Manchester based soul, jazz and funk artist Limbo Days, the solo project of Elliot Gaspar, has shared his new single “Closer To You”, the second taste of forthcoming debut album How To Get Up & Fly, arriving 2 October via his own Big Earth Records imprint.
Built around acoustic guitar and Gaspar’s warm, conversational vocals, “Closer To You” captures the nervous early stages of falling for someone, where everyday thoughts gradually turn into finding the courage to make a move. “Really, it’s about chasing the idea of love, and the possibility of it,” Gaspar explains. Recorded at drummer and engineer Ben Roberts’ home studio in Wrexham, the track follows previous single “Let’s Communicate” and offers another glimpse into the 11 track debut.
Limbo Days will also take the album on the road this autumn for a four date UK and Ireland tour:
Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy, 27 September
Manchester, Band on the Wall, 1 October
Dublin, The Cobblestone, 10 October
London, MAP Studio Cafe, 17 October
Limbo Days sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:
1. So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?
Limbo Days began as a production project while I was studying at Leeds College of Music. I was asked to produce an EP worth of songs. I had a good amount of songs I was writing, a bit softer compared to my band at the time, so used them for that and thought, “I’ve got some cool songs here, why not release them!” I had a list of artist names and did a shootout with some friends on which was the best, and everybody chose Limbo Days – and that’s the origin story!
2. Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?
I love Sergio Mendes, though unfortunately can’t work with him anymore 🙁 Limbo Days came from being inspired by artists that produce themselves, like King Krule, Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, and I was inspired to do the same. So, I’d love to work with those artists. Currently I’m very much into a lot of the stuff coming out of modern soul labels like Colemine, Daptone, Big Crown. I would love to work with Marcos Valle, Jordan Rakei, Jalen Ngonda, Joey Quinones. I love collaborating, even though Limbo Days is a solo project, it’s also fuelled by collaboration. My solo down time is the coal, and collaborators bring the spark for the fire.
3.What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?
I’ve just finished producing my debut album, “How To Get Up & Fly”, so I’m prepping for a 2nd October 2026 release, with vinyl too! (You can get them atlimbodays.com) I’ve also planned a 4 date UK and Ireland tour, visiting Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin and London. (Dates also on the website). The album is a mix of piano rock, bossa nova, funk and soul. I like to listen to some quite niche stuff, but the sound’s built around what I listened to in my teens, the indie rock side, with what I listen to now, which is the more soul, funk and latin stuff. The theme of the album is optimism, and achievement. It’s turning ideas into physical form, getting up consistently after getting knocked down, and in its mission and statement inspiring others to do so too. 11 tracks – all independently produced, even the tour.
4. How would you describe your sound?
I kind of touched on it before, but the Limbo Days sound is soul music with Northern English storytelling. There’s spices of Latin, funk, and herbs of piano rock in there too. It’s intimate at times, but also very fun and collaborative. The piano stuff naturally falls into more ballady, or quite Stevie Wonder, then I find the guitar more rhythmic, so the guitar-based songs lead more into funk and bossa nova. When people ask, I say, imagine Tom Misch meets Stevie Wonder meets Elton John – but even that doesn’t fully put the finger on it. I think it takes a listen to understand.
5. What’s your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?
My proudest moment is finally getting an album of material together, something people will soon be able to hold, with beautiful messages through it; A timestamp of this period of my career – All independent too. I came to the conclusion that you can’t wait around for other people to actualise your dreams, you’ve got to pursue what you want to do, no matter how difficult sometimes (which it has been), but through that you grow stronger, and you get to see and learn how to do what you ultimately want to do! 🙂