Drugdealer – Raw Honey

Raw Honey, the second album from Michael Collins, aka Drugdealer, continues where 2016's The End of Comedy left off; establishing an endless highway of glossy cadences, using skilfully adapted influences and an airstream of sun-soaked ideas, resulting in a collection of authentic songs about self-discovery and understanding.

The dry instrumentation throughout Raw Honey is extremely nostalgic, forcing you to feel as though you’ve heard the songs before even though you haven’t. The production sheds light on the great hooks and progressions, each track providing characteristic melodies using a lot of major runs and seventh chords.

The opening track, You’ve Got To Be Kidding, is totally instrumental, magnificently executed and wouldn’t sound out-of-place in a Scorsese film. Lead single Fools, with its dry vocals and deserted sound, wildly suits the overall shape of the track, the luxurious verse and chorus vocal melodies creating an almost timeless hit – its saxophone the cherry on top. Elsewhere, If You Don’t Know Now, You Never Will has everything a listener could want, from the gorgeous harmonies and varied backing vocals to the breezy guitar tones.

You could spend all day trying to pin-point which 70s reigning band Drugdealer sounds like – instead, just enjoy what Collins has created, which is wonderful and brilliant. There’s nothing frivolous or disjointed about Raw Honey, The Californian-baked masterpiece is a force to be reckoned with and a real triumph.

Listen to: Fools, If You Don’t Know Now, You Never Will, Honey