Leah Marie Mason Steps Into Her Own In New Nostalgic Project Honeydew and Hennessy
Leah Marie Mason has found her country music niche and it is steeped in airy nostalgia. Today the North Carolina native dropped her latest project Honeydew and Hennessy echoing her own journey to mental peace and a better state of mind.
Photo Credit: Preemo
Honeydew and Hennessy is both emotive and vintage, and from the jump gives listeners a taste of the whole project. The title track is a romanticized look at summertime in Tennessee. Leah's smokey soft vocals soar and tell the tell of haunting story of growing up and looking back on your past.
“I wrote this song in the summer of 2021, during a time of self-reflection and self-discovery. I feel like this song was pivotal for me in discovering myself as an artist and being able to freely write lyrics that are unapologetically me. I’ve always gone back to this one because of how it made me feel when I wrote it, and I think it’s the perfect entrance into the little world I've been creating over the past few months," Mason said in a press release.
Holy Water is the perfect southern gothic meet country album, with just the right amount of sass, and serves as the revenge tune on the project. Mason told us that This track was inspired by many of the people she encountered during her time at a private Christian university. She communicates that many who claim to follow God use their religion to hide wrongdoings and character flaws. She characterizes the song's subject as "a hypocrite of his crucifix." The opening line of "Holy Water" kicks the song off with familiar imagery, unfortunately relatable for many: "He hides behind the silver cross he wears around his neck."
If creating a picturesque narrative was a superpower, then Leah is a country music superhero. Her previously released Trust Fund Cowboy continues this vintage vibe and once again clearly paints a picture that fans can relate to. Bold and clever from the getgo, Mason packs her musical proclamation with impeccable imagery. She opens her track with "Your dad got you a mustang, and I don't mean a horse / You think a hard day in the sun is 18 on the course / You bought pearl snaps and a stetson after watchin' Yellowstone / But your collar can't be blue if it smells like rich cologne." With dreamy melodies and against simple, steady production, she sings vividly biting lyrics that make the hairs on your skin stand up.
Perhaps the most surprising song off the project is Red Ruby Boots. This track serves as a self reflection that we can all relate to. Backed by her signature raw production, Mason's angelic voice tells the timeless tale of slipping a pair of shoes on and turning into the life of the party. The type of storyline that Leah paints is a refreshing take on one's party alter ego.
Leah reflects that the sentimental track stemmed from a “nostalgic” mindset in Me or My Hometown. Its lyrics detail the changes that her hometown and childhood friends have gone through since she last saw them. “I was so sad,” shared the singer with All Country News. “It’ll never be the same as it was in high school … I still feel like I’m literally seventeen years old sometimes.” Leah, now 23, explores her internal reaction to seeing what her former classmates are up to now - full-time jobs, engagements, and pregnancies, to name a few.
“I feel like I’ll never have friends like that again in my life. And I won’t, because [any new friends] don’t know me when I was literally a child, growing up into the person I am now. No one will ever know that part of me,” Leah told ACN.
Wrapping the project is the breezy tune Montana Fantasy. This song will not only make you sway in the kitchen, but invites you to daydream of those "golden pastures" in your own safe space. In a world that truly never slows down, the tune yearns for a place that one can slow down and reflect.
Leah and her songs are wrapped in lush instrumentation matched with a hauntingly stunning vocal. The EP serves as a warm introduction to the tunesmith as she vividly narrates the moments that have shaped her. Touching on sentimental themes of love, loss, hope and heartbreak Honeydew and Hennessy serves a career defining project that will leave fans craving more. Leaning into songs that make her happy, Leah has truly found her niche. He won't be confined to a box and we hope she keeps it that way.