The cult US songwriter, poet and artist Ed Askew has died aged 84, a year before the posthumous release of his final album, The Final Painting, out this month. Over roughly six decades on the fringes of folk music, Askew built a devoted following among fellow musicians for his singular, baroque style, blending gay love songs with observational lyricism, without ever seeking commercial success.

Born in Connecticut in 1940, Askew studied painting at Yale before playing New York's "basket house" folk venues in 1967, which led to his 1968 debut on ESP-Disk, later retitled Ask the Unicorn. Across around 50 records he drew comparisons to Robert Wyatt and the Incredible String Band, though his producer and admirers, including Bill Callahan and Sharon Van Etten (both of whom feature on The Final Painting), describe his sound as closer to the paintings of Cézanne or the poetry of Lorca. His track Moon in the Mind featured on Netflix's Baby Reindeer in 2024, bringing unexpected late-career recognition.