Review: Don't You Worry, Honey by Sir Sly
By Vinnie Holt
The first time I heard anything by Sir Sly was the first time I heard them live, as well as the first time I heard anybody perform live. I saw them in May of 2014, when they opened up for The 1975, and it was my first concert ever. I really liked their sound, and I fell in love with “Where I’m Going”, which would later be on their first studio album You Haunt Me in September of that year. I met Landon, the lead singer after the show, and being a young shy kid, didn’t talk to him much at all.
Since then, I’ve been listening to their music, patiently waiting for new stuff from them. They released a single called “Expectations” in 2016, which evoked exactly what the title of the song is. Soon enough “High” was released, and was followed with 3 more singles, “Altar”, “Astronaut”, and “Change”. In between a few of those singles, they announced the title and release date of their sophomore album, Don’t You Worry, Honey. Within the time that the album was announced and released, I had been waiting excitedly until I could get my hands on it.
The first time I listened to “High” was when I watched the music video. I fell in love with the dancing and the choreography! I was so excited to see a music video from an indie rock band that had real dancing and thought and creativity. It wasn’t just 4 white dudes playing their music on a cool set, or the lead singer chasing after a white girl while the other guys cheered him on. I LOVE the song, it’s a dancy bop, and I love the talk-y bit in the chorus. It’s a very big change from their debut, You Haunt Me, but I love it. (9/10)
“Change” starts out with a beat that has some sampling from Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment’s “Miracle”, which is super sick. After the banging into, the first verse comes in with some sadder lyrics, which kind of follow through in the rest of the song. Landon mentions praying, another religious reference, which seems to be a prevalent theme of this album. Overall the song is one of those that you simultaneously dance to and cry all over yourself about all of the mistakes that you’ve ever made. (8/10 stars)
The instrumental intro to “&Run” greeted me with many impulses to dance and many expectations for the rest of the song to follow. I loved the in and out of sound at the beginning. The verse slowed down a bit, but was still bop-able, and the pre-chorus slowed down a lot. That scared me a little, until the real chorus started, and the beat dropped, and I really started dancing then. In conclusion: I Love This Song. (9/10 stars)
“Altar” is the perfect chill bop that we need. It’s a sad breakup song, one with more religious allusions, but with a really nice beat underneath it all. Some of these lyrics sound very personal. I like to hear artists putting their heart and souls into their words, and not just hiding behind cliches and what they think people want to hear. Landon does just this with “Altar”, and completes it all with a chorus singing as an homage to his roots of growing up with gospel music. (9/10 stars)
“Fun” started out with an electronic intro that I was not super sure of, but then the intro progressed into something that sounded like it was straight out of Sir Sly’s debut album, You Haunt Me. The heavy bass in the first verse was very welcoming. The chorus was very nice, with lyrics that resemble coming out of a hard time. The whole song sounds very much like their old sound, which I thought was really nice and nostalgic. But at the same time, it welcomes the new sound the band is growing into, and I think is a good tune for new and old fans alike. I like this song quite a bit. It wasn’t super exciting in my opinion, but it put a smile on my face. (7/10)
I’m going to be completely honest in saying that I did not like “Astronaut” very much at all the first time I listened to it. I found it quite underwhelming, especially for a promotional single. It has since grown on me, but I don’t think it’s one of my favorites. I like the chorus, the feel is nice, although I feel the whole thing is a bit too repetitive. All in all, it’s an okay song. (6/10 stars)
“2 am” gave me apocalypse vibes. It’s a very anxious song. This song is what would happen if “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons met “Glory and Gore” by Lorde. I’m sure it may grown on me, but for now, that’s all I got. (6/10) stars.
The intro to “Trippin’” was all over the place, and this made me nervous. It’s quite a busy song, and I would describe this as an “Anxious-Anti-Love” song. I do like it quite a bit though. It’s very dancy, and quite relatable. Upon listening further, I realized that my favorite part of the song (“If I were you, I would say yes”) is a sample from The Color Purple! That made the song 80% more cool. (8/10) stars.
“Headfirst” started with a vibe similar to “Altar” which I’m liking a lot. These lyrics are extremely personal. It almost feels like I’m intruding on Landon’s personal life, but I am glad that I could be someone to hear what he was feeling, which I feel music does for a lot of us. It’s a big way of communicating, of telling sad stories, of getting what we feel out. The song, while extremely personal, was also relatable. It’s safe to say I was crying by the end of it. (8/10 stars)
The music of “Oh Mama” also gave me an “Altar” feel. These lyrics are also very personal, and it’s quite a sad song over a dancy beat. Landon is singing about singing with his mother, who has passed, again. It’s very heart wrenching. For the first 3 minutes of the song I was dancing sadly, and then the music slowed, and a recording started. The recording was from Landon’s mother, and was followed with the chorus. A choir joins in, but it’s very quiet and in the background. Landon then sings about what he’s lost, and the song (and album) ends on a sad, slow, piano outro. A perfect way to end the record. With the listeners all in tears, ready to hit repeat and hear “High” so we can start dancing again. “Oh Mama” is beautiful. (10/10 stars.)
Overall, Don’t You Worry, Honey was a big success in my eyes. In many ways it was different from Sir Sly’s debut, but amazing just the same. I will definitely be listening to this record on repeat for awhile, and you can definitely catch me at one of the shows on their upcoming (and first!) headlining tour.
Listen to Don’t You Worry, Honey on Spotify:
