From the opening few bars of ‘Brand New’, the latest single from Austin, Texas, funk/soul groove-merchants Honey Made, it’s impossible to stop toes or fingers tapping and heads nodding; a delicious, salacious, warm and mellow slice of beautiful nostalgic funk in the vein of Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, or Marvin Gaye.
The honeyed (pun very much intended) vocal duetting of vocalists Willie Barnes and Donald Ford Jr. is silky smooth, deep, rich, and velvety – the superlatives just go on and on; the musicianship across the board is sublime, the bass and played-around-the-beat drums of Lee Braverman and Chris Barnes absolutely in the pocket, sitting together like only the very best soul and R&B rhythm sections can, the keys, sax, and horns absolutely perfect and mutually complimentary across the whole track.
This is contemporary-yet-old-school funk/soul at its absolute best; there’s no other way around it, ‘Brand New’ really is exquisite.
You can check out ‘Brand New’ over on Soundcloud now, or follow Honey Made on Facebook and Instagram.
Review by Alex Holmes