Oneiros, the new album from Canadian synthwave duo Honey Beard, is out today. I don’t write about much synthwave because I generally prefer traditional synthpop music, and frankly I try not to get too hung up on genre tags. But I’ve always thought that Honey Beard defies the synthwave label with dynamic melodies and beautiful, melancholic lyrics.
(BTW, you do know synthpop and synthwave are NOT the same, right?)
Oneiros includes Honey Beard’s latest single, “Lighthouse,” which they describe as “a fast-paced electronic track about finding the light in your personal darkness.”
The album is the follow-up to their debut full-length, Dreamless Sleep, which they released in 2017. On Bandcamp, Honey Beard writes:
Honey Beard’s second studio album, is a deeply layered journey through a labyrinth of synth charged bangers. Oneiros is the final chapter of a long woven concept narrative that began back in 2016, culminating in a record that is both stoic yet thrilling in its execution!
Honey Beard is an award-winning electronic band from Toronto. They first caught my attention in 2019 with their EP, Whispers of Light, which featured two beautiful songs I love, “Like a Fire” and “Full of Stars.” They returned last year with a dark, pulsating single called “Black Skies” that appears on the new album.
You can find Oneiros on Bandcamp.
Oneiros tracklisting and cover art
Here’s the album’s tracklisting and the cover art:
- Half Life
- Lighthouse
- Until Summer
- Slipstream
- Black Skies
- Dark Tides
- Free from Form
- The Horror
- Rot Away