In some alternate universe, in a John Hughes soundtrack that never was, exists Forever Honey’s ‘Christian,’ 30-some years earlier than it would come to exist in ours. The opening track of the Brooklyn band’s new EP ‘Pre-Mortem High,’ ‘Christian’ is all zig-zagging bass, jangling guitar and rapturous synth, a coming of age scene in a new wave palette; some escapade on a warm summer night, a joyful high tinged with the mourning in knowing it won’t last.
As it is, ‘Pre-Mortem High’ was written not for a movie but for the moments in our young lives that feel cinematic anyway. When emotions are intensified to fill a panorama, when every word spoken feels vital. ‘Christian’ feels ecstatic yet filled with painful disappointment; conversely, end track ‘Where We Are Sometimes’ is devastating yet full of hopeful love. It’s an encapsulation of the intensity of youth, the certainty that every conflicting feeling is entirely congruous.