Mei Semones – 2 Hands
Mei Semones presents “2 Hands,” the second single/video from her new album, Howl, out January 15th via Verve/Interscope.
Following lead single/video, “Howl,” “a sweet love song where her acoustic guitar and strings spiral,” (Paste) “2 Hands” is a song about committing her life to music. In both Japanese and English, Mei sings, “I’ll give you my two hands // I’ll give you my whole heart // Offer my life and it’s still not enough // This path that continues forever // As long as I live know what I need to do.”
On “2 Hands” Mei Semones and band expand their percussion palette, with drummer Ransom McCafferty incorporating tabla into Semones’ genre-defying sound for the first time. The accompanying Jacob Rodier-directed music video was shot in the Bronx, NY and features Semones alongside her longtime band members McCafferty, Noah Leong (viola), Claudius Agrippa (violin), and Noam Tanzer (bass). Semones explains: “Everyone in my band is such an incredible musician and I feel so lucky and grateful to play with them, and that’s what this song is about! So for this video I wanted to capture what it’s like to play music with them, and highlight how amazing and talented each of them are. Thank you to the director Jacob Rodier & the rest of the team for making us look cool :).”
At 26, the Brooklyn-based Semones—already named an “Artist to Watch” by The New York Times and Stereogum, the “Best of What’s Next” by Paste, and an “Artist You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone and The FADER—has developed a sound that brings together jazz, bossa nova, samba and grungy math rock without treating any of them as separate worlds. Her bilingual songwriting works in much the same way. Few songwriters weave between languages as naturally as Semones does, slipping between English and Japanese within the same song — sometimes the same line — and letting both languages become part of the music itself. As she puts it, writing in both languages “felt more true to myself.”
Where Semones’ 2025 debut, Animaru, celebrated her independence and the many forms of love surrounding her, Howl moves further into the complexities of life and growing up: the difficult memories, the fleeting joys, and the ordinary moments that can carry surprising emotional weight.
Howl was recorded at Power Station, the historic Manhattan studio that hosted landmark sessions for artists from Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie to Tony Bennett. The songs’ arrangements come alive through the dynamic chemistry of Semones’ full ensemble. Her voice and guitar remain at the center, but her band create a wider musical landscape around them. Even with this lush instrumentation, there is an understated intimacy that reflects her broader approach across the record. For Semones, music does not need a dramatic breaking point to matter. Like the dogs whose howls inspired the album’s title, she simply answers the world in the language that comes to her most naturally.
Semones will embark on an extensive North American tour kicking off in February. The tour finds her playing some of her largest headline shows yet.
Mei Semones Tour Dates
Wed. Feb. 24 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair *
Thu. Feb. 25 – Portland, ME @ SPACE *
Fri. Feb. 26 – Montréal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount *
Sat. Feb. 27 – Toronto, ON @ Concert Hall *
Mon. Mar. 1 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark *
Tue. Mar. 2 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Wed. Mar. 3 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s *
Fri. Mar. 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Sat. Mar. 6 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
Fri. Apr. 9 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Sat. Apr. 10 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Sun. Apr. 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Tue. Apr. 13 – Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room
Thu. Apr. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Texas Theatre
Fri. Apr. 16 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Upstairs
Sat. Apr. 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Tue. Apr. 20 – Tucson, AZ @ La Rosa
Wed. Apr. 21 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
Fri. Apr. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
Sat. Apr. 24 – San Francisco, CA @ The Castro
Mon. Apr. 26 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Tue. Apr. 27 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
Wed. Apr. 28 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
Fri. Apr. 30 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Basement
Sat. May. 1 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby
Sun. May. 2 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird
Tue. May. 4 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
Wed. May. 5 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Thu. May. 6 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl
Fri. May. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Sat. May. 8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall
- = aron! Supporting
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