Ben Howard – Diamonds

As with Howard’s album standout The Wolves, new single Diamonds possesses a grippingly intense ferality to it that in many respects leaves most of his contemporaries for dust. The broad oeuvre of the singer-songwriter is so over-populated these days that to find an artist like Howard, whose music feels so wind-swept, so earthy, so alive, is a real rarity. Diamonds is the kind of thing hewn from the flesh and blood of the hands and body, a laboured artefact of artisan-shaped quality. Rhythmically persistent and rough-hewn, Howard’s folk heart beats at its strongest here, setting him up as a songwriter of truly impressive consistency.

Diamonds is released on the 14^th May.

Ben Howard – The Wolves

A timely re-release of Howard’s single (originally released in June last year), The Wolves is a haunting exploration of the folk-man’s sound – percussive and insistently urgent, it possesses the wild ferality of its namesake.

Building to a series of impassioned latter choruses, Howard laments with a tortured cry ‘We’ve lost faith in the art of love...’ Like a rollicking, rough-hewn painting of the heather-strewn, grey-skied country, Howard’s brand of folk is refreshingly raw, a further statement of the talent that has already pushed his debut album Every Kingdom to the UK Top 10.

The Wolves is released on the 27^th February