POSTHUMOUS ED ASKEW ALBUM TO FEATURE BILL CALLAHAN, SHARON VAN ETTEN

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A posthumous album by the late cult folk singer and visual artist Ed Askew is being released on Drag City. Out July 31, The Final Painting features contributions from—among others—Bill Callahan and William Tyler. Sharon Van Etten sings backing vocals on the single “Gray Air-o-Plane.” Below, watch a video that sets the song to images of Askew’s paintings.

Askew made The Final Painting with producer Jerry David DeCicca, who also worked on his 2013 album For the World. They worked from demos that Askew recorded in his apartment between 2020 and his death in January 2025.

Revisit the review of Ed Askew’s 1984 album Imperfiction, reissued by Drag City in 2011.

Ed Askew: The Final Painting

$33.00, Rough Trade

The Final Painting:

01 Winter Song

02 Bacon & Eggs

03 Long Night [ft. Eve Searls]

04 Lost in the Kitchen

05 A Train is a Thought

06 Gray Air-o-Plane [ft. Sharon Van Etten}

07 Someone [ft. Bill Callahan]

08 Tough Guys

09 Nightengale [ft. Eve Searls]

2026-05-19T18:39:02Z