Opal Eskar gathers Philly artists including Karl Blau, “one of America’s great indie heroes” (NME), plus members of The War On Drugs, Later Fortune.

“A soulful psychedelic swell,” describes Folk Radio UK; “Just the right amount of hallucinatory,” says Treble in its coverage of band’s latest single “Open Mind!”

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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
Self-Titled EP
(Spiral Valley Records)
May 19, 2023

Track Listing:
01. And Yet Love Rules (VIDEO | STREAM)02. Open Mind! (STREAM)03. The Woodsman (VIDEO | STREAM)04. Soft Exchange05. All I Wanna Do06. Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out (STREAM)
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
Opal Eskar | “Open Mind!”
 
[YOUTUBE] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlQHTKJAezQ

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

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“It’s just the right amount of hallucinatory, which pairs well with its themes of opening the doors of perception.” — Treble

“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.”

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 arrives on May 19 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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“With a soulful psychedelic swell… the latest offering from Opal Eskar, a collaborative project from the prolifically diverse DIY icon Karl Blau.” — Folk Radio UK

“Hypnotic indie pop and gently percussive low-fi soul... Opal Eskar may very well have captured laconic reflection better than anyone else in recent memory.” — Stereo Embers

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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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 “The track has a certain nostalgic quality... a suitably dreamy affair, combining widescreen Americana with the smooth luxury of The The or Matthew E. White.” — For The Rabbits
“Blissful... ethereal... an eclectically pleasing sound that brings to mind the more artsy and mellow work of acts like TV On The Radio.” — Glide
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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