It feels like hot sparks lashing cool skin, it feels like a tender black eye and kiss flushed lips; it is Howl’s “Million Ways To Break”.
This electrifyingly unsettling single is the second release from the NYC-based alternative rock/electronic duo Howl is made of singers, composers and producers Nicola Wincenc and Aidan Dolan. It follows their first single, “The Kill”, a track teeming with scrabbling guitar riffs and crackling tech sounds that could not be more different from “Million Ways To Break”.
“The Kill” speaks to the grungy, gritty edge of the native New Yorkers, while “Million Ways To Break” is more polished and deliberate in its use of sound and lyrics.
“Million Ways To Break” embodies the essence of a relationship precariously balancing on a razor thin edge. It has no bones, no roots, no foundation; just a muddied past and a murky future. Yet through the haze is a crystal clear present with a slurry of emotions that may not be so smooth.
“It’s about the conflicted feelings of your emotions around romance,” said Wincenc. “The song’s not about one specific relationship but about the feelings of just wanting to have a good time and not worry about how love can go wrong – because it does most of the time. It’s about trying to live in the now of a relationship and have fun versus focusing on outcomes.”
Infused with the influences of early electronic music, rock and grunge, Howl delves into new territory; the modern electronic soundscapes of groundbreaking artists The Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails and the themes of renowned films like The Matrix and Fight Club. Howl even worked in the studio with former The Prodigy collaborator and 10-time Grammy nominated producer Damian Taylor, who is also known for his work with other musical giants, some of which include Bjork and The Killers.
“It has a melancholic but forceful sound, so it immediately shows a different side of us musically, but we’re still the same artist but it doesn’t go as hard as ‘The Kill,’” said Dolan. “It features Nic’s actual vocal in it more like a song. It’s really beautiful. It’s the other side of the spectrum of Howl.”
“Million Ways To Break” has a distinct sense of desperation inlaid in the track that is undeniably intriguing in its discretion of what it means to love and to be loved. It is not filled with yearning for a long lost lover, crammed with cliches about the one that got away or the right person at the wrong time. It is suggestive, treating love as both a feeling and an act to be shared and enjoyed at the height of passion. But at its core, “Million Ways To Break” is inherently visceral in its treatment of love; insisting love is a hunger that demands to be fed, as if kisses are calories.
In the same breath , “A Million Ways To Break” is blatant in its defiance of a world that seeks to micromanage and manipulate. It pushes back against the forces of control that insists upon relational permanence; a subtle critique of today’s society that often appears to demand engagement bands before eye contact, a wedding date before a first date.
Howl’s “Million Ways to Break” is a dynamically diverse track that solidly establishes Wincenc and Dolan not just as artists but also as storytellers. And Howl seemingly has many more stories to tell, as both “The Kill” and “Million Ways To Break” will be featured on an EP coming out later this year, with the duo set to release more music and live performance dates in NYC as well.
“Million Ways To Break” Lyrics
Come alive and play with me
Grab the covers and get underneath
Take a chance and light the way
We can dance the night away
Make me feed your appetite
Give you what you need for the night
I can feel your energy, and I’m high
I know a million ways to break a heart of gold
I just don’t want be afraid
‘Cause all I know is that our love is real today
When I kiss you, when I’m with you, alone
Leaning back, you look away
Vacant eyes avoiding my gaze
I can feel you close the gate
Lost the link to your radio waves
Follow me into the plane
Live in the morning and love in the now
I don’t wanna fade away in the sky
I know a million ways to break a heart of gold
I just don’t want be afraid
‘Cause all I know is that our love is real today
When I kiss you, when I’m with you, alone
Staring deep into my eyes
Something about you is coming alive
I know what you’re waiting for
I can tell you’re looking for more
You walk into my bedroom
Give me a smile then you take off your dress
I’m so out far I can barely breathe
I need your love all over me
There’s no tomorrow, only now
I feel you know we both wanna be free
To take our chances, laugh and cry
Live in this moment, then say our goodbyes
I know a million ways to break a heart of gold
I just don’t want be afraid
‘Cause all I know is that our love is real today
When I kiss you, when I’m with you, alone
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