HONORS shows that guitars can still be sexy.

HONORS‘ new single Valleys is a rare exception to the rule that musicians should set out a unified direction for a piece of music. Where most acts might find this undermines their single, HONORS strangely seems to make its music better as a result.

Valleys is a single that feels slightly at odds with itself as introspective and emotional lyricism set a different tone to the seductive guitar riffs and slinking rhythmic backdrop. While the dreamlike production does feel strangely ominous at times and the moments of vocal manipulation don’t exactly scream sexiness, the instrumentation seems to override the introspection and sets the track into a sensual groove that swallows listeners.

None of this is by any means a criticism in the case of HONORS; it’s more baffling that a song seemingly pitching to create two distinct moods creates such a flawless, enjoyable and hypnotic listening experience. It’s a testament to HONORS’ abilities that this works so well.