New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Liverpool alt-pop trio HAARM are delighted to announce their return today with the release of new single 'Dahlia'. The track comes with a new video directed by the band's long term visual collaborator,
Peter Michael at STUDIIO.
Recorded, mixed, and produced by
Daniel Woodward at Whitewood Studios, the band say that 'Dahlia' is "essentially about self-destruction; going on a downward spiral, ruining relationships and friendships along the way, feeling isolated—you know, the usual cheery HAARM stuff. However, the chorus is supposed to offer a glimmer of hope in it all. There's a person who hasn't given up on you just yet that might help you turn it around."
The innovative video sees director
Peter Michael create 3D scans of the band's screaming faces using iPhone face-scanning technology, and then manipulate and layer it with footage of the band in an abandoned barn and time-lapsed decaying dahlia flowers. In HAARM's ongoing spirit of creative collaboration, the artwork for the single comes from long-time local friend of the band and ex-Hot Club de Paris front man Paul Rafferty, who also recently announced his new Doomshakalaka solo project on Moshi Moshi Records.
Following in HAARM's tradition of using floriography (the Victorian language of flowers) to imbue deeper meaning into their song titles, the track's name comes from the dahlia's floriographic meaning, "my gratitude exceeds your care", with the flowers often used to say thank you. "In the case of this song, it's perhaps saying thanks to that one person who doesn't give up on you when everyone else has," explains vocalist and keys player Jen Davies.
The new track comes following a short period of rest and regrouping for the band in the wake of the sad loss of a close personal friend—marked by the trio's last release, 2018 single 'Better Friend'—alongside a series of changes in the members' personal lives that have lead to a desire to focus all of their energies on HAARM.
HAARM formed in 2016 in an underground tequila bar at 4am, and the trio began work immediately on writing and recording a set of songs with strong emphasis on melody and groove, all centered around Jen and Chris' dual lush vocals—to date, their music has received press support from The Independent, Q Magazine, Clash, DIY, Indie Shuffle, The Skinny and many more.
Debut single 'Foxglove' was followed by a second release, 'In the Wild', and between the two songs the band casually garnered 400,000 streams on Spotify, which led to multiple plays on BBC
Radio 1 (Huw Stephens/Phil Taggart) and being added to the Xposure Playlist at
Radio X.
The band supported
Bloc Party during their February tour in 2017, culminating with two dates at esteemed London venue The Roundhouse. In May 2017, the band were selected by BBC Introducing to play
Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull and were introduced onstage by Huw Stephens.
Their 2018 single 'Box of Bones' was selected as the soundtrack for Sky Atlantic promo in the summer of 2018 which was broadcast across the Sky TV network, and in August 2018 the band were chosen as the sound of BT Sport's 2018/19 Premiership Football coverage with their version of Manchester band
Everything Everything's song, 'I Believe It Now'.
Autumn 2018 saw the release of the band's heart-wrenching single, 'Better Friend', which received support from Nemone on the BBC6
Music Breakfast show, with the official music video directed by acclaimed film director,
Daniel Fitzsimmons (Native).
Since then things have continued to go from strength to strength for HAARM with the band landing a high profile sync on Netflix Japan's reality TV show Terrace House, and in January 2020 the band's version of The Meters 'Hand Clapping Song' was selected by BT Sport to soundtrack their Premier League
Tonight show.
HAARM will announce further new music and live dates for 2020 over the coming weeks.
'Dahlia' is out now via all good digital service providers
HAARM online:
https://www.facebook.com/haarmband/
https://twitter.com/haarmband
https://www.instagram.com/haarmband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2iQ1FPwJbPNC4OHgtunoMh
HAARM are:
Chris McIntosh - Guitar & vocals
Jen Davies - Keyboards & vocals
Olly Gorman - Drums
