If you could relive your life, what parts would you change? I’m sure we’d all love to take back our missteps, forge a new path, and live out the idea of our best life. Thing is, that wouldn’t be your life, and it wouldn’t be you leading it. Not really. Our mistakes define us just as much as our triumphs. They both give us the push we need to learn and grow, and help us determine our resolute lines in the sand. ‘Same Mistake Twice’ feels like a journey to accept the necessity of the messy parts of life, even as they’re still in the process of falling down around you. The latest single from The Howl & The Hum, now a solo project for singer/songwriter Sam Griffiths, is home to the same heady cocktail of devastating introspection and biting wit that we’ve been missing since 2020’s Human Contact. The title track from the forthcoming album, out 6th of September, ‘Same Mistake Twice’ delivers a non-stop barrage of tattoo worthy lyrics as the energy builds towards a triumphant Springsteen-esque climax. Feeling somewhere between a wake to mourn the perfect faultless life that never was, and the freeing absurdity that comes with accepting the emotional bombsite that exists in its place, the song’s unique approach encapsulates everything I love about The Howl & The Hum.
Top Tracks: Fiona-Lee – Mother
The best art offers a window into the artist. Some insight into how they see the world, what drives them, or into all the pain, or joy, or what have you, swirling just beneath the surface that gets channelled into the art they create. And much as a window may appear as a small portal containing an entire world beyond, occasionally you come across a song that manages to feel somehow bigger on the inside. With her debut single ‘Mother’, Fiona-Lee not only offers a glimpse directly into a towering tumultuous hurricane of frustration, fear, anger and defiance, but also corrals it into shape in order to capture a entire story within the fleeting runtime. Inspired by her experiences with a dubious and controlling former manager, the track begins as a wavering cry for help, a sense of helplessness and isolation, before the driving beat kicks in as the pain and frustration begins to boil over. The energy and passion continue to build, empowered by white hot ire, all culminating in a raw and cathartic climax reminiscent of Sam Fender at his best. In pouring so much of her heart and her experiences into the track, this incandescent debut single shows a clear picture of Fiona-Lee; a fiercely talented artist with a bright future ahead.
Top Tracks: Natalie Shay – All The Time
I think in the wrong hands ‘All The Time’ might have been very different. This fangirl anthem, detailing an intensely passionate celebrity crush, could easily have veered into more obsessive and parasocial territory. But in the capable hands of Belwood favourite Natalie Shay (who at this point has rattled off more big effervescent bops than I’ve had hot dinners!) this spirited new single instead feels like the sweetest daydream. An unrequited love for some artist oblivious to your existence, but whose music seems to know you better that you know yourself. It plays like some glorious fusion of Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ and Phoebe Bridger’s ‘Punisher’ – equal parts confidence in the connection, and perceived compatibility, that you’ve built up in your mind, and terror at the thought of meeting them, being lost for words, and watching the dream shatter before your eyes. With the way this story of longing interweaves with Natalie’s uncanny knack for crafting infectious indie pop melodies, you can’t help but root for her pipe dream coming true.
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Top Tracks: The Greatest Endangered Thing – One Day
We have but one life to spend on this Earth. Only so much time to see all we long to see, experience all we can of what life has to offer, and only so many days to share with those we love. But the life we long to lead and the one we end up leading are rarely one and the same. Life has a habit of getting in the way of living; the daily grind taking precedent over the adventures we always dreamed of. The soft folk arrangement that opens ‘One Day’, the latest track from The Greatest Endangered Thing, has a wistfully bittersweet quality to it. Speaking of adventures to be shared and time spent together as some fading ambition slipping away like sand between your fingers. The last vestige of a romantic yearning just barely clinging on. But then that bright hopeful piano tone kicks in, followed soon after by the comforting swell of strings, and suddenly the whole atmosphere of the track transforms. What began as a distant dream now feels like a promise, a heartfelt vow that the “one day” you’ve both been holding out for is closer than you think. That life you long to share, the memories you long to make together, it’s all there for the taking.
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Top Tracks: Jon Muq – One You Love
Every so often I need something to remind me why I do this, why I spend my time and energy shouting into the void about music. I need the kind of song that ignites my passion the same way those that inspired me to start this blog in the first place all those years ago. That sensation of hearing a song that seems to peer straight into your soul and understand what you’re feeling better than you do. That urge to shout into the void comes from wanting others to share the same listening experience, a yearning to unite people with the power of music. Reading Jon Muq’s story is enough to rekindle anyone’s belief in the unifying nature of music. Starting life in a far flung slum in Uganda, his unwavering passion and dedication to his craft led him on an extraordinary journey, culminating in him crafting songs like ‘One You Love’ in Austin Texas with acclaimed songwriter and producer Dan Auerbach. To think that there’s another life in which Jon’s plaintive soulful balladry went unheard by the wider world. ‘One You Love’ isn’t just a piece of music I adore, it’s a piece that reminds me why I adore music.
Top Tracks: Yoshika Colwell – It’s Getting Late
I can’t deny, I’m the kind of person who shuts down and zones out when overwhelmed. When there’s a dozen things that I should be doing I will end up doing none of them. While that does nothing to shorten my to-do list, somewhat counterintuitively when you’re at your busiest is when you’re most in need of a break. To my mind, ‘It’s Getting Late’ follows a similar philosophy. When thoughts dwell on the unrelenting passage of time, how the days of our lives pass like grains of sand between your fingers, the way to soothe your spirit is not to frantically try to make every second count, but to dream the day away. Capturing the lush reflective reverie of acts like Flyte and Billie Marten, the debut single from Yoshika Colwell sees her delight in the pastoral beauty of her surroundings. Afternoons spent basking in the sun, watching birds flit between branches, the contentment of simply being; those moments are every bit as fleeting as the hustle and bustle we stress over, and far more worthy of cherishing. A day devoted listening to ‘It’s Getting Late’ on repeat, watching the world pass by, sounds like time well spent in my book.
Top Tracks: Julia Logan – Top of the World
One of the surest signs of great songwriting is when a track works on any level. You can strip it back to its barest essentials, down to its most sparse and intimate incarnation, and it is still every bit as compelling. Likewise a talented songwriter is able to build upon a strong foundation, expanding the scope and ambition of the arrangement, without reaching too far and losing sight of the great idea that started it all. Within the dreamy folk pop of ‘Top of the World’, Swedish artist Julia Logan is able to exemplify both ends of the spectrum. Adding and removing layers on a whim from a gorgeous central framework, creating a captivating rise and fall in the process. At its most intimate it’s just the rich piano tone, the sweetness of Julia’s Carole King-esque vocals, and a melody that recalls ‘Crosses’ by José González. Yet at its highest peaks it rises with the kind of lush groovy warmth of Fleetwood Mac. The stunningly expressive rhythm section managing to somehow feel intricate and understated in equal measure.
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