With frontman Sam Griffiths being referred to as York’s best songwriter, there are definite high hopes for these northern newcomers. Made up of Griffiths, Bradley Blackwell, Conor Hirons and Jack Williams, The Howl &The Hum are making a real name for themselves in the indie scene.
They are partly named after Allen Ginsberg’s 1955 poem Howl, which discusses themes from insanity to self-acceptance, and the humming sounds of Hirons’ guitar, conveying the importance of literature and storytelling within their music. They released their debut EP Godmanchester Chinese Bridge in 2017, which features three emotive and ambient ballads that journey through melodic rock to slow indie, all intertwine with Griffiths angelic vocals. Crack In The Road referred to it as “just the right amounts of accessible yet still unerringly cool and ’emotional’”.
Three new singles ‘Portrait I’, ‘I Wish I Was A Shark’ and ‘Murder’ were released earlier this year and show the band are already developing the eerie, captivating sounds they found in their debut.
Their live shows are also something of a spectacle as, in an interview with Soundsphere Magazine, Griffiths disclosed “There was a moment at a gig a couple of weeks ago where we did something that I won’t spoil but it really worked, it flipped the idea of a gig on its head and people were freaked out but loved every second. People came out after that gig saying that it was one of the best things they’d ever seen, that really warmed my heart that we planned that and we did that ourselves.”
The Howl & The Hum tickets available here!
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Twitter – @howlandhum