I’ll be upfront, when I first heard Flea was putting out a jazz record, my initial reaction landed somewhere between skepticism and curiosity. I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers as much as anybody who grew up in the 90s, and Flea is one of the greatest bass players ever. But jazz? A proper, searching, late-night jazz record? I was slightly skeptical.
Honora is the kind of record that does not grab you so much as it pulls up a chair next to you. It unfolds slowly, patiently, and without any real interest in impressing you. There is no grandstanding here, no “look what the guy from the Chili Peppers can do.” What you get instead is something rarer, genuine intention. You can hear it in every unhurried note.
The early stretch of the record sets the tone beautifully. A Plea is sprawling and spoken word driven, and I will not pretend it is not a little uncomfortable in the way that truly sincere things sometimes are. But that is kind of the point. The groove underneath it, slow-burning, jazz-inflected, deeply rhythmic, keeps the whole thing from tipping into self-indulgence. It works because Flea clearly means every word.
Then comes Traffic Lights featuring Thom Yorke, and this is where the album really announces itself. Yorke’s presence adds this spectral, unsettled quality to the track that I was not expecting. There is a push and pull between structure and something abstract that kept me coming back to it. If you are a fan of The Smile, this one is going to resonate.
The midsection is where Honora really earns its keep. The Maggot Brain cover could have been a disaster. That song carries enormous emotional weight, and any lesser effort would have felt presumptuous. But Flea plays it with restraint. Space and tone do the heavy lifting. It is reverent without being precious, and it feels lived in rather than showy. One of my favorite moments on the record.
And then there is Wichita Lineman with Nick Cave. Cave’s vocal sitting over those spare, deliberate arrangements is quietly devastating in the way that only the best interpretations of classic songs can be. Sometimes what a song leaves out tells you everything.
By the time we arrive at Free As I Want to Be the album feels like it is exhaling. The looseness here, after everything that has come before, is exactly right. It does not resolve anything. It just lets the questions drift off into something like acceptance.
Honora is not a perfect album, and I would argue it is not trying to be. It is a record built on curiosity and risk, made by someone who has clearly loved this music for a long time and finally gave himself permission to speak in its language. The fact that it does not always land cleanly is part of what makes it feel genuine.
Highly recommended. Pour yourself something, put the headphones on, and give it the time it deserves.
For Fans Of: Miles Davis (late period), The Smile, Chet Baker, late night headphone records
Tracks:
- Golden Wingship
- A Plea
- Traffic Lights (feat. Thom Yorke)
- Frailed
- Morning Cry
- Maggot Brain
- Wichita Lineman (feat. Nick Cave)
- Thinking Bout You
- Willow Weep for Me
- Free As I Want to Be