San Francisco’s Honey Soundsystem Records returns with a new single this July, inaugurating a new collaborative guise from Juan Maclean and Kevin McHugh (aka La-4a / Ambivalent) entitled Longlost. It is rare the combination of simple and catchy happen in dance music, but ‘Take 8’ is just that. A song so heartfelt and recognizable it demanded its own slab of wax, a true single! This expertly mixed and crafted house cut romances listeners into a catchy live piano ditty that seemingly could pleasurably repeat for days. Inspired by the tracks lead melody, the label set up NYC classical Pianist and friend of Honey Soundsystem crew Kevin Devine on a blind date with the producers a new version. Kevin whipped up a compositional response to the original and he was recorded live on a Grand in La-4a’s studio. Finally, to make it a family affair, Taraval, known for his work of Four Tet’s TEXT, teams up with label co-founder Jackie House for a kraut-no take on the original, fusing vacillating resonant bleeps and robust drums with glimpses of the original’s ethereal sounds.

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Some of the most beloved music comes from heartbreak and loss. This 5-track EP by Honey Soundsystem’s Be´zier was recorded in a vacant apartment unit in his grandmother’s (‘Amah’) property in Tainan, Taiwan. Having to make the 15+ hour journey from SF to Taiwan multiple times in 2018, Be´zier set up shop in Amah’s house surrounded by his live touring setup, a microphone, and the memories of loved ones recently passed. Away from his San Francisco analogue synth-based studio, Robert Yang (aka Be´zier) manipulated samples of his own vocals and mobile mono synths to tell his stories about returning home, honoring ancestry, and embrace life’s hardest challenges. The result is a deeply personal release with track titles named after landmarks surrounding Amah’s building, and songs both short and long, free of genre and tempo restrictions.

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Honey Soundsystem met October (aka Jules) while on a one-night affair in Bristol in which he immediately dragged us from an artist dinner to the saddest Bear bar in the UK. After a few pints, vetting his taste for drag, boys, and girls that make love to boys who make love to boys, Jules confessed he has always wanted to release on HNYTRX. And so the hazing began, a year of torturing yet another sexy-stranger into refreshing, reminding, and refining a flurry of demos into the army of skeleton soldiers you now have in possession. Money drops, midnight withdrawals, 4 crisp singles: this is the Pay Day EP — gonna make that dance-floor “cha-ching” bitch! A lot of people hate October so... that is why we are releasing this record in September. But seriously though, upon cracking open this 4 track EP you might wish you had saved the vacuum seal just a couple days longer, keeping these ghosts contained until the month where screaming winds strip trees nude

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There is no artist in the history of our label that we have given a harder time to than Vin Sol. At some point between us rejecting killer track after killer track he must have given up, pushing out his orphan tunes on other labels while we took our sweet time. We finally made our peace, and selected the four tracks that encompass the Moonchild EP you have here... You see, Vin and Hny have history and to make this marriage official we needed it to be just right. Big daddy Vincente might be known around the world for his sure-fire dance-floor bombs, but not as commonly known for his Queer Ally reputation in San Francisco. Using his production prowess and dj knowledge to help bring up the Bay Area gay dance scene has built him a fanbase of all walks of life. We think this might be his most accomplished musical work to date, not just because it is for our label, but because it's a labor of love. The EP reads like a metaphor for the two sides of the city where it was made. Moonchild and Electrical Storms reminisce the mystical and spiritual love affair San Francisco has had since the 60s while Patronize and Bondage Taped reference the sexually adventurous side the city indoctrinates to all its visitors. This record feels big to us and mostly because it reps our home and a hometown hero so hard. Enjoy.

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When Octo Octa sent us the demos for her first full-length record since 2013, we were floored by how many tracks were single worthy. But, there was one that stood out as something entirely on its own, a song that in many ways sounded like nothing Maya had ever released. Since the beginning, we always knew we wanted to do something special with "Adrift," the 8+ minute space-age synth-dub techno tune. When we asked Maya about doing a 12" with remixes we were blindsided to learn she has NEVER had any of her music remixed before. With some remixers in mind, she asked two of her favorites and they said yes. So, here we are to present HNY-016 Octo Octa - Adrift, remixed by Avalon Emerson and Dorisburg."

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Ahead of the release of a full length album by the same title, Honey Soundsystem records presents 3 breakout tracks on 12" vinyl from Octo Octa's "Where Are We Going?". Side A features the "new school" breaks pumper "Move On (Let Go) (De-Stress Mix) and the peak-time synth heavy tear jerker "On Your Lips." On the flip we share the 9 and a half minute aquatic house opus "Where Are We Going? Pt. 2" “Do you feel better?” — is the line Maya Bouldry-Morrison aka Octo Octa repeats like a mantra on the final track of “Where Are We Going?” her newest and second studio LP. “It was the question every single person asked me after coming out as transgender,” she told us “Overall I do, but no, I don’t feel better at every moment, which is why the track slips out with a dour bass drone in addition to a beautiful pad. These days, both emotions are ever-present for me.” It is precisely this candor and intensity that immediately drew us in when Maya sent over the LP to consider for the Honey Soundsystem label. As DJs we are always looking for music that can speak in our sets, not just the highest caliber productions, but songs that represent the changing landscape of the queer dance-floor. “Where Are We Going?” reads like a diary. With track titles like “No More Pain (Promises To A Younger Self)” and “Move On (Let Go) (De-stress Mix)” you can’t avoid the autobiographical messages of these songs, but Maya leaves no booty un-shaken - this is still 9 four-to-the-floor house and techno beauties to rock your body. Her willingness to even model for the cover art of this LP, proved this is a side to Octo Octa we've never seen or heard before, an artist ready to let her fans experience an intimacy as deep as the synths and lead lines she has gained notoriety for. Applying her years of international DJ’ing, this album flows with intention and has effortlessly found its way back into our headphones and home stereo systems repeatedly - Pro-tip: you can even have sex to it. Needless to say this is the first time in a decade Honey Soundsystem has thrown itself at a contemporary LP and we know once you hear it, you will know where we are going…

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A multi-instrumentalist, Robert was trained in saxophone starting at age 10, before moving onto a Fender Telecaster after high school. After being exposed to Southern California rave culture in the late 90s, he moved onto DJing and collecting records. By the time he planted his roots in San Francisco in 2005,Robert had built an impressive analog synth-based studio, which also serves as the creative hub for his riveting live performances.
'Cosmologist' explores Robert’s personal universe with three tracks that connect his varied musical lineages. "Cosmos", a celebration of the late 80s/early 90s KIIS FM universe, is built around an infectious freestyle hook that morphs into a seven minute tour of intersecting styles. "Ether" begins as gothic night-driving electro, but breaks into fantasy-scapes inspired by Italo and 1980s Japanese anime theme songs. The final track, "d. Quelle", clocks in at over 11 minutes, incorporating bebop jazz solos drawn from his early exposure to improvisation techniques by Charlie Parker, and Cannonball Adderley. All songs have been mixed by Mark Pistel (Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated) at Room 5, San Francisco and EQed for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios.


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