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Photo – Will Coutts

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HONNE
new album
OUCH
out today

LISTEN HERE

+ Listen to album focus track
‘HAPPY DAY’

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Photo – Will Coutts

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“…A potent cross-section of pop vitality” – Clash

“Delicate bubble of funk” – Fader

“Smooth-pop loving saucy warblers” – DIY

“Cool robot soul” – The Observer (4/5 by Kitty Empire)

“Sophisticated pop&B” – The Guardian

“These guys do alternative pop to the absolute extreme, they are absolute connoisseurs in it” –  Jack Saunders, BBC R1

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Having shared the singles ‘Imaginary’, ‘Songs In My Head’, ‘Girl In The Orchestra’, ‘Backseat Driver’ and most recently ‘Say That You Will Wait For Me’ (featuring the rising 22-year-old UK based artist Liang Lawrence), London’s soulful art-pop duo HONNE, comprised of Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher, today release their highly anticipated new album OUCH via Smile More Recordings / AWAL Recordings. OUCH is described by Andy as “the most personal and delicate album we’ve created. It’s inward, outward, forward and backward looking and documents my wonderful and daunting journey into parenthood and how that has re-shaped me as a person.”

To celebrate the release, HONNE also unveil the album’s focus track ‘Happy Day’. “It’s a feel good song written from the perspective of my 2 year old son as he experiences the world for the very first time with complete wonder and joy”, explains Andy. “The ‘Happy day’ title comes from some of the first words my son could say and he would say them at the end of a nice day whilst drinking his milk.”

Alongside the album release today, HONNE have also announced headline tour dates for North America in November 2024 and UK in February 2025.

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Deep down HONNE has always been about two people and the friendship between them. Sure, the UK alt-pop duo have reached incredible heights – from those initial humble recording sessions in Bow, East London they’ve notched up more than three billion streams, selling more than 210,000 tickets for their live shows. But alongside this, it’s been a story of growth, maturity and kinship. On their enchanting new album – the playfully titled OUCH – James Hatcher and Andy Clutterbuck are ready to tap back into their foundations and realise the kind of melodic effervescence and heart-tugging songwriting that only HONNE can provide.

2021’s Let’s Just Say The World Ended A Week From Now, What Would You Do? pushed the duo as far as they could go. Laden with unbelievable features – including walk-on roles from Khalid, Griff, Niki and Pink Sweats – it reinforced their global stature, seeing them co-write and co-produce RM from BTS’ track ‘Closer’ in 2022. Closing their deal with Atlantic, the future is going to look a little different.  The new album is being released through their own Smile More Recording / AWAL Recordings, and for their radically ambitious independent era HONNE want to remove the gloss, and show the emotions underneath.

OUCH is impeccably detailed and wonderfully entrancing, it’s also informed by profound shifts in their own lives. Andy Clutterbuck has become a father to two young children, balancing his commitment to the group to his own burgeoning family life. For James Hatcher, too, adulthood has come calling – he got married to his long-time partner just before sessions began.

“The new album is largely about my kids,” explains Andy. “It’s about the wonderful things they bring to your life, but then also the isolation parenthood can bring, before coming through the other side. It’s a playful way to say: it’s wonderful, but it’s going to hurt.” For James, too, shifts in his personal life have impacted on his creativity – he feels “grounded” by marriage and unafraid of disapproval.

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The album is built as a narrative, beginning with a teenage crush and closing with the responsibility of family life. ‘Girl In The Orchestra’ may be a sweet tale of adolescent infatuation at a school music group, but ‘Dents In The Sofa’ is an incredibly powerful message from the brink. Andy’s wife had a difficult experience during the birth of their first child, and it’s something he still finds hard to fully discuss. “If there weren’t any NHS staff or doctors around she probably would have died,” he notes. “There was this moment in the hospital when a big red button was pressed, the room flooded with doctors and I was pushed to the back. The lyrics imagine she had gone, and there’s just a dent in the sofa where she once was. It’s a dark story, but it’s ultimately a positive experience to come through it.”

Touching on everything from early 90s hip-hop production to slick 21st century pop via torch songs and ballads, OUCH is testimony to the frenetic creativity only HONNE can conjure. Recently taking the decision to move out of their long-time studio, the pair decamped to South London, occupying a space in Deptford. Near-neighbours included Oh Wonder and Tom Misch, with this creative community – and extra space – re-booting the pair’s approach to music-making. “It was definitely fun to make,” James grins. “It was a reminder that what we do is enjoyable. When you do it a lot, you can get stuck in your ways. But it’s OK for it to be fun! We’ve re-learned how to relax and try new things.”

Every single aspect of HONNE’s new album feels expertly detailed. From the cover art – a design taken from Shanghai based illustrator Sheng Chen – to the music videos, the pair have overseen every single aspect of the project. “One of the things we’ve been looking forward to is for this album was being able to go back to how we started,” says Andy. “It’s very us, everything we’ve done is made by us, and we wanted to be across it all and take back control. It feels really nice to get it back and put your stamp on everything.”

A real-life coming of age tale, it closes with a tender moral from a father to his children. Andy states: “The album finishes with a message to my children, basically saying: life is good, but you only get one so make the most of it while you can.”

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PRE-ORDER ALBUM

OUCH 
tracklisting

Serenade in E Major
Girl In The Orchestra
SHHH
Imaginary
Songs In My Head
Say That You Will Wait For Me
it’s only ever been you
Dents In The Sofa
HAPPY DAY
Strawberry
Fishyyy
Backseat Driver
better     with     you
B I K E
Lean On Me
LIFE __ you only get one

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Live dates:

September 20 – F1 GP Singapore Festival, SG
October 13 – SLSL Festival, Seoul, KR

Corona Capital Festival:

November 15 – Corona Capital, Mexico City, MX

North America headline dates
with support from
Liang Lawrence:

November 10 – Boston, Citizens House of Blues, US
November 12 – New York, Terminal 5, US
November 13 – Toronto, The Concert Hall, US
November 17 – Vancouver, Commodore Ballroom, CA
November 20 – Seattle, Showbox Sodo, US
November 22 – San Francisco, The Masonic, US
November 23 – Pomona, Fox Theater, US
November 24 – Los Angeles, Hollywood Palladium, US
November 25 – Del Mar, The Sound, US

UK
headline dates:

February 16 – Manchester, New Century Hall, UK
February 17 – Bristol, SMX, UK
February 18 – London, Roundhouse, UK

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Follow HONNE
Facebook – Website – Instagram – Twitter

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AMNPLIFY – DB