The California Honeydrops have announced a new studio album, Soft Spot, and shared the first preview with the slow-grooving single “Takin’ My Time”.
Formed in 2007 by singer Lech Wierzynkski and drummer Ben Malament, who started out busking together in an Oakland subway station, The California Honeydrops developed a sound all their own drawing from Bay Area R&B, Southern soul, Delta blues, and New Orleans second line. With the addition of Johnny Bones on tenor sax and clarinet, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards, and Beau Beaullieu on bass, they’ve earned a dedicated fan base and sterling reputation not just as musicians, but also as world-class performers and entertainers.
The Honeydrops hit the ground running after lockdown let up with tour dates and festival appearances including the band’s headlining debut at Red Rocks. They also hit the studio and recorded their eighth studio album.
Here’s what Malament had to say about Soft Spot:
The first thing many people say to us after watching the band perform on stage is “Man, you all LOVE to play together!” That’s why Soft Spot is such an important album, because we didn’t get to play and hunker down as a full band like this for almost two years! After a few of us recorded the Covers from the Cave album, strictly from home for our quarantined fans, it was a pleasure and privilege to let loose all together in the beautiful Oakland studio, bouncing off each other with creativity, jokes, and sweat, with Thai food and donuts, day after day, night after night. The music on Soft Spot speaks that joy and diligence. Sometimes we recorded when we were hella sick or had pulled back muscles—getting older is tough! Sometimes we recorded on our birthdays and had cake next to the mics. When you get good sounds, you can’t stop! And all the sounds we were getting were good. Really good. And that’s when the recording is easy.
We continued the Honeydrops album tradition of bringing many special musical guests to bless the studio with their magic. Sousaphones, strings, space echoes, it’s all here. Our engineer, Jacob LaCally’s, aka ‘Cubby’s,’ fine ears and maybe finer patience kept the session rolling through the hours. Leon Cotter and Scott Messersmith have become staples of the Honeydrop sound, filling the room with the full band sensation we could lean back on.
We enlisted the Kid Wonder and Oakland native, Oliver Tuttle, with his beautiful energy and ideas and the ‘Ponchatoula Powerhouse,’ Miles Lyons, dropped in from Louisiana to add a whole new low end to our music!
This album has our unique Honeydrop take on many styles of music, all under a cohesive production style so there’s no confusion. There’s no provin’. Only groovin’. Soft Spot is a special one. We can’t tell you how happy we are to have made it and to give you these new songs.
“Takin’ My Time”, the album’s lead single, showcases the band’s signature blend of styles. With a slow, laid-back groove, sultry vocal harmonies, and sauntering horns, the track exemplifies the easygoing philosophy expressed in the lyrics, as Wierzynkski put it, “Slow down, erase your social media, smoke some weed, watch the sunset, get out of the rat race.”
“Takin’ My Time” is now available on all streaming platforms. Listen to the song via Soundcloud in the player below.
Soft Spot is due out on October 7th. Pre-save the album here and view the album tracklist below.
The California Honeydrops will hit the road for the Lil Bit Of Lovin’ Tour in September, with U.S. dates stretching into January 2023. Click below to view a full list of tour dates, and visit the band’s website for to purchase tickets.
