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Mar 26, 2020 Web Exclusive By Andy Von Pip

It’s said that the initial stages of falling in love can induce a euphoric biological state similar to being high on Cocaine. The surge of dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin produces an addictive, dizzying rush of emotions. And yet with every high comes the inevitable low.

What happens beyond the first flush of love, when the knee-trembling exhilaration subsides and reality bites? Well, Chicago based indie poppers Beach Bunny address this issue on their sparkling debut album Honeymoon, as founding member Lili Trifilio explained in the album’s official bio: “My goal going into this album was to touch upon all the themes someone might go through when exiting the honeymoon stage of a relationship.” Beach Bunny began as the solo bedroom project of Trifilio in 2015. It’s since expanded into a full band with the addition of guitarist Matt Henkels, bassist Anthony Vaccaro, and drummer Jonathan Alvarado allowing Trifiilo to imbue her emotionally charged songs with real sonic heft.

Despite the album often centering on themes that Nick Hornby would no doubt describe as “heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery, and loss” it’s certainly not devoid of hope and to label it simply “sad girl” music would do Honeymoon a grave disservice (if a male artist were to openly express similar sentiments he’d no doubt be loudly applauded for his poetic sensitivity). True, it is an emotionally raw and honest album but it’s not one that wallows in a state of romanticized misery. Instead, it tries to make sense of these emotions. Admittedly it does on occasion utilize artistic license presenting a form of idealised love. “Dream Boy” for example, as Triffili readily admits, is inspired in part by her love of nauseatingly hokey rom-coms inhabiting a world where love-struck teens hover under their paramour’s bedroom window in the hope of a furtive midnight assignation.

Triffili proves herself to be a dab hand at the succinct couplet as well as a purveyor of fizzing melodies. On the soaring “Cuffing Season” she sings “Sometimes I like being on my own/I’m afraid of winding up alone.” On the delicately beautiful “Rearview” she adroitly encapsulates the internal conflict and ambivalence, the push and pull that is part and parcel of any passionate relationship—“Underneath all apathy/You’re woven into my tapestry.”

Honeymoon is an album rammed with effervescent melodies that are often so upbeat they seem at odds with the poignant and heartfelt lyrics. It’s an album in which Trifiilo and co. take their sound to a whole new level whilst losing none of their charm.

It’s telling that the album’s final words end on a positive note and a resolution of sorts—“When I start to tumble from the sky/You remind me how to fly/Lately I’ve been feeling un-alive/But you bring me back to life.”

Despite the up and downs and the emotional vulnerability detailed throughout the album Tiffili concludes that love is certainly something worth taking a chance on and indeed fighting for. (www.beachbunnymusic.com)

Author rating: 8/10