Maddie Ashman – releases a new single “Seraphim”

Emerging British avant-pop artist and multi-instrumentalist Maddie Ashman releases a new single “Seraphim” via AWAL. Written in tribute to the outcasts of society buried in unmarked graves over hundreds of years in Cross Bones Graveyard in Southwark, the haunting track builds through piano and cello loops into a swirling crescendo – listen below.

Now known for exploring microtonal music in uncanny, illusory yet accessible ways, Maddie explains the process of composing “Seraphim”; “Seraphim started with a microtonal piano tuning which I found very nostalgic, vulnerable and yearning, and a simple riff. Over two years I kept coming back to it bit by bit, adding vocal melodies, strings, synths. I showed it to my friend Jessa Brown (an incredible poet), who said it felt really haunting and made her think of a place called Cross Bones Graveyard. Jessa thought perhaps the song could be a tribute to the voices of the dead and outcast who were buried there, and with that in mind she wrote some lyrics and I finished the song with them.” 

This new single follows last month’s double single “Jaded/In Autumn My Heart Breaks”, all of which are set to feature on a collection of songs due to be announced in the new year. In October Maddie hit the road for a European support tour with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on their EU Rave Tour, where she joined the band on stage to play cello. Earlier this month she joined Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams at Fabric London for a live improvisational performance based on Ensemble Mi’s rendition of Olivier Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps.

Maddie has exploded online this year through experimental self-recorded home performances which have racked up over 30 million views and earned over 300k followers, as well as support from the likes of John Mayer, Sudan Archives, Bonobo, Jacob Collier, Caroline Polachek, Ólafur Arnalds, Sampha and many more.