REVIEW // Daisy Jones & the Six, “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)”
Photo // Warner Music Group
“Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” introduces the folksy and dreamy sound of the fictional band Daisy Jones & the Six, as portrayed in the limited series adaptation “Daisy Jones & The Six.” Following the first single “Regret Me,” today’s release carries what Variety calls “a dreamy duet” with a breezy blend of vocals and the sounds of 70’s rock ‘n roll. Based on the novel of the same name by author Taylor Jenkins Reid, the series follows lead singer Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) and frontman Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) of the titular band Daisy Jones & The Six through love, lust, and the music world of L.A. in the 1970s.
The single was co-written by Marcus Mumford (of folk band Mumford and Sons) and performed by Keough and Claflin, or Jones and Dunne, in an early important scene, capturing the intense and charged dynamic between Jones and Dunne. With strong vocals from both, the song, as stated by Dunne/Claflin in the trailer, is about “starting a new life, and dreaming of something different.” Starting slower, with a folksy and melodic intro, the vocals of Keough/Jones and Claflin/Dunne combine in the lyric “we can make a good thing bad,” an important theme to the story of the band. Picking up with a strong 70s bass line about halfway through the song, it becomes impossible to not tap a foot or nod a head to the beat, capturing the heart of 70s folk rock. It’s hard not to compare the sound of the two singles to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (1977), a folksy rock album with intense passion and background drama, though the comparison isn’t without merit, as the novel does find its origins from the band. With clear progression, “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)” cohesively reflects the incoming character dynamics and sets a tone for what the following music will bring. The chemistry between Keough and Claflin as actors, as well as Jones and Dunne as characters, is apparent, and the ability to bring to life music that previously only existed in text is worth praise. The single creates a sense of who these characters will become through the series’ duration and the very intimate and intense relationship they share.
“Look At Us Now (Honeycomb) and “Regret Me” take on a unique task – they are attempting to exist in both a singularity and a plurality. The fictional songs stem from a fictional album, entitled Aurora, which will be released in full, both via vinyl and streaming, on March 3rd, the day the show airs on Prime Video. The imagined goal here is to give the fictional band and previously non-existent music a legitimate presence; by giving the band their own Spotify account (including performance credits) the marketing behind this seems to give Daisy Jones & The Six a backlog of popularity and fame. Blurring the lines between fictitious story and real music, the origins of the band are both acknowledged and disregarded in the same breath, whether in order to give the band as real of a presence as possible or to retroactively date the band to the correct era. Either way, the single has only excited pre-existing fans for the upcoming release and pulled new ones in by tying it in with the release of the first full trailer.
Catch “Daisy Jones & The Six” on March 3rd on Prime Video, with new episodes every Friday, as well as the two existing releases on Spotify. Watch the official trailer here.
Words // Anna Forst
