howl hum tour

the new single

from The Howl & The Hum

listen here

The Only Boy Racer Left On The Island (Official Video)

We don’t have any products to show here right now..

The Howl & The Hum Verified

Similar artists on tour, bandsintown merch.

Live Photos of The Howl & The Hum

Concerts and tour dates, fan reviews.

About The Howl & The Hum

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:

The Howl & The Hum

The howl & the hum concert setlists & tour dates, the howl & the hum at the crescent community venue, york, england.

• Human Contact
• A Hotel Song
• Don't Shoot the Storm
• I Wish I Was a Shark
• Terrorforming
• Until I Found a Rose
• A Noise Such As You
• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date
• Edit set times
• Add to festival
• Report setlist
• Got You on My Side
• Sweet Fading Silver
• The Only Boy Racer Left on the Island
• Hall of Fame

The Howl & The Hum at OTHR Festival 2023

The howl & the hum at coda, colchester, england.

• There's No Calories In Cocaine
• Godmanchester Chinese Bridge

The Howl & The Hum at The Soundhouse, Leicester, England

The howl & the hum at cluny2, newcastle upon tyne, england.

• Back In Time
• I Hate Myself Too
• Same Mistake Twice

The Howl & The Hum at The Ferret, Preston, England

The howl & the hum at vestrock 2023, the howl & the hum at muziekgieterij, maastricht, netherlands.

More from this Artist

• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Most played songs

• Godmanchester Chinese Bridge ( 37 )
• Hall of Fame ( 36 )
• The Only Boy Racer Left on the Island ( 32 )
• Hostages ( 30 )
• A Hotel Song ( 26 )

More The Howl & The Hum statistics

Please Remain Calm

View covered by statistics

Artists covered

The Pogues The Weeknd

View artists covered statistics

Gigs seen live by

116 people have seen The Howl & The Hum live.

Martin-H rjcf JazzMyatt RogH Field_of_Cloud Teddingtonian Ejb02 BlueShadows78 anorwichfan RatsRatsRats benhutch Lornaramsey frimf Marc4l dddekerf williame XanderPotato hsoffers Vencore Remcojan dtaylor_nl townmn Jackman yo61 Crimsonbat Coen77 Marcel_Verspeek SanderFMC JustinBu ckoelma LeighE1982 RB2812 Frapois JackB_GizzFan Anniekske77 Do94 MATTHEWcaDUNCAN FTLMusic lukejackson1010 Krysm63 EpcotBlue66 Garetha92 dunkfromlewes Hangleton Randomasduck 01carl Cedricvm jvdh Jolu_666 NevermindBred

Showing only 50 most recent

The Howl & The Hum on the web

Music links.

• The Howl & The Hum Lyrics (de)

Tour Update

Marquee memories: sleater-kinney.

• Sleater‐Kinney
• Apr 2, 2024
• Apr 1, 2024
• Mar 31, 2024
• Mar 30, 2024
• Mar 29, 2024
• Mar 28, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

ArtsCulture

independent coverage of art, culture and society

The Howl & The Hum | January Revive Live tour

January 20, 2022 by artsculture

THE HOWL & THE HUM are pleased to present the official video for “Thumbs Up”.

We don’t hug enough. Yes, there’s a pandemic, etc, etc, but watching the video for Thumbs Up from alt/folk three-piece The Howl & The Hum you want the comfort and connection of a big hug.

Struggles with small town life

Filmed in an ex-coal mining commuter settlement in the heart of the Rhondda Valley of South Wales, the video follows the story of a young man and his struggles with, and love affairs with, small town life. 

It’s directed by Matthew Thorne and is a partner story to the short film for The Howl & The Hum’s Boy Racer ”, which he also directed.

Connections

“I approached Matthew with the song saying we could approach the video with a lens on mental health, masculinity and silence, and he almost immediately answered with this idea encompassing the Rhondda valleys, where serendipitously both of our families are from, so there’s a bunch of odd connections there (family members living on the same street etc),” said Howl & The Hum’s Sam Griffiths.

The video explores themes of brotherhood, fatherhood and masculine connection.

“It’s a story of everything that we all know in different shades in the pattern of growth as a young man,” says Matthew.

Different shades

“A story of late night takeaways (and the fights they cause), of watching Dad who never spoke about his feelings cry as he sings in the Men’s club, of watching your friend wipe the blood from his knuckles after he beat his hands against the brick wall of the Pub after his missus left because that’s how he watched his Dad do it, of Uncles who protect you, and Aunties who throw you out the door. Images of Grandma’s knitting set against porno, early loves, blow ups with close friends & facing fear.”

Sam says: “This song was written in the silence after suicides of friends, during depressive episodes, and over non-existent conversations about how we communicate our feelings: our highs, our lows, our loves and losses.”

Now on tour (check out the dates below)The Howl & The Hum have also released the full performance of their hometown York Minster sell out gig for fans everywhere to experience and re-live. Listen to the ‘Live At York Minster’ album here: https://thath.ffm.to/laym-album.oyd

The Howl & The Hum kickstart 2022 with a string of intimate dates in their January Revive Live Tour this month. Details below. 

THE HOWL & THE HUM – 2022 TOUR DATES ‘JANUARY REVIVE LIVE TOUR’ 19 Jan – STOCKTON-ON-TEES, KU 20 Jan – PRESTON, Ferret 21 Jan – LEICESTER, Soundhouse 22 Jan – NORWICH, Arts Centre 25 Jan – TUNBRIDGE WELL, Forum 26 Jan – EXETER, Cavern 12 Apr – EDINBURGH, Sneaky Pete’s 13 Apr – DUNDEE, Beat Generator

Tickets on sale now: https://www.thehowlandthehum.com/tour-date s

* * * * * The Howl & The Hum are: Sam Griffiths // Bradley Blackwell // Conor Hirons

• Latest Posts

• Together in perfect harmony | Plymouth Philharmonic Choir - March 27, 2024
• Follow Your Feet | Holly Ebony warmly invites you into new spaces - March 23, 2024
• A Night Of Glass | Dan Whitehouse tours last 3 albums - March 19, 2024

Share this:

• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Privacy Overview

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Deutsch Português
• Popular artists

The Howl & The Hum

• On tour: no
• Upcoming 2024 concerts: none

8,826 fans get concert alerts for this artist.

Join Songkick to track The Howl & The Hum and get concert alerts when they play near you.

Find your next concert

Join 8,826 fans getting concert alerts for this artist

Past concerts

The Crescent

Vortex Jazz Club

the shrewsbury coffehouse

View all past concerts

Live reviews

Fantastic show! The band were clearly happy to be there and had wonderful energy.

The lead singer's dance moves were absolutely brilliant (some might say unusual, but I would argue fresh and engaging), but they did not distract from his amazing vocals.

Great melodies, lovely lyrics too when you listened closely.

They started with a slow number but played mostly upbeat songs with fantastic riffs. The explanation on the songs was amusing too. All in all, a fantastic show to attend at the lovely Louisiana.

Report as inappropriate

Awesome gig - incredible vocals and a great show! Cool intimate venue and good support band. Thanks for a great night guys - enjoy the rest of the tour. Craig

Posters (31)

Find out more about The Howl & The Hum tour dates & tickets 2024-2025

Want to see The Howl & The Hum in concert? Find information on all of The Howl & The Hum’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2024-2025.

Unfortunately there are no concert dates for The Howl & The Hum scheduled in 2024.

Songkick is the first to know of new tour announcements and concert information, so if your favorite artists are not currently on tour, join Songkick to track The Howl & The Hum and get concert alerts when they play near you, like 8826 other The Howl & The Hum fans.

Similar artists

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

The Howl And The Hum release new single, ‘Thumbs Up’

Home » The Howl And The Hum release new single, ‘Thumbs Up’

As reassuring as a “Thumbs Up” from an old friend, THE HOWL & THE HUM return this Autumn with a quietly resplendent new single. 

Sounding like “High And Dry” if it were written by Jeff Buckley, this one-off track from York’s finest alternative-folk proposition has an aching, melancholy tenderness that will make your hairs stand on end.

A song about toxic masculinity and tokenistic gestures, “ Thumbs Up ” is a cathartic confessional from an artist in search of deeper connections in the wake of personal tragedy. Written as singer  Sam Griffiths  tried to find silver linings in the darkest of days, he reflects:

“”Thumbs Up” is the confession that us men don’t know how to talk to other men about important sh*t. This song was written in the silence after suicides of friends, during depressive episodes, and over non-existent conversations about how we communicate our feelings: our highs, our lows, our loves and losses. It also references 80s movie icons Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, a brief admittance of vulnerability in the face of what we call masculinity.”

With pared-back arrangements that let the song’s lyrics take centre-stage, every word lands from Griffith’s haunting falsetto like a sucker-punch to the soul. Building to an atmospheric conclusion, its ethereal keyboards and backing vocals are laid down by Griffiths, whilst The Howl & The Hum mainstay  Conor Hirons  plays its reverb-glistening guitars.

Out today (8 October), “Thumbs Up” was produced and mixed by  Jolyon Thomas  (Slaves, Kendrick Lamar) at Mash, before mastering by  Kevin Tuffy  at Alchemy.

The single is the first original music to emerge from  The Howl & The Hum  since the release of their acclaimed debut album “ Human Contact ” (released via AWAL in 2020). Marrying uniquely affecting lyrics to expansive musical backdrops, the band earned praise from the likes of  DIY, The Line of Best Fit, Clash, Wonderland, Music Week  and more. Also winning-over champions at radio including  Huw Stephens, Annie Mac, Tom Robinson  and  John Kennedy ; the band have accumulated north of  10 million streams  on Spotify and counting.

Appearing at The Great Escape and SXSW, as well as selling-out The Scala in London and the hallowed York Minster in their hometown, the band have earned a reputation for being an essential live act.

Preparing to take the songs of their debut on the road for what will be their first  UK Tour  since its release, The Howl & The Hum are now sizing up a significant run throughout the Autumn.

With dates in  England, Scotland and Wales , the tour begins at  Manchester Gorilla on 10th October  and rounds-off with a  two-date residency at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club  in their native Yorkshire. Catch the band at these following dates and venues:

The Howl & The Hum – UK Tour Schedule

10th Oct – Gorilla, Manchester

12th Oct – Islington Assembly, London

14th Oct – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

15th Oct – Hope & Run, Brighton

16th Oct – Joiners, Southampton

17th Oct – The Exchange, Bristol

19th Oct – King Tut’s, Glasgow

21st Oct – The Sugarmill, Stoke

25th Oct – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

27th Oct – Jericho Tavern, Oxford

30th Oct – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

31st Oct – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Our other pages

Related posts.

Alien Ant Farm Release New Single “Last dAntz”

Les Savy Fav share new single "Limo Scene"

Alien Ant Farm Release New Single "Last dAntz"

Big Special share new single 'Black Dog / White Horse'

Code Orange Share New Video For ‘Swallowing The Rabbit Whole’

Leave a reply cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Alternative music and culture for the North of England and Worldwide.

Website by Mattix.

Find Music Jobs here!

Find Arts Jobs here!

© Soundsphere Magazine. All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy & Cookie Policy Terms of Use Advertise with us Contact

• Video Games

The Howl And the Hum

York-based band The Howl & The Hum combine their rumbling, melodic dark pop with haunting, evocative lyrics, and a hypnotic yet energetic live show, creating songs that recall the likes of The National and Massive Attack. Following acclaimed sets at Neighbourhood Festival and Loopallu and a debut tour of the Scottish Highlands, The Howl & The Hum are down as a band to watch on their keenly awaited second tour, with overflowing praise from such voices as Clash Magazine and Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music. "expansive indie songwriting that nods towards Massive Attack or Portishead." - Clash Magazine "Their debut EP, Godmanchester Chinese Bridge is just the right amounts of accessible yet still unerringly cool and ’emotional’." - Crack In The Road "The Howl And The Hum are a seriously great band, from whom you will be hearing a great deal more in the coming months." - Tom Robinson, BBC 6Music

The Howl & The Hum

Popular tracks.

The Howl & The Hum

York-based four piece The Howl & The Hum combine rumbling, melodic dark pop with haunting, evocative lyrics, and a hypnotic yet energetic live more...

Follow The Howl & The Hum on Ents24 to receive updates on any new tour dates the moment they are announced...

• Be the first to know about new tour dates
• Alerts are free and always will be
• We hate spam and will never share your email address with anyone else
• More than a million fans already rely on Ents24 to follow their favourite artists and venues

Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for The Howl & The Hum. Were you there?

• Dec 19 2023 York, The Crescent The Howl & The Hum
• Dec 18 2023 York, The Crescent The Howl & The Hum
• Dec 17 2023 York, The Crescent The Howl & The Hum
• Sep 15 2023 London, The Vortex Jazz Club Seafarers The Howl & The Hum, Elanor Moss
• 2023 Aug 10 Aug 13 2023 Twycross, Gopsall Hall Farm 110 Above Presents: Othr Festival 2023 Circa Waves, Jack Garratt, Black Honey, Spector, Twin Atlantic…
• Jun 24 2023 Leicester, The Soundhouse The Howl & The Hum
• Jun 23 2023 Newcastle upon Tyne, The Cluny The Howl & The Hum
• Apr 21 2023 Birmingham, Kitchen Garden Cafe The Howl & The Hum
• Dec 20 2022 York, The Crescent The Howl & The Hum
• Dec 19 2022 York, The Crescent The Howl & The Hum

Fans who like The Howl & The Hum also like

The Ninth Wave

Declan Welsh & The Decadent West

Somebody's Child

Human Memory, Human Contact, and Releasing a Debut Album During Lockdown: An Interview with The Howl & The Hum

The Howl & The Hum discuss their debut album, ‘Human Contact,’ and lead singer Sam Griffiths comes to the revelation that, in an age of contrived digital memories, forgetting can be just as important as remembering.

W ith undeniable hypnotic allure and a sound that can make you feel nostalgic for a life you haven’t lived, The Howl & The Hum are primed and ready to release their debut album, Human Contact . At a time when human touch and interaction is so limited and unavailable, Human Contact  is an aptly named record. Although the name was coined long before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the international lockdown, its uncanny timing will allow it to resonate in an entirely unexpected way.

Since releasing their debut single, “Godmanchester Chinese Bridge,” in 2017, The Howl & The Hum have made a name for themselves as true musical storytellers with a remarkable ability to create an all-consuming live atmosphere. Physical interactions, shared experiences, and memories form the epicentre of our lives.

Human Contact discusses these themes in the contexts of the digital era and dementia, a disease that proves the real mortality of human memory.

The album manifests moments of happiness, sorrow, and frustration while shape-shifting through a variety of genres – although frontman Sam Griffiths does ponder whether genre is dead.

Atwood Magazine spoke to Griffiths about the band’s accidental premonition, the unnecessary pressure to be creative during a lockdown, and how it feels to release a debut album in 2020.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

A CONVERSATION WITH THE HOWL & THE HUM

The Howl & The Hum: Well, there was a time when we were worried we would have to delay it because of the Coronavirus. There are so many artists delaying the releases of their albums because they’re a bit further into their careers than us. But we thought because people still don’t really know who we are at this stage, we’ve kind of got a leg-up in that we don’t have to push the record forward or back.

So, we can stay as excited as we’ve always been and go ahead and do what we want with the release because there aren’t so many expectations on us to follow anything up, which is kind of nice! It means we’re eased into it as opposed to it becoming a scary process where we have longer to wait and panic. So, I think we’re worrying a lot less.

The Howl & The Hum: Yeah, something like that. I keep worrying about it! I spoke to my friend on Zoom the other day, and he said, ‘Hey man, it’s nice to see you guys have been profiteering off the international crisis!’ I was like nah, we’re making no money! Obviously, the whole Human Contact thing, and us still going ahead with the marketing for our album, probably means we could be seen as Bond villains, we could be like chemical warfare mongers, but we’re not! I promise we’re not and if we were we’d be terrible ones.

The Howl & The Hum: Apt is a kind word, I’ll utilise that word in future! I don’t know, but we’re trying to identify ourselves with The Simpsons writers who predicted Trump’s inauguration. So, really we’re accidental sages or prophets. Who knows what our second album will be about, but I reckon if you’re a scholar of the future get your book out for our next album, who knows what we’ll predict. But really, it’s fine.

I think it’ll lead to a couple of articles saying, ‘well this is wacky isn’t it, they’ve got an album called Human Contact when none of us can touch each other’, and that’ll be it. Hopefully, the album just goes to show the importance of human contact and interaction in a more digital time, even more so now when it’s difficult to see friends except through a screen. So, hopefully, the album touches on those aspects of life.

Watch: “Human Contact” – The Howl & The Hum

The Howl & The Hum: Oh yeah, definitely! It might sound really pretentious and like a marketing ploy, but my favourite songs on the album haven’t been released yet. We’ve got a song called “Sweet Fading Silver” which is a fan favourite and it’s been in the live shows for about two years, so we haven’t released that because we know its ammunition for us. I keep describing us like we’re violent people, we’re really not, we’re not warmongers in any way.

I’m not going to use the word ammunition again! But that song is very special to us as a band because it’s the first one that really told a story through the music as well as the lyrics. That one really sticks out on the album. It’s also the only one on the album that we recorded as a full band, in a room together. We were all facing each other, with Jurassic Park being projected onto the wall to provoke some strange mood that the producer thought would benefit. I don’t know if it did, but I think it’s a pretty good version.

There’s also a song called “Got You On My Side,” which I think is the simplest song I’ve ever written and therefore one of my favourites. It’s got about a sixteenth of the words I’d usually put in a song, and it was quite hard to keep it at that! I’m proud of it, and it’s got a cool vibe.

The Howl & The Hum: Well, we were meant to go on tour, so that’s really sad. A few weeks ago Brad, our bass player, said: “ Oh just to let you guys know today we were meant to be in Paris, tomorrow Antwerp, and a few days ago we were meant to be in Amsterdam .” We had all these amazing tour dates lined up that we’ve obviously had to move to next year now. So, that’s really strange because you get physical contact with fans at shows.

You get to stand a few metres away from people while performing and interact with people before and after shows. It’s such a treat, and it’s the oldest style of marketing really, being able to actually go out and talk to people about their tastes, the album, and their stories. Not having been able to do that has been really difficult. We’re thankful for being in an age where digital marketing is so easily available, and we can do all these Facebook and Instagram live streams so that we can talk to people in as many ways as we can.

We’ve started a podcast and stuff like that to try and help people engage with us and find out who we are. I think that’s heading in the right direction, but we wrote an album about it, we miss human contact! It’s been difficult to bridge that gap. We’re not expecting this album to blow up, but we’re looking forward to touring it when we are all able to go back into a communal space, back to the natural way.

The Howl & The Hum: Oh man, yeah! I was talking to a friend about it actually. I think when gigs actually come back, and they’re not going to be back for a good while now, they’ll be fucking nuts! I think gigs are going to be mental. My friend thinks mosh pits are going to come back in a big way. I’d like to see one of those happen at our gigs because our music is quite melancholy and a lot of the time quite slow. If people want to mosh, go for it, as long as no-one’s getting hurt.

I think people are gonna start having a good time at gigs again and it’ll get a bit mad, I hope so anyway. I think we’ll plan some extravagance because one of the strangest things is how insular the writing process is, which I guess we’re in at the moment. We feel like we’re storing up energy and hibernating. At gigs, it feels like a release or a payoff, the expulsion of the energy you’ve stored up like a bear in hibernation.

The Howl & The Hum: I think there’ll be over-arching anxiety about it because I don’t think this problem will go away anytime soon, or possibly ever. I think the way people act in crowds will change. I’m no expert on how they’re going to implement changes or limit the number of people who can go to a gig or how close you can stand to people next to you. But I think there is going to be anxious about it and people are rightfully worried about what can happen.

I just hope it doesn’t deeply affect the mindset of gig-goers and people going out to enjoy things. Maybe if people are moshing, and bumping into each other that could be a bit more of an issue. But, for people who are just going to enjoy music and art, there’s something so human about being in a crowd, I don’t think you could ever take it away or extinguish that.

The Howl & The Hum: Yeah exactly, I hope for the sake of safety it’s a gradual thing, but I hope for the spirit of live gigs it does go back to normal. We’re just going to be considered a very strange generation, who don’t know how to act around anyone!

Watch: “The Only Boy Racer Left On The Island” – The Howl & The Hum

The Howl & The Hum: I guess little bits of both. I’ve definitely written and finished one song in isolation, which I really enjoyed making, and still enjoy the final result of. Everyone in the band has been creating their own things, whether it be artwork or writing music as we can start building the lyrics and melody. So, everyone’s been really busy, which is great. But, I also think there’s a mild pressure, and I don’t know where it’s coming from, to be creative and productive in this time even though you’re completely askew and out of sorts with what you should be doing, but there’s this odd pressure to come up with something.

At times I do feel it if I’ve been playing with software, the keyboard, or guitars and I haven’t come up with anything. It feels like a pressure saying ‘ but you’re inside, you’re a creative, shouldn’t you have created something by now ?’ which seems a little daft. It’s one of the reasons we started this podcast, to try and talk to other creators about what they’re doing in isolation and how they conjure up ideas, or how they accept the idea of not being able to conjure up ideas. I think that’s a healthy way to think about it, but you’re right, it comes, and it goes, and you can’t force it out. Lennon Cohen said, ‘ If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there more often .’

The Howl & The Hum: Yeah, you have to sit around waiting for inspiration a lot of the time, and I think inspiration is hard to come by when you’re just sitting in your room playing with your belly button or something. It’s a lot more difficult than being able to go to the pub and see your mates or see real-life unfold. I and our guitar player have been running a lot, not together, but I find that’s a really good headspace to go, clear your head a bit and remind yourself what the outside world is like. Just watching people along the Leeds and Liverpool canal, there’s a bunch of stories in those people, so just conjuring up little ideas out of them can be good. It is a lot more difficult without seeing real life and all its weird magic happening.

The Howl & The Hum: As you said, I think it will be a gradual thing, so I think there will still be those Instagram lives. I think because of the way the internet is connecting with the music industry anyway those sorts of things already existed, they just happen so much more regularly in isolation, which is fair enough and it makes a lot of sense. But I personally am not the biggest fan of the quarantine gig live streams. I think they’re great for being able to connect with people in this situation, but it just makes me miss normal gigs so much more. I think a lot of people feel the same way, you miss being either five feet or 500 feet away from a performer and being in the same space as them.

To be separated by screens with data flying through the air does feel a little bit strange. The podcast is something I’m really enjoying, it’s sort of an element of catharsis for me because it means I can talk to friends and even people I don’t know particularly well about how they’re getting through this. It’s not necessarily therapeutic, but there are some mindful elements to it. Being able to discuss craft is something I find very interesting. I really enjoy a podcast called ‘Song Exploder’ where they talk to a particular artist about how they made one song, and there are so many good ones on there.

When I’ve listened to an episode of that I usually go and write something, and when I finish talking to someone on the podcast we’re doing, I usually go and create, write, or draw something. It’s a nice inspiration, so even if it’s just for me and no-one is listening to the podcast, I don’t really mind, I’ll keep doing it.

Watch: “27” – The Howl & The Hum

The Howl & The Hum: Yeah, and that helps you become yourself, be more of the you that there is. I like that.

The Howl & The Hum: Again, both! Our only rule is to put the song first. So, the songs usually begin with me at the piano or with a guitar, and with the lyrics, melody, or chords, then we try to tell the story musically. We are inspired by loads of stuff, the album preparation of us sitting and listening to stuff takes forever because we go in so many different directions. We just love music, so I guess we all started as little white boy indie fans, who learnt to play the guitar, bass, and drums through that, but then since listening to a lot more diverse albums and artists, then our music has begun to broaden as much as our taste.

When we released Portrait l a couple of years ago, there are disco elements in that that we didn’t even realise we could make, and then we started writing these parts and realised ‘ oh shit, that sounds a little bit like this thing that I listened to last week and I didn’t even realise that was in my brain ’. We’ve never intentionally given ourselves any genre. People keep trying to describe us as a genre, and I also quite like their definitions of it, but I don’t think we’d ever stick to one, because the next song that we release is gladly going in a different direction. As long as the songs tell the story of the song we’re happy to not be in one place. I think that’s always the aim of an artist, to never just burrow yourself and be in one place.

I’m still always amazed when I listen to David Bowie and to hear all the new genres that guy could put on one album, but over the course of his career as well. Stuff like that, to me, is the ideal musical life.

The Howl & The Hum: Yeah, genre is dead, I read that the other day. I don’t listen to them a lot, but last year The 1975 were releasing so many songs of different genres that I genuinely thought that music would stop and it would just become The 1975 releasing songs of every single different genre and we wouldn’t know anymore. It wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn’t have been that surprised!

The Howl & The Hum: I don’t listen to it! I spent so long sitting at pianos, and with guitars that those songs… I can’t even explain. It’s not even the back of your own hand. I know those songs in and out so terrifyingly well that I can’t listen to them again. It’s not like nails down a chalkboard, it’s just incredibly familiar. In terms of other people listening to them, I don’t know, that’s a really good question that I’ve never been asked before. I haven’t thought about it before, but we write these songs to be accessible, it’s hopefully accessible pop music.

But we want to be able to tell a story that people haven’t heard before and created a vibe and mood that can be as uplifting as it can be melancholy. The comments and feedback that spur me on are the people being affected by things and how the songs can be applied to their own lives. I might write a song about a boy racer in Orkney, and then it prompts an Australian guy to go and make a film by meeting some guys in a parking lot outside a gun shop. It’s stuff like that absolutely blows my mind.

It’s the complete separation of the art from the writer that really excites me, that people take it into their own. As soon as the song is released, it becomes everyone else’s music, and that’s always really excited me. The most I can hope for is that this becomes everyone’s music.

Connect to The Howl & The Hum on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram

Discover new music on atwood magazine, :: stream the howl & the hum   ::.

Track-by-Track: Eli Moon Explores Morality, Hedonism, and Control on EP ‘Angels, Devils and Empty Vessels’

You may also like.

Living The Cure, Pt. 2

Premiere: The Eternal Summer Haze of Sunset Neon’s “You Are the Sun”

Feature: Primo the Alien Traverses a New Sonic Landscape in ‘We All Hate Ourselves Sometimes’

Our Take: Maroon 5 Return with a Mostly Stellar Seventh Record on ‘JORDI’

Atwood Magazine’s Weekly Roundup: April 23, 2021

This Just In: James Vincent McMorrow Finds “True Care”

More stories.

Album Premiere: Energy & Emotion Swell on Derrival’s Dynamic Debut

The Howl & The Hum – Human Contact

Human Contact is a shy debut, lyrically confrontational, keen to show personality and vigour, but indeed shy. The Howl & The Hum are a romantic rock outlet, enamoured with the ‘80s, and more-so the 2000s’ synth allegiance, thematically bare, but emotionally available.

They pride themselves on their poetry; Love You Like a Gun gleams with metaphor – “you love me like a rattlesnake loves the music of the rattling tail” , all the while cradling the simplicity of romance, see the whirling computer pop tune Got You on My Side , still equipped with Jekyll & Hyde references.

These songs are delivered with a tender grin, though The Howl & The Hum bare no hesitance where getting up and moving is concerned. Until I Found a Rose spotlights drums as the band’s handiest weapon of choice, constantly shuffling amidst rooftop-shouting lyrics of love.

They’re a dancing Noel Gallagher, an intimate Killers, they bring the Heartlands to England, particularly with Hall of Fame , which is approached with a foolhardy lunge, a romantic whose heart is dangling from a sleeve, on a body kept from falling apart by paperclips. The band’s own ambush is met by a sparkly synth ambush later on the track, glittering as if Brandon Flowers’ own fingerprints were present.

A lack of forward thinking ideas is evident, but if belonging to the same class as modernists like  Circa Waves  and  Catfish and the Bottlemen  is the band’s modus operandi, shoulders are sure to be rubbed.

They know what they’re doing in that respect; they combine a rocker’s guts with disco colour ( A Hotel Song ), they embrace Britpop ( Human Contact ), command empathy through softness ( Sweet Fading Silver ), and are unlikely to snub a snappy guitar hook ( Smoke ).

The Howl & The Hum get more done without venturing too far from comfort than some do when relishing experimentation. They’re seldom met by frivolity, seek only a handful of thrills, but manage to obtain an indie pop touch, crafted by shyness, taken to the alternative disco.

Composition

Lasting appeal.

The Howl & The Hum

You Might Also Like

The Howl & The Hum return with new single ahead of UK Tour

110 Above Festival – Camping Sessions Review

The Howl & The Hum reveal new album track ’27’

This page may contain affiliate links to providers from whom Indie Is Not A Genre receives a commission. These links are marked with an asterisk (*).

Start typing and press enter to search

The Howl & The Hum

Want to be notified when tickets for this event next appear?

Sorry, we don't have any events available in your country.

Please set up an alert to be notified when tickets become available

Twickets is the largest fan-to-fan secure ticket trading platform

Narc. Magazine Online

Thursday 17th January

Reliably informed

• Art & Lit

INTERVIEW: The Howl & The Hum

Ahead of their forthcoming newcastle gig, damian robinson talks to the york-based band about living up to expectations.

By Damian Robinson on Thursday, January 17th, 2019

Sub-headlining the Student Union stage at 2018’s Twisterella festival, The Howl & The Hum more than lived up to their reputation as an explosive live band and ‘one to watch’.  Led by guitar player, hip shaker and vocalist Sam Griffiths, the band’s focused set may well have stolen the ‘best show of the festival’ award. 

“It was a crazy show,” admits Sam, “fifteen minutes before we started the venue was really quiet and we expected to play to 10 people, yet when we stepped on stage it was packed. We weren’t ready for a big crowd!” Fitting a hit-laden set of songs into their 30 minutes, including standouts Godmanchester Chinese Bridge and Don’t Shoot The Storm, The Howl & The Hum create a sound which is equal parts alt. rock, indie and pop, something the crowd fully responded to. “It’s funny,” continues Sam, “Godmanchester tends to gain a loud sing-along but the Twisterella crowd were singing to every song we played, including the ones they shouldn’t have heard yet.”

we’ve been working on incorporating more modern production sounds and techniques into our newer work, so I might even argue that we have a very slight R ’n’ B or hip-hop feel underneath our guitars

Shrouded in a little secrecy, the York-based band has spent the majority of the year working on the aforementioned new material, with the aim of releasing a new album in the autumn of 2019. “We’re currently in the studio recording at the minute,” says Sam, “we’ll aim to have a few soft releases out in the next few months.” Admitting that the new material sounds “interesting and fresh”, Sam laughs when asked for a description of the new record, “we’ve been described as a band who play ‘morose Bond themes with a disco sound’, so I’d guess other people would describe our sound as traditional guitar band mixed with epic moments and strong grooves. Interestingly we’ve been working on incorporating more modern production sounds and techniques into our newer work, so I might even argue that we have a very slight R ’n’ B or hip-hop feel underneath our guitars. It’s always hard to describe your own sound because it’s not really our sound to define; we prefer to let listeners decide for themselves.”

Building on the success of their live show, The Howl & The Hum are heading back on tour in early January, with a date at The Cluny 2 on Thursday 24 th January already selling well. Typically modest, Sam plays down the heightened excitement around the band: “To be honest, we’re a little apprehensive about the new dates because people’s expectations seem to have risen a little. What I would say though, is that we’ve been on a small tour recently and we’re playing really confidently so we’re excited to be out and play. The North East’s a great place to play as the crowds have a sense of sheer enthusiasm about them and people will come and say hi after a show. When we played Twisterella it was really nice to see some familiar faces and for those people to have brought new faces along with them. What we want to do is pay back some of that faith and inject some fun into our music.”

Like this story? Share it!

Subscribe to our mailout

Related news, album review: chastity belt – live laugh love.

Monday, March 25

Focus: HEKLA GOODMAN

Thursday, March 21

BUNCH OF FIVES: Nick Harper

Tuesday, March 12

LIVE REVIEW: Shipcote & Friends With Aurora Strings, Brick @ The Cluny 2, Newcastle (01.03.24)

Interview: specky cult, interview: our man in the field, album review: shambolics – dreams, schemes & young teams, album review: benjamin francis leftwich – some things break, a look back on 2023 – damian robinson, live review: bob vylan, panic shack @ boiler shop, newcastle (16.11.23), interview: tom robinson talks about generator’s nexsw programme.