifices, which are missing people back home and missing out on big occasions. This song was written when we were in LA thinking about that, as well as the heartwarming payoff you get when you finally do come back. We’ve been massive fans of NIKI for a long time and luckily when we were doing this session, she was also in the studio just a few doors down. We ended up playing her this and she was up for singing on it.” <b>“WHAT WOULD YOU DO?” (feat. Pink Sweat$)</b> “This was the very beginning of the whole record. Out in LA where it’s always sunny, unlike in England, we had the windows down going to the studio and that rubbed off on the sound of the track. It’s co-produced with Capi, who has worked with Dominic Fike. We had a really cool session and this question came out of it, which ended up becoming the album title.” <b>“DANCING ON A CLOUD”</b> “I hate the sound of my own voice. I often record where I pitch down the song, sing to it, and then pitch it all back up, including my own voice. The chords you hear at the start of this are all made from me singing pitched up. Andy wrote the lyrics shortly after he got married and it’s just about feeling like you’re up in the clouds in love. There’s a lot of love going on in this album!” <b>“NOW I’M ALONE” (feat. Sofía Valdés)</b> “This was written with Arlo Parks, who is a real talent. She came over to Andy’s apartment and lay on the floor with her notebook and was beavering away writing this idea while Andy and I worked on the music. It is a story from her perspective about having been in a relationship where the other person ended it. The girl has then moved on but the other party hasn’t, even though they’ve got a new partner. It’s a song that sounds cute and upbeat but at the same time, it’s actually really sad, which is something we quite like to do—that juxtaposition of sound versus lyrical content.” <b>“THREE STRIKES” (feat. Khalid)</b> “This one has been a long time in the making. We first met Khalid in 2015 or 2016, when he came to London to play at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen [now known as Colours], which is a tiny venue. We decided to collaborate and made an instrumental which he immediately sang on and sent back to us. We then thought he was going to release it, but, after waiting a while, we realized we should do it ourselves. We ended up rebuilding this track over his original vocals and he loved it. It’s a very self-reflective song about retreating into yourself to recharge.” <b>“TALK TO ME”</b> “This is about communication and how, in relationships, it can often be one of the main causes of arguments, in not understanding how you need to talk to each other. Even if it’s embarrassing to talk about how you feel, or you feel scared to broach the topic, this song is about being open and honest and making sure you talk things out rather than hiding how you feel or shying away from it.” <b>“BACK ON TOP” (feat. Griff)</b> “We were really lucky to be asked to get in the studio with Sam Smith to write for them and I was jamming with their longtime keys player Reuben James around this idea that, ‘It’s your love that always gets me back on top’. Sam then came in and started riffing with a mic. We loved it and went away to ask Griff to perform the vocal, since we knew she would bring out her amazing voice and a new perspective to the song. She smashed it and it’s one of our favorites.” <b>“EASY ON ME”</b> “This was written with MNEK. It was probably one of the fastest songs we’ve ever written. Sometimes they just fall out of you and this was done in about four hours, which is crazy. It’s about asking your partner to cut you some slack and help you through difficult times because you’ve got to take the bad with the good in relationships and help each other move forward. You’re not both going to be 100% all the time.” <b>“I’M THE LUCKY ONE”</b> “This was written with Reuben James as well. At the start, you can hear a snippet of a speech and that is Andy’s brother-in-law introducing him to do his wedding speech. On a basic level, it’s about Andy saying he’s really happy and lucky to be with his wife. We have a song called ‘Day One’ and it’s musically reminiscent of that feel with the jolty beat and the bassline. It’s a funky one that we’re looking forward to playing live.” <b>“HEARTSTRONG”</b> “We always feel like for the last song, you want something that soars and that rounds off the album by leaving you feeling something. “Heartsong” is about feeling fragile and being in limbo until you find someone to look after you. It’s got a bit of a José González and Sigur Rós feel, which is partly down to the acoustic guitars we’re using. It’s definitely one of our favorite songs on the album and another one that we’d love to play at a festival with the sun setting behind the stage.”

via Apple Music