Bitter Calm is a band whose beginning is marked by endings. Following the death of his father, the end of a relationship, and the dissolution of the band Velouria all in a month's time, Michael Harp's life was irreversibly shifted and stripped of all familiarity at the age of 19. The outpouring of music that followed sought to document this new reality, while searching far into his family's past for answers to questions he never had the opportunity to ask. Bitter Calm is what comes next, with the help of violinist Meg Ford, members from Velouria, a box full of videotapes, and a hand-me-down watch that doesn't tell the time. They write loud, slow songs about love and death, and they've never had so much fun. With haunting melodies that progress into alternative folk ballads, Bitter Calm creates an atmosphere of reflection.Â
