Plucking the petals off the flower one by one, English duo Honne tackle love and loss on their neon-washed sophomore release, Love Me/Love Me Not. Combining hip-hop beats, electronic atmospherics, and soulful R&B-inspired vocals, the Japan-obsessed pair split the set neatly into two halves. Love Me is youthful, romantic, and understandably naive, capturing the carefree and pure feelings of new love. Here, the Daft Punk, glitter-funk of "Me & You" and the heartfelt "306" are standouts, while the remaining tracks maintain a chilled-out, jazzy vibe. On the flipside, Love Me Not offers more emotion and, surprisingly, excitement, channeling the pain and tears of heartbreak into smooth, fleshed-out visions of mourning. "Location Unknown" skitters along an urgent beat, sounding like the Chainsmokers stumbling through Shinjuku after last call, while "Sometimes" wipes a tear from the eye with an honest confession and cathartic clarity. The highlight of this half of the album is "Crying Over You," a gorgeous duet with BEKA that champions reconciliation and offers hope. Love Me/Love Me Not is a conceptual step forward for Honne and a compact journey through the highs and lows of love, instantly relatable to anyone who's ever experienced such a human journey.
© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo