“I thought by the time I got to album four I would know what the fuck I was doing.” We’re three weeks out from the release of Black Honey’s fourth album, ‘Soak’, and it’s all starting to get a bit real for vocalist/guitarist Izzy Phillips.

You’re unlikely to find a songwriter quite as in touch with the present as Izzy, with every tiny detail on the album being a true reflection of where she is at that exact moment, on that exact day, in that exact studio. That explains why, on some days, she has a crisis of confidence – but it also shows her ability to take the world’s pulse, melt it down to its most basic trials and tribulations, and revivify it into a wonky, apocalyptic collection of tracks that ultimately became ‘Soak’.

The latest edition of the Black Honey film series, the record is a twelve-song foray into trauma, emotional torment, and global disconnect – all viewed through an Orwellian lens of state control and Big Tech domination. Whether it’s Izzy’s haunting layered vocal in ‘Insulin’, the dissonant harmonics on ‘Shallow’, or the slinky, syncopated spiral of ‘Carroll Avenue’, the band pushed every idea to its furthest ebb and, with it, forced themselves into territory they’d yet to explore.

Out of that came ‘Vampire in the Kitchen’, a track that combines an ominous, stripped-back start with a sudden rush of blood to the head – glam-rock guitar lines and crashing drums punching you square in the teeth.

That’s a mantra Izzy has taken into every aspect of her life, with Black Honey just one of her many creative outlets. She’s not only the frontwoman of a band beloved by punk icon Iggy Pop – she’s also a songwriter for other popstars like herself, and a fully qualified tattoo artist. All of this comes together in the wider ‘Soak’ universe, making this record less a standalone album and more a soundtrack to Black Honey’s latest chapter.

For Izzy, the cinematic side of Black Honey is just as important as the sonic direction. Music videos inspired by Kubrickian neo-futurist dystopia (‘Psycho’) and a 60s-style variety performance (‘Shallow’) help to tie together a swirling sense of doom with enough whimsy and contrast to keep the whole ‘Soak’ project from twirling out of control. She’s creating a universe – every aspect needs to be right, or the life cycle can’t fully function.

Alongside these videos lies album artwork that reinforces the underlying themes of ‘Soak’: being subjected to the torture of modern life, whether you asked for it or not. Featuring Izzy’s eye forced open by medical equipment, it’s a reflection of the information age – a non-stop bombardment of data flooding your senses.

Heavily inspired by ‘A Clockwork Orange’, the shared language between the album cover, the video for ‘Psycho’, and the swirling, off-kilter soundscape all draws ‘Soak’ back to the same central idea. Basically, the world’s fucked, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

That’s not to say that ‘Soak’ is a dirge – a pessimistic collection that doesn’t find humour in hypocrisy or the wry smile in the inconsistencies of the global script:

As much as the digital realm inspired much of the album’s content, it was Izzy’s human connections that really formed the foundations of this fourth record. Taking time off to decompress and process all the years of graft and grinding that have got her this far gave her the space to breathe life into this new creation.

Collaboration – both within the band and from outside voices – has always been central to what Black Honey do. Unashamed about connecting with other songwriters at writing camps and in the studio, it gave Izzy a reinvigorated passion and some much-needed affirmation.

And let’s not forget – for a band to reach album four, you must be doing something right, both personally and creatively. Izzy once said being in a band was the hardest thing she’s ever done – but nothing good ever came from taking the easy route, did it?

Izzy has never made any bones about the fact that being an artist is, frankly, rough going. That said, she’s never been one to quit. She was built to withstand harder trials than this – and ‘Soak’ is proof that turning up the heat only makes Black Honey burn more brightly. As she puts it: "I just refuse to die."

It’s a journey that isn’t slowing down any time soon. Izzy is as determined as ever to fulfil her ambitions – and you'd be daft to bet against her now.