He may not have the fame and recognition of his contemporaries Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan or Simon & Garfunkel, but judging by his new single “So,” painter and folk singer Ed Askew certainly has the talent. Based in New York City, Askew released his first and only album Ask the Unicorn in 1968. Since then he’s been writing and recording periodically, and his music has been circulating underground, but he has yet to release anything commercially – until now.
Videos by American Songwriter
“So” is the first single off of Askew’s upcoming album For The World, which features Sharon Van Etten, Marc Ribot, the Black Swans, and more.
Says Askew: “The song ‘So’ was made in April of 2009, originally sent out to friends on a CD-R. It was written for a young friend, Tony, who is a very religious person. I wanted to make something for him and thought something with a spiritual flavor would be appropriate. It is a description of a boy in the city walking by a church and hearing the choir. The song hopefully expresses what he is feeling; and my best wishes for him.”
Accentuating the song’s spiritual theme, the music video alternates between simple close-up’s of Askew singing, scenes from nature and images of the sun shining through trees, most likely alluding to the “bright light” of heaven.
Askew will release For the World on September 23.
Ed Askew “So” from Candace Thompson on Vimeo.
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