Clothesline From Hell Finds Freedom On Debut Album ‘Slather On The Honey’

Photo credit: Lauren Armstrong

Adam LaFramboise, the sole force behind the project Clothesline From Hell, thrives on thoughtful contradiction. Naming his project after a WWE wrestling move, a nod to his desire to blur the lines between high and low culture, he applied the same principle in naming his debut album. Its title, Slather On The Honey, was lifted from LaFramboise’s comfort show, Mad Men. 

“They get your hopes up just so they can crush them,” LaFramboise reflects. “It is a world where intense praise and encouragement build you up, only to vanish just as quickly.”

This fickleness is something he observed from the ground up. The record is the culmination of a journey LaFramboise began almost a decade ago, moving from writing songs in bands that rarely made space for him, to recording alone on his phone. He sold early tracks as five-dollar "glorified demos," which slowly reached small pockets of listeners and inspired messages from other DIY artists and kids online.

The album was forged after the release of his breakout single ‘Open Up’ in collaboration with Matt Tavares (BADBADNOTGOOD). Drawing momentum after the release, labels circled and LaFramboise explains, “Contracts were offered, then withdrawn.” Like in Mad Men, the labels lathered on the honey just to lick it clean. However, with Slather On The Honey, LaFramboise decided to find humour and freedom within that cycle. “My dealings on it have changed… it feels much more positive all the time,” he notes. “You were excited about what you were doing at some point… That’s better than nothing, you know?”

Embracing contradiction defines the album’s very texture, and the title track “Slather On The Honey” is a representation of this approach. “When I finished that song, I was surprised that it was three minutes long because it felt like it was six,” LaFramboise says. The track crams shifting tempos and layered ideas into something direct and concise. Density is LaFramboise’s signature. “The best stuff comes from just being alone with an instrument, trying to find an idea. That's my favourite part.”

The subsequent process of translating an idea is where the magic begins. “I get… burnt out on the idea slightly. So I want to throw in all kinds of strange samples and stuff,” he admits. This instinct “works against the sincerity of it, and turns it into something tragic and into something funny.” He points to “ON ICE,” where a whispered, guitar-based confession is interrupted by a blaring sample commanding the listener to “get the fuck up.” 

“There's something that has kind of always been in this project that is kind of taking the piss out of something so macho or rock star,” he laughs. It’s a deliberate destabilizing act, ensuring that no emotion sits too plainly, that vulnerability is armoured with self-aware wit.

LaFramboise recorded the last two tracks on his album by himself. One of the tracks, ‘L’ARP,’ was recorded in two hours. “It just came out pretty quick,” he says of the lyrics, which splice suburban satire, “live, laugh, motherfucker,” with pointed imagery. “There's something there about coddling your kids and not preparing them for the world… when, yeah, life's probably more complicated than that.” Initially, he believed that it was the album’s weakest track but his friends quickly disproved it.  The song underscores a central aspect of his process: not overthinking, but trusting the impulse.

The outcome is an album he calls, without hesitation, the most meaningful project of his career. His relationship with his own work is often a cycle of creation euphoria followed by post-release distance. With Slather On The Honey, something changed. “I didn't listen to it for a long time, and then… I listened to it again…I was really impressed with myself. And that's a unique feeling.” For perhaps the first time, the work fully satisfied the vision.

Looking ahead, LaFramboise is focused on closing this chapter and opening the next. With European tour dates booked, he shares that there is more music in his arsenal. The journey of Slather On The Honey is ultimately about recalibrating one’s relationship with external validation. The honey may be fickle, but the work endures.