The Howl & The Hum, the project helmed by Leeds-based songwriter Sam Griffiths, has released new single Dirt, the third track taken from the much-anticipated second album, Same Mistake Twice, which will be released on 6th September via Miserable Disco.

Dirt floats above pulsing drums and strumming melodies as Griffiths recounts the realities that come with the breakdown of a relationship – “But baby who gets the Netflix now? And how do we up the mutuals? I wonder who writes our history, and how do we decide what the future was?” As likely to make you smile as it is to find solace, he’s in full flight here as he toys with tone, authenticity & themes while delivering a perfectly crafted slice of timeless, dreamy writing. 

Across Same Mistake Twice, his second album as The Howl & The Hum, Griffiths confronts the pain and chaos of recent tumultuous years across 12 tracks of his most direct songwriting to date. Surviving the breakup of his band, the global pandemic and reckoning with his future in music, he points the spotlight directly at the anxiety involved in any breakup we experience: how am I perceived? How do people speak about me? How will I be remembered? Am I a good person? 

The answer Griffiths reaches is a complicated ‘No’.

Joining forces with songwriters Elanor Moss and Matthew Herd (Seafarers), as well as producer Joseph Futak (Tapir!, Lilo), Griffiths drew inspiration from music by the likes of Big Thief, Phoebe Bridgers and Randy Newman. Same Mistake Twice traverses the raw harshness of Neutral Milk Hotel as much as the unblinking self-reflection of country pioneers like John Prine or Townes Van Zandt. Throughout, Griffiths’ voice is acrobatic and powerfully emotive, even while singing about the most vulnerable of topics. Effortlessly veering between gravelly introspection to soaring falsetto, it is a unifying counterpoint to his themes of anxiety and dread.

 Encompassing the free musical range of the open mic nights Griffiths started out in, while turning his lived experience inwards to address the pain that comes through personal growth, it is a full-circle progression. “The lyrics are almost too direct, which is what I wanted,” he laughs. “It’s finding the beauty in the pain and looking for forgiveness through it all.”   

In being honest – in holding nothing back – Griffiths finds solace in the imperfections that make us all human. Sometimes, we have to make the same mistake twice.

‘Same Mistake Twice’ is set for release September 6th 2024 via Miserable Disco.

Sam Griffiths (The Howl & The Hum) on ‘Dirt’: 

“I’m bored of songs that imply the singer is flawless. This song is about all of the scum and shrapnel we carry with us, all the things we’ve done wrong that we hope the people we’ve loved keep to themselves for the simple unspoken promise that we’ll do the same”.

A tour has also been announced with a date at The Irish Centre in Leeds on 15th November.