Overnight in a bath in Hull: a UKNA Alumni collaboration
The eclectic neo-folk act Asthmatic Harp announces the new single Limbo on 29th July 2020. The song is a quirky-catchy indie folk song based on a poem by Manchester-based queer writer and performer Roma Havers. The song is an up-lifting indie statement driven by guitar and vocals, synth, piano, percussion and clarinet interwoven in a playful patchwork of rhythmic poetry.
The two artists Asthmatic Harp and Roma Havers first met in the basement of the Barley Twist, where they were both performing at UKNA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019.
“When I heard Roma perform her poem Limbo I was completely blown away. It was strong, raw and fragile all at the same time and I knew that I had to put music to it. After swapping a ‘CD for a poetry zine’ I hunkered down in my North London flat and straightway wrote the music.”
The poem itself was written in a week, mostly overnight in a bath in Hull (it was one of those days). Limbo balances on a knife edge between ‘I need you’ and ‘I don’t need you’. It portrays the dizzying limbo between comfort and pain in a break-up between lovers.
‘Limbo’ follows Asthmatic Harp’s latest releases ‘Bird of Paradise’ and ‘To The Boats’ that were aired on Tom Robinsons After Hours show on BBC6 Music and on Danish National Radio. The release preempts the EP, ‘Things We Learned To Live With’, that is planned for release in Autumn 2020. The EP is a collection of intricately arranged contemporary folk ballads, sharing musical language with artists such as Regina Spektor, This Is The Kit and Laura Marling.
“A delightfully playful slice of alt-folk pitched somewhere between Regina Spektor’s characterful delivery and Laura Marling’s near-perfect tones.”
“Gorgeous, nymph-like voice to soothe even the most anxiety ridden of souls”