The Hug and Pint presents:
Charles Howl
+ Aonghas Maxwell + Public Displays Of Affection
English musician Charles Howl returns with his second album My Idol Family which follows on from his 2015 debut Sir Vices.
Enthralled by soundtracks and pop music in all its forms, Howl updates classic motifs to create a signature aesthetic. Introducing strings and lush orchestration to dazzling effect, he is comfortable with both wide-open song structures and intimate headphone tracks. With this album Howl reveals his true talent as a songwriter and arranger, mixing well-crafted storytelling with a dry wit, it is also more ambitious, touching on themes of idol worship, friends and the family unit.
He returned to Amsterdam to write and record the album, a city he knew well having run away there when he was eighteen. As he explains; “it was meant to be a three day stereotypical end of school weekend with friends but when they were returning home I didn’t see anything for me back there and so I stayed in Amsterdam and got a job handing out flyers for a disgusting pub crawl for the tourists.”
When he was planning the recording of this new album, he made a conscious decision to get away from London with all the distractions and opinions, plus, studio time there is expensive.
Howl had always been a fan of James Murphy and wanted to emulate, in his own way, the experience that LCD Sound System had when they recorded This is Happening, where they went to a mansion in L.A. and all dressed in white and uploaded clips of them hanging out and recording. As Howl explains; “I’ve never thought that kind of thing is only for big bands with loads of money. So I researched places in Amsterdam and found a reggae studio on the outskirts in a suburb called Weesp. It included an Air b&b room and so I sub let my room in London and booked a month in the studio.”
Accompanying Howl in Amsterdam was fellow Proper Ornaments member and drummer, Bobby Syme, who is a gifted producer and engineer, and took the reins in the studio. Most of the album was recorded between the two of them, with additional string arrangements by Richard Jones and with Victoria Hamblett on backing vocals.
With My Idol Family, Howl has found his voice both with his more confident singing style but also in his lyrics, which are more prominent in the mix. The album title emerged from the overarching themes of family and idols, and how people idolise celebrities and try to emulate their lifestyle. This is encapsulated in the song “Meet Lou’s Needs”, about so many people in music trying to copy Lou Reed’s look, music, attitude and his drug habits. As Charles says; “I love Lou Reed but I don’t want to see shit imitations of him every time you go see a show or after party.” Idols are also flagged up in the song “John Albarn”, where he imagines two of his musical heroes as one seamless being – John Lennon + Damon Albarn = John Albarn.
The opening track “Death of Print” speaks of Howl’s concern for the death of print press.
Based on a true story, it tells of a 1970s zine in Berkley which got shut down and disbanded a group of friends. As he says; “I’ve always been concerned with our ever increasing seclusion, with much help from the internet and personal social media profiles.”
Line Up
Private Soundcloud 'Sir Vices': http://bit.ly/1wT4M4U
Private Soundcloud ‘Going Down With A Hi’: http://bit.ly/1Hut0mt
Ample Play is delighted to announce the signing of London-based brit psyche group Charles Howl. Their debut album ‘Sir Vices’ features twelve thrillingly melodic tracks. Comprised of Charles Howl & Bobby Voltaire (both of The Proper Ornaments) they chose to record at Syke Lane's warehouse studio on the outskirts of Leeds utilizing the foggy, remote atmosphere provided by Dewsbury's surroundings. Locked away in the remote warehouse studio Howl honed his song-writing skills, barely leaving the quarters of Voltaire’s sanctuary, where they produced the album on their own. Though Howl and Voltaire worked mostly alone, a team of friends, including Chris Hicks (Talons) on bass and Wesley Patrick Gonzalez (Let’s Wrestle), who plays lead guitar on track 5, made forms of contribution giving the record its final touch.
Charles Howl’s release with Ample Play is as familiar as it is foreign: As one of the last children of the ‘80s and with a brit pop upbringing it’s no wonder Charles Howl has produced an album that sounds like The Modern Lovers channeling The Stone Roses while maintaining its contemporary charm.
Although drawing from a similar arsenal of influences, ‘Sir Vices’ takes a confident step forward from Howl’s previous output by shunning away from simple distortion and instead refining and sharpening his song-writing while upping the pop. The collection of songs on the debut album are both introspective and outward looking with tight rhythms tying down whirling guitars and lustrous textures bouncing of melodies.
The band have already shared stages with the likes of Let’s Wrestle, Younghusband, Toy and Fidlar and are set to head out on a run of European dates.
Aonghas Maxwell
Public Displays Of Affection are a four piece from Glasgow who are fine-tuning their mix of raucous garage-pop and dark indie music in venues all across Glasgow.
They formed in late 2016 by Eric and Zach, who play guitar and drums respectively. They met through their mums who played rugby together, and they spent most of 2017 honing their sounds, occasionally doing a gig as a two piece. In late 2017 Kiera joined on lead vocals, being a friend of a friend, and Charlie completed the line-up on bass shortly after. 🍓🍓
