Pleiades Premiere Their Sweet New Single “Honeyguide II”

With their new single “Honeyguide II” debuting today, Pleiades are beginning to lay out their narrative. The song is off their upcoming debut record, Affinity With, which will be officially released tomorrow. Today, you get a little teaser of what’s to come tomorrow on the ten-track collection.

Musically, the album builds on the band’s previous post-metal sound, with Affinity With more of a well-connected post-hardcore grouping of songs. They have been strategically releasing individual tracks in the months leading up to the album’s release. It’s all been in an effort to let each song have the chance to shine. The band specifically wanted to showcase the identity and meaning behind each song.

Explaining “Honeyguide II,” the band states:

“Since it was written, ‘Honeyguide II’ has become our closing song in the set. It’s an amalgamation of two different musical ideas that contrast between a floating atmospheric verse and a staccato off-rhythm moshing riff. It’s a bit of a journey musically that really takes you through all the different things we offer as a band, and the ending really allows us to show off live.

“Serving as a sequel to the album opener (‘Honeyguide’), lyrically, while also matching its musical ebb and flow, it ties a lot of the threads together that run through the album. The ‘Honeyguide’ duology stems from the real life relationship between the honeyguide bird and humankind how they have worked together to find honey and be mutually beneficial.

“The first ‘Honeyguide’ is from the point of view of the honeybee and them questioning why the honeyguide works with humankind when they do nothing but take from the environments around them and give nothing back. Human greed is a core subject of the album, and each song touches upon it in a different way. Sometimes, it’s material greed or the consequences of greed and how it can lead to betrayal and downfall. ‘Honeyguide II’ is applying the human greed subjectivity to something more personal to me. I question why someone isn’t using their wealth for good while they were alive and the obsession that comes with hoarding it and trying to take it with you when you pass.”

Pleiades have spent many years refining and finetuning Affinity With. It is their first new material since their 2020 single “Pale Soul 94.” As the band alludes to above, the overall album objective is to comment on the actions and consequences of human behaviour. But not just from a personal perspective but also a historical one. The album is compassionate and reflective, with moments of fury and outrage. Post-hardcore music isn’t necessarily storyteller-based, but Pleiades are happy to shake things up and stand out.

Tour Dates: (w/ special guests As Living Arrows (formerly Dead Bird))

10/10 – New Cross Inn, London, UK
10/11 – Hope & Ruin, Brighton, UK
10/12 – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, UK
10/13 – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield, UK
10/14 – Eagle Inn, Manchester, UK
10/15 – Legends, Edinburgh, UK

Affinity With Track Listing:

1. Honeyguide
2. Siberian
3. Stomach
4. Looming
5. Universal
6. Amos Clift
7. Honeyguide II
8. Treppenwitz
9. Tongue
10. No Living Thing

Pleiades ‘Affinity With’ album artwork