Los Angeles-based, Boston-bred, singer-songwriter Alice Howe has released “What About You,” the lead single and video from her forthcoming LP, Circumstance, set for release on April 21st.

“As you can see from the music video, ‘What About You’ has really brought out my playful side. To me, it feels like a ’70s Linda Ronstadt track with a Chuck Berry guitar solo, but the lyrics have a profound message,” says Howe. “It’s a song about finding a love that goes way beyond the superficial. Ultimately, it’s about believing that that person is out there, looking for you and that you deserve nothing less than to find them.”

Recorded in two sessions at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where Etta James and Wilson Pickett once shook the walls, Circumstance channels their spirits with 11 stirring tracks that pull no punches diving into the vagaries of the heart and her own personal journey. As an old soul inside a 30-something millennial, Howe puts her stamp on Americana’s venerable strands with 10 standout originals evoking both the classic singer-songwriters and the seminal music that once filled airwaves, roadhouses, and juke joints. 

“There is so much history there, and I did feel like there was a certain amount of pressure to deliver and be a singer,” Howe recalls of FAME Studios. “I’m in this room with Aretha Franklin and Etta James looking down on me, and it’s like that Mona Lisa thing where the eyes follow you around the room and you’re like: ‘Hi, ladies!’ Those are singers with a capital S.” 

Circumstance, produced and arranged by Howe’s creative partner, Freebo, a veteran bass player and former Bonnie Raitt band member, displays her vocal prowess and introspective writing in abundance, mining both her heart and her musical tastes for a deep, personal journey across an Americana soundscape dotted with blues, folk, country, soul, and rock.