The summer of 2003 was a hot one in eastern Washington, and my concrete bunker of an apartment contained the heat like no other. Granted, the above image wasn’t shot by yours truly until 2004, but it sure seemed hot enough to ignite even the least combustible of items. I wrapped up my undergraduate that December, which was cold as Antarctica, and upon that milestone I moved to Seattle. It was a good year for the Northwest; many of my favorite albums came from Seattle labels like …

Sad news was released last Friday, as the independent music world lost an amazing talent, and the world lost an amazing individual. Jeff Hanson was found dead in his new apartment; preliminary reports are calling it an accidental fall. I met Jeff a few years back when he performed at a small art gallery in Moscow, ID. Everyone always talks about how his voice was like no other, but for me it was that coupled with the passion in which he relayed his songs to his audience.

Written by Fense
Madam Owl is the title of the new album by Jeff Hanson (MySpace), out now on Kill Rock Stars, and it’s quite a change from Son and his self-titled release. Overall, Hanson departs from folk and dives headlong into pop. However, that’s not the biggest change on Madam Owl… no, it’s the addition of orchestration that really sets this album apart from his prior catalog.