After a four year silence, our favorite British folk singer
Ben Howard has returned with a lush, seven minute-long gem, "A Boat To An Island On A Wall." As the song builds up very slowly, his hushed, ominous vocals croon over ethereal electric guitar and a steady beat. Seemingly influenced by his beginnings as a surfer, the guitars grow more intense while almost sounding like they're buried underwater as they soon fizzle out. We've been dreaming about the session we shot with him at SXSW back in 2012 so we're excited he's back. It's a pretty grand way to return.
In addition to releasing this new song, Howard also announced his new upcoming album,
Noonday Dream, set to arrive on June 1st via Republic Records. It was written and produced by Howard himself over the course of two years, with some contributions from frequent collaborator/bandmate Mickey Smith. He also has some European tour dates set, which you can find
here.
Watch Ben Howard live at The Launch Pad here: