After the pandemic halted their creative flow, Naarm/Melbourne act Howlite are back with a beautiful new single “Still I Find.” This is their first release in two years, and it’s definitely worth the wait. If you love the hauntingly beautiful tunes of acts like London Grammar and Sylvan Esso, I know this will be right up your alley. The vocals from Alison Thom draw you into an epic electronic soundscape.
“The refrain line was originally ‘Still I find, I can’t cry’. It was about going past the threshold of emotion and just feeling numb to everything,” explained Alison, who wrote the song during her hometown’s lockdowns. “But while workshopping the demo, I had a realisation that this darkness wasn’t really helping me anymore, it wasn’t making me feel any better. So, instead, we shifted the lyrics to: ‘Still I find, hope inside’. The song represents itself in that way: our human ability to choose to be optimistic and reorient ourselves to see the best in the situation.”
The cinematic feel of “Still I Find” is reflected in the stunning music video, the first in a trilogy of interconnecting clips for the band. Filmed in Melbourne’s inner north and directed by Guy Perkins and Mike Ridley (Fractures, Gordi, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever), the video pays homage to retro science fiction TV programs. Through its depiction of an alien who crashes into Earth, Howlite explores themes of connection, acceptance and the belief in the capacity for good.
After recently launching the single for hometown fans, Howlite are planning a string of dates to reconnect with their fans. Follow their socials for news of those shows when it breaks. Until then, you can catch Howlite supporting Tia Gostelow at Naarm/Melbourne venue The Night Cat on October 7.
Image used with permission from Canteen Agency
