Bright Sparks is posted every few weeks and offers a collection of really great songs that we’re determined not to let slip past our radar. Why not get acquainted with Vol. 17?
Goshen Electric Co. – The Gray Tower
We’re huge fans of Jason Molina here at VSF, so imagine our excitement when it was announced Strand of Oaks‘ Timothy Showalter was standing in for him for a special tour, as Magnolia Electric Co. (Mike Benner, Jason Evans Groth, Mikey Kapinus, Mark Rice, Peter Schreiner) welcome Showalter into their ranks to form Goshen Electric Co. In addition to a tour, the new outfit are releasing a single, and the first track is available to hear now, complete with a video from Colin Kerrigan and Rocco Avallone.
‘The Gray Tower’, which was first released as a single in 2002, is a perfect fit for Showalter’s delivery, capturing the atmosphere of the original where the foreboding and dread is matched only by the naked humanity beneath. “Jason’s lyrics were darkly heroic,” Showalter says. “Trying to fight against it. Just the word ‘try’—whenever he says ‘try,’ it’s just magic to me.”
The Gray Tower B/W Ring the Bell is to be released by Secretly Canadian on the 2nd November and you can pre-order it now.
Lea Thomas – Upstream
Lea Thomas is a songwriter, textile artist and “lifelong student of ecology” from Maui, Hawaii, and her music draws upon these features in its distinctive style. The opening song of new EP Part of This Place, single ‘Upstream’ is the perfect example—a track through which nature is interwoven, the patient and delicate sensibility hiding a sense of permanence and grace, the parts coalescing into a organic whole. Indeed, much of the album came to life during a stay in the Vermont wilderness, with Thomas embracing any imperfections within the recording as part of the naturalistic aesthetic the music exhibits.
“When I feel the soil breaking free
Sliding down the banks between the colors of spring
I feel the warmth of a woman pouring out of me”
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Part Of This Place is out now via Spirit House Records and you can get it from Bandcamp.
Elly Swope – Idea
Having become a well-known face in the Portland music scene, playing with the likes of Kelli Schaefer, Roseblood, Genders, Sunbathe and Deathlist, this autumn sees Elly Swope’s first proper solo release. Despite playing much of the parts herself, Swope’s sound subverts all conceptions of what solo music can entail, possessing a rich texture and runaway energy that any full band would envy.
Lead single ‘Idea’ is a case in point, sparking into life with a momentum that lets up only to climb toward a bigger release, Swope’s self-assured vocals more than a match for the angular guitars and furious drums. Thematically, the track charts the deconstruction and subsequent reconstruction of identity that follows the end of a relationship. “This song is about the ways in which we dissociate after a breakup,” Swope explains, life separated into what is personal and what was shared, and what must now be let go.
It Feels the Same Everytime is out via Rue Defense on the 9th November. Per-order it now via Bandcamp.
Massage – Crying Out Loud
Massage is a new project from Alex Naidus, who you might know as a founding member of Pains of Being Pure At Heart. Taken from their debut album, Oh Boy, single ‘Crying Out Loud’ is a bittersweet song which delves into “the frustration of deeply caring about someone but not being able to spend time with them without something going wrong.” The sentiment is set against an upbeat tempo to produce a sunny kind of sadness, a wistful sense of loss that’s almost as affirming as it is painful.
The track comes complete with a video from director Thaddeus Ruzicka, and the film textures of the footage capturing the Massage aesthetic perfectly.
Oh Boy is out now via Tear Jerk Records and you can buy it from Bandcamp.
Belaver – Grave Robber
With new single ‘Grave Robber’, New York’s Belaver aims to give the listener a guided tour of “a world of exhumination,” a place of dark unease “where the past is a crypt of memories to rob and a skeleton yet to be discovered.” After time fronting doom-folk band listenlisten, such a style is fitting for B.E. Godfrey, his music exploring the dark and dingy corners of the human experience. Indeed, this latest single follows the killer-themed EP, Wild Desperation, which he put out in 2015.
Utilising a mix of acoustic guitar and synths to support Godfrey’s distinctive vocals, ‘Grave Robber’ feels like a cross between Mt. Eerie and Monarch Mtn—twilit and noir-ish, traipsing through ancient catacombs and holding a torch to whatever dusty relics are found.
You can find Belaver on Spotify and Soundcloud.
Spencer Segelov – Sacred Songs
Spencer Segelov is a musician and songwriter from Caerphilly in South Wales. Previously working under the moniker Spencer McGarry Season, Segelov has explored a diverse range of styles in his time, from rock and jazz to a whole range of pops—indie pop, synth pop, baroque pop—and his new record Loser Leaves Town continues the multifaceted approach. In contrast to the barroom jazz of the title track, ‘Sacred Songs’ is a piano ballad that blurs the line between earnest and playful, though the chorus settles firmly within the sincere end of the equation.
Loser Leaves Town is out now via Country Mile and all the major download services.
Lazy Legs – Nosebleed
We’ve featured Portland grungers Lazy Legs a few times here at VSF, writing about their self-titled EP back in 2016 and describing how previous single ‘Gloss’ “pull[ed] off the quiet/loud dynamic effortlessly […] managing to be both woozily captivating and cathartically empowering.”
The duo are back with a new single, ‘Nosebleed’, the first taste of a forthcoming record, Moth Mother. ‘Nosebleed’ delves into a raw and spiky dreamscape, dropping the psychedelic flourishes of the previous release in favour of a crunchy, heavier sound. The result is still very much of the Lazy Legs aesthetic, though suggests the new album will see the band orbiting closer to their grunge and slowcore influences.
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Grab ‘Nosebleed’ now on a pay-what-you-can basis from Bandcamp.
Annie Dressner – Fades Away
We last featured Annie Dressner back in 2013, and now the UK-based American is back with a brand new album, Broken Into Pieces. For those unfamiliar with Dressner’s sound, opener ‘Fades Away’ provides a good example, blending a delicate guitar line with a conversational tone to create an intimate sound. The track is fleshed out with various other instrumental flourishes too, becoming a vivid, warm song of surprising weight, the simplicity of Dressner’s writing only adding to the poetic nature.
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Broken Into Pieces is out now and you can get it now from the Annie Dressner Bandcamp page.
Marc Ferrino – Like a Spark
Working in bands such as Black Before Red and Low Line Caller, Marc Ferrino forged a reputation as one of Austin’s best vocalists, and 2019 will see the release of his debut solo EP on Wren & Shark. So far we only have one song to go on, though ‘Like a Spark’ is more than satisfactory in terms of building anticipation for the record. Pitched between indie rock cool and a celebratory style of pop, the track serves as one final hurrah for the summer—a grand, sweeping ode to ephemeral warmth.
Like a Spark is set for release in 2019 via Wren & Shark. Keep an eye on their website for pre-order info.