“All This Time, Asleep” is the new single from London duo Charlotte Spiral and the title track of their upcoming third EP, produced by Mercury Prize nominated artist and celebrated producer Dave Okumu (Jessie Ware, Nilufer Yanya, Lianne La Havas, Joan As Police Woman). The EP provides the follow up to last year’s New Light EP which was produced with Dan Carey. Despite what the name infers, Charlotte Spiral are a duo formed by the enigmatic Amy Spencer and Avi Barath. Taken from the name of a figure-skating move, the two come together in a wonderful medley of lyrical heritage, and contemporary sentiment.

Lyrically, the single is predominantly self-reflective, as Amy explains: “‘All This Time, Asleep’ is based on an argument between myself and a loved one. I’m being rude and just saying whatever I like, feeling like a failure, spending so much time ‘looking for myself’ or trying to figure things out. Though while I’m doing this, I forget to think how they might be feeling, and to remember that we’re two people. Throughout the track, I wanted to describe the scene we were in: ‘trying on a new shirt’ was a metaphor used to portray that I want to try this new me out, but it might not fit. At the end of the song, I am lying in the shirt, fully ready to commit and be together. It does fit me…”

As a body of work All This Time, Asleep finds the pair exploring the spaces between dreams and reality. The single serves as the perfect introduction to the EP and is accompanied by a surreal visualiser that encapsulates Charlotte Spiral’s visual sensibility, building on the aesthetic side of their work.  Furthering this distinct visual identity, the EP is announced with an image shot by Ross Harris (Elliot Smith, Sudan Archives). When Amy reached out to Ross about taking photos, he asked “do you have a suit or can you get one? I have an idea” – which he kept secret until they found the perfect location in L.A. The picture references the iconic shot of Bill Murray with a bicycle, and ended up being inspiration for the visual world of the entire EP. 

Photo Courtesy: Ross Harris