Stereo Honey bow out with last EP, ‘Ladders To The Sun’

Words: Ellie Ward 

After earlier announcing they would be closing their run as Stereo Honey, the band have gone out today on a final flourish with the release of eight-track EP ‘Ladders To The Sun’, produced by Dave Eringa (Twin Atlantic, The Who, Manic Street Preachers).

In a post on their social media, the band said: "So, here it is, our final EP, ‘Ladders To The Sun’. This release encapsulates how we feel about the state if the world, our fears and anxieties wrapped into eight songs about body image, political apathy, life and death, love and loss. They were written from the heart."

They recorded the record in the famous Rockfield Studios in Wales, keen to get as live a sound as possible: Eringa pushed for more rawness in the band’s performance, encouraging full takes, particularly from frontman Pete Restrick.

The electronic title track marked a sonic departure for the band but still maintains the dark lyrical themes evident throughout their musict “We are the wretched and the blessed / watching the funeral pyres from our beds / for signs of life so we can start again.” The song is inspired by the story of Jacob’s ladder, and steeped in the biblical imagery found in Pete’s lyrics – but like his lyrical hero Leonard Cohen he is always keen to give it a worldly twist; “Cohen is constantly in the realm of the biblical metaphor, but he manages to personalise it and take the grandeur out of it”

The ‘Ladders To The Sun’ EP includes singles ‘You Are A Monster’ and ‘My Darkness’, as well as six other new tracks.

Stream the EP in full below.