With their latest release ‘Love In The Time Of War’, San Francisco’s Casa Del Sol capture a rare and deeply human moment — one where awe, pain, joy, and uncertainty coexist in perfect, disorienting harmony. The track, pulled from their full-length debut ‘Strange Angels’, is an invocation: a plea for empathy, a meditation on vulnerability, and a hymn for perseverance.
Written by frontman John “Mad Johnny” Modell on the day his first child was born, the song is steeped in lived experience. The kind of moment that etches itself permanently in memory — raw, surreal, and transformative. That feeling permeates every note of the recording, from the lush organ swells to the aching guitar work and Modell’s raspy, world-worn voice. There’s a spiritual thread that runs through it all — not religious, but reverent in its portrayal of love as both sanctuary and rebellion.
Decades after its initial conception, the track gains new layers as Modell’s son — whose birth inspired the song — stood in the studio as it was laid to tape. That moment, quiet yet powerful, reflects the heart of Casa Del Sol’s mission: to seek beauty in the cracks, to sing truth when the world rages, and to remind us that light can still seep through the darkest rooms.
Stylistically, the band weave together elements of cosmic Americana, psych-tinged folk, and soulful gospel, evoking everything from early Pink Floyd to Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’. Yet ‘Love In The Time Of War’ never feels like homage — it breathes with its own pulse, marked by genuine emotion and meticulous craft.
As the world stumbles forward in its perpetual chaos, Casa Del Sol deliver a track that doesn’t flinch. It stares into the storm and sings anyway. In doing so, they’ve gifted us a song not just for today, but for all the days that ask us to find grace in the grind.