Sacramento-based singer-songwriter Bobby Halvorson is pleased to release his latest single  “Function,” the last single to be lifted from his album Parasympathy out May 13 (pre-save).  Parasympathy, which will be released on up-and-coming label George Records, will include many of the songs he’s recently released in addition to five more unreleased tracks. 

Bobby Halvorson’s latest single, “Function” was made in bits and pieces over the last three years. It began with that incessant keyboard pulse and constant slamming of the ride cymbal. Bobby Halvorson says, “I wanted the listener to feel the agitation of being rushed to get to a certain place.” He adds, “When you’re younger and working on yourself it’s so easy to believe that there is some endpoint where you have it all figured out. Of course, there is no endpoint even if you can envision it so clearly. I often find myself trying to get to a place of peace and certainly as fast as possible so I start demanding more of myself by changing habits and lifestyle: read this, do this exercise, eat like this, etc. Over the past few years, I have truly beaten myself down trying to arrive at the place I feel I should be. I’ve been very mean and unfair toward myself. This song is about that state of mind.”

Parasympathy was recorded in Bobby’s home studio both in Los Angeles and Sacramento. As an arranger and composer, Halvorson has connected with many fantastic multi-instrumentalists over the years in California and elsewhere. From his band Brother, Sister, Halvorson enlisted drummer Soichiro Tanabe, violinist Benjamin Fordham, vocalist Heather Ogilvy O’Malley, and bassist Kiefo Nilsson. Old friends from CalArts, Marcus Buser of Sun Kiss and Cooper Wolken of Kidi Band provided the rhythm section on “Nothing Feels Like Home.” Due to pandemic restrictions, many musicians had to build home-recording setups to offer their services to producers in need. String players Henna Chou and Christabel Lin sent their recorded strings all the way over from Austin, TX. Liza Wallace played and co-arranged harp on “My Love” and Joe Berry and Taylor Plenn graced a couple of tunes with their saxophones, all self-recorded and sent to Halvorson for mixing. As a final step, Halvorson worked with his go-to mixing engineer Daniel Eaton at Little Castle Mastering to put the final touches on the album.