Vakili Band announces its new album, Honey, with the release of the title track. The follow-up to 2021’s Walking Sideways, the Honey album will be released on September 8th, 2023, on all streaming providers, CD, and vinyl.
The fiery five-piece rock band is fronted by Lily Vakili, a savvy street poet who finds the sweet spot in the nexus formed by Patti Smith’s loose-limbed punk swagger, Grace Slick’s inviting psychedelia and the throaty blues-belting of a Janis Joplin, not to mention the full-throated howl of a Grace Potter or Brittany Howard.
Filled with earthy sensuality, “Honey” was inspired by “the transportive state of being absorbed by love, of being utterly enthralled with another person,” says Vakili. “When I’m in the presence of someone I love intensely, I feel like I am in an opiate soundscape that is totally unique to that person.” She continues, “When I brought the song to the band, our agreement on how to build the arrangement was practically wordless, we just played. I love the result – it’s cathartic.”
The band’s third album, and the first produced by Vakili herself, Honey exemplifies the collaborative bacchanalia of lead guitarist Ben St. Jack, harmonica player extraordinaire Joel Dorow, and the four-on-the-floor rhythm section of bassist Matt Jovanis and drummer Gordon Kuba. The driving goal of this album was to capture the electric feel and sound of the band’s live performances, accomplished by recording everyone in the same room other than Kuba, who sat in a glass-doored isolation booth visible to the rest of the band.
“We set the bar for ourselves. It’s what I’ve worked for these last 10 years, and the direction I wanted to go in,” Vakili, who also sat in on the mastering sessions at Sterling Sound with the renowned Greg Calbi, explains. “We’re taking responsibility for our sound and not leaving it to anyone else.”
Honey is the sweet result of all that time in the hive for Vakili Band. On September 8th, it’s time to share that buzz with the rest of us.
