BIG STIR RECORDS is extraordinarily proud to announce the October 30 release of the new album from Cumbria, England' s MYLITTLEBROTHER. HOWL, featuring 10 brand new tracks exemplifying the the melodic, harmony-laden and deeply-felt literate pop for which the band is renowned, is up for pre-order on CD and download now at www.bigstirrecords.com/store – and everywhere music is sold and streamed – now!

Heralded by the singles “Janey” (the Record of the Week on BBC Cumbria) and the just-out (and soaringly indelible) title track, HOWL is a much darker affair than 2014’s If We Never Came Down, the band's previous long-player. But it retains mylittlebrother’s trademark ear-catching melodies and lush harmonies and expands them with the exuberant live sound that band had honed onstage in the times leading up to the 2020 pandemic. Recorded in 2019, in what seems like a much simpler time, many of the songs have a sometimes unnerving prescience for the present.

WILL HARRIS, the band's charismatic frontman and primary songwriter, explains the record's origins: “It’s an album, and by that I mean it’s planned as a musical journey. It was largely written during a pretty rough period for me, and it reflects that. Howl takes you through hope, joy, anger, fear, loss and, ultimately, back to hope again, but all with catchy tunes!”

Harris's talent for marrying sweepingly memorable melodies with dry wit and genuinely visceral heartbreak remains the cornerstone of mylittlebrother, but Howl is very much a collaboration of minds, as the songs are imbued with a new depth, dirt and cohesion by the band. Will (piano, lead vocals) is joined by DAN MASON on guitar/vocals, ROBIN HOWSON on bass/vocals and SIMON BUTTRESS on drums/vocals. As a unit, they've mastered the art of creating harmonious, insanely catchy songs, swathed in vocal hooks, using driving electric guitars and piano to deliver upbeat indie-rock that frequently hides the cynical, sometimes bittersweet, darker undertones.

The band, based in Cumbria (Northern England), had been honing their live sound across the UK, with gigs including the British Sea Power-curated Krankenhaus festival, a headline slot at Kendal Calling, and gigs supporting the likes of Glasvegas and Juniore. The communal, celebratory energy of the live group is instantly winning : it was a mesmerizing set from the band in Liverpool back in 2016 that converted Big Stir Records founders Christina and Rex into permanent mlb fanatics – and that chemistry is all over Howl. But with the live music scene which fuels the band all but shut down in their native UK, that onstage synergy is channeled into a set of songs which, for all their sweeping and sweet melodic charms, deftly explore a melancholic and occasionally bitter emotional landscape that resonates to an eerie degree with the outer world of 2020. “Sometimes you've got to sacrifice your mind, or you'll grow tired of all the thinking, ” sings Harris on the anthemic opening track “Play Hard”, and he could be speaking for any or all of us.

Consider also the opening lines of the driving, 6/8-time title track: “I thought you were ill, so I gave all the blood I could spare, all the blood I could spill.” And Will's admonition to “take some responsibility for this f***ed up life you lead” (on the deceptively jaunty singalong “Responsibility”) could just as well apply to any number of world leaders – or their followers – as the difficult romantic partner one might infer.

It all might reach its cathartic zenith near the end of Howl's sec0nd act, on the brash playout of the ever-shifting mini-epic “Chicago” with its harrowing, impassioned refrain “Because I'm stuck in little England, and I'm ill, annoyed and down!” The song's intense maelstrom of guitar gives way to the gorgeous piano balladry of “Start” which tempers the prevailing sadness and anger with the gentle encouragement of the chorus: “You've got to be the start of things”. That same hope for new beginnings, however tentative, also gives life to the lovely “The Time Of Our Lives”, which might be the quintessential embodiment of the mylittlebrother ethos: yes, we most likely made a pretty big mess of everything, but there was plenty of beauty along the way, and we can put it back together and try again... doesn't that sound like just what we need to hear right now?

Sonically, the record displays influences as diverse as Dennis Wilson, Teenage Fanclub, The Coral, Julian Cope, Grandaddy and The Triffids, and while its themes and insights are universal, they're saturated with the unique spirit of the group's native Cumbria. "There’s something happening in the Lake District that is really very special,” says the UK's Louder Than War of the band. And with these new recordings, they're poised to take that “something” to a wider world. Listen in as mylittlebrother lets loose with HOWL... it's a sound that will remain in your ears well beyond the present times from which it offers an unflinching but hope-filled escape.

With an album release announcement just around the corner, Cumbria, England's MYLITTLEBROTHER are ready to let it all out with the second (and title) single from their forthcoming record HOWL. “Howl”, the song and the single, is out this Friday October 9 and up for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles right now. It's backed with a classic and personal favorite of ours, “Song About Amsterdam” from the band's previous record, which should be all the incentive you need to dig in to the mlb back catalog while you wait for Howl.

Will Harris, the charismatic frontman of the harmony-laden indie-rock band, says of the single: “It’s a singalong, but quite a sad one, to be honest. It’s a song about doing your best to get out of a toxic situation, but being dragged in time and time again. Yet there is an undercurrent of hope through the song, you know it’ll be alright in the end!” That's a theme that runs through the new album, conceived before (but often eerily prescient of) the 2020 pandemic, and previously teased by the first single “Janey”, released on Big Stir Records earlier this summer.

Will (piano and lead vocal) is joined in mylittlebrother by Dan Mason on guitar/vocals, Robin Howson on bass/vocals and Simon Buttress on drums/vocals. Their three EPs and the full-length If We Never Come Down (featuring our B-side, the irresistible bittersweet singalong “Song About Amsterdam”) have received rave reviews, and gained airplay from Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1, Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing In Cumbria, Radio Caroline and have featured on BBC television, ITV, Channel 4 and in several short films. Their newest recordings reflect their new fuller sound, and project the energy of their joyous live shows – one of which, in Liverpool a few years back, was how they caught Big Stir Records' ears for good.

Pre-pandemic, the band had been honing that live sound, with gigs including British Sea Power's Krankenhaus festival, a headline slot at Kendal Calling, and gigs across the country supporting the likes of Glasvegas and Juniore. The stage-tested Cumbrian four piece master the art of creating harmonious, insanely catchy songs. Swathed in vocal melody, they use driving electric guitars and piano to deliver upbeat indie-rock that often hides a cynical, sometimes melancholic, darker undertone. "There’s something happening in the Lake District that is really very special", says the always-trustworthy Louder Than War, referring to the band's home region in the north of England. You'll hear it here, and you'll here it on HOWL, the album, before the month is out!

Throughout the disorienting and unpredictable first half of 2020, Big Stir Records has hoped that our occasional pandemic-era Surprise Saturday Singles have been among the unexpected bits that have been more delightful than not, especially when they surprise and delight even ourselves. And so it is with the brand new single from one of our longtime favorites, MYLITTLEBROTHER of Cumbria over in the UK! “Janey” b/w “D.E.F.” is out today at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles … and it can safely be taken as a sign of more to come from main man WILL HARRIS and his merry band before this madhouse year is through.

"It's a song of hope, about realizing that despite feeling that everything is going wrong and life is slipping out of reach, you're still doing OK," says singer-pianist Harris of the A-side, which sees release ahead of a virtual festival appearance for the band. It's the public's first taste of what awaits fans in October on mylittlebrother's keenly awaited new album HOWL. The meaning of the cryptically-titled B-side “D.E.F.” is a closely guarded secret, and it appears exclusively here for all to ponder.

Both tunes amply demonstrate what drew BSR founders Christina and Rex to mlb when their band The Armoires landed on a bill with the Cumbrians – Harris, Dan Mason on guitar/vocals, Robin Howson on bass/vocals and Simon Buttress on drums/vocals – in the UK some years back. The band's songs and presentation are somehow both epic and intimate, inviting and personal at the same time. Harris's voice, melodies and charismatic stage presence are all world-class and the new songs from Howl reflects the band's finely-honed live sound, and project the energy of their joyous shows.

As a full band, the four-piece have mastered the art of creating harmonious, insanely catchy songs. Swathed in vocal melody, they use driving electric guitars and piano to deliver upbeat indie-rock that often hides a cynical, sometimes melancholic, darker undertone. And with their winning live presence, it's no surprise that over the past 10 years they have toured with the likes of The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene and Eliza Doolittle, and appeared at festivals across Europe including Glastonbury, Benicassim, Latitude, T in the park, Electric Picnic and dozens more. It's that communal spirit that led to us wishing to bring their music to a wider audience, long before we even knew we would be starting a record label. But now here we are, and here are mylittlebrother – better than ever and ready to take on this strange new world. We think you will be able to relate.

BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce the latest in our ongoing DIGITAL SINGLES series: “Love Song for an Island” b/w a remix of the song, from mylittlebrother!

WILL HARRIS is simply one of the finest songwriters and performers we know, blending wry, sometimes quite dark humor with and pathos with a true gift for soaring melody that never fails to connect (who else could produce a boisterous toe-tapper with the title “We're All Gonna Die”?). As a band, mylittlebrother can seemingly do anything and everything, from piano-based balladry to heavy psych rock, brassy music hall, lilting folk shuffles and more, all with quirky and inviting aplomb.

The group, based in Cumbria in Northern England, is also a captivating live act, and it was on tour in the UK that Christina and Rex of The Armoires fell in love with the band, well before founding Big Stir Records. Highly respected on their home turf, mylittlebrother are less recognized in the US and we've long hoped to help change that! We've featured them on our Big Stir Traveling International Roadshow compilation and are delighted to be including “Love Song for an Island” in our Digital Singles Series.

Accompanied by a video that's as beautiful and arresting as the tune, “Love Song” pays tribute to mylittlebrother's home region of Cumbria in plaintive and haunting style, with Harris's vocals and electric piano painting a watery portrait of longing. In a first for the Digital Singles Series, the b-side is a remix of the A-side by David Teasdale which amps up the ambiance and adds a pulsing beat to the ballad.

mylittlebrother are Will Harris (keys and vocals), Dan Mason (guitar and vocals), Robin Howson (bass and vocals), Simon Buttress (drums and vocals) and Amy Tweddle (guitar). They're currently finishing up their second full-length LP for release in early 2019. Their earlier work can and should be sought out on their Bandcamp page and news on the forthcoming album is coming shortly!

www.mylittlebrother.bandcamp.com/

www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles