Hafsol takes a look at life and death on their new single ‘Owl’. Singer Dylan Penna-Powell leads the group on this gentle tune. An acoustic guitar provides the foundation of the arrangement with understated piano and sof yet propulsive drums moving things along. The highlight is the layers of vocal harmonies that join the lead about half way through.
Reflecting on writing ‘Owl’ Penna-Powell says, “Lyrically, I’m dealing with life and death here. I work as a therapist in Philadelphia and at the time of writing Owl, I worked as a social worker in Chicago. With my background, I find myself acutely aware of, and at times obsessed with, certain disasters. I try to write about Life with a capital “L” in these songs – not merely my own – and I can see how my experience in both cities informs the way I do so.”
‘Owl’ and another companion track, ‘Overlook’, are available now on streaming services.
Ed Donnelly is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and record producer from Los Angeles. He has worked with Willie Nelson, Crowded House, Marc Cohn, Jools Holland, Matchbox Twenty, The Cult, BoyHaunt, Gladys Knight, Trent Summar and The West Coast Mob, Smashing Pumpkins, Del McCoury, OK Go, Exodus, Molly Leach, Tom Morello, O.A.R., Madness, The Crystal Method, DrunkHungry, Deadmau5, Zac Brown, CrysP Tyger, Bighead Todd and the Monsters, Jake Shimabukuro, Barenaked Ladies, Tsar, Killola and more. Donnelly regularly performs with Nathan Jacques as well as Little Silver Hearts and records with GhostsDream. Little known fact: He previously held Top Secret Security Clearance with the U.S. Department of State and Q Clearance from the Department of Energy.
He currently runs The Barber’s Basement Recording Studio in Highland Park and is a partner in The Atmos at Lemontree Studio.
