Surrounded by the throb of heavy machinery, the scent of dried fish, and the humidity of the South China Sea, electronic outfit Blood Wine or Honey have honed their manic hypno-tropicalia in the industrial warehouses and hidden rural hamlets of Hong Kong.
BWoH are multi-instrumentalists / vocalists James Banbury (synths, bass, cello, etc), Shane Aspegren (drums, synths, electronics, etc) and Joseph von Hess (saxophone, wind instruments, percussion, etc). Collectively, their witch's brew of brazen sax themes, lo-fi/hi-tech electronics, motorik drums, group-sung vocals, wonky tactics and party palpitations results in a ritualistically euphoric sound experience, taking notes from post-punk, dance floor experimentation, bass/soundsystem music and tropical polyrhythms.
Their hotly anticipated debut album, 'Fear & Celebration', is the culmination of a painstaking process of writing, recording and production for the trio. After the band's live debut at Sonar Festival Hong Kong, their breakout track 'Anxious Party People' (Plastic Pagan 2017) shocked dancefloors all over the world, receiving a shortlist nomination at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards for 'Track Of The Year' and catching the attention of major radio outlets such as BBC 6 Music (UK), Radio Nova (FR), KCRW (US), CR2 903 (HK), Worldwide FM, and NTS, as well as being featured on Bandcamp Weekly.
The album adopts "a kitchen sink approach to body music" (bleep.com) throughout its 9 tracks — burgeoning concept solos punctuate hulking low-end, while drum set freak-outs and extra-spectral wanderings bind with moments of beatific modal calm as disparate ingredients are satisfyingly reconciled. This is deep dance-floor for every mind's ear.