David Bowie was constantly building (and rebuilding) mythos throughout his career, in part fueled by regularly assembling “supergroups” of unreal and unique talents to join him on his sonic adventures. But Bowie never used the term “supergroup” – instead allowing the individual talents of Visconti, Eno, Rodgers, Vaughn, Ronson, and many others to shine brightly on their own through a shared musical fusion that somehow refined ideas from multiple minds.
The origin of Opal Eskar followed a similar path. Conceived by longtime friends and Later Fortune founders Chet Delcampo and Heyward Howkins, inspired by the Starman himself, the goal was purely the alchemy of musical collaboration.
Connecting with other legends from the Philly scene, the project took physical shape with the additions of Charlie Hall and Robbie Bennett, drummer and keyboardist respectively of The War on Drugs. The final piece of the puzzle arrived in the form of modern-day-mystic turned indie songwriter darling - singer Karl Blau. Evolving from an idea into a full five-piece band of multi-instrumentalists, Opal Eskar quickly recorded a handful of tunes, five of which form their upcoming debut EP.
When Hall and Bennett took off in early 2022 for a world tour with The War on Drugs, the close musical companionship was on a roll. So much so that principal songwriters Delcampo, Howkins, and Blau were not able to stop the creative juices flowing, so they channeled their talents into yet another Opal Eskar song – their debut single “Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out” – available worldwide through Underflow Records as of August 5, 2022.
Combining analog recording with the wide array of talents from Chet Delcampo, Heyward Howkins, Karl Blau, Charlie Hall, and Robbie Bennett – Opal Eskar are rebranding the idea of “the supergroup” with their own mythology – rooted in collaboration, friendship, and humility.
“Longtime Philly scenesters Chet Delcampo (of Hong Kong Stingray and more) and Heyward Howkins teamed up with the comparatively new-to-town Karl Blau on a dreamy new project called Opal Eskar. Dappled in light bongo beats, a rippling guitar undercurrent, and layered vocal harmonies, the project’s new single is a Philly answer to Phosphorescent, and is released via Underflow Records.
With the amount of days this August topping 90 degrees, “Sunlight Is Breakin’ Out” is a reflection of the languid heat wave energy while a solid means of keeping sonically cool; “this song is fresh out of the mental gates just in time for Indian Summer,” the band writes on Instagram.
Opal Eskar described what they do as “modern sounds of Philadelphia” and plans to release an EP in “fall-ish.” ”
