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An Early Review of 'Dandelion', the New Single From Hail Your Highness

Writer's picture: Jackson PatinoJackson Patino





Dandelion packs undeniable power and emotion into a gleaming, iconic song, and The Jam Files were thrilled to get an early listen to this new single by Hail Your Highness.


The experience of Dandelion is a journey of multifaceted emotions and visualizations. The song provides the listener with the feeling of a cradling fluidity: being held between the airiness of the music and emotional darkness of the lyrics. Imagine yourself staring up at the clouds, floating in water, adrift, sun set and light fading. A complimentary yin and yang of melancholy and golden light, the listener is empathetically ready to undertake what lies ahead.


"I’ve got to do it all

from memory"


With a limited opportunity for time at Round Table Recording Company, Dandelion is the gemstone product of putting pressure on difficult emotions. Jessie and Niki Bobenmoyer of Hail Your Highness were struggling with the loss of someone close to them when this song was written in April of last year.


"Dandelion wasn't the song we expected to write for this person, but it just flowed out of us during this practice session we were having and instead of forcing ourselves to rehearse in this defeated state we were in, we allowed music to do one of the most magical things it can do, heal."


"...with Dandelion, it was purely emotional. It was exactly what we were feeling at the exact moment it happened… we were trying to exercise this numb feeling out of our bodies through music."


You can find a video of the writing process on the band’s TikTok. The story behind the title comes from their friend’s last photo: a seeding dandelion, captioned with "Gently go and tickle the people who are precious to me, letting them know that Spring has come." This inspired the duo into reflections on the benefits of the flowering plant and the views people take on their spread. The duality of life on this earth.


"The lyrics took shape from that feeling of one day someone is in this world and waking up the next day to hear that they're gone forever. You can't ever see or feel them again. They went somewhere you can't follow and how are you supposed to deal with that reality?"


There is a sharpness and clarity that takes hold in the body of Dandelion, and many of Hail Your Highness' songs have a distinctive metallic signature amid their dream rock sound. It is a definitive raw physicality that cuts through at the right moment emphasizing what needs to be said. Dandelion, in particular, is a vulnerable expression of a low they faced in life that translated into the truth of song.


"I know where you are

even in the dark"


The band experimented to a strongly positive outcome. Niki changed up her drumming and Jessie took bass on this lo-fi sound. Additionally, the duo took on a lower tone and range. They recorded in June of last year after a decade-long absence from the studio environment, and only with a window of five hours.


"It wasn't necessarily rushed, but we were focusing more on capturing authenticity rather than perfection. Working with our engineer, Bone, always gives us the confidence we need. We've been recording with him for 8 years now, so having him behind the board in that amazing studio gave us the confidence to really pull through."


"Dandelions grow

everywhere you move"


The results of this session proved true to the title, an elegiac ode, to the blooming spring harbinger, moving with persistence and grace. Something that is seen and unseen, here and there, moving with the wind on warming days.



Check out “Dandelion” on July 19 anywhere you stream music. Hail Your Highness can be found on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Bandcamp.




Jackson Patino is an artist and photographer living in Traverse City. Check out his website at jacksonpatino.com

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