Mei Semones has announced her second album Howl, set for January 15, along with a North American tour that starts in February. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter signed with Verve and Interscope for this record, marking her first release on those labels. The lead single is out now, accompanied by a Takuto Shimpo-directed music video.
The album follows Semones’ 2025 debut Animaru. Semones wrote the title track after fireworks exploded over her block on a Fourth of July, setting off a chorus of dog howls from neighbors. “Sometimes making music feels like howling into the universe,” she said in a statement. “I make music because I like it, because it feels instinctual—but it also connects me to people close and far. I like to think of this music as my howl.”
The Track List
The album runs eleven tracks, with a mix of English-language originals and songs in Japanese. The opener, “Howl,” sets the tone directly. Here is the full running order:
- “Howl”
- “素直になりたい”
- “2 Hands”
- “Akumu”
- “Chichibu”
- “Towards Manhattan”
- “Senro”
- “Hoteru”
- “Korokke”
- “Monster”
- “Kira Kira”
The video is available to watch below the announcement, joined by the lead single as the first public taste of the record.
The Tour Dates
Semones kicks off the Howl tour on February 24 in New York, with shows stretching across the continent through May. The itinerary includes stops in major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto, as well as smaller markets like Portland, Maine, and Seattle. She closes the run in Boise, Idaho, before heading back east for dates in Salt Lake City and Denver.
Several shows feature a special guest. The asterisks (*) on the schedule indicate performances with Aron, who joins Semones for select nights across the tour.
The full itinerary runs from February to May, with a break between the East Coast leg and the West Coast stretch. Here is the complete list of tour dates:
- East Coast Kickoff: New York, NY – Lincoln Center (10/15)
- Northeast Run: Boston, MA – The Sinclair , Portland, ME – SPACE , Montréal, Québec – Theatre Fairmount *, Toronto, Ontario – Concert Hall * (02/24-03/01)
- Midwest Homecoming: Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark , Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall , Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s * (03/01-03/03)
- Southeast Swing: Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer , New York, NY – Webster Hall , Washington, DC – 9:30 Club (03/05-04/09)
- Southern Route: Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle, Atlanta, GA – Terminal West (04/10-04/11)
- Texas Run: Dallas, TX – Texas Theatre, Houston, TX – White Oak Upstairs, Austin, TX – Mohawk (04/15-04/17)
- West Coast Stretch: Tucson, AZ – La Rosa, San Diego, CA – Music Box, Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theatre, San Francisco, CA – The Castro (04/20-04/24)
- Pacific Northwest: Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater, Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore, Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre (04/26-04/28)
- Closing Leg: Boise, ID – Shrine Basement, Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby, Denver, CO – Bluebird, Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck, St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway, Lexington, KY – The Burl, Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups, Pittsburgh, PA – Spirit Hall (04/30-05/08)
The tour is ambitious, with dates spanning nearly three months and crossing the continent multiple times.
Signing With Verve and Interscope
Semones signed with Verve and Interscope for Howl, marking her first release on those labels. The move puts her work with distribution muscle and marketing resources that can push her sound to a wider audience.
The Video and Its Setting
The Takuto Shimpo-directed music video was filmed in and around a Tokyo convenience store. The setting adds a global dimension to the project, suggesting she is thinking about connection beyond just the people closest to her.
Our View
Howl is a record about making noise that travels. Semones describes music as a howl into the universe, and the album’s title track was born from a literal howl — dogs responding to fireworks on a Brooklyn street. That origin story gives the record a specific, grounded anchor.
The signing with Verve and Interscope positions Semones for a bigger audience than her debut reached. The tour, with its stops in major cities and smaller markets alike, shows an artist willing to put in the miles to meet her listeners wherever they are.
The video, filmed in and around a Tokyo convenience store, offers a small, precise image that captures the album’s central idea. A howl is a sound that travels, and Semones is making music to travel with it.
The album arrives on January 15, and the tour starts on February 24.
See the video the story is built around at Pitchfork.
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