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	<title>Annie Schultz Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: April 2026 #1</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/07/weekly-listening-april-2026-1/</link>
					<comments>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/07/weekly-listening-april-2026-1/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:37:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Annie Schultz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antiquated Future Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bleary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Death Tennis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Golden Tiles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josephine Illingworth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[london]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Minneapolis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[montreal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nashville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nic Panken]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ohio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paper Bag Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailing Twelve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Villagerr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yk records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zoon]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=48136</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Annie Schultz &#8211; Search and Destroy &#8220;Picks through self-destructive tendencies in something like a lament, swapping guitar for organ to further amplify the sorrowful atmosphere of the Minneapolis-based songwriter’s work.&#8221; So we wrote of Annie Schultz&#8217;s recent single &#8216;MIS&#8216;, a track which marked a conscious effort to move away from the blueprint of previous album It Bends Until It Breaks to open up new territory. Latest single &#8216;Search and Destroy&#8217; is further proof such experimentation yields fruit. Schultz uses a woozily [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/07/weekly-listening-april-2026-1/">Weekly Listening: April 2026 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Annie Schultz &#8211; Search and Destroy</h3>
<p>&#8220;Picks through self-destructive tendencies in something like a lament, swapping guitar for organ to further amplify the sorrowful atmosphere of the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/minneapolis/">Minneapolis</a>-based songwriter’s work.&#8221; So we wrote of Annie Schultz&#8217;s recent single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/23/weekly-listening-february-2026-4/">MIS</a>&#8216;, a track which marked a conscious effort to move away from the blueprint of previous album <em>It Bends Until It Breaks </em>to open up new territory. Latest single &#8216;Search and Destroy&#8217; is further proof such experimentation yields fruit. Schultz uses a woozily layered combination of drum machine and keyboards to evoke a dreamlike world, though a pressing electric bassline pulls the listener through. What emerges is something hypnotic and slightly ambiguous, playing somewhere between antagonistic and alluring and never quite showing its hand.</p>
<p><iframe title="Annie Schultz - Search and Destroy (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7SBZ2mdmBu4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;Search and Destroy&#8217; is out now via Trailing Twelve and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Bleary &#8211; Foyer</h3>
<p>&#8220;If <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bleary">Bleary</a>‘s new single ‘bug’ seems to carry a notable sense of depth, then it is with good reason,&#8221; we wrote in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/23/weekly-listening-february-2026-4/">a preview</a> of the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nashville/">Nashville</a> band’s full-length <em>Little Brain </em>back in February, the song taken from a body of work first developed before the pandemic then more recently honed into something special. With the album&#8217;s release little over a month away via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/yk-records">yk records</a>, the outfit have shared brand new track &#8216;Foyer&#8217;, and the result is no less impressive. The perfect introduction to the signature Bleary aesthetic, where big wall-of-sound shoegaze sensibilities are paired with a mood more reflective and melancholic. The result is something equal parts visceral and thoughtful that&#8217;s sure to swallow you in its embrace.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=957653979/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1259156467/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://bleary.bandcamp.com/album/little-brain">Little Brain by Bleary</a></iframe></center><em>Little Brain</em> will be released via yk Records on 15th May. Pre-order it now from the Bleary <a href="https://bleary.bandcamp.com/album/little-brain">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Death Tennis &#8211; Racehorse</h3>
<p>Based in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nashville/">Montreal</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Death-Tennis">Death Tennis</a> are a indie rock band unafraid of emotion, as new EP <em>Thank You. No, Thank You</em> attests. Talya Gad (vocals) Marco Petrella (guitar, vocals), Dave Hjin (electric guitars, acoustic guitars), Nathan Cann (electric guitars), Matthew McCormack (bass) and Daniel Pavkeje (drums) add healthy dollops of alt and shoegaze influences to bring these high stakes to life, allowing tenderness and weight to sit side by side. Take opener and single &#8216;Racehorse&#8217;, an emotive number which places Gad&#8217;s sincere vocals front and centre, though gradually deepens into something epic. &#8220;&#8216;Racehorse&#8217; is a song about loss, told from the perspective of the recently departed,&#8221; the band explain. &#8220;Do we get a chance to communicate with those we loved from the other side?&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=812087571/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://deathtennis.bandcamp.com/track/racehorse">Racehorse by Death Tennis</a></iframe></center><em>Thank You. No, Thank You</em> is out now and available from the Death Tennis <a href="https://deathtennis.bandcamp.com/album/thank-you-no-thank-you">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Frog &#8211; Dark Out</h3>
<p>&#8220;Thank you for the day but go slow when you walk out, its dark out,&#8221; sings Daniel Bateman on &#8216;Dark Out&#8217;, the latest single from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/frog/">Frog</a>&#8216;s new album <em>Frog for Sale</em>, coming soon via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/audio-antihero">Audio Antihero</a>. &#8220;The dogs are barking like Dachau / I need you when it’s dark out.&#8221; These lines might sound like depression condensed into half a verse, but the track itself is altogether more jaunty and cool, continuing the new sleek style introduced on previous albums <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/20/frog-1000-variations-on-the-same-song/"><em>1000 Variations of the Same Song</em></a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/08/29/frog-bitten-by-my-love-var-xi/"><em>The Count</em></a>. The result has all the idiosyncratic style which has won the New York outfit such a following, managing to maintain a toe-tapping brightness despite the desperation and soul bubbling beneath the surface.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3695286924/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2889834279/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://heyitsfrog.bandcamp.com/album/frog-for-sale">Frog for Sale by Frog</a></iframe></center><em>Frog For Sale</em> comes out via Audio Antihero on 17th April. Grab a copy now from <a href="https://heyitsfrog.bandcamp.com/album/frog-for-sale">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Golden Tiles &#8211; Peace</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portland/">Portland</a> trio <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/golden-tiles/">Golden Tiles</a> announced themselves to the world in late 2024 with <em>The First EP</em>. Back then <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/12/09/weekly-listening-december-2024-2/">we described</a> their sound as “a bright, laidback brand of basement rock which combines playful melodies, fuzzy textures and reflective vocals,” inspired by the last forty-odd years of PNW lo-fi indie rock. Next month, Golden Tiles will release their debut LP, <em>Set Up on the Leaves</em>, via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/antiquated-future-records/">Antiquated Future Records</a>, and the record looks to build on the band’s early promise. Expect catchy pop melodies, left-field song structures and an eye for improvisation, taking something that could feel nostalgic and twisting it into new shapes. Lead single ‘Peace’ is a great introduction. A fleeting sub two-minute rock song that feels warm and intimate but with an air of bittersweet mystery, there and then gone in a flash of satisfying guitar, rambling percussion and fragmentary lyrics.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4289695120/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1439488250/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://antiquatedfuture.bandcamp.com/album/set-up-on-the-leaves">Set Up on the Leaves by Golden Tiles</a></iframe></center><em>Set Up on the Leaves</em> will be released on 1st May. Pre-order now from the Golden Tiles <a href="https://antiquatedfuture.bandcamp.com/album/set-up-on-the-leaves">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Josephine Illingworth &#8211; The Mythical</h3>
<p>The work of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/london/">London</a>-based musician and multi-disciplinary artist <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Josephine-Illingworth">Josephine Illingworth</a> sits at the intersection of song, storytelling and soundscape, drawing on traditions of folk music and folklore but with a modern, experimental edge. Her forthcoming EP, <em>Bright Things I Found In The Dark</em>, follows the narrative of a girl raised by wolves, mapped across the lunar cycle and enveloped in field recordings to intertwine each song in the rhythms of nature. Lead single &#8216;The Mythical&#8217; was in some ways the record&#8217;s genesis, the first song written for it and a critical inflection point in the story where it is still unclear which direction it will take. &#8220;[&#8216;The Mythical&#8217;] sits in the moment of childhood awakening where reality sharpens and the soft edges of fairytale fall away,&#8221; Illingworth describes, &#8220;when you can no longer see shapes in the clouds or voices under the bed. It’s about refusing to quite let that other world go.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="The Mythical" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z7buhCiwcYU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Bright Things I Found In The Dark</em> will be released on 1st May.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Motherhood &#8211; Kyle Hangs Ten</h3>
<p>Canadian rock outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/motherhood/">Motherhood</a> have never been content to sit still, constantly hopping between genres and moods across their five full-length albums, and often within those records too. When working on last year&#8217;s <em>Thunder Perfect Mind</em>, they couldn&#8217;t quite settle on a single form of one of the songs, vacillating between surf and spaghetti western sensibilities. The later vibe won out for the eventual album track &#8216;Kyle Hangs At Noon&#8217;, but the sister version was also recorded and is now being released as a b-side. &#8216;Kyle Hangs Ten&#8217; is an interesting counterpart to its twin, ramping up the tempo to make for a perfect slice of summer, while also serving as a window into the creative spirit of a band constantly pushing at the boundaries of their own work. &#8220;Usually by the time we release a song, the original influences have been hidden under layers of subterfuge, with our attraction to play far outweighing our ability to stay put,&#8221; they explain. &#8220;With &#8216;Kyle Hangs Ten,&#8217; we were trying to write the most surfy song we could without over-complicating a genre that, at it’s core, is just swaggy country music.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3571394129/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://motherhoodmusic.bandcamp.com/track/kyle-hangs-ten">Kyle Hangs Ten by Motherhood</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Kyle Hangs Ten&#8217; is out now via Forward Music Group and is available from <a href="https://motherhoodmusic.bandcamp.com/track/kyle-hangs-ten">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Nic Panken &#8211; Out in the Rain</h3>
<p>&#8220;An compassionate number which takes the image of its title further than you might expect, pushing the love song beyond romance and into something existential.&#8221; That&#8217;s how we described &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/03/12/nic-panken-2-hearts/">2 Hearts</a>&#8216; by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nic-panken/">Nic Panken</a> back in March, the latest single from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Spirit-Family-Reunion">Spirit Family Reunion</a> frontperson&#8217;s forthcoming solo album, <em>Near Divine or Merely Rhyme</em>. With the record now just a week away, Panken has unveiled brand new single &#8216;Out in the Rain&#8217; to further whet appetites. A song which again elevates a personal experience into something near spiritual, it finds Panken positioning love and beauty as things which connect us to older, more mysterious forces. &#8220;Did I see you baring your soul / Uncovered the holy portal,&#8221; as he sings in one typically striking verse, &#8220;Heart was free then, resting in flight / A parcel of light immortal.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1118503151/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=590321559/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://nicpanken.bandcamp.com/album/near-divine-or-merely-rhyme">Near Divine or Merely Rhyme by Nic Panken</a></iframe></center>Nic Panken will release <em>Near Divine or Merely Rhyme</em> on 10th April. Get it now from <a href="https://nicpanken.bandcamp.com/album/near-divine-or-merely-rhyme">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">villagerrr &#8211; Swimming</h3>
<p>Last month we shared ‘Locket’, the lead single from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/villagerrr/">villagerrr</a>’s new record <em>Carousel</em>. <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/03/03/weekly-listening-march-2026-1/">We described</a> how the record celebrates the act of opening up, that combination of fear and joy involved in, as we put it “the attempt to communicate in earnest with another person within a world which often seems designed to hinder such a thing.” <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear/">Winspear</a> will release the record at the end of next month, and villagerrr have dropped a new track to tide us over until then. Titled ‘Swimming’, it’s another slice of sincere indie pop, this time nudged in a country-ish direction with sparkles of pedal steel and Mark Scott’s signature heart-on-sleeve lyrics that focus on small pleasures in the face of the day-to-day trials of existence. “I cried watching the TV, it felt a lot like healing,” he sings in a typically frank line that captures the song’s balance between struggle and self-acceptance. &#8220;This song will be my enemy / My brain it wants to kill me.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1776242545/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3180188653/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://villagerrr.bandcamp.com/album/carousel">Carousel by villagerrr</a></iframe></center><em>Carousel</em> comes out on 29th May via Winspear. Pre-order a copy now from <a href="https://villagerrr.bandcamp.com/album/carousel">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Zoon &#8211; One Too Many Nights (feat. Sam Jr.)</h3>
<p>We have previously described the work of Daniel Monkman&#8217;s project <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/zoon/">Zoon</a> as &#8220;an ever-evolving sound rooted in shoegaze that explores themes of activism and Indigenous experience.&#8221; The Polaris Prize-shortlisted musician draws as much from traditional First Nations music as they do contemporary indie rock, and in doing so explores themes both national and intensely personal. June sees the release of a brand new Zoon record, <em>Happy Thought School</em>, on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/paper-bag-records/">Paper Bag Records</a>, and lead single &#8216;One Too Many Nights&#8217; is our first glimpse. Monkman is joined by Sam Jr. for a cathartic exploration of the strange unmooring caused by the end of a relationship. “When a relationship ends, it’s not just the person you lose it’s the version of yourself that existed beside them,” Monkman describes. ‘“One Too Many Nights’ is about that recalibration. I don’t date often, so when something shifts, it shifts my whole orbit. In that moment, being alone felt like the honest path forward.”</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3606612919/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1104955736/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://zoongideewinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/happy-thought-school">Happy Thought School by Zoon</a></iframe></center><em>Happy Thought School</em> comes out on 19th June via Paper Bag Records. Pre-order now from <a href="https://zoongideewinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/happy-thought-school">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/07/weekly-listening-april-2026-1/">Weekly Listening: April 2026 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">48136</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: February 2026 #4</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/23/weekly-listening-february-2026-4/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:18:52 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Annie Schultz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atlanta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bleary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Casa Joven]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Dirt Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[future gods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gothenburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guatemala]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hockitay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indecent Artistry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joyful Noise Recordings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[knoxville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Minneapolis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[montreal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nashville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nic Panken]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[No Spinoza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rope Bridge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tennessee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Foot & Leg Clinic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Montvales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Same Sky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailing Twelve Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wendy Eisenberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yk records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[York]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=47768</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Annie Schultz &#8211; MIS &#8220;An introspective view on shame,&#8221; was how we described &#8216;Wave&#8217; from Annie Schultz&#8216;s It Bends Until It Breaks, released via Trailing Twelve Records back in 2023. A song which paired Catholic guilt with a more ecstatic aspect of religious imagery to rise through darkness towards something almost triumphant. Now Schultz is back with &#8216;MIS&#8217;, a similarly evocative track that picks through self-destructive tendencies in something like a lament, swapping guitar for organ to further amplify the [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/23/weekly-listening-february-2026-4/">Weekly Listening: February 2026 #4</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Annie Schultz &#8211; MIS</h3>
<p>&#8220;An introspective view on shame,&#8221; was how we described &#8216;Wave&#8217; from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/annie-schultz/">Annie Schultz</a>&#8216;s <em>It Bends Until It Breaks</em>, released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/trailing-twelve-records/">Trailing Twelve Records</a> back in 2023. A song which paired Catholic guilt with a more ecstatic aspect of religious imagery to rise through darkness towards something almost triumphant. Now Schultz is back with &#8216;MIS&#8217;, a similarly evocative track that picks through self-destructive tendencies in something like a lament, swapping guitar for organ to further amplify the sorrowful atmosphere of the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/minneapolis/">Minneapolis</a>-based songwriter&#8217;s work. “With ‘MIS,’ I wanted to move away from the guitar-based formula I’m used to,” as Schultz explains. “I filled the song out with Casio organ patches, layered harmonies, and a double bass arrangement, which I later realized was a subconscious influence from songs like ‘Oh Well, OK’ by Elliott Smith.”</p>
<p><iframe title="MIS" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZTL6ekm0OK8?list=OLAK5uy_kIfiXEpoJpThWaYkX0ojVBfT3m3HYcd5Q" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;MIS&#8217; is out now via Trailing Twelve Records and available from <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/57KT7FYKKGnWH6rPzDaQ23?si=788a2176b4f14e8c">the usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Bleary &#8211; bug</h3>
<p>If <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bleary">Bleary</a>&#8216;s new single &#8216;bug&#8217; seems to carry a notable sense of depth, then it is with good reason. Featuring on the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nashville/">Nashville</a> group&#8217;s full-length <em>Little Brain</em>, coming this May via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/yk-records">yk records</a>, the track is part of a larger body of work that was first developed prior to the pandemic. Callan Dwan, Peter Mercer, Taro Yamazaki and Luke Fedorko pushed these songs further in their home studio during lockdowns, before taking them to Joshua Ditty and Mike Purcell to record them in their final, sumptuous form. As &#8216;bug&#8217; attests, this long gestation period bears real fruit. The Bleary sound packs an emotional punch with its combination of soaring energy and considerable heft. A wall of sound in the truest sense, yet one which boosts the listener up so that they might see further over its height.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3422437406/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://bleary.bandcamp.com/track/bug">bug by Bleary</a></iframe></center><em>Little Brain</em> will be released on the 15th May via yk records. &#8216;bug&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://bleary.bandcamp.com/track/bug">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Exam Season &#8211; Dreaming of a Dog</h3>
<p>Ringwood indie pop band <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/exam-season/">Exam Season</a> formed in 2016 and, despite releasing a series of singles and EPs, have never put out a full-length record. That is, until now. The four-piece, Ed Watson (guitar/vocals), Jack Laurilla (guitar), Louis Kneale (bass) and Toby Matthews (drums), have unveiled their first new song in over five years, and with it the promise of a debut record sometime in 2026. You will have to be patient for news on the record, but single &#8216;Dreaming of a Dog&#8217; should tide you over just fine. It&#8217;s a love song, though not exactly a saccharine one. Instead the narrator addresses his significant other and their lives together with all the imperfections left in. &#8220;We’re two shards of glass, with a key piece missing,&#8221; as he puts it in the final line, &#8220;We both feel like dying and that’s what keeps us living.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3860808995/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://examseason.bandcamp.com/track/dreaming-of-a-dog">Dreaming of a Dog by Exam Season</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Dreaming of a Dog&#8217; is out now and available via the Exam Season <a href="https://examseason.bandcamp.com/track/dreaming-of-a-dog">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Foot &amp; Leg Clinic &#8211; Where did all the fruit go?</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/glasgow/">Glasgow</a>-based self-described &#8216;wonk-rockers&#8217; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/the-foot-and-leg-clinic">The Foot &amp; Leg Clinic</a> (FKA The Wife Guys of Reddit) are gearing up to release new album <em>Sit Down for Rock and Roll </em>via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bingo-records/">Bingo Records</a> next month, and the album promises to be something of an inflection point for the band. After a difficult few years of illness, bereavement and general unpleasantness, the quartet (Niamh R MacPhail, Arion Xenos, Angus Fernie and Elise Atkinson) saw the opportunity to re-examine their methods of working and lean into the constraints brought about by change. “We were kind of forced to work at a slower pace, but probably for the better of the final product,” MacPhail explains. And Xenos agrees: “It still feels eclectic, but it’s a little bit more focused. We definitely thought about this as an album project when working on it, as opposed to other things before.” Any fans worried something might be lost in the process need not worry, because lead single &#8216;Where did all the fruit go?&#8217; finds the band as idiosyncratic as ever. Although the song perhaps represents a newfound sincerity for The Foot &amp; Leg Clinic, some earnest attempt to communicate fighting through the chaotic energy to make itself heard.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4121323099/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3837238288/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://legclinicband.bandcamp.com/album/sit-down-for-rock-and-roll">Sit Down for Rock and Roll by The Foot &amp; Leg Clinic</a></iframe></center><em>Sit Down for Rock and Roll</em> will be released on the 13th March via Bingo Records and you can pre-order it from <a href="https://legclinicband.bandcamp.com/album/sit-down-for-rock-and-roll">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">GREBE &#8211; Insurance</h3>
<p>A melting pot of slowcore, shoegaze, alternative and indie rock influences, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/GREBE">GREBE</a>&#8216;s 2025 debut EP <em>If You Squint It’s All Soup</em> established the dynamism and versatility of the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/atlanta">Atlanta</a> outfit, and now a year later they are ready to let loose full-length <em>Hell Diver</em> to build upon these beginnings and capitalise on the momentum. Coming in April via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/indecent-artistry">Indecent Artistry</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/rope-bridge">Rope Bridge</a>, the album sees Kade Whitlark (vocals, rhythm guitar) Logan Neely (guitar) and William Gunnin (drums) match attention to detail with raw energy, practising a tried and tested quiet-loud dynamic to achieve songs of considerable size and cathartic potential. Take ingle &#8216;Insurance&#8217;, a track which simmers with promise before sparking to life periodically, a sound which matches the radical conflagration that&#8217;s suggested in the lyrics.</p>
<p><iframe title="Insurance" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K4RVFOorP-o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em> Hell Diver</em> will be released on the 17th April via Indecent Artistry and Rope Bridge.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Hockitay &#8211; over/over</h3>
<p>Born in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/guatemala/">Guatemala</a> and now based in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/montreal">Montreal</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Hockitay">Hockitay</a> won serious attention with the EP <em>slo mach </em>back in 2025, the release straddling bedroom pop, slowcore, R&amp;B and electronic styles to explore a present moment marked by exhaustion and alienation. Out via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/future-gods/">Future Gods</a>, latest single &#8216;over/over&#8217; builds upon these foundations to conjure another very contemporary sound. One where loneliness and restlessness overlap, that curiously digital phenomenon where even an empty room can now be overwhelming. The lyrics dig further into this online world, probing at questions of performance and authenticity (&#8220;I haven’t had an opinion / Since high school,&#8221; Hockitay sings on one verse. &#8220;I wear the jersey / But I’ve never seen them play&#8221;), and the result plays like an urgent plea from an otherwise numb persona.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=199831197/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://hockitay.bandcamp.com/track/over-over">over/over by Hockitay</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Hockitay - over/over" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6rSl2kDPMTo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;over/over&#8217; is out now via Future Gods and available from <a href="https://hockitay.bandcamp.com/track/over-over?from=embed">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Montvales &#8211; Carolina</h3>
<p>Touring in the wake of their successful 2024 album <em>Born Strangers</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/knoxville">Knoxville</a> folk duo <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/the-montvales">The Montvales</a> (songwriters Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson) found their journey coincidentally align with the path of a solar eclipse, every stop filled with people gathered for the once-in-a-lifetime event. But that was not the only notable event unfolding at that time—genocide was taking place in Gaza, student protests were being violently quelled in the US, war dragged on in Europe and the cost of living kept on climbing. New album <em>Path of Totality</em> emerged from this period, a picture of an America seized by a variety of spectacles, and haunted by the possibility of a second term Trump. Ahead of release new month via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/free-dirt-records">Free Dirt Records</a>, The Montvales have shared single &#8216;Carolina&#8217;, and the single is indicative of the compassionate, unapologetically political brand of songwriting which marks the record. &#8220;Written in the wake of Hurricane Helene, &#8216;Carolina&#8217; explores the creeping feeling that late-stage capitalism has left us with very few places that still feel safe,&#8221; Buice explains. &#8220;A testament to the folks who forge ahead in beauty.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="The Montvales - Carolina (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_vDUC_DxNk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Path of Totality</em> will be released on the 20th March via Free Dirt Records and you can pre-order it from <a href="https://themontvales.bandcamp.com/album/path-of-totality">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Nic Panken &#8211; Dear Companion</h3>
<p>You might know <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nic-panken">Nic Panken</a> as the lead of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn">Brooklyn</a> folk outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Spirit-Family-Reunion">Spirit Family Reunion</a>, though he has also recorded solo under his own name in recent years, putting out a variety of singles. This spring sees the release of <em>Near Divine or Merely Rhyme</em>, Panken&#8217;s debut full-length which makes good on the promise of the initial releases. He enlisted an enviable ensemble of guests to bring the songs to life, with Mat Davidson (Big Thief, Twain), Ken Woodward (Buck Meek, Sam Evian), Austin Vaughn (Cassandra Jenkins, Cass McCombs) and David Christian (Karen O, Curtis Harding) all appearing, alongside others, and the result is every bit as rich as such a line-up suggests. Take the earthy warmth of lead single &#8216;Dear Companion&#8217;, the arrangement wrapping around Panken&#8217;s reflective, wistful vocals and elevating the cryptic lyricism into something stirring. “What began as an afterthought became a central part of this record,&#8221; Panken explains. &#8220;After working through the first batch of songs I brought in, more material was needed, and on a whim I shared an early sketch of an idea with my co-producer Jared Samuel. He grabbed a pair of scissors, directing me to cut out each line, shuffle them all up and piece together something new. In the end we added just a few lines to weave it together, and found a wonderfully mysterious place for it all to land.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1118503151/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2473345661/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://nicpanken.bandcamp.com/album/near-divine-or-merely-rhyme">Near Divine or Merely Rhyme by Nic Panken</a></iframe></center><em>Near Divine or Merely Rhyme</em> will be released on 10th April and is available to pre-order now from the Nic Panken <a href="https://nicpanken.bandcamp.com/album/near-divine-or-merely-rhyme">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">No Spinoza &#8211; Airport</h3>
<p>The recording project of York-based musician, poet and artist Thomas Pearson, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/no-spinoza">No Spinoza</a> has made a name with an inventive, often conceptual style of music which is more than happy to jump between genres. After <em>Maxim</em>, an album of nursery rhymes recorded together with Drew Worthley, No Spinoza is now preparing to release brand new full-length <em>Jupiter’s Great Hurricane</em>, and lead single &#8216;Airport&#8217; shows the record is no less ambitious or thought-provoking. &#8220;Before leaving for the airport I asked Saint Anthony: how then should I live my life?&#8221; Pearson sings in the opening lines over a brooding post-punk/art-rock sound. &#8220;He replied: Have no confidence in your own righteousness, your virtue.&#8221; The track takes off from this point, continuing its philosophical musings while transporting the listener high above a stark desert landscape via a combination of taut drums, shimmering synths and jazz-adjacent playfulness.</p>
<p><iframe title="No Spinoza - Airport" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1103680712?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="1170" height="658" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe></p>
<p><em>Jupiter’s Great Hurricane</em> will be released soon.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Same Sky &#8211; What&#8217;s Left</h3>
<p>Based in Montreal and founded by Joseph Simon, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/the-same-sky">The Same Sky</a> is an indie rock outfit which takes elements of shoegaze and post-punk to create what they have labelled &#8216;outsider pop&#8217;. With full-length <em>Haunting in the Mountains</em> coming this April via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Casa-Joven">Casa Joven</a>, The Same Sky have shared new single &#8216;What&#8217;s Left&#8217; to introduce this style. A track where dreamy textures meet an almost mechanical sense of forward motion, and the growing momentum is punctuated by intermittent squalls of noise. Thematically, the single borrows imagery from Greek myth, namely <em>The Odyssey</em>, to explore the experience of a break-up, and the result sits between the real and the fantastical. A voyage forward into the unknown which seems to be both emerging and sailing towards tragedy.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2084462449/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=4089271227/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://sameskyband.bandcamp.com/album/haunting-in-the-mountains">Haunting in the Mountains by The Same Sky</a></iframe></center><em>Haunting in the Mountains</em> will be released in April 2026 via Casa Joven and you can <a href="https://sameskyband.bandcamp.com/album/haunting-in-the-mountains">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Wendy Eisenberg &#8211; Old Myth Dying</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/01/22/wendy-eisenberg-meaning-business/">Last month</a> we previewed <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/wendy-eisenberg/">Wendy Eisenberg</a>&#8216;s self-titled album, forthcoming this spring with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/joyful-noise-recordings">Joyful Noise Recordings</a>, noting the significance of an experienced, endlessly inventive artist deciding to put their own name as the title of the release, &#8220;as though for the first time willing or able to put forward a halfway static vision of themselves within the maelstrom of change.&#8221; Indeed, Eisenberg has said the album emerged from a period of self-confrontation, something they liken to “a personal exorcism,” and the result promises to be their most personal and daring record to date. Following the golden classic folk sound of &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2025-3/">Will You Dare</a>&#8216; and the Lynch-inspired &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/01/22/wendy-eisenberg-meaning-business/">Meaning Business</a>&#8216;, Eisenberg has now shared new track, &#8216;Old Myth Dying&#8217;. &#8220;I wrote &#8216;Old Myth Dying&#8217; in early 2024 during an insane fever,&#8221; they explain. &#8220;Although I knew I should have been trying to sleep it off, I wanted to see if I could do this polyrhythmic thing in my right hand and sing over it. Historically, practicing has allowed me to forget that I have a body that feels pain—I disappear into the action, in pursuit of becoming beauty. This time, my lyrics came out straightforward and wary, blunter than usual. They revealed a different pain I was feeling, the pain of actually knowing what you can and can’t control, and what inherited myths have been lies designed to control you all along.&#8221;</p>
<p><center></center><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3885201123/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1760243121/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wendyeisenberg.bandcamp.com/album/wendy-eisenberg">Wendy Eisenberg by Wendy Eisenberg</a></iframe></center><em>Wendy Eisenberg</em> will be released on 3rd April via Joyful Noise Recordings. Order it now from <a href="https://wendyeisenberg.bandcamp.com/album/wendy-eisenberg">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/23/weekly-listening-february-2026-4/">Weekly Listening: February 2026 #4</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47768</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Annie Schultz &#8211; Wave</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/07/26/annie-schultz-wave/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jul 2023 18:35:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Annie Schultz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Olympia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailing Twelve Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=37986</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Back in May we featured &#8216;Patterns&#8216;, a single from Twin Cities-born, Olympia-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Schultz. With a sound &#8220;somewhere between indie folk and classic goth and punk,&#8221; the song was about &#8220;being there for friends when it feels difficult enough to even be kind to yourself,&#8221; ultimately the tricky navigation of relationships while dealing with depressive periods. It&#8217;s a theme central to It Bends Until It Breaks, Schultz&#8217;s forthcoming EP via Trailing Twelve Records. Latest single &#8216;Wave&#8217; continues [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/07/26/annie-schultz-wave/">Annie Schultz &#8211; Wave</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in May we featured &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/05/30/weekly-listening-may-2023-5/">Patterns</a>&#8216;, a single from Twin Cities-born, Olympia-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Schultz. With a sound &#8220;somewhere between indie folk and classic goth and punk,&#8221; the song was about &#8220;being there for friends when it feels difficult enough to even be kind to yourself,&#8221; ultimately the tricky navigation of relationships while dealing with depressive periods. It&#8217;s a theme central to <em>It Bends Until It Breaks</em>, Schultz&#8217;s forthcoming EP via Trailing Twelve Records.</p>
<p>Latest single &#8216;Wave&#8217; continues the brooding mood, opening in sombre gloom as Annie Schultz offers an introspective view on shame. &#8220;Here come the waves / Crashing, killing in their wake,&#8221; as she sings. &#8220;Get ready to pay / For these things you couldn’t do / Pay for the light they found in you.&#8221; Though if there&#8217;s something almost Catholic in these themes of guilt, the track&#8217;s second half blooms into the another facet of religious imagery. Because through the shadows rises something brighter, and by the closing minutes the song finds an almost triumphant tone as the rhythm picks up and violins lift it towards an elevated beauty.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Where the water’s cold<br />
And waiting for<br />
A burning soul<br />
To come on in<br />
Shed their sin<br />
And try it again</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="Annie Schultz  - Wave (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hszq8205iqc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>It Bends Until It Breaks </em>is out on the 4th August via <a href="https://www.trailingtwelve.com/artists/annie-schultz">Trailing Twelve Records</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/07/26/annie-schultz-wave/">Annie Schultz &#8211; Wave</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">37986</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: May 2023 #5</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/05/30/weekly-listening-may-2023-5/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 May 2023 19:04:06 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Annie Schultz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arts & crafts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devil Town Tapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Georgia Maq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Haley Blais]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kylie V]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Light Organ Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luka Kuplowsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luminelle Recordings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mama Bird Recording Co.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[melbourne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[next door records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Noah Roth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plastic Cactus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rin McArdle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sea Lemon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sleepy Gonzales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toronto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vancouver]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=37475</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Annie Schultz &#8211; Patterns ‘Patterns’ is a song that I wrote about navigating relationships while in a depressive episode,&#8221; explains Annie Schultz of their first single on Trailing Twelve Records. &#8220;My songs often subconsciously end up being letters to myself, observing shifting dynamics with the people I love and posing questions about why I choose to make certain decisions.&#8221; Having cut their teeth in the Minnesota DIY scene, the Olympia-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist set about crafting a sound somewhere between [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/05/30/weekly-listening-may-2023-5/">Weekly Listening: May 2023 #5</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Annie Schultz &#8211; Patterns</h3>
<p>‘Patterns’ is a song that I wrote about navigating relationships while in a depressive episode,&#8221; explains Annie Schultz of their first single on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/trailing-twelve-records/">Trailing Twelve Records</a>. &#8220;My songs often subconsciously end up being letters to myself, observing shifting dynamics with the people I love and posing questions about why I choose to make certain decisions.&#8221; Having cut their teeth in the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/minnesota/">Minnesota</a> DIY scene, the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/olympia/">Olympia</a>-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist set about crafting a sound somewhere between indie folk and classic goth and punk, allowing for the kind of soul-searching so apparent in the new single. A song about being there for friends when it feels difficult enough to even be kind to yourself.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1424808400&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Annie Schultz" href="https://soundcloud.com/annie-schultz-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annie Schultz</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Patterns" href="https://soundcloud.com/annie-schultz-music/patterns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patterns</a></div>
<p>&#8216;Patterns&#8217; is out now via Trailing Twelve Records.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Haley Blais &#8211; Matchmaker</h3>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a love song about being so confident and safe in a relationship that you start to look for cracks out of fear,&#8221; explains Haley Blais of new single, &#8216;Matchmaker&#8217;. The <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/vancouver/">Vancouver</a> artist has made waves with her emotive, cathartic style, though one which always possesses a certain playfulness too. Having signed with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/arts-crafts/">Arts &amp; Crafts</a> and preparing for a full-length, the single finds Blais at the peak of her powers, combing sincere emotion with a certain impish charm to explore the pressures social and cultural expectations can place on a relationship. &#8220;And I read somewhere on the internet / That if we have kids, then they won’t exist,&#8221; she sings. &#8220;And then I’m the bitch who ruined your family line / It’s nobody’s fault, though, but somebody’s pissed.&#8221; Watch the video below, directed by Jacob Pascoe and edited by Haley Blais &amp; Jacob Pascoe:</p>
<p><iframe title="Haley Blais - Matchmaker (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QKB2o_E0jf4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Matchmaker&#8217; is out now via Arts &amp; Crafts.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Kylie V &#8211; Runaway</h3>
<p>Based in Vancouver, Kylie V is a singer-songwriter looking capture the joys and angst of young life. Following on from 2021 debut <em>Big Blue</em>, they recently returned with <em>The Runaway EP</em>, a collection of four songs which further develops their self-described &#8220;overemotional indie folk rock.&#8221; The title track typifies the style, casting its eye over the trials of falling in love after one too many burns, and how romance can be curdled by the presence of anxiety and OCD. &#8220;What if we don&#8217;t get too far and I leave it in ruins cause / these days my body&#8217;s struggling to cope?&#8221; as Kylie V asks, though the rest of the track plays as a slow lesson in giving in to feelings of comfort and love. Check out the video by Malcolm MacMaster below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Kylie V - Runaway (Official Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XRcTD8khNd8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>The Runaway EP</em> is out now and available from the Kylie V <a href="https://kyliev.bandcamp.com/album/the-runaway-ep">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Luka Kuplowsky &#8211; Sudden Reach from the Inner World</h3>
<p>Following on from previous single &#8216;The Spirits Are Busy&#8217;, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/toronto/">Toronto</a>-based songwriter Luka Kuplowsky has returned with new single &#8216;Sudden Reach from the Inner World&#8217; on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mama-bird-recording-co/">Mama Bird Recording Co.</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/next-door-records/">Next Door Records</a>. The previous track offered a dappled, jazz-inflected sound around Kuplowsky&#8217;s distinctive almost-spoken vocals to conjure something at once laid back and esoteric, and this duality is again present in &#8216;Sudden Reach&#8217;. A song which pushes into almost ambient territory in its intuitive warmth, with Bahamas&#8217; Felicity Williams again offering heavenly backing vocals. &#8220;This was a beautiful accident,&#8221; as Kuplowsky says of the track. &#8220;The lyrical imperative of trusting the immediacy of new love seems fitting for a song that’s creation was so sudden and surprising.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Soft buzz of a summer day<br />
Compassion of a silent kind<br />
Birds meet and disperse<br />
They astound me every time<br />
Sudden reach from the inner world sudden reach</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="Luka Kuplowsky - &quot;Sudden Reach from the Inner World&quot; (Art Track)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t4Ecu5Rg3UE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Sudden Reach from the Inner World&#8217; is out via Mama Bird Recording Co. and Next Door Records and is available from <a href="https://lukalives.bandcamp.com/album/sudden-reach-from-the-inner-world">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Noah Roth &#8211; C U Tomorrow</h3>
<p>When moving back to the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/chicago/">Chicago</a> suburbs after five years in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philadelphia</a>, Noah Roth was on a bit of a downer. They&#8217;d just gone through a break-up, had to leave the place they&#8217;d called home to return to their childhood bedroom, and had been working on their last album <em>Breakfast of Champions</em> for so long that they&#8217;d fallen into a burnt out disillusionment. But borrowing equipment from a sibling, Roth began experimenting with Ableton and found new songs pouring forth with an unexpected ease. Three weeks later the basis of a new record, <em>Don’t Forget to Remember</em>, had solidified. Lead single and opener &#8216;C U Tomorrow&#8217; hints at the album&#8217;s new direction, set for release on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/devil-town-tapes/">Devil Town Tapes</a>, foregoing any agonising over fine details in favour of a direct expression. “I wanted to make something that was kind of quick and dirty, and doing it myself the way that I used to do when I was a teenager,&#8221; as Roth explains.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1031289728/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3065482933/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://deviltowntapes.bandcamp.com/album/dont-forget-to-remember">Don&#8217;t Forget to Remember by Noah Roth</a></iframe></center><em>Don’t Forget to Remember</em> is out on the 9th June via Devil Town Tapes.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Plastic Cactus &#8211; Year of the Rat</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portland/">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/oregon/">Oregon</a> outfit Plastic Cactus are gearing up to release their debut full-length album, and new single &#8216;Year of the Rat&#8217; is the first taste of what to expect. Together, Brooke Metropulos (guitar/vocals), Michaela Gradstein (guitar/vocals), Bill Willson (bass) and Tyler Brown (drums) take equal parts cosmic desert rock and languid surf pop and submerge everything in vocal harmonies, creating a sound which owes as much to spaghetti westerns as it does the polish of classic pop.</p>
<p><iframe title="Year of the Rat" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4DhjzkyBfw0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Year of the Rat&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://plasticcactus.hearnow.com/">usual places</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Rin McArdle &#8211; Something Blue</h3>
<p>With a self-titled album coming later this summer, Naarm/<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/melbourne/">Melbourne</a>-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Rin McArdle has released new single, &#8216;Something Blue&#8217;. The album spans the emotional gamut from searing anger to tender vulnerability, and the track shows off the latter side of the work, tapping into a nineties aesthetic to bring to life its searching, therapeutic sound. Camp Cope&#8217;s Georgia Maq joins on vocal duties too, charging things with an impassioned intimacy. “It’s a really personal song so I wanted to get someone close to me to sing on it in a kind of conversational way,&#8221; McArdle explains. &#8220;I thought Georgia would be perfect, our voices are quite different, there’s a contrast to them that I really like.”</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=4241166894/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>The song also comes with a video directed by Louis Oliver Roach which takes imagery from  Norwegian black metal band Immortal and transplants it into the Australian bush.</p>
<p><iframe title="Rin McArdle - Something Blue (ft. Georgia Maq)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBJ5I14ebEI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Rin McArdle</em> is out on the 28th July and you can <a href="https://rinmcardle.bandcamp.com/album/rin-mcardle-s-t">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sea Lemon &#8211; Cellar</h3>
<p>Having just signed with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/luminelle-recordings/">Luminelle Recordings</a>, Sea Lemon (AKA <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/seattle/">Seattle</a>&#8216;s Natalie Lew) has unveiled a delightfully ethereal new single, &#8216;Cellar&#8217;. Dream pop in an almost literal sense, where weightless textures bely the ominous weight within, and close-held impulses make themselves known in strange ways. &#8220;&#8216;Cellar&#8217; was inspired by my love of really classic horror and thriller films, like <em>Blow Out</em> and <em>Misery</em>,&#8221; Lew explains, &#8220;and how loving scary movies can sometimes feel like something is wrong with you.&#8221; A compulsion to seek out the dark and disturbing aspects of life that&#8217;s often mirrored within the movies themselves. Characters who allow their morbid curiosity to get the better of them, drifting toward what they already know to be bad news as though a certain inevitability exists within the situation. Watch the video shot and edited by Natalie Lew and Abe Poultridge below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Sea Lemon - Cellar (Official Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1W0n6iWBA-s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Cellar&#8217; is out now via Luminelle Recordings.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sleepy Gonzales &#8211; Skylight / Freaking Out</h3>
<p>With EP <em>Mercy Kill</em> coming next month on Light Organ Records, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/vancouver/">Vancouver</a>&#8216;s Sleepy Gonzales have unveiled a double single, &#8216;Skylight/Freaking Out&#8217;. A pair of tracks which act as a kind of yin and yang, the first slower, heartfelt and emotive, searching for illumination within an otherwise gloomy environment, while the latter is the polar opposite. A racing track which taps into darker interiors, finding catharsis in allowing the less than positive feelings out into the world. &#8220;Maybe they balance each other out, or maybe one eventually destroys the other,&#8221; as the band explain. &#8220;That depends on you.&#8221; Watch the video for &#8216;Skylight&#8217; filmed by Ethan Andrews below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Sleepy Gonzales - Skylight" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_bDyChJdqHw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Mercy Kill </em>is out on the 30th June via <a href="https://lightorganrecords.com/artist/sleepy-gonzales/">Light Organ Records</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/05/30/weekly-listening-may-2023-5/">Weekly Listening: May 2023 #5</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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