Fredericton’s alternative acoustic trio Honey Gut has returned to tell us about the pressures that can break us and the moments that free us with their new double-single release Buried Alive.
Comprised of Josh Sangster, Ollie LeBlanc and, more recently, Kris Campbell, the band has been releasing music since 2016 but is now gearing up to release its debut full-length album.
The two new tracks are carried on acoustic guitar and feature gentle percussion. They are also chock-full of meaning for the band.
The first track on the release, “Buried Alive,” expresses how life’s pressures can at times feel heavier and heavier, to the point of suffocation. Though the track was written metaphorically, the meaning comes across clearly, as it is an idea the majority of us can easily relate to. Sometimes the obstacles life throws at us can really feel like shovelfuls of dirt, accumulating one by one and eventually burying us completely.
“[It] was a very spontaneously written song,” says Honey Gut’s Joshua Sangster. “Sometimes I have songs in the bank for a couple of years before they feel close to ready, but this all came at once.
“I wrote it at work shortly before the whole pandemic situation took hold. I’ve been struggling with my own mental health stuff for a while now (who isn’t), but life’s obstacles felt particularly insurmountable that week and specifically that day. My car had just broken down to top it all off. When I got to work and had a couple of minutes to really process some stuff, I played a bit of guitar and the song came out.”
The second track, “Ghost of the Tundra,” was written as a reflection of the land of the Kitikmeot Region in Nunavut. While working as an on-site paramedic at a goldmine in the region, Sangster was captivated by the land’s beauty and wildlife, including a couple of arctic wolves he met in an up-close encounter.
“It really has a fairy-tale quality to it,” continues Sangster.
“You could look at a spot in the distance and see nothing. Look back a few moments later, and there a was grizzly grazing.”
After letting the land inspire his interest in learning more about the local culture’s lore and mythology, Sangster gathered information from locals and performed his own research. Through this, he learned of and studied the mythology of Amarok, a gigantic wolf, and wrote the track in the wolf’s perspective.
Both tracks will appear on the band’s upcoming album, which is expected to be released later in the year.