Locust shares new single "Long Distance Lover", featuring Neil Halstead and Natasha Morrow

The collaboration between the artists has come together over the past few years and sees Van Hoen zero in on expressing a desire for intimacy despite physical distance.

Speaking about the track, Van Hoen explains: “The music was recorded back in 2020 originally as a collab between Neil Halstead and I. It sat around for a few years, and I had the idea to send it to Natasha to see if it inspired anything vocally. She came up with the idea of long-distance phone calls between lovers. It struck a chord with me as I had experienced a couple of relationships like that. The idea of repeating these expressions of desire and longing over and over, because you are aching to be together.

"I had actually never met Natasha, and generally, I find that remote collabs don’t work because there’s a connection missing somehow. But in Natasha’s case, I had several long phone calls with her, and I think we connected that way. Not in any romantic sense, but as musical collaborators, which has its own particular need for a personal connection and understanding. I found it interesting that it related to the song’s lyrics in that she and I established a different kind of personal bond over the phone.”