Roy Jurgens on December 19th, 2015

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“Sixteen” from L.A. duo Howls (Annalee Fery, ex-Monsters Are Waiting, and Christian Stone, ex-Campfire Girls) treads familiar ground, where a boy lies and a girl gets in “trouble.” Self-directed by Stone, he skillfully lets the eyes of his talented actors emote in a way that reflects their inner intents and truths. The song’s dense and doomy electronic carpet, complemented by a thick wet beat, feels oddly in place combined with the trials and tribulations experienced by a young couple against a gritty, urban Angeleno backdrop. Relationships are messy, and they can get a lot messier when they result in unintended consequences that lead to an innocent life being brought into a regrettable situation. Revealing the saga in reverse, we are walked through the death of innocence, abandonment, and how one party surrenders to a fate that is incurred when one believes in love more than it believes in us.

||| Watch: The video for “Sixteen”

||| Previously: “Come On” (the duo’s new EP), “White Noise”