So, we got our first official review of the new record today. I guess it’s some kind of momentous occasion. The first of many. This one was in the Province, a newspaper in Vancouver:

HONEY AND THE MONEY
The Elephant in the Room
(Independent)
Honey and the Money are Leila Harrison and Matt Clarke. She sings sweetly, so must be Honey. Recorded predominantly in Vancouver but tarted up in studios worldwide, The Elephant sounds remarkably cohesive. It’s a bright pop-rock collection with occasional string arrangements (”Never Lonely,” for example) that expand the scope of the duo’s songs, but opener “Still Beautiful” reveals a slight Police influence while “All Good Things,” which follows, has a setting that suggests the Eurhythmics without the melodrama. Jared Kuemper’s production is subtly light but still full and detailed.
– T.H.

We’ve also been getting a lot of really great feedback from “everyday people” who’ve heard the record. We just wanted to share this email from a fellow musician here in Vancouver:

Hey Matt and Leila,
I just listened to your record, and wow.
Seriously, I was so impressed with the whole thing, so congrats.
The groove on Still Beautiful is basically aural heroin, so congrats on bringing a new addictive intoxicant into the world.
I think my favorite section of the record is Heaven’s on the Rise through Happy in the End. There’s something about just the sound that seems to evolve and make a statement over those 4 songs, like a suite. The songs are great too, and I’m not sure I can describe what I mean, but the sound texture seems to say a lot. The vocal “duel” at the end of “Heaven’s” is super cool, and it seems to set up the sound of Heartless Romantic, which sets up the (insanely cool) sound of Back To.., and to me it wraps up perfectly with the trumpet melody in Happy.
Anyways, the whole package is, in my little opinion, as good as or better than anything else out there.
A few times I thought of “She’s so Unusual” by Cyndi Lauper as a comparison. This isn’t meant as anything but a compliment. I love that album, and not in an ironic or hip way. I think its one of the greatest albums ever made, for real. Your record reminded me of it, I think, because it shares an intangible ingredient. It’s a warmness that comes from having some comfortable space inside a record that is full of interesting sounds and addictive hooks.
I’ll shut up now, but one last time, congrats, it really blew me away.

So we’ve been playing a few shows on the prairie. Going well. Good response. Lots of little things to work out that we never knew we had to work out, but then you play the songs to an audience as opposed to your couch, and you realize there’s a couple things to sort out. Had a big show in Calgary (hometown), so lots of friends and family came out. That was great. This may be just us or maybe it’s a universal thing, but it seems playing to your friends and family is both the best and worst thing. Best in the sense that you could fart in a hat on stage and they’d give you a standing ovation; worst in the sense that it is terrifying. They know you. You’ll see them again. A crowd of strangers, if they hate your stuff, it’s no biggie, you’ll never see them again. But you have the eat thanksgiving dinner with your family and friends. And that can be an awkward conversation: “So, Matt, you guys really suck. Really bad songs. Would you like some more perogies?” “Thanks Uncle Bob. Why don’t you shove those perogies up your fat…” “Matt!” “Sorry Mom.” Really, our entire future of family gatherings hangs in the balance of that one show.

Great moment in Lethbridge (small town, never played in before, nice folks): some guy in the bar was just blitzed, and while we’re setting up he walks up to the stage and says “Hey, if you fuck up, you just keep fucking going.” In spite of his drunken audacity, and the slurring, I couldn’t really knock his logic. That’s what you got to do, both on stage and in life… But then he just kept yelling it at us, and it lost a little of it’s je ne se qua. Then we played “Disconnect” and he stood up and said “Well, hold on there, did you hear that shit? That was a fucking good song. Do it again.” That really meant a lot. Encore’s are always flattering.

We did the local morning show in Calgary (hometown) the other day. Once again, more pressure than you would normally be feeling. Not because of any industry or career pressures, but because the girl you had a crush on in 8th grade who broke your heart and for whom you swore you would be a huge success one day just to rub it in her face, may be watching, and if you mess up, she’ll feel justified in dumping your sorry ass, but if you do well, you can point into the camera at the end of the song and yell “That’s for you Susan!!! I don’t need your love!!!! I’m better than you!! I’M ON TV!!!”… Hypothetically and metaphorically speaking, of course.

Great show in Edmonton last night. Cool little venue: Axis Cafe. It’s a cafe, but downstairs, they’ve renovated it into a great room. It’s new, so if you live in Edmonton, go out and see some shows there. Awesome. Now back home to Vancouver for a big show at The Media Club. That will be cool. And then – total world domination… well… It sounds great, but now that I’ve typed it, it also sounds like so much work. And how do you sustain it once you get it? I don’t think people like to be dominated on a global level for a long stretch of time, without some kind of uprising. Maybe we’ll just settle for partial world domination. Yeah, that’s better. Next stop – Partial World Domination!

Peace out!
m@

Hello!

Welcome to our blog, on our website, on our internet (That’s right, we own it. The whole internet. The only problem is you can download everything for free, so we actually make no money on the deal)

We are now officially online, capable of reaching millions, maybe even billions, maybe even trillions (if you count repeat visits, and aliens) through this: our new home on the interweb.
Our new album is officially complete. We get the actual hard copies back from the plant tomorrow, so that’s quite exciting. I think that having made this record completely independently, without the help of a label or a manager or anyone like that, gives it a lot of gravity for us. A real ownership. There’s not really anyone else to blame if things go horribly wrong. But of course if things go horribly right, then that works out pretty well. There wasn’t anybody above us approving or disapproving (aside maybe from God if you subscribe to those beliefs), so we had the last word. And we were very fortunate to have that opportunity, because a lot of incredible artists don’t. Basically, what I’m getting at is, it is very exciting and slightly terrifying at the same time. But I think that’s how it should be.
It’s much like a new baby I imagine. I don’t actually have any children (that I know of… Hey-ohh! kidding, I swear) so it’s not totally fair to say, but I imagine it to be somewhat of a similar experience, minus the pushing and the stretching and the tearing. Well, I guess you could could say we emotionally and creatively stretched and pushed and tore. Still painful, and still very rewarding after it’s out, but less messy.