Haunted Like Human Press Kit
For fans of: The Civil Wars, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, The Secret Sisters
Mythology evokes images of gods, titans, demons, and beasts of every kind. Yet, it’s the spark of humanity that keeps us telling and retelling myths. It’s these stories of seduction, inheritance, and hubris that Nashville-based folk duo Haunted Like Human rekindle in the 14 songs on their third album American Mythology, out October 17th.
Since the release of 2021’s Tall Tales & Fables, Dale Chapman (they/them) and Cody Clark (he/him) have been refining their sound rather than departing from it. The result is a shapely set of songs that borrow from universal lore in order to reveal intimate truths. “I feel like it’s my background in fiction that really started us down the path of centering storytelling. It’s what I know and instinctually reach for, and we’ve found a way to make that a cornerstone of what we do,” says Chapman.
Take lead single “Married in Savannah,” out June 27th. It’s a bittersweet folk-pop number about watching someone close to you change. The themes are universal whether describing a lover, a friend, or anyone else. “What a shame to see a wild thing be tamed,” Chapman sings, their voice akin to Florence Welch’s mezzo-soprano. Grounded in the context of Southern religion, the song offers rich details about the chapel’s blue stained glass and the groom “shining like his family name.”
The pressure to conform to tradition looms large in “Family Name,” a story Chapman tells in pathos gilded by the resonant timbre of their voice. Out July 25th, the song opens with the depiction of a mother handing down stories and lessons about the stars. Led by Chapman’s warmly capacious voice, the arrangement is a winsome folk song for acoustic guitar and violin. Using classical techniques on a steel-string guitar, Clark adroitly unites tones from different eras. It feels like an uncomfortable nostalgia, ultimately resolving in sympathy for the parts of our lives we don’t get to choose.
Sometimes the duo explores those themes sounding like a sympathetic friend, and sometimes they’re delivered by a narrator desperate for answers. Standout track “Lazarus,” out August 22nd, is an inverted prayer, full of stomps and foreboding. The song pleads with the resurrected man to describe his death and return to life. The song’s bridge takes a twist, wondering if Lazarus’ death made his return to life too much to bear. “Now you’ve glimpsed the things that belong to the buried / Are you longing now to return to the clay?”
Haunted Like Human proves they write songs like novelists write their books, using careful detail and well-shaped characters to tell even the heaviest of stories. Yet, their musicianship and lyricism also thrive in more playful moments, like the fourth single, “Appaloosa,” out September 19th. Led by bright vocals and guitar, “Appaloosa” is an easy love song about someone who can’t quite believe they’ve landed an amazing woman. “She is messy in her musings, but all she touches turns to gold,” Chapman sings over the soaring fiddle and banjo. It’s the perfect rendering of an imperfect woman being treated like a goddess.
Whatever the topic, the songs shine with restrained arrangements and entwined harmonies. This duo tells stories so well that there’s no need to cloak them with heavy-handed production or vocal processing. Instead, Haunted Like Human lets the humanity shine through the stories they tell.
Full performance from Haunted Like Human, live at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon on May 22, 2025.