Honesty – Live Review – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
By David Schuster, February 2025
It’s immediately obvious that Honesty deliver something slightly different to the norm. For a start, there’s a translucent gauze stretched right across the entire front of the stage. This not only provides a screen onto which images are projected throughout the show, but also anonymises the personnel, reducing them to silhouettes and adding an otherworldly feel to their performance. Then there’s the ‘band’, who prefer to describe themselves as a collective of musical and visual artists. The stable core, around which this group mutates, being George Mitchell, Matt Peel, Josh Lewis and Imi Marston, all now Leeds-based in Peel’s recording studio, The Nave.
They open with the eponymously titled ‘Honesty’, before seguing seamlessly into ‘Boing’. The accompanying visuals are stunning, an arresting montage of video, text and graphics all visible for split-seconds. There’s a polished homogeneity to the package of music and graphics that runs throughout the gig, memorable and instantly recognisable as their own unique offering.
“Unexpected”
As far as it can be categorised, the band’s debt album U R HERE is synthwave dance, with a fond nod towards the 1990’s golden age of rave culture. Tracks such as ‘WWWWW?’ and ‘Tormentor’ commence with waves of synthesis and vocal soundscapes, which are then overlaid with industrial ambience and, trap-style, complex hi-hat rhythms. It dawns on me, helpfully aided by the graphics, that ‘WWWWW?’, is an acronym for what, where, when, why, who? (Not necessarily in that order).
This features dour Ian Curtis style male vocals, and I pause to consider that Honesty are perhaps where Joy Division might have evolved, had things been different. By contrast, ‘Tormentor’ features female lead singing, and it’s that continual delivery of the musically unexpected that makes your ears refocus on their songs.
“Sense of dislocation”
I make no apology for the vague labelling of male and female vocalists; I know that U R HERE features guest singers Liam Bailey, Kosi Tides, Liza Violet and Katie Drew. However, given the performers are deliberately obscured by the projections, I ask forgiveness for this. There is however an exception to this when, in another surprising moment, a guy from the audience just in front of me gets up on stage for ‘North’. I realise that it’s rapper Kosi Tides. In between this and a second collaboration, ‘Question Mark’, he returns front of house to dance enthusiastically with the sizeable Belgrave Music Hall crowd.
The lyrics to ‘North’ encapsulate the themes of the album; being an artist in a world that can sometimes seems like it’s crumbling apart: “Take a quick trip Manchester. Late to the set got me runnin’ round. Trying to keep with my peers.” This sense of dislocation is heightened by the striking visuals; urban dystopian images flash past, interwoven with snippets of lyrics and glimpses of northern landscapes. I recognise the view from the train as it pulls out of Leeds’ station, the iconic ‘Dalek building’, and at another point the road that climbs through the Winnats Pass in the Peak District of Derbyshire. It’s a powerfully hypnotic combination, drawing you into an overall experience, which is far more visceral than music alone.
“Ignoring the norms”
It’s an interesting set, that also includes the fast-paced driving beats of ‘Measure Me’, featuring Softlizard, and the, aptly dark, ‘Nightworld’. The songs are divided roughly 50/50 into tracks from U R HERE, and those that don’t appear on the album. It’s tempting to say that that’s an unusual choice for a debut record launch, but I’d say that it’s exactly what you might expect from a group who clearly enjoy ignoring the norms and have confidence in what they do.
Honesty have built a reputation for their live performances. They performed a live session for BBC Introducing, which was broadcast in early January on BBC Introducing Leeds and Sheffield. The band were also interviewed on the BBC 6 Music Introducing show, with a track from the live session played on the station. They will undoubtedly be in demand for the festival circuit, and I’m sure that we will see them soon on the likes of The Other Stage at Glastonbury. They are touring this spring in support of bdrmm. Seize the moment and see them at a more intimate venue, whilst you still can.
images: David Schuster
David Schuster describes himself as an “adventurer, collector, musician and writer. Not necessarily in that order.” Growing up west of the Pennine hills of the UK and living his adult life east of them, he’s inclined to think that the Wars of the Roses were a mistake. David loves discovering new bands and musicians and is happiest listening to live music. He has travelled extensively in the UK and is fascinated by the variety, history and landscapes of the thousands of islands that comprise the British Isles. David is always reassured when online shops confirm that he’s not a robot.
