The first offering is from Bristol’s Two White Cranes (who we like a lot), with the ironically-titled ‘Unattached’. It’s great and hopefully a sign of further quality to come!

Subscriptions cost £45 (p&p included), with the added incentive of mystery subscriber-only goodies. The pins will be available individually for £4 + p&p, so it’s a no-brainer really. Pencil your name on the list here.

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Young Jesus

“I think you can confront darkness with sincerity and that the best stuff acknowledges the light that is in the dark and vice versa” – an interview with Young Jesus, chatting about concept albums, life-changing novels & the balance between darkness and light.

Sharon Van Etten

“Heartfelt, brave and benevolent, not exactly an answer but a reassuring hand to hold while you’re working on the question” – You should be excited about the new EP from Sharon Van Etten.

Elvis Depressedly

“Elvis Depressedly will not mend broken bones or cast out demons or have you walking across hot coals. Instead they… offer an achievable version of optimism, one which does not require manic enthusiasm or God-like goodwill but instead a pinch of determination and a firm belief in love” – we get to grips with the new Elvis Depressedly record New Alhambra.

Bells Atlas

“Blending the visceral emotions of R&B and soul with an off-the-wall, avant-garde vibe akin to Dirty Projectors and tUnE-yArDs” – ‘Bling’ welcomes you to the eclectic world of Bells Atlas.

Gay Angel

“The sound of one creative mind expressing itself in the most maximalist way imaginable” – The second floret of Gay Angel’s 100-song bonquet is .

Zee Town and the Dog Boys

“Think Beach House in their sad teenage bedroom years” – the self-titled album from Zee Town and the Dog Boys combines shoegazy fuzz with intimate bedroom pop.

Aisha Badru

“The confessional, angry-but-still-in-love style of all the best break-up songs” – an introduction to the organic folk of Aisha Badru.

Noah Gundersen

“A rousing, textured love song that would be a radio hit in any just world” – we get the first taste of the new Noah Gundersen album with ‘Slow Dancer’.

Ruth & Trudy

“An unorthodox brand of lo-fi pop that blends a laidback hipness with heartfelt naivete” – Still Pond Songs, an album from Ruth & Trudy, out on Slovakian label Z Tapes.

Alynda Segarra

“Blues women foreshadowed a movement of feminists of color that is vibrantly alive today… leaving behind the embarrassing and soul crushing caricatures of women of color that I was fed my whole life” – Hurray for Riff Raff leading lady Alynda Segarra (who we have had the pleasure of talking to) has written a great piece on the feminist legacy blues women for American Songwriter.

The Weather Station

“Country songs are always about driving, journeys, and these sorts of things. I found that these songs were about journeys but not” – Exclaim talk to Tamara Lindeman about Loyalty, the excellent new album from The Weather Station.

Bedroom Pop

“The qualities they share are somewhat intangible, more emotional than sonic, and can be more easily felt than described” – Jacob W. Moore wrote a primer on bedroom pop for the uninitiated, citing bands such as R.L. Kelly, Ricky Eat Acid, Alex G and Foxes in Fiction, as well as the overwhelming influence of the folks at Orchid Tapes. Head to Flavorwire to check it out and then browse our ‘bedroom pop’ tag as further reading.

Sufjan Stevens

“The striking sense of solemnity hangs like a noose around its neck, rugged and impossible to ignore, from the first moment to the last” – A little late to this one, but GoldFlakePaint’s review of Sufjan’s new album is really lovely (and mentions Cormac McCarthy, which is never a bad thing).

King of Cats

DIY Magazine are streaming the new King of Cats album, which will be released on Art Reeks, a joint label that combined Art is Hard and Reeks of Effort…

Barna Howard

…and you can stream the new Barna Howard album at Line of Best Fit.

Bellows

Bellows did a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR!

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

The inaugural winner of this coveted accolade is Ratfriend, with this round-up of the best music so far in 2015:

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and 8tracks to keep up to date with the best new music.

The post Week in Review: #1 (11-15th May 2015) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

“Most of the songs have something to do with the fear of being trapped in a feeble body, dreams of a muscular form and the relationship between one’s environment, one’s body and one’s being an idiot. I don’t work out a lot, but I think about it often.”

If that sounds weird or in any way preachy, rest assured Working Out is only one of those things. The first single sees a nice dose of humour to back things up. “I think it sounds like a little dog or other animal trying to express malfunctions.” Levy told me in an email. “It also kinda sounds a little bit like scout niblett and saetia, but not really.” 

The first single ‘Dead Lamb’ is available now and seems to be pretty close to the comparisons above. Although, rather than a small dog, I’d compare his vocals to halfway between Daniel Johston and Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Levy did send me some tour dates with Playlounge which I fully intended to share with you. Unfortunately, due to us being horrible, inefficient people, the tour ended earlier this week.

Working Out will be released on Art is Hard and Reeks of Effort on the 17th November. You can pre-order it here.

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‘Shunkan’ translates from Japanese as ‘moment’ or ‘in a moment’, and Sakimoto holds the idea close to her heart. ‘It’s how I want to live from now on,’ she says. ‘Not try and plan out the next 10 years of my life.’ The idea is close to that of Abby Gundersen and her ’never-ending struggle to remain in the present’ (which we wrote about here).

Shunkan’s debut EP, Milk, Honey & Blood, is set to be released on Art is Hard Records on the 5th May. You can pre-order it here.

P.S. Head over to her Bandcamp page to download SUMMERBLONDE: a collection of demos and homerecordings that can be yours on a pay-what-you-can basis. I mean, come on, she even writes songs about The X-Files:

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