In the past twelve months, Howling Owls may well have featured more on MM than any other band. Ever since we discovered their uniquely sinister take on the world with queasy tales of small town life, they have continued to delight and surprise with a whole series of tracks that have been uniform in their excellence.

So we are delighted to have both details of their first EP, the wonderfully titled When Tipsy Turns Somber and a new song for you in the shape of Hay Fever. The EP features a number of tracks we’ve previously posted – off kilter stories of a David Lynch style nightmare suburbia with characters struggling to conceal sides they’d rather the world didn’t see, of broken dreams and lost hope, and of a vicious circle of self-inflicted disappointments.

This is deliciously ominous folk music that creeps from the edges of the swamp and imperceptibly curls icy fingers around the back of your neck.

Best of all the whole EP can be downloaded for free from their Bandcamp page here – along with that brilliant cover art. Take our word for it, this will improve your iTunes library no end…and fingers crossed, there will be a debut long player in the autumn.

Download Howling Owls – Hay Fever mp3 (from When Tipsy Turns Somber EP)