Redwood, one of the West Midlands’ most riveting exports, is back with the tender and terrific ‘Honey Sauce’. Move over garlic mayo, there’s a better juice in town…
On name alone, you would think ‘Honey Sauce’ is a delicious tribute to a cracking condiment. A few seconds into Redwood’s shimmering new single, however, and you realise the only thing that’s been smothered here is tender emotion.
Redwood – AKA Ellie Williams – has been making a name for herself for quite a while now. Pitched between Wales and the West Midlands, her previous singles have garnered mass acclaim on both sides of the fence. ‘Honey Sauce’ will no doubt continue the trend.
Written after a tumultuous break-up, Williams’ disappointment and discontent are channeled perfectly through her gorgeous voice. Occasionally soft, often searing, her sterling delivery wonderfully articulates the agitation one suffers after another relationship goes down the chute.
Recorded at the much hallowed Rockfield Studios, there’s magic and misery running throughout. Beginning with a moody guitar jangle and sparse piano, Redwood’s soulful, stirring vocals soon come into play. Before long, ‘Honey Sauce’ has evolved into an uplifting ballad replete with soaring harmonies, pounding drums and delicate arpeggios. Much props are also owed for rhyming ‘quarter’ with ‘slaughter’.
‘Honey Sauce’ has been around for a while, technically speaking. Redwood gave a typically powerful performance of the track at Worcester’s Marrs Bar in 2019. The studio version, however, takes the raw emotion and dials it up to 11. By the end of the song, you want to track down Redwood’s ex and punch them squarely where babies come from.
“I wish you’d get up and move out of my mind,” Redwood sighs at one point. It’s fair to say after a few listens of ‘Honey Sauce’, you won’t be asking the same of the song.
Words by Sam Lambeth
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