New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Liverpool alt-pop songwriting team HAARM are pleased to reveal a poignant video for their latest single 'Take Me Away', which is out now on all good digital service providers.
A beautifully choreographed sunset ode to the joy of the union between music, movement, and the outdoors, the focus is on the moment of freedom that we all experience once a day during the lockdown, and how we can seize this opportunity to express ourselves creatively, despite the limitations.
The video was directed by the band's long-time artistic collaborator,
Peter Michael, who described his vision for the film as capturing "one walk to take you away", and features dancer/choreographer, Yos Clark.
Commenting on the idea, the band said: "We had planned to film the video for 'Take Me Away' a few weeks ago, but of course we had to push that back since we're all stuck at home. In the meantime, our good friend, long-term photographer/videographer and all round insanely talented human being
Peter Michael—who was going to direct the video anyway—asked his housemate (who just so happens the wonderfully talented dancer Yos Clarke) if he fancied putting on in his headphones, popping on the song and going for his one walk a day—this is what happened."
As an extension of the video, the band are now calling upon dancers (whether professional or not) to submit their own lockdown dance videos for 'Take Me Away' to
[email protected] so they can share the best ones on their social media accounts. "Anything goes," say the band, "it's just about the expression of freedom."
A sharp juxtaposition to their usual sombre fare, the band's new single 'Take Me Away' is a "psycho-tropical" sunshine anthem packed full of steel drums, feel good vibes, and escapism—the perfect sonic remedy for a springtime bursting into life whilst being stuck inside the house.
"We've predominantly written more melancholy songs in the past," explains vocalist Jen Davies. "Our lyrics are usually centred around themes of isolation, self-destruction, failed relationships—all a little too close to home at the moment. 'Take Me Away' is intended as a moment of euphoria; a release from those thoughts. Of course, we wrote it several months ago now, but it feels more important than ever to have written something uplifting in the current situation."
Whether it's read as a conversation between friends, or lovers, the track's surrealist instrumentation and gospel-influenced middle 8 packs a religious undertone, with the repeated chant of "I felt you and I know you loved me" expressing faith in human connection.
Produced and mixed by Al Groves (Bring Me The Horizon, Paris Youth Foundation, Michael Kiwanuka) at the legendary Motor Museum recording studios on Lark Lane, Liverpool—which has given rise to smash hit records from The 1975, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, and many more—the track is the second of two singles that the trio have worked on with Groves to date, and was mastered by Mike Marsh at The Exchange.
The two previously-released singles from the band's latest batch of tracks—'Dahlia' and 'Tell Me What You Want'—both saw success on the airwaves, added to
Radio X and XS Manchester evening playlists, with huge support from BBC Merseyside and Amazing Radio, as well as playlist additions and spot plays across a wide range of specialist online and regional shows.
'Take Me Away' 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
More about 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 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.
