WITH third album In Plain Sight, Stina Tweeddale claims Honeyblood, the outfit she founded as a duo in 2012, as her own solo project.
Denser and more expansive than the strident grunge-pop of 2016’s Babes Never Die, In Plain Sight was written alone by Tweeddale while drummer Cat Myers toured with Mogwai and KT Tunstall.
“I was overjoyed for her,” says Tweeddale. “We weren’t touring an album, so when she got kept on for a full year of touring, I was thrilled for her.
“Meanwhile I was at home writing, very much alone. When she came back, I was like: ‘I’ve written this record, without you’. I think it made sense for her too because by that time she was already being offered all sorts of other things. It was sad to part ways with her but this opportunity opened itself up into something amazing.”
That something amazing was working with John Congleton, a producer Tweeddale had long admired for his work with the likes of St Vincent, Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten.
“He was at the top of my list,” Tweeddale says. “I enjoy his idea of making guitars not sound like guitars, which is something
you really hear with St Vincent.
Me and my manager asked if he was up for it, and we thought he wouldn’t be able to do it as he’s so busy.
“He was like: ‘I have got a space of 12 days. If you can do your album in 12 days, you can have that space.’ I was like: ‘Great, because I don’t do albums that take more than 12 days.’ I did it in nine days. I don’t like working slow, I need to work as fast as possible and he’s like that too – it was a perfect pairing in that sense.”
Working with the producer over Halloween in 2018, Tweeddale relished breaking free from Honeyblood’s old guitar/drums format.
“I wasn’t sitting in the studio when I was recording it wondering how I was going to play things live,” she says.
“That was something that really shaped the last album. With this record, I just did a 360 and threw everything up in the air and started something partly new.”
She adds: “Honeyblood is so tied to my identity and personality – it really is; I write, I sing, I did all the visuals for the last two albums. I realise that maybe I was kidding myself that it was more of a band situation.”
Tweeddale introduces her new live band to Scots at the forthcoming Stag and Dagger Festival in Glasgow before playing an instore at the city’s Monorail record shop and continuing to tour with fellow grungey hard-grafters LUCIA, whose latest single Blueheart was produced by Arctic Monkeys and Adele collaborator Jim Abbiss.
May 5, Stag and Dagger Festival, Glasgow, £27.50. Tickets: bit.ly/StagDagger2019
May 24, Monorail, Glasgow (instore); May 31, Aberdeen Lemon Tree; Jun 1, Beat Generator Live, Dundee; Jun 3, Summerhall, Edinburgh. In Plain Sight is released on May 24 via Marathon Artists. www.honeyblood.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here