For the past few months, Americana outfit Flatland Cavalry have diligently been working on a new album. Now, they've shared the upbeat and sunny singalong "Honeywine."
"Do you recall how you got that name? We drank that shit 'til 3 a.m. Sang John Prine songs, you sang harmony the night you got the best of me. Well Honeywine you're a sight to see," sings lead vocalist Cleto Cordero. Much like the infectious love songs of Come May and Humble Folks, Cordero's "Honeywine" is bright and bubbling with a young love confidence.
There's a joyous pep in the crisp and airy melody that's right in Flatland's easy-flowing wheelhouse. Fiddle hovers overhead for light sweeps of soothing strings. Guitar licks ring out with a hearty punch. It's a rosy-cheeked bliss that's on the verge of a punch-drunk love.
In many respects, "Honeywine" feels like an alternative reality to Flatland fan favorite "A Life Where We Work Out." Like "A Life Where We Work Out," "Honeywine" too features the vocals of Oklahoma songwriter Kaitlin Butts. In "A Life Where We Work Out," Cordero and Butts' characters daydream and wishing things would have indeed worked out between the two. Here though, Cordero and company flip the script with the narrator singing "take the turquoise off your hand, trade it out for a diamond ring" for that happy ending.
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Much of "Honeywine" stems from a late night shared by Cordero and Butts. Two years ago, Butts was in a songwriter competition for Larry Joe Taylor's Texas Music Festival. The two were invited to an afterparty, where they polished off a bottle of Honeywine. After passing the bottle back and forth, Cordero suggested they have their own songwriting competition with Honeywine being the focal point. A few days later, Cordero sent Butts an acoustic draft of the song.
Flatland Cavalry—Cordero, bassist Jonathan Saenz, guitarist Reid Dillon, drummer Jason Albers—recently announced the departure of original member fiddler Laura Jane. Currently, former Dolly Shine fiddler Wesley Hall has filled in during live performances.
They've been recording the yet-to-be-named album with longtime collaborator and producer Scott Faris at Amusement Park Studios in Lubbock, Texas. Though they haven't officially announced when a full-length of new music will make its way out, it's safe to assume the Humble Folks follow-up will be out Winter 2018 or early 2019.
