British Duo HONNE Describe the Challenge of Navigating Romance in a Digital World

Matt Matasci

London-based electronic-soul duo HONNE is set to release their debut studio full-length album this week with “Warm On A Cold Night.” As the title would suggest, the record consists of at-times chilly modern electronic instrumentation infused with a touch of warmly soulful singing. The duo is comprised of vocalist/producer Andy Clutterbuck and producer/multi-instrumentalist James Hatcher. The two met in college and have not looked back since releasing a handful of singles and EPs in anticipation for their debut.

“Warm On A Cold Night” is about love and that much is apparent from the very first seconds of the album with sultry vintage music samples and the velvety-voiced radio DJ “Tommy Inglethorpe” cooing “if you don’t got a lover just close your eyes and listen to HONNE.” As the track shifts into the actual song, the glowing organ lines remain but the production’s fidelity is increased in magnitude giving the song a neo-vintage quality that remains throughout the course of the album. Those paying attention to the band will know the song was previously released as a single from an EP of the same name; though with only four tracks (two of which are remixes of “Warm On A Cold Night”), it was much closer in scope to a traditional single.

The Izzy Bizu duet “Someone That Loves You” mostly abandons the soulful sounds heard on the title track, taking a much more modern approach. The boy-girl vocal dynamic elevates the song to a higher place, making it among the strongest pieces of music the band has composed to this point. The beat lightly skips along with Bizu’s vocals just floating above the mix. Meanwhile, “Treat You Right” is full of blaring horns and is the most hip-hop influenced beat of the album. A common theme in the songwriting style of HONNE is bombastic intros and huge choruses intertwined with minimalist verses that turn the focus toward the vocalist.

The vintage style that was found in the title track makes its return toward the conclusion of the album with “It Ain’t Wrong Loving You.” While those powerful organs make a comeback, the chorus manages to mix contemporary and classic sounds into an unforgettable concoction that is tailor-made for sing-alongs at their live shows. Despite HONNE’s singular focus on the ins-and-outs of romantic relationships, “Warm On A Cold Night” is crafted with enough musical diversity to make it a compelling listen from front to back and an extremely promising debut from the duo.

Both members of HONNE spoke with Entertainment Voice before heading out on their United States tour in support of the record.

Your biography describes “Warm On A Cold Night” as an album that “strives for real love in the digital age.” What are the challenges we face in this digital age and how do you feel the album confronts those challenges?

Clutterbuck: It is interesting because both James and I are in relationships. I’ve been with my girlfriend for nine years and James has been in a relationship with his [girlfriend] for a couple of years. I met my girlfriend in college, so we’re kind of like “high school sweethearts,” you know? And he met his girlfriend through Tinder! 

Hatcher: It can be a tricky one to navigate. And can you really get to know someone properly through a text?

Clutterbuck: I mean, I guess the biggest challenge is . . . there is too much texting and stuff. People forget that distance can make the heart grow fonder. Now it’s like, “I’ve got to have communication at all times” and I think that’s a big challenge.

What was the writing and recording process like for the album?

Clutterbuck: So it’s kind of been the same from the start up until the end when we finished the last song. James and I both have set-ups in our little studios and we live about two minutes away from each other so it’s not too hard to work it all out. Generally speaking, James will start with an instrumental and then send it to me and then I’ll sing and write the lyrics on top of it and the melody. Then we’ll come together at the end and work on mixing it.  

Hatcher: But it does vary. Sometimes Andy comes up with the music or sometimes even writes lyrics or a melody for something else that ended up never being used and we take it and redo the music underneath the vocals. It’s a quite fun way of doing it.

Has this process changed much since you first got together?

Clutterbuck: It’s kind of been the same. For me personally, I like getting into my own little space. I still feel totally comfortable around James but there’s something about being there by myself and just working on lyrics or whatever it is; I feel like I can just really examine [myself] without judgment when I am working on something.

The band name HONNE is quite significant [it is a Japanese word meaning “true feelings”]. What are the sorts of “true feelings” expressed on “Warm On A Cold Night”?

Hatcher: Well, the whole album is about things that have happened to either Andy, or myself, or our really close friends, or family. We’ve changed a few of the details to keep it private but it’s all very personal stuff.

Clutterbuck: Yeah, I’m a bit of a closed book in that . . . and James will be able to say . . . on the face of it, I don’t really wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m quite a bit more of a thinker. Basically, I save all the talking for the lyrics and stuff. So anything that happens I’m like “Hmm this could be a good premise for a song.” (laughs) And then I’ll write a song about it. But like James said, it’s all stuff that has happened to me, or to James, or to friends around us. I find it’s more interesting that way, for us at least, to write stuff we can relate to. When we play it back live we can feel attached to it more.

You worked with Izzy Bizu on “Someone That Loves You,” did you know from the start you wanted to include her vocals in the song?

Clutterbuck: The track with Izzy, we wrote it together . . . I guess we didn’t even discuss it. But it ended up being like one verse is from the girl’s perspective and one verse is from the guy’s. And that’s what’s great about working with another [woman] when there’s a guy in the band as well. You can get that story across really easily. James, he does often write with a thing in falsetto and says I want this bit to be what the girl was thinking.

What are you looking forward to most about taking these songs on the road?

Hatcher: I think for both of us, actually, we just absolutely love meeting people, especially after the gigs. We live for that kind of stuff. We always hear stories from fans coming up and saying, “You know I met my boyfriend and we both listened to HONNE” or whatever it is. The stories like that are really special. It really makes it so I strive to keep going to hear more stories.

Clutterbuck: And when we play live we play with a full band. We’ve got a drummer, a bass player and backing vocalists, so it’s nice to get these songs out to play them in a more energetic way with a full band, vibing off of the audience and getting excited about it.

HONNE’s “Warm On A Cold Night” is available on Apple Music on July 22.