This song is so intensely gorgeous and moving; I think Ben Howard has thoroughly captured my heart with his gentle, intricate guitar and breathtaking voice. He has [bad word] to the likes of Bon Iver and Jose Gonzalez, which would be quite the grandiose parallel if it weren't so very apt. The lyrics here in "Old Pine," the title track to his debut EP (out May 23rd) are brilliant, hopeful, and perfect for the melody:
We stood / 
steady as the stars in the woods / 
so happy-hearted / 
and the warmth rang [bad word] inside these bones 
as the old pine fell we sang /
 just to bless the morning.

The equally lush, summery video was shot by renowned surf photographer Mickey Smith. Honestly, this entire thing is a work of absolute beauty; Ben Howard is a newly discovered treasure.

 [bad word] /www [bad word] watch?v=HOi1KxxNZX0

Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags,
 [bad word] to know that memories
Were the best things you ever had
The summer shorn beat down on browned backs
So far from home where the ocean stood
Down dust and pine cone tracks

We slept like dogs down by the fire side
Awoke to the fog all around us
The boom of summer time

 [bad word] 
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang [bad word] inside these bones
As the old pine fell we sang
Just the blessed morning.

Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags,
 [bad word] to know the friends around you
Are all you'll always have
Smoke in my lungs, or the echoed stone
Careless and young, free as the birds that fly
With weightless souls now.

 [bad word] x2]
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang [bad word] inside these bones
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang [bad word] inside these bones
As the old pine fell we sang
Just the blessed morning.

We grow, grow, steady as the morning
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, steady as the flowers
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn
We grow, grow, older still