SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: BITTER CALM – “SALT”

BITTER CALM – “SALT”

A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE

Birmingham, AL is the third rainiest city in America, but unlike its counterparts in the Pacific Northwest, the rain in Birmingham is not a gentle mist that rolls in quietly over the mountain; the rain in Birmingham falls with an unrelenting ferocity, like it’s punishing the ground for having ever been dry— and then, as quickly as one would discard an unpleasant thought, it’s gone.

Bitter Calm is a band from Birmingham, AL. They make music that one would call “sad”, but much like the torrential rains that punctuate their lives, it’s a different kind of sad— less like a breakup at the dinner table and more like a breakup in the atmosphere. Deeply, loudly, profoundly sad.

That’s not to say their music isn’t enjoyable, because it is. Their performances easily invite the vulnerability they require by virtue of their commitment to something completely sincere. Singer/guitarist Michael Harp grimaces and broods his way through songs that are so evidently beautiful that they could easily mask the more unfortunate emotions beneath.

With support from violinist Meg Ford, bassist Alex Guin, and percussionist Chayse Porter— all Birmingham heavyweights in their own right— Harp eschews the uncomfortable trauma-dumping of his more whispery peers in favor of something darker, meaner, more “results oriented”.

“Salt” is about a lot of things.

It’s about the pain of knowing who would be hurt by the irreversible decision to leave this world, let alone who is already hurt by my current expressed desire to want to leave it in the first place.

It’s about waiting around for bad things to happen just so I can write songs about them, the frustration of feeling like I’m my own voyeur in some messed up dependent relationship between my inability to cope and my ability to write about not coping.

More importantly though, it’s just a beautiful song. It started as a misguided attempt to write bossa nova (like Getz/Gilberto), but then I started playing it faster and faster until it picked up this sort of alt-rock/country feel that it has now. Many thanks to all six (!) people who played and sang together on this track. I felt so loved and supported by my friends making this… just a really special experience.” -songwriter Michael Harp

Bitter Calm
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: April 16, 2024

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