Faint Halos don’t rush things. The band took a fifteen-year break, and “Honeybee” is the proof that good songs don’t die. They just wait. This track is the closer on their upcoming album, and it’s got a history that reads like a rock novel. Paul, the songwriter, wrote it back in 2007, played it once with his old band The Daybreak Line at a venue called Iota in Arlington, Virginia, and then walked away from music for a decade and a half. When he finally picked up a guitar again in 2020, this was the song he kept coming back to.
The version you hear now is the organic, natural take. It’s the one the band agreed belonged on the record. And it’s a weird one. Paul says it has an odd structure, only one true chorus, and lyrics that don’t fit his usual confessional style. The first chorus is instrumental. The second is the only time you hear the vocals. That’s a trick shared with “Don’t Stop Believin’“, and it works just as well here. The bridge has a Wilco feel, the way the rhythms and melody collide. And the outro? Paul jokes it’s his “Purple Rain”. He says if they ever make a movie, that riff will play for ten minutes while the credits roll. He’s not wrong. It’s the kind of melody that sticks.
Lyrically, everyone hears something different. Paul thinks it’s a sad song about entropy, the slow march toward decay. But fans tell him it’s uplifting. Both can be true. That’s the mark of a great song. It doesn’t tell you how to feel. It just gives you the space to figure it out.
Faint Halos have been quiet for too long. “Honeybee” is out now. It’s the third single of the year, and it’s one of the most unique tracks in their catalogue. If you like rock that’s smart, strange, and built to last, this one’s for you. This is what happens when a song springs out fully formed and refuses to be forgotten.