The Howlers - fresh from European shows alongside Alice Cooper, ZZ Top and Deep Purple - drop another scorcher in 'Cold Sweat'.
Taken from their second studio album Heavy, arriving October 9, the single arrives alongsider the band announcing a run of shows alongside Wolfmother later this month.
Some songs arrive fully formed. Others could only have been written by someone who has stared down the worst and come out the other side. ‘Cold Sweat’ is firmly the latter — opening with atmospheric synths curling around driving guitars, moody and deliberate, before Adam Young’s smooth, crooning vocal takes hold. Underneath, the drums push and propel, taut and purposeful. Born from one of the darkest periods of Young’s life, the track traces a prolonged health scare that brought him close to losing his life on multiple occasions – no diagnosis, no answers, and medication that simply wasn’t working.
Listen to ‘Cold Sweat’ on the Portsmouth Fan playlist.
“Almost every day since I wake up with a dull headache,” says Young. “It got to the point where I had to make peace with the pain and begin rebuilding my life. The song takes on the narrative of this struggle and my relationships within it.”
Following a period of transition at the end of 2024, The Howlers entered a new phase, with frontman Adam Young rebuilding the project as a two-piece alongside drummer Toby Richards — a shift that redefined both the band’s sound and creative direction, bringing a renewed sense of focus and identity.
That reset came off the back of a breakthrough year. Their self-funded debut album What You’ve Got To Lose To Win It All landed to widespread European acclaim, breaking into the UK Independent Breakers Chart Top 10 while securing multiple positions across independent, vinyl and physical sales charts. Radio support followed from BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Radio X and Absolute Radio, alongside international backing and editorial playlisting across Apple Music and Spotify.
That momentum translated directly to the stage. A sold-out 18-date UK headline tour established the band as one of the country’s most exciting live acts, followed by a European run that saw them sell out shows across eight countries — road-testing new material that would ultimately shape what came next.
Where that debut was defined by grief and personal loss, Heavy emerges from a very different place. Driven by the tension between desire and consequence, recklessness and reality, it’s an album lit by the pull of the night, the thrill of impulse and the cold clarity that follows.
