Ben Howard has shared his ethereal collaborative track with The National‘s Aaron Dessner titled ‘Rumble Strip’. Check it out below.
- READ MORE: Ben Howard – ‘Collections From The Whiteout’ Review: too many ideas, if anything
The track was originally an outtake from his 2021 LP ‘Collections From The Whiteout‘. It was taken from his recording sessions with Dessner – who produced the song– at his Long Pond Studios in Upstate, New York. It was recorded during Howard’s last trip to the United States. Prior to its recent release, ‘Rumble Strip’ was only available on the deluxe vinyl pressing of the 2021 album.
“I heard your voice on the rumble strip / I heard your voice / Somewhere between dark and dawning / Between moon shadow and morning / I heard your voice”, sings Howard alongside an ethereal beat of sounds of an acoustic guitar.
‘Rumble Strip’s accompanying music video was filmed by Mickey Smith and features candid behind the scenes footage from his recording sessions at the Long Pond studios.
In a three-star review of ‘Collections From the Whiteout’, NME shared: “More rewarding than meandering 2018 album ‘Noonday Dream’ yet not as piercing as 2014’s ‘I Forget Where We Are’, Ben Howard’s fourth record sees the artist move beyond his usual methods and proves, if anything, that he has too many good ideas to stay focused. Of all the problems to have, it’s a pretty good one.”
Howard released his fifth album ‘Is It?’ last year. In a statement, the singer revealed that the album somewhat revolves around his experience suffering a pair of mini-strokes.
“I found it impossible not to dwell on the absurdity of it, that with one tiny clot, one can lose all faculties. It really ate into the writing of the record,” he said, adding: “It was out of the blue. It was a confusing time.”
In other news, the singer is set to embark on a 2024 North American tour in support of ‘Is It?’. It will kick off on July 12 at Mtelus in Montreal and see Howard make stops in Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Denver. Visit here for tickets and a full list of tour dates.
Elsewhere, Dessner recently revealed that Taylor Swift wrote ‘Willow’ in “less than 10 minutes”.
“When I sent Taylor the music for our song “Willow” — I think she wrote the entire song from start to finish in less than 10 minutes and sent it back to me,” he stated. “It was like an earthquake. Then Taylor said, ‘I guess we are making another album,’” Dessner told PEOPLE back in December.