Ears Wide Open: Half Wolf

Kevin Bronson on October 1st, 2019

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Hannah Westerholm is a Fargo, N.D., native who moved to Minneapolis and now to Los Angeles to further her musical exploits under the moniker Half Wolf (not to be confused with a Detroit rapper using the same name). She’s vowing to release singles only on new moon cycles, because, well, even though wolves and the moon go back a long way, she’s only Half Wolf.

So last week brought the release of her second single “Cigarette Smoke,” the follow-up to August’s “Pretty Lonely.” Both are moving, spare bedroom meditations that showcase her resonant voice, which is equal parts vulnerability and resolve.

She calls her debut single “a bedroom prayer on what it is to be alone with self-acceptance,” written during a period of isolation. “I’m feeling pretty / And I’m feeling lonely / And I’m feeling pretty lonely,” she sings.

The new single draws a parallel between oppressive secondhand smoke and a lousy relationship. “It all came from personal experience of an abusive partner rolling the car windows up while smoking his cigarettes,” she explains. “Not only a literal account, but metaphorical. This is a story using cigarette addiction as a metaphor for the waves of confusion and power struggle that comes with loving your abuser. My hope is that survivors can find comfort and empowerment in hearing a multidimensional point of view on an abusive relationship.”

||| Stream: “Pretty Lonely”