"Happiness is just an accident," sings Man Man / Mister Heavenly maverick Honus Honus on "Oh No!". Following "Heavy Jesus" and continuing the rollout of his "apocalyptic LA pop" solo record Use Your Delusion, the single is a classic example of sad sentiments stuck in a sunny song.
"Oh No!" combines such lines as "Your heart is bubble-wrapped in permanent depression" with a deft touch of sax, an almost reggae pulse, and some of Honus' most nimble, surfy guitarwork to date for a deceptively delightful package.
Honus explained to Consequence of Sound,
“[Producer King Cyrus King] wasn’t a fan of the song when I initially brought it to the table so it took a bit of convincing to get him onboard. It truly was a situation where when he first heard me demoing it out he went, ‘Oh no, not this song!’ The name was sort of born out of that moment even though the lyrics in the bridge already hinted at a title. Also, ‘Ono’ in this pronunciation is Hawaiian for delicious. Food for thought.
Going into this making this record I wanted to play around with different synth sounds, experiment with brighter, maybe even ‘cheesier’ tones that would draw a sharp contrast to some of the non-breezy lyrical content. I’ve always been a fan of juxtaposing opposing vibes and I love how the tune has a bouncy, summer feel but if you actually listen to what I’m singing, the sentiment is rather melancholy since it’s a song dealing with a breakup and post-breakup healing. But…if you’re someone who just hears the music and could care less about what the song is about, it’s a feel-good jammer and sounds even better when you pump up the volume! True story.”
You can preorder Use Your Delusion, the self-release of which has been pushed back to October 28, through the Pledge Music campaign.
Read our in-depth interview with Honus, in which we discuss his solo record and more, here.