“Running Up The Hillside” Pink Honey Moan

Are you the same person that you were in high school? Are you still chasing that image, or fighting that image of what people perceive you to be? It’s hard to look forward, when you’re constantly rewinding and replaying what happened so long ago. In the new single “Running Up The Hillside” from Pink Honey Moan, the slow-tempered groove and dreamy melodies are just one reminder that life can move on, but it’s always a question on one’s mind. Perfectly paired with the song’s imagery is a flashback to a 1993 cult-classic hockey/roller blade film set in reverse. 

URL: https://www.pinkhoneymoan.com/

Pink Honey Moan, the moniker of singer/songwriter Jared Lindbloom, arrived in New York city via South Dakota. Those longing harmonies and yearning lyrics found in the prairie hills certainly color the waves and the tones in “Running Up The Hillside”. What is clear, as a listener, is that as an artist Pink Honey Moan is intent on creating a vibe that is quite evocative and emotionally drawing for anyone hearing. The murky beat, the trepid piano and rhythms in “Running Up The Hillside” exude a quiet angst and searching for meaning. Within the song’s walls, a natural chip on the shoulder and this greying residue. When I close my eyes and listen, this is the song of an artist that has a lot to prove and is trying to not exhaust himself by championing his worth. 

And he is worth it. He repeats, remember me from high school. Later he sings, from what’s come and gone, turn around now, this is what it cost, think you remember that person’s gone. This line especially, is so fitting to me. It’s so easy to marinate in the past and be transfixed on how you compare yourself to others. Life can be ‘should’ve, could’ve, would’ve’ to death, this song spoke to me. Just be you. Just run your own race and own it. That’s what I really gleaned from this song and how the mesmerizing vocals, and the tightly-coordinated pop/folk music bed enhanced that overall experience. You keep listening because the voice is clear, yet enigmatic and full of character. There is just an ever-so-slightly raspy hook in the vocals that gives it a chiseled patina. You gotta love that character – and unlike the song’s theme, you don’t feel like you’re going against the grain. It’s a great flow, a laid back groove. 

The music video, edited by Darren Lipari, features the rewound chase scene from Airborne. I knew within seconds that it was from that film, and it didn’t occur to me until the very end just how perfect the visuals for “Running Up The Hillside” fits within Airborne. For a high school student out of his element and judged for being an outsider, only to prove his skating skills, whose high school experience didn’t end up with a curvy, exhilarating race through downtown? I kid. At the end of the video, and such is life, the group all starts at the same spot, at the same level. Shouldn’t that tell you something? 

Mindy McCall