Yes, the review is here, albeit a little late (3 months :0). I can assure you that I have thoroughly listened to it since its release.
Album: Honeyspot
Artist: sundots
Release Date: January 1, 2024
Genre: #Lofi-Indie #Indie-Rock #BedroomPop
Description:
“Honeyspot” by sundots is a beautiful collection of songs that have been worked on since 2020. Originally a 12 song album was expanded to 16 songs then narrowed down to the 8 songs that are currently on the album. The album is a very digestible length of around 22 minutes. sundots consists of Drew Collins, who is a member of a few other bands like pulsr, OnlyAfter6PM, live slower and Empathy Family, at least that I know of.
Starting off with the album art, it is absolutely eye-catching. My initial thoughts of it was that the 3d-letter reminded me of the Teen Titans tower. What does this say about me? Early onset cognitive decline? Maybe. Moving on from that, the intricacies of this album art are impressive. The art definitely matches with the vibe of the album and helps to facilitate the warm and emotional tones from the album.
Now getting into the songs of the album, my absolute favorite song of the album is “Hurt Me” which is the fourth track. Don’t let the 100k streams on “Green” sway you into thinking that’s the best track off the album. “Green” and “Foot Hockey” were released as an EP last year, and the streams from the EP were carried over. “Hurt Me” does have an explicit warning, though I don’t really see why. Although when the lyrics are not provided along with the song, I cannot be trusted with interpreting the meaning behind the lyrics or even comprehending what is being said. Of the lyrics that I can pick out from the song there is, “Trying to love myself, but I am still learning” and “I couldn’t love you the way you want” which are around the halfway mark. Then the very last verse of the song is “You couldn’t love me the way I want.” Drew’s lyrics are so emotional and introspective, that I don’t think I could accurately explain the brilliance of this album.
“This Time” is the sixth song of the album and in comparison to the other songs of this album “This Time” has a heavier sound. There are punchy drums, bass and guitar for this song, though it is not too overpowering that it drowns out Drew’s vocals.
“Honeyspot” is the second track, sandwiched between the two previously released songs from last year, so the surprise on my face when I got met with the “You’ll have to guess the lyrics for this one” was painful. You do not need the lyrics to be provided for this song as the song is very catchy and easily understandable.
As mentioned previously, “Foot Hockey” was released last year from the “Green” EP. Though the “Foot Hockey” that is on this album is a remastered version, that in my opinion is a thousand times better. Not that the old version was atrocious or anything, just that this remastered version is more to my liking.
“Dear You” is the perfect song to conclude the album. The combination of soft vocals and gentle guitar strumming are a treat to listen to. Drew said that “Holiday” and “Dear You” are two songs that feel very important to him and are examples of him venturing into different sounds. For being the song with the lowest play counts of the album, “Dear You” deserves more love, especially when comparing the play counts to “Untitled” which to me just served as a transition to the later half of the album that are slightly outside of sundots’ typical sound.
If Drew somehow sees this, could you add the lyrics to Spotify? They don’t have to be synced or 100% accurate, just there. Thank you for reading :)
RIYL:
Micah Preite
Unrecovery
People I Love
Melaina Kol
Alex G
Recommended Tracks:
Hurt Me
This Time
Honeyspot
Foot Hockey
Dear You
Reviewer’s Name: K Galich
Date of Review: March 10, 2024