Kevin Bronson on October 27th, 2015

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The new EP from L.A. duo Howls dives back into the murky waters of relationships, where compromise often feels like defeat and engaging in the carnal turns you into “villains for love,” as Annalee Fery sings in the lead track, the simmering “Krusht.” “Come On,” which came out Friday via Buddyhead Records, follows a 2014 full-length from collaborators Fery (ex-Monsters Are Waiting) and Christian Stone (ex-Campfire Girls). Back in January, the duo released the single “White Noise,” a dark-disco number that proves a bit of a outlier on the new five-song release. Producer Jon Siebels for the most part keeps the duo’s synth-and-electronic-drums backdrop unfussy. The post-punk-inspired  “Dance Assassin” is exemplary, a pulsing tune with just the right dose of atmosphere to back Fery’s laments about lonely nights. Overall, “Come On” begs a lot of questions, the trickiest of which might be in “Krusht” when Fery asks innocently “Can you feel the real life in love?”

||| Stream: “Come On” (full EP)

||| Previously: “White Noise,” “Fool,” “Sixteen”