HOWRU?, the emo rock outfit fronted by instrumentalist and songwriter Tanner Vaughn Stephen, shares their haunting single “GHOST.” It’s a punch straight to the gut of spooky, cloaked in roaring riffs.
“GHOST” gets at that instinctual fight-or-flight response most of us know too intimately, but with an emo twist. It’s a score for anyone who has ever felt deeply haunted by more than mere shadows. Think flickering candlelight, pounding hearts, and a voice inside your head you can’t seem to shake. HOWRU? It turns those spooky vibes into a musical exorcism, where the ghosts are emotional echoes that won’t stay buried. “GHOST” lands like a mutant offspring of Papa Roach’s aggro breathlessness mashed up with the emo overload of Chemical Romance, a pulse strong enough to make Bring Me the Horizon crack a smile of sinewy envy. What sets HOWRU? apart is their mission to provide light in the dark. Although the track is rooted in a brooding sort of horror, the band’s energy seems defiant, not defeated. It’s emo rock with heart and hope.
HOWRU? is a feat of construction, putting the perfect voices and instruments together to create something greater than the sum of the parts. From the context of summer 2024, “GHOST” is a statement and a dare to rival the effects of what haunts you, and maybe even dancing with it.
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