“One of our country’s finest songwriters,” says KEXP; Karl Blau discusses Opal Eskar, his new project bringing together members of Later Fortune, The War On Drugs.

Philly-based band’s current “Open Mind!” single rocks one of summer 2023’s grooviest bass lines. “It's like a ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ sound sandwich,” says Blau. Listen here now!

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Opal Eskar (L-R): Chet Delcampo, Karl Blau, Heyward Howkins. Photo credit: Mecky Elvita Madl.

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Opal Eskar  | In The Press

Karl Blau chats with KEXP about leaving the Pacific Northwest for Philadelphia and forming Opal Eskar. Listen here!

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“Gentle, melodic.” — KEXP

“Soulful psychedelic swell.” — Folk Radio UK

“Sonically cool.” — WXPN

“Widescreen Americana.” — For The Rabbits

“Ethereal...” — Glide

“Captured laconic reflection.” — Stereo Embers

“Hallucinatory.” — Treble

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Opal Eskar
Self-Titled EP
(Spiral Valley Records)
Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

Track Listing:
01. And Yet Love Rules (VIDEO | STREAM)02. Open Mind! (VIDEO | STREAM)03. The Woodsman (VIDEO | STREAM)04. Soft Exchange05. All I Wanna Do (originally by The Beach Boys) (STREAM)06. Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out (STREAM)
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
Opal Eskar | “Open Mind!”

[YOUTUBE] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50M1kpqwhj4

[STREAM] https://fanatic.lnk.to/OpalEskar-OpenMind

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“The song is a barrage of suggestions on how one could open one’s mind,” says Karl Blau. “It's like a ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ sound sandwich.” Opal Eskar’s Chet Delcampo adds, “The musical core of ‘Open Mind!’ was quickly grabbed out of the air on the first day of tracking with me, Heyward, Charlie, and Robbie playing in the room with the tape rolling. Karl’s vocals came later.”

Blau explains about the song’s video, “We were shooting for imagery to suggest possible approaches to keep an open mind and strive towards more non-judgmental views and understandings. Mixed in with the live rehearsal shots and our go-to late night hangin' amongst the bamboo.”

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After releasing their debut single “Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out” as a trio comprised of Karl Blau (vocals), Heyward Howkins (vocals, guitar), and Chet Delcampo (vocals, guitar, bass, keys) last summer, Opal Eskar is joined on their new recordings by two more members of the Philly fabric: Charlie Hall and Robbie Bennett of The War on Drugs.

Blau met Howkins and Delcampo after relocating to Philly following a highly prolific period in the Olympia, Washington area where he released dozens of records and helped nurture the scene that brought the K Records label and influential artists such as Laura Veirs, The Microphones, and Earth — many of which Blau recorded and performed with — to prominence.

The debut EP by Opal Eskar is out now. via Spiral Valley Records. Members of Opal Eskar are available for interview. Please contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more info.

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

Opal Eskar | “The Woodsman”

[YOUTUBE] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsV_6k8STWI

[STREAM] https://fanatic.lnk.to/OpalEskar-TheWoodsman

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“As tough and debilitating as it may be at times, especially when there are hard things to share, ‘The Woodsman’ is about how having an honest relationship makes for a deeper relationship,” says Karl Blau of the latest single from his new collaborative project Opal Eskar.

“We made the video in my buddy’s backyard. We didn’t intend for the mask to become a major theme, but the piece spontaneously worked with that mask, and the trampoline footage highlights the northeast Philly vibe pretty hard.”

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PLAY, POST & SHARE

Opal Eskar | “And Yet Love Rules”

[YOUTUBE] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quuald-w7Qw
[STREAM] https://fanatic.lnk.to/OpalEskar-AndYetLoveRules
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“When I first listened to ‘And Yet Love Rules,’ it sent me on a wave of nostalgia. Thus the video is a rumination on nostalgia or memory –  its imperfection, its fragments, and its shifting prominence in our lives.” — Julie Casper Roth
“‘And Yet Love Rules’ is about letting love be the governing force in exchanges with other humans.  We don’t know their story, we can only assume we would be in their shoes if we were in their shoes. Let the innocence of our inner child –the curiosity that permeates life –help lead our actions and interactions.” — Karl Blau
“‘And Yet Love Rules’ was musically conceived and captured to tape in the room with Charlie and Robbie (of The War On Drugs) at the time of our first-ever session. We grabbed the overall vibe fairly extemporaneously and quickly in the room that day. It was the musical jumping off point of our Opal Eskar journey.” — Chet Delcampo
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Opal Eskar | About

Opal Eskar is the latest convergence of some of Philadelphia’s busiest indie musicians.

After releasing a one-off single “Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out” (“Dreamy,” said NPR-affiliate WXPN) as a trio comprised of Karl Blau (vocals), Heyward Howkins (vocals, guitar), and Chet Delcampo (vocals, guitar, bass, keys) last summer, Opal Eskar is now a five-piece featuring two more members of the Philly fabric: Charlie Hall and Robbie Bennett of The War on Drugs.

Opal Eskar will release its debut self-titled EP on May 19, 2023 via Spiral Valley Records.

To get an idea of the band’s sound beyond “dreamy” (which it is!), look no further than the comprehensive careers of the members of Opal Eskar and the company they keep.

Blau met Howkins and Delcampo after relocating to Philly following a highly prolific period in the Olympia, Washington area where he released dozens of records and helped nurture the scene that brought the K Records label and influential artists such as Laura Veirs, The Microphones, and Earth — many of which Blau recorded and performed with — to prominence.

More recently, Veirs, along with My Morning Jacket front man Jim James, appeared with Blau on a cover of Link Wray’s ten-minute epic “Fallin’ Rain,” a cut from Introducing Karl Blau, a covers collection of overlooked country songs by Blau, released by legendary UK record label Bella Union.

Delcampo has two earlier album releases to his name, as well as another pair as Hong Kong Stingray. His list of current and former collaborators is long, including Kid Congo Powers, Joel RL Phelps, and Dave Lovering of Pixies. Last year he released a single with Howkins as Later Fortune, called “lush, sophisticated art pop” by Brooklyn Vegan.

Howkins has released two full-length albums of his own, and is a founding member of the choral group The Silver Ages with members of Dr. Dog and The War on Drugs, the Grammy®-winning rock band that features Hall on drums and Bennett on keys, the same instruments they contribute to Opal Eskar.

Like Howkins and Delcampo’s Later Fortune project, which covered David Bowie’s soul-noir classic “Win” (from the Young Americans album, which was recorded in Philly), Opal Eskar cannot help but be influenced by the man.

Delcampo says, “A few years after Bowie’s death, I was reflecting upon his methodology of assembling an interesting cast of characters into the right room at the right time. Tony Visconti, Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers, Mick Ronson, and many others.”

Inspired to assemble his own group of collaborators this way, Delcampo reached out to Blau (whose work he had long admired) and Howkins brought Hall and Bennett to the band.

Opal Eskar’s own song about modern love is the EP opener and first single, “And Yet Love Rules.” Blau says the song asks us to “let love be the governing force in exchanges with other humans. Let the innocence of our inner child — the curiosity that permeates life — help lead our actions and interactions.”

That sentiment permeates the entire EP — the blissful sound of a group of musicians with their own thing going on, but whose mutual respect for each other’s work inspires a creative curiosity that makes it to tape (yes, the EP is an analog recording!)

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Opal Eskar | Links

ASSETS : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP

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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL