Harmonica player and vocalist Howlin’ Whale is not some briny sea captain, creating evocative shanties while enduring long and hard nights at sea. She is however one of the classiest players of the harp you’ll ever likely to come across, and with her instrument evokes the sounds of the wild: bird calls, frogs, insects, waves crashing – and trains. In her latest single, ‘Many Lives’, Howlin’ Whale takes us back to where she grew up, and brings to life the memory of the train echoing through the woods.
In the video for ‘Many Lives’ we see the train track where she spent countless hours of her childhood, wandering along. She sings of the trips she’s taken, and those she’s yet to take, her wanderlust, and very human need to explore. The clip ends with a train rushing past the sea, bound for an unknown destination. It’s a deeply personal track, taking Howlin’ Whale’s signature swamp rock and binding it to folk and blues, with a bit of reggae. Howlin’ Whale’s voice, yearning and plaintive, echoes the very train she sings about.
The video for ‘Many Lives’ doesn’t just focus on the train of course. Howlin’ Whale directed the clip herself, and in addition to the dramatic footage of the ocean and deep woods, she herself features, unafraid to show herself as the strong and sexy wild woods-woman that she is.
The title track from the ‘Many Lives’ EP, it’s a psych track which is as provocative as the rest of the songs on the album. Thought-provoking, breaking of boundaries, and somewhat cosmic and mesmerising, the music has attracted similarly imaginative musicians to the project, such as songwriters Fire Mist, Taylor Quinn, Kosmic Geckos bandleader Kavika G, funk bassist M.Cat Spoony, and jazz phenom Tyler Hammond, and together they evoke Howlin’ Whale’s vision.
You can find Howlin’ Whale online on her official website. Watch the official music video for ‘Many Lives’ below.
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