Despite having been together for more than a decade and releasing a plethora of singles and EPs, Brisbane‘s Babaganouj had never put out a full-length album. That is, until Jumbo Pets dropped via Coolin’ By Sound last week. And the long gestation period shows in the vivid confidence of the dream pop/indie rock hybrid sound. Take single ‘She Wears Velvet’, a collision of hypnotic rhythms, playful details and cathartic peaks, all tied together by lead vocals from Harriette Pilbeam (AKA Hatchie). A song which captures the Babaganouj spirit in its ability to offer vulnerability and affirmation simultaneously.

Cosmo Sheldrake – Bathed in Sound

London-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Cosmo Sheldrake has made a name crafting inventive and endlessly curious soundscapes which draw upon inspirations from across the natural world. Previous album Wake Up Calls was built around recordings of British birds on the red and amber endangered lists, but forthcoming record Wild Wet World pushes deeper into nature, quite literally. An album of aquatic environments which promises everything from plaintive whale song to clicking parrotfish and snapping shrimp. Lead single ‘Bathed in Sound’, which is being released as part of Brian Eno’s EarthPercent Charity campaign, welcomes the listener into the world of its title—an ancient place of great majesty which seems to be already in mourning. As though feeling the consequences of human activity within the very water, and the slow drift toward a silence they did not choose.

glow in the dark flowers – Stay Close to Me

With their self-titled album coming coming later this month on Born Yesterday Records, New Douglas, Illinois duo glow in the dark flowers have unveiled latest single ‘Stay Close to Me’ to welcome us to the newest iteration of their sound. Having started collaborating back in the late 00s and developing a scuzzy garage rock style with their band The Funs, the pair have continually reinvented their work while staying true to their spirit, and the latest single signals a further step in this evolution. With its fuzzy textures and buoyant rhythm, the track is evidently born from The Funs DNA, but offers a more mature and poetic vision too.

Lila Tristram – shelter

Next month, Where It’s At Is Where You Are (wiaiwya) will release home, the new album by East London singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, artist and writer Lila Tristram. It’s the follow-up to 2020’s sister EPs Our Friends pt. I & II, promising a continuation of Tristram’s distinctively delicate brand of folk, combining intricate fingerpicking with gently melancholic vocals. First two singles ‘january’ and ‘caravan’ captured this tone perfectly and the latest, ‘shelter’, is no different. At its core a piece of timeless British folk music, all misty moors and rolling green hills, it’s elevated with gentle atmospherics which add a glowing ethereal layer that rises to the surface across the two minute runtime.

Lucy Liyou – Dog Dreams (개꿈)

Lucy Liyou is a San Francisco-based songwriter and composer who draws upon ambient, jazz and sound poetry to create impressionistic, collage-like soundscapes. Described as “a rumination on the doublesidedness of trauma and love,” forthcoming album Dog Dreams (개꿈) utilises such a style to explore the nuances and contradictions of life, looking to broach the big questions not so much with straightforward answers but something more ambiguous. This extends right to the record’s title, because though the Korean term 개꿈 downplays the significance of dreams, Liyou takes them seriously. “‘Dog Dreams’ is about desire,” they explain. “It is about naively rejecting “dog dreams” (개꿈)—a Korean term used to dismiss and diminish dreams as nonsensical impossibilities—and endlessly searching the mercurial “face” of desire.” This is explored further through a music video and interactive video game, further manifesting this abstract sense within aural, visual and tactile fields.

Mox – 4lilmonkeys

With LP Heart coming in a few weeks on Cherub Dream Records, Merced, California‘s Mox has unveiled new single ‘4lilmonkeys’ to give further insight into her sound. The record promises to follow in the lineage of Alex G, combining boundless creativity with tangible emotion, and the new track shows just how effective the mix can be. A song that might be about the titular monkeys making residence in Mox’s brain, or perhaps serves a metaphorical view of her childhood as a little monkey herself, starting as a woozy childlike hallucination and escalating into something with real weight.

The National Park Service – What is the sound?

Rochester, NY label (and VSF favs) Lily Tapes & Discs are kicking off the year with two reissues. Last summer’s sold out Jason Calhoun release ben c, this is for you is getting another run, complete with new artwork by Jeremy Ferris, and Room For Love by Lily Tapes staple The National Park Service is getting its first ever physical release. Originally released digitally in March 2019, Room For Love is what the label describe as “a massive statement built of meditations from the brink of parenthood,” a patient, gentle and deeply personal collage of guitars, keys, drums, samples, field recordings. Second track ‘What is the sound?’ captures the atmosphere beautifully, meditative guitar sliding across subtle percussion and ambient textures.

Stuck – The Punisher

“They’ve got good news / it’s so sick living in a fanfic” reveal Stuck on ‘The Punisher’, opening track from the upcoming LP Freak Frequency on Born Yesterday Records. “They’ve got good news / There’s new life springing from a death cult.” Politically-charged post-punk might be a dime a dozen these days, but rarely does a band commit to their ideas so completely. Drawing on everything from Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism to the mindless cycles of bombast and ruin portrayed by FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Stuck offer an image of the West in its crazed death-throe contortions, a public driven mad at the intersection of violent history and bleak (non-)future. As ‘The Punisher’ demonstrates, the result leans on neither sneering humour nor all-out gloom, but a darkly incandescent sound born of the contradictions of our age.

A whole new dark age!
It’s burning bright with a hot white rage!
What did we do before light?

Watch the video directed by Zack Shorrosh below:

Freak Frequency is out on the 26th May via Born Yesterday Records and available to pre-order now.

Tom Lark – Radio Blaster

Shannon Fowler had parked his Tom Lark moniker for the past seven years, favouring instead the more pop-centric style of alternate project Shannon Matthew Vanya, but the Ōtautahi-born, Auckland-based songwriter has returned to Tom Lark for his first full-length album, Brave Star, out later this year on Winegum Records. Lead single ‘Radio Blaster’ gives an insight into the psych-inflected folk style of the record, a patient and thoughtful introduction which shimmers with a desert heat and the slightest cosmic overlay. “Sunburnt psychedelic folk fit for sensitive cowboys to meander and philosophise to,” as the artist describes it, like staring off at the horizon as the sun dips and the sky reveals its real depth.

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Ganser – Buio

Chicago post-punk outfit Ganser are set to release a new EP, You Must Be New Here next week. “We keep saying this EP feels like a confectionery,” explains Nadia Garofalo, though if this has you expecting something sugary sweet and superficial then you would be very much mistaken. Because far from being throwaway, nutritionally-poor treats, “[Confectionery] can hold significant symbolism, seen as a more precious sustenance, celebratory, comforting or a show of gratitude.” Garofalo continues. “We assign moral weight to them and to ourselves for consuming them, ‘I’ve been so bad’ or ‘I shouldn’t.’”

Led by Alicia Gaines, single ‘Buio’ gives an insight into what to expect, complete with a confectionery filled video. With an angular and pervasive tempo, the track forms uncomfortable atmosphere, unease extending into the lyrics too. “I won’t pretend I know anymore,” sings Gaines, “I don’t even know what I like anymore.” The mood serves as an interesting exploration of the artist-audience relationship, as well as wider concerns related to authenticity and truth within any form of communication.

You Must Be New Here is out on the 8th November and you can pre-order it now from the Ganser Bandcamp page.

A.S. Wilson – Taken Apart

‘Taken Apart’ is the first single from Convinced Friend, the forthcoming album from Providence, RI-based songwriter A.S. Wilson. The song introduces an aesthetic that’s rooted in stark emotionally-wrought folk a la Jurado or Bazan. Wilson says the album will “deal with characters realizing that suffering doesn’t make us unique,” and so perhaps unsurprisingly it’s on the downtempo end of the spectrum. But there’s more to A.S. Wilson than mopey folk. There’s a glimmer around the edges, supple and gauzy dream pop elements illuminate the track from within, resulting in something that’s ultimately quietly uplifting. Something that, as Wilson puts it, might “open the door past solipsism into empathy.”

‘Taken Apart’ is out now and available via the A.S. Wilson Bandcamp page, and keep your eyes peeled for further news on Convinced Friend in spring 2020.

Béret – Book of Hera

Béret is the project of Seattle’s Ian Kurtis Crist, who makes Velvet Underground style minimalist post-punk. The new Béret record, Jesus White, is out later this month on Born Yesterday Records, and in the meantime we have some advanced singles to increase the anticipation.

Latest offering ‘Book of Hera’ promises to be one of the album’s “emotional peaks”, a song that Crist tells Post-Trash is intended to explore the “blurriness between the want and the need for human compassion and understanding.” It’s a good introduction to Jesus White precisely because it sounds quite unlike anything else on the record. Béret’s approach is at once careful and intuitive, the songs fitting together more like elements of an artwork than a traditional album. All of which means Jesus White is one to spend some time with once it’s released.

Joel Jerome – There’s Nothing Here To Bother You Anymore

The latest offering from Dangerbird Records‘ Microdose singles series (like the Milly release we wrote about last month), ‘There’s Nothing Here To Bother You Anymore’ shows off the psychedelic folk talents of California’s Joel Jerome at their very best. Blending a sunny energy with a western twang and a slice of psychedelic heartbreak, the single is firmly rooted in the bittersweet rhythms of life.

The song therefore has a dual spirit, on the one hand perfect for soundtracking the warmest days with its effervescent air, yet also possessing a wistful tone, as though all the while aware that the seasons pass all the same.

‘There’s Nothing Here To Bother You Anymore’ is out now via Dangerbird Records.

Hit Like A Girl – No More Dysphoria

Hit Like A Girl is the recording project of Nicolle Maroulis from Montclair, New Jersey, starting out as an acoustic solo endeavour before evolving into a full band. Maroulis also runs the non-profit No More Dysphoria, which seeks to provide emotional and financial support for people going through the transition process.

The band and charity operate according to the same aim, and latest single ‘No More Dysphoria’ is something like a title track for Maroulis’s work. Describing themselves as a “non-binary Rosie The Riveter for young adults struggling with their identity,” Maroulis uses Hit Like A Girl as a vehicle for their goals, extending the support they offer to LGBTQ+ people from the practical stuff of the non-profit to the intangible but no less important influence of music, showing that identity need not be a barrier to art, and furthermore can act as the binding force within a community.

Carpet City – Little Longer

The solo recording project of Jack Ventimiglia, Carpet City makes a downbeat and emotionally resonant brand of bedroom pop. So far we only have debut single ‘Little Longer’ to go on, though the track marks the act as one to watch for sure. With its moody, melancholic sound that nevertheless captures a distinctive empathy, the song reminds us that emotions are temporary, that “feelings are just feelings, and they will pass eventually.” The trick is therefore to ride out the storm. As Ventimiglia continues, “When it seems hopeless, you just need to wait a little longer.”

asking for a friend
how you been doin
in this crazy world
with your crazy heart
won’t it fall apart again?

it only hurts right now
just a little longer

Zachary Lucky – Didn’t Know That You’d Come Along

A songwriter in the traditional sense of the word, Saskatoon’s Zachary Lucky cut his musical teeth on the road, playing hundreds of dates a year as he blew through towns and played his songs to whoever was listening. “I never felt the need to come home” he says, “because there was never anything waiting for me there.” Fast forward a decade and things are changing, a family waiting at home in Ontario changing his whole perspective.

Forthcoming album Midwestern confronts the change, delving into the experiences of fatherhood as well as change both personal and global, wondering whether his daughters will experience the same Canadian prairies that he found himself traversing. Lead single ‘Didn’t Know That You’d Come Along’ serves as an introduction into Lucky’s new situation, balancing the joy of kinship with the allure of the road and seeing which way the scales fall.

Seen the sun rise over the mountain peaks
I drove a thousand miles to feel so free
I always thought I would die alone
I didn’t know you would come along

Midwestern is out on the 18th October and you can pre-order it now.

Maya Lucia – preteen

When Maya Lucia was in high school, she told her friends that she liked a boy, only for the guy to find out and come up with the coup de grace of any adolescent. “Isn’t she like a preteen?” he asked, perhaps aware of the insult or perhaps not. Either way, the experience forms the basis of ‘preteen’, the first single from Lucia latest EP, lashing out, where Lucia reclaims the term to describe “someone who is constantly lashing out and just upset[ing] everyone.

Where her previous releases were firmly in the love ballad camp, the song marks a change of direction, pushing into a rambunctious garage rock sound while still giving her strong vocals room to hold centre stage. The result is as sweet and stroppy as any moody child, so lean into your angsty side and let Maya Lucia take you back to the melodrama of youth.

Wintersleep – Free Fall / Fading Out

Mainstays of the Canadian indie rock canon, Wintersleep have made a habit of writing anthemic and often existential songs that run the gamut between triumphant and brooding. In the wake of full-length album In the Land Of, released this March and earning a place on the Polaris Prize longlist, the band are releasing two singles, ‘Free Fall’ and ‘Fading Out’.

Led by Paul Murphy’s distinctive vocals, the songs continue Wintersleep’s career-long exploration of the line between awe and dread, taking on issues both personal and political with a palpable weight and beauty. Following a recurring theme in Murphy’s work, ‘Fading Out’ pitches human fragility against an inorganic tide of chemicals and electronics, as well as dealing with the death of a loved one. Leaning more toward prog rock, ‘Free Fall’ instead confronts the death of a relationship, though again within a soundscape that far exceeds such personal intentions.

‘Free Fall’ comes complete with a video directed, animated and edited by Christopher Mills of Number Four Films, which you can check out below:

Free Fall / Fading Out is out now via Dine Alone Records and you can get it now.

ahem – Try Again

Minneapolis trio ahem released their debut EP Just Wanna Be back in 2016 on Forged Artifacts, blending boisterous punk and indie rock into a sweet ‘n sour mix of blown out guitars and vocal harmonies. After a follow up EP last year, the band are once again teaming up with Forged Artifacts to unveil their full-length record, Try Again.

Lead single ‘Sideways’ sees the return of ahem’s trademark energy, the guitars weaving a bright and infectious sense of momentum that sweeps up the listener and delivers them to cathartic release. The wistful lulls in the racket hint at another side to the band, and second single ‘No Kid (Gold Star)’ embraces the quiet/loud dynamic too, pitching reflective introspection into the moments of quiet, then riding the crests of the guitars to arrive at a sense of certainty.

Coral – find me wrong

Coral is the recording project of Miranda Coral Engholm, a swede who grew up a “theatre kid” Österlen but views songwriting as her favoured mode of expression. “I like the intimacy of it,” Engholm explains. “Sometimes when I listen to a song it can feel like a complete stranger is suddenly standing in my living room talking about something really personal.”

Such a connection drives all of Coral’s work. For Miranda it’s really important to stay genuine and tangible as an artist, so this feeling of connection is something she wishes to achieve with her own music. “Like someone wrote it in their diary and it just happened to rhyme.” Debut single ‘find me wrong’ certainly achieves such intimacy, spinning a tale of tender love and fear of loss. Check out the suitably affectionate video below:

find me wrong is out now via Feverish and available from the Coral Bandcamp page.

That’s all for Vol. 29 of Bright Sparks, but be sure to stick around the Reviews and Previews sections for more in-depth writing.

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