Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Mei Semones will release her second album, Howl, on January 15 and has announced a wide North American tour beginning February 24. The record — her first on Verve and Interscope — arrives with a lead single and a music video shot around a Tokyo convenience store by director Takuto Shimpo.
Howl follows Semones’s 2025 coming-of-age debut, Animaru, and arrives as the artist broadens her reach with a major-label partnership. The album’s title and themes grew out of a vivid moment on a Brooklyn Fourth of July night when neighborhood fireworks set off a chorus of howling dogs; Semones says that moment crystallized the record’s idea of music as an instinctive, connective call.
What to know about the new single and video
The lead single is available now, accompanied by Shimpo’s cinematic video filmed in and around a convenience store in Tokyo. The clip frames intimate, everyday details against broader emotional textures — a compact visual choice that echoes Semones’s songwriting, which often blends personal narrative with wider, cinematic atmosphere.
Semones and her new label team have positioned the release as a step into a broader market, with an accompanying tour that will bring the record’s songs to audiences across the United States and Canada.
Tracklist for Howl
- Howl
- 素直になりたい
- 2 Hands
- Akumu
- Chichibu
- Towards Manhattan
- Senro
- Hoteru
- Korokke
- Monster
- Kira Kira
North American tour dates
The tour opens February 24 in Boston and runs through early May, stopping in major markets including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, with a hometown show in Ann Arbor. Several early dates feature support from Aron.
| Date | City — Venue |
|---|---|
| 02-24 | Boston, MA — The Sinclair |
| 02-25 | Portland, ME — SPACE |
| 02-26 | Montréal, QC — Théâtre Fairmount |
| 02-27 | Toronto, ON — Concert Hall |
| 03-01 | Ann Arbor, MI — The Ark |
| 03-02 | Chicago, IL — Thalia Hall |
| 03-03 | Cleveland, OH — Mahall’s |
| 03-05 | Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer |
| 03-06 | New York, NY — Webster Hall |
| 04-09 | Washington, DC — 9:30 Club |
| 04-10 | Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle |
| 04-11 | Atlanta, GA — Terminal West |
| 04-13 | Nashville, TN — Third Man Records |
| 04-15 | Dallas, TX — Texas Theatre |
| 04-16 | Houston, TX — White Oak Upstairs |
| 04-17 | Austin, TX — Mohawk |
| 04-20 | Tucson, AZ — La Rosa |
| 04-21 | San Diego, CA — Music Box |
| 04-23 | Los Angeles, CA — Fonda Theatre |
| 04-24 | San Francisco, CA — The Castro |
| 04-26 | Portland, OR — Aladdin Theater |
| 04-27 | Vancouver, BC — Commodore |
| 04-28 | Seattle, WA — Neptune Theatre |
| 04-30 | Boise, ID — Shrine Basement |
| 05-01 | Salt Lake City, UT — Kilby |
| 05-02 | Denver, CO — Bluebird |
| 05-04 | Lawrence, KS — Bottleneck |
| 05-05 | St. Louis, MO — Off Broadway |
| 05-06 | Lexington, KY — The Burl |
| 05-07 | Columbus, OH — Ace of Cups |
| 05-08 | Pittsburgh, PA — Spirit Hall |
For listeners, Howl offers new material and a chance to hear Semones’s songwriting in a live setting; for the artist, the Verve/Interscope partnership may broaden distribution and profile beyond the indie circuit. The single and its Tokyo-shot video give an early taste of the record’s tone before the album arrives in January.
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