In between solo records, Carla started Poster Paints, a garage rock duo with Simon Liddell of Frightened Rabbit who released their debut album in 2022, while also being a part of the Hen Hoose collective of female/non-binary writers and producers. Carla also began the process of creating SUGAR HONEY at her home studio setup: "I'd always used voice notes on my phone or made very sketchy demos on my iPad as a means to capture ideas to share with bandmates. All of a sudden I was in a new band and taking part in 'digital' songwriting residencies. All from my bedroom!" The experiences of working with Hen Hoose and the DIY element of Carla's Adventures In Pop fanclub (which helped fund the making of the album) gave her the confidence to be able to step up and produce her own music for the first time. Carla began to build a proper home studio, all the while taking part in digital writing residencies organised by Howard Bilerman (owner of the legendary hotel2tango studio). "I was in my bedroom having one to one sessions with The Weather Station and Kim Richey and Don Henry, playing them new material, taking part in 'virtual' songwriting share circles with other residents, and then having Mary Margaret O'Hara, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Sharon Van Etten beamed into my bedroom for talks where we could ask questions. Mary was so inspiring! She is absolutely one of life's greatest weirdos and dances to the beat of her own drum! I fell in love with Beverly's album Keyboard Fantasies. His album really made me fall back in love with keyboards and synths again after working on the Poster Paints album which is more guitar-led." On SUGAR HONEY, Carla plays with the idea of light and shade - bright, colourful pop songs but with darker emotions laid bare in the lyrics. "I'm really interested in how we recall memories and relay them back to ourselves," she explains. "To reflect on the past to push forward, and I wanted to explore improvisation as a means of songwriting - shaking off everything you know and all the rules and going with what 'feels' right... SUGAR HONEY is my celebration of pop in all its many forms and sub genres. A love of my record collection shining through in new writing. I'm not reinventing the wheel, I'm just giving it a good, hard spin.These songs are me being me - exploring my obsession with all things pop." "One Week" - the first single to be taken from the album - is the giddy introduction to SUGAR HONEY. Described by Carla as "like the missing song from the Karate Kid soundtrack...or driving through Miami in a beat up convertible with your sunglasses on" it's instantly recognisable as the work of Carla J Easton thanks to her sugar sweet vocal (which is sounding better than ever) and layer upon layer of classic pop hooks and synths. "BLOOMING 4U", single number two and "Sesame Street meets Feist meets Primal Scream's 'Moving On Up'" in Carla's own words, is one of the summeriest self-care anthems ever written with carnivalesque drum breaks, brass and a feature from Glasgow's Glad Foundation Kids' Choir. There's "Be OK". which joins the dots between Weirdo and SUGAR HONEY and features flutes, phone samples and "cowboy guitar"; "Tempt Me" is the sound of Tom Petty jamming with Carly Rae Jepsen, "You Made Us" is a love letter to Glasgow and closing track "Sleepyhead" is a beautiful lullaby co-written Nashville-based Grammy nominated songwriter Kim Richey (The Chicks, Trisha Yearwood, Mindy McCready). At the centre of it all is the title track; "SUGAR HONEY" was partly inspired by the sweet and sour nature of the music of Sleigh Bells and partly by a walk home Carla made in Glasgow one evening when she became aware of her surroundings and personal safety. "As soon as I got home I finished writing it. I hate the fact that I can't walk where I want to walk, without thinking about my own safety, and it's all because of the actions of men - unsolicited attention or advances." The song delivers this in no uncertain terms with the central lyric: I didn't mean to make you want me, please don't ever touch my body. "I was simply thinking of the record as being an Adventure In Pop, hence the name of my fanclub," explains Carla. "I often found myself in the studio working saying 'can I put an orchestral bit on this song?' I'd often cite The Manual (How To Have A Number One) by KLF - especially the ethos of 'if you can't believe you're about to put that on a record then it means you should'. That quickly became the ethos of the record." Of this freedom to create and to be able to make mistakes in the pursuit of something important rather than something correct, Carla adds: "Big cheesy sax solo? YES. Children's choir? YES. Big weird unexpected Brian Eno section mid song? YES. Brass? YES. Strings? Yes. Synth flute arp spacejam cowboy guitar riff? Why the fuck not?" SUGAR HONEY is out 20 October via Olive Grove Records. | 
