PACKS – Melt the Honey [GOLD Vinyl] – New LP

Madeline Link, who makes music under the moniker PACKS, has always found inspiration in her surroundings. When it came to newest effort Melt the Honey (her second full-length in the space of a year), she wanted to look beyond the mundane spaces that had informed much of her previous work. Over the course of 11 days last March, Link and the rest of her band (Dexter Nash [guitar], Noah O’Neil [bass] and Shane Hooper [drums]) gathered in Mexico City, a city that already held a special place in her heart as an artist-in-residence at Casa Lü in 2020). PACKS practiced new songs in a rented studio space, with each member bringing their aesthetic sensibility to the table. From there, they took a bus to Xalapa where they spent the remainder of their time abroad working at a house known as Casa pulpo, an architectural feat removed from the bustle of city life, owned and operated by Wendy Moira, the visionary behind Teatro Lucido, a prominent theater and music venue in Mexico City.

The making of Melt the Honey was a communal experience, with the same group of musicians who have joined her since her Take the Cake debut in 2021 taking part once again. Part of the vibrancy of the recording also comes from an underlying emotional shift in Link’s life: falling in love. After doing it alone for so long, Link is finally embracing the sense of ease that comes with knowing you’re cared for. “These songs are happier, or more optimistic, than any I’ve written,” Link says. “I was feeling generally less horrible than I have in the past,” she laughs. The album’s title draws from the single “Honey,” written in a Chilean beach town where Link briefly lived ensconced in these feelings, sharing a home with her romantic partner and allowing herself to experience life in an easier way, through the lens of having someone by her side. While Link is in a happier state-of-mind, Melt the Honey still finds a way to dig into the grit of her emotions, exploring new sonic territory as she goes. From the scuzzy shoegaze of “Pearly Whites” to the psych-textured interlude of “AmyW,” Melt the Honey is the band at their most fully-formed yet; unafraid to experiment while simultaneously doubling down on their signature quirky earworms that reverberate with universal appeal.