Supported by Jonjo Kunz-Loncq (drums) and Robbie Carman (bass), and produced by Joseph Fútak and mastered by Tom Nixon, Celeste Madden walks this line between loss and promise with a decidedly ethereal air. Something apparent from the opening notes of ‘Nightly Routine’, its poignant hush evoking that late-night loneliness of an empty room. “Brushed my teeth for what I thought / Was gonna be my last,” as the opening lines go. “Lean into the aftershock / Of April fading fast / Into the citrine summer dew.” The juxtaposition of personal stillness versus passing time leads to a building tension. The frustration inherent within the state of being unable to properly make oneself known.

This is my nightly routine
This is my bread and butter
Everybody knows what’s wrong with me
But nobody knows what’s the matter

‘Lapdog’ is no different, a “dreamlike folk song where placid surfaces hide a roiling depth beneath,” as we described previously, “reflecting on difficult experiences in order to exorcise the hold of the past,” while centrepiece ‘Millennium’ turns towards hopes of resuscitating a relationship, building in intensity across the track as the vocals grow increasingly desperate. Named after the episode of The X-Files in which Mulder and Scully finally kiss, the song lands somewhere between a promise and demand, wishing to retain the devotion of a shared history even in a fractious present.

This duality between sorrow and love marks the entire release, not least closer ‘Fever Dream’. “Pairing acute longing with an ethereal air,” as we wrote in a preview, “the song charts those heady days of romance where pleasure and frustration accentuate one another and everything feels so close yet so far away. A state almost unreal in its experience.” The EP, unready or unable to quite answer its central question, lives within this space. It is not clear if it really goodnight, because for now at least, Celeste Madden has made a home within the grey boundary in between.

Is It Really Goodnight? is out now via Sad Club Records and you can get it from the Celeste Bandcamp page.

The post Celeste Madden – Is It Really Goodnight? appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The recording project of Texas musician Daniel Bryson (who also plays drums in Skirts), A.L. West is an outlet for lo-fi bedroom pop meets indie rock. He recently released a new double single, Nothing At All / Rabbitbrush 2, which is the perfect introduction for newcomers. ‘Nothing At All’ is a lovely patient indie pop song, but it’s ‘Rabbitbrush 2’ that sees things kicked into another gear. As its name suggests, the track is something of a sequel to one from 2023 A.L. West album The Store, but whereas the original was a gentle folk-inflected bedroom pop song, ‘Rabbitbrush 2’ is thick with a heavy fuzz, building from lulls of plodding percussion and Bryson’s draw out vocals into peaks of triumphant noise.

Watch the video by Alex Montenegro below:

Nothing At All / Rabbitbrush 2 is out now via the A.L. West Bandcamp page.

Casper Skulls – Roddy Piper

Turning the page onto a new chapter for the Sudbury/Toronto indie rock outfit, new album Kit-Cat promises to see Casper Skulls push themselves to new heights. Single ‘Spindletop‘ introduced this refreshed sound, drawing on There Will Be Blood to create a moody, ominous atmosphere, and now ‘Roddy Piper’ introduces a more energetic and soaring dimension. Drawing on the titular figure, the track uses a wrestling analogy to explore confrontation within a relationship, the combination of upbeat rhythm and fuzzy weight evoking the dramatic ups and downs of a choreographed bout. Watch the Mortal Kombat-inspired video, directed by Curtis Carriere and Jordan Vandenberg (of Goodscreen Media) along with the band themselves, below:

Kit-Cat will be released on the 11th April via Next Door Records and you can pre-order it now.

Celeste Madden – Lapdog

Having signed with Sad Club Records, recent months have seen Celeste Madden unveil a handful of singles, with tracks like ‘Joan of Arc‘ and ‘Fever Dream‘ embodying the London-based songwriter’s singular style. Songs both unashamedly melodramatic and undeniably strange, drawing the listener directly into Madden’s psyche so that we too might experience the diverse range of moods and feelings therein. Having announced that EP Is It Really Goodnight? will be released next month, Madden has now returned with new single ‘Lapdog’. Another dreamlike folk song where placid surfaces hide a roiling depth beneath, reflecting on difficult experiences in order to exorcise the hold of the past.

‘Lapdog’ is out now and available via the Celeste Madden Bandcamp page. Is It Really Goodnight? will be released on the 27th March via Sad Club Records.

Craig Finn – People of Substance

Anyone who caught Craig Finn on his This Is What It Looks Like tour last autumn will be champing at the bit for a new album, Finn using the solo sets to introduce a number of new narrative-driven songs full of the detail, emotion and empathy which has so long marked his work. The record, it turns out, is called Always Been, and will be released this spring. A fitting addition to Finn’s oeuvre in the year The Hold Steady‘s Separation Sunday celebrates its twentieth anniversary, the album traces the arc of a protagonist through a rise and fall and eventual redemption, the character committing the life of a priest despite his lack of faith. A whole cast of characters pass into the frame within the telling of this story, but for now we have single ‘People of Substance’ as a glimpse at the world within.

Watch the visualizer by David Kelling below:

Always Been is out on the 4th April and you can pre-order it now.

Dead Bandit – Pink

“Something of a landscape,” was how we described Dead Bandit‘s self-titled album, coming soon on Quindi Records, in a preview back in January. “One rural in tone which seems at once physical and emotional. Often stark and severe in its loneliness, a kind of haunted prairie or steppe, yet often possessing some kind of yearning fondness for the wide open space.” New single ‘Pink’ furthers the style. A cryptic, slow-building number which possesses a kind of shadowed mystery, the layered guitar and creeping beats never puncturing the understated air, as though the truth of the track is always drifting just out of view.

Jacob Faurholt – I Will Hold You

We’ve featured the prolific Danish songwriter Jacob Faurholt multiple times in recent years, an outsider artist in the vein of Daniel Johnston and co. who looks to explore existential themes via lo-fi, idiosyncratic combination of folk, rock and pop. Recorded in the room beneath his children’s bedroom while they were asleep, the most recent release of Faurholt’s we covered embraced a hushed style, but new single ‘I Will Hold You’ pivots away from this entirely. It was written in the aftermath of a Dinosaur Jr. gig, post-show tinnitus still ringing, which anchors its poignant emotion and melodies with a dense undercurrent of noise.

‘I Will Hold You’ is out now and available from the usual places.

Léna Bartels – January is the Loneliest Month

It’s Gonna be a Wonderful New Year, a split between NYC’s Léna Bartels and Nico Hedley, is the first release on new label Rock For Sale Records who release music on cassette tapes and not streaming services. Bartels and Hedley have collaborated across a range of projects (both realised and not quite), and this EP is from the intimate end of the spectrum. The pair describe it as a collection of “songs from winter. Songs for the new year. Songs to get by by,” and if lead single, Bartels’s ‘January is the Loneliest Month’ is anything to go by, it makes good on the promise of its admirably optimistic title. Though not with saccharine cheerfulness but a quiet persistence and steady belief in new beginnings.

Lucy Liyou – Arrested

‘Arrested’ is the lead single from Every Video Without Your Face, Every Sound Without Your Name, the new record from Lucy Liyou. Released next month via Orange Milk Records, the album promises to be the Los Angeles musician’s most pop-oriented to date, but anyone expecting a collection of up-tempo dancefloor fillers might be disappointed. As ‘Arrested’ attests, Liyou’s distinctive style is far more complex than that, possessing both a fragile minimalism and lush melodrama, the understated ethereality of the sound and poignant longing of the vocals combining into a reflective and melancholic mood. The sensation of watching a fond memory fade at the edges as the desire to return to its smallest details only grows.

Watch the video shot and directed by Park Seung Won below:

Every Video Without Your Face, Every Sound Without Your Name is out on the 21st March via Orange Milk Records and you can pre-order it now.

Mumu The Free Diver – Blossoms

The project of Raleigh, NC-based singer-songwriter Aki Laakso, Mumu The Free Diver offers an evocative brand of indie folk which embraces the authenticity of the DIY aesthetic. Recorded at home with what Laakso describes as “a cheap mic, an old guitar and a bargain-bin audio interface,” new song ‘Blossoms’ swaps out technical polish for a sense of immediacy, sounding like a direct communication from within a moment of grief-stricken vulnerability. But don’t let the description fool you, for though the arrangement is based around acoustic guitar and humble, near-spoken vocals, the track possesses a real sense of richness too. As though through its unguarded nature flows a certain intensity, be it born of compassion, panic, plain hard longing, or indeed a combination of all three.

Penny Loafer – Fridge

Consisting of Emma Barnes (vocals, guitar, keys) and Seth Parker (drums, percussion), Penny Loafer make self-described “post-college rock” which draws from nineties heavyweights like Fugazi and Sonic Youth to offer songs about everyday life which nevertheless possess real weight and bite. With debut EP Daily Deal set for release via Indecent Artistry next month, the Athens, GA-duo have shared single ‘Fridge’. It’s an example of all the ingredients which make the Penny Loafer sound so enticing, with deadpan observation and wry humour meeting tangible heft, all strung together by a chugging momentum which pulls the audience along for the ride. A little bit salty, a little bit sweet and with a noticeable acidic edge.

Tractor Beam – SHOW YOU

“Draws from across the ages in their work, owing as much to 00s indie as 60s folk, and all wrapped up the the contemporary DIY aesthetic, leading to a sound both emotionally immediate and tangibly nostalgic.” So we wrote of Toronto-born, Vancouver-based artist Tractor Beam back in 2023. Now Sasha Balazic and co. are set to return with Monoliths & The Early Reflection, and latest single ‘SHOW YOU’ sees the outfit combine their usual freak folk sensibilities and a more chaotic noise pop style within a single track. The result feels like witnessing a band solidify their ambitions in real time, expanding the possibilities of the Tractor Beam project and pushing closer to their final form. Watch the video directed by Aiden Millroy below:

Monoliths & The Early Reflection is out on the 19th February via Good Stones // Calm Water.

The post Weekly Listening: February 2025 #1 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Retracing the footsteps of beloved Scottish nature writer Nan Shepherd, Alice Boyd and eight other women set out into the Cairngorm mountains in 2023, spending four days immersed in nature with Shepherd’s writing and spirit as a guide. Boyd’s new EP Cloud Walking is a journal of this experience, combing folk harmonies and chamber pop instrumentation with field recordings gathered in situ to reflect upon the challenges and joys of facing the elements. A response to the song ‘Heart’ by Jacob Norris’, who Boyd collaborated with for previous release The Favourite, single ‘Heart ii’ embodies the the EP’s philosophy—championing the benefits of slowing down and connecting to your surroundings amid a busy, panicked world.

Stay calm in the torrent
Stay slow in the chase
And hasten to help out
And hurry to make

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo – You’re No Good

“A Southerner in Seattle who channels the classic country spirit while at the same time subverting its tropes, owing as much to the persona-led art rock of Bowie and co. as the macho (so-called) authenticity of the genre’s heavy hitters.” That’s how we described Brent Amaker and the Rodeo earlier this year, won over both by their single ‘Take Me By The Horns‘ and cover of Devo’s ‘Gut Punch‘. Having travelled to Mexico City with Mariachis, Amaker is now teasing new album Vaquero, pencilled for release sometime in 2025, and single ‘You’re No Good’ introduces what to expect from the record. The buoyant spirit of the Salón Tenampa at Plaza Garibaldi committed to song, with Amaker’s distinctive, almost Cash-esque cowboy vocals hinting at the dark underside of such a good time. Watch the video directed and edited by Jasmina Hirschl below:

‘You’re No Good’ is out now. Vaquero will be released some time in 2025.

Celeste Madden – Fever Dream

“A lesson in unguarded feelings which isn’t afraid to risk overstatement in trying to explain the sensation of the moment.” So we wrote back in the summer of Celeste Madden‘s ‘Joan of Arc’, a single released via Sad Club Records which represented the first release from the UK songwriter in two years. This sincere style continues through into latest track ‘Fever Dream’ too. Pairing acute longing with an ethereal air, the song charts those heady days of romance where pleasure and frustration accentuate one another and everything feels so close yet so far away. A state almost unreal in its experience. “Life with someone becomes a distorted daydream,” as Madden explains. “Thrilling but unnatural.”

‘Fever Dream’ is out now on streaming services.

Denison Witmer – Focus Ring (feat. Sufjan Stevens)

Next February, Philadelphia singer-songwriter Denison Witmer will release new full-length, Anything At All, an album made in collaboration with Sufjan Stevens, who produced, recorded and performed on the songs. With a balance found between Witmer’s characteristically straightforward, earnest folk and Stevens’s ornate arrangements, the album probes into great existential themes with a careful hand, delving into ordinary domestic scenes to locate the joy to be found there. “Anything At All is about doubling down on family life and doing everything I can to slow the pace of my life as things around me feel busier than ever before,” Witmer explains. “It’s about putting systems in place and committing to the changes needed to make it work.” New single and opener ‘Focus Ring’ introduces the style perfectly, its warm sound full of heart and fondness. Watch the video directed and animated by Stephen Halker below:

Anything At All is out on the 14th February via Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Frog – Did Santa Come

Having returned from hiatus in 2023 with the excellent full-length Grog, New York cult heroes Frog are already preparing to drop another album on us. And though we have to wait until March for the intriguingly titled 1000 Variations on the Same Song, the duo have been kind enough to share an appropriately seasonal taster to tide us over into the new year. ‘Did Santa Come’ “is about my son when he was two years old at Christmas time,” Daniel Bateman explains. “Every morning for 2-3 weeks after, he would wake up and ask, “Did Santa Come?” Seeing the world through the eyes of your children makes it all very beautiful.” In true Frog style, this is delivered with full sincerity yet with no trace of the Hallmark sweetness the description might suggest, committing instead to the idiosyncratic energy which has won the project so many fans.

‘Did Santa Come’ is available now from the Frog Bandcamp page. 1000 Variations on the Same Song will be released in March.

Golden Tiles – Doesn’t Take Long to Find

Last month Portland, Oregon outfit Golden Tiles released The First EP, their appropriately titled debut via Antiquated Future Records. Consisting of Oliver Stafford (vocals, guitar), Justin Hocking (drums) and Joshua James Amberson (bass), the band create a bright, laidback brand of basement rock which combines playful melodies, fuzzy textures and reflective vocals. Fans of Guided By Voices will find much to admire in tracks like ‘Tale We Told’ and ‘100%’ , while latest single ‘Doesn’t Take Long to Find’ edges towards Yo La Tengo territory with its assured, nostalgic tones. A trio to watch for sure.

Kramies – That’s A Midwest Christmas

Following on from single ‘Social Light‘, which enlisted the help of Allison Lorenzen to bring to life “another dreamy, melancholic fairy tale which blurs the line between eeriness and empathy to form something ultimately affirming,” songwriter Kramies is capping off 2024 with a Christmas song of his own. ‘That’s A Midwest Christmas’ is everything you’d expect from a festive tune. Warm fondness and nostalgic reflection edged with something more melancholic, the acoustic arrangement creating an intimate, authentic sound able to chart the bittersweet quality of the season. Another year has past, the weight of days gone grows heavier, but everyone is home once again.

‘That’s A Midwest Christmas’ is out now.

The Men – Pony

With their fifteenth album Buyer Beware coming next February via Fuzz Club, prolific New York punks The Men have unveiled new single ‘Pony’ to defiantly evidence their refusal to slow down. In someone else’s hands, a song which asks “when you gonna stop running?” in the opening line might opt for a slower, more reflective sound, but The Men answer the questioning with a blistering momentum, teeing up another record which examines the turbulent present with all the snarl and bite it deserves. Recording engineer Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices, Built to Spill) helps the band achieve their live performance on tape, and the raw immediacy is apparent from the first second to the last.

The world is ending
grab a seat
enjoy the ride

Watch the video by Preston Spurlock below:

Buyer Beware will be released on the 28th February 28th via Fuzz Club.

Will Stratton – I Found You

“When the forest burns, what ghosts rise as steam from the boiling soil?” So asks Points of Origin, the new full-length from Will Stratton, forthcoming via Bella Union and Ruination Record Co. next March. Described as a novelistic album “as dense as a Pynchon picaresque,” by Ben Seretan in the album notes, the collection sees Stratton grapple with the grim realities of the Anthropocene across an almost geologic span of time, centring on California as a kind of a ground zero for both the causes and effects of humanity’s connection to nature. Lead single and opener ‘I Found You’ pitches the listener straight in with a rich, character-led narrative, Stratton’s vocals prominent within the careful, tender arrangement. “I met a mechanic up near the state line / he knew I knew motors and paid me just fine,” as one verse sets out. “I couriered engines all over the state / and settles by Shasta surrounded by lakes / the beds have gone dry but I do what I can / to keep away fire from my plot of land.”

it rips through the Coulter and Tamarack pines
and it thickens the air ’til you’d think you’d gone blind
saying, oh where are you, oh where are you, when it has reddened the sky
oh where are you, oh where are you, when heaven abandoned the sky

The post Weekly Listening: December 2024 #2 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The song comes to represent the antithesis of this period. A lesson in unguarded feelings which isn’t afraid to risk overstatement in trying to explain the sensation of the moment. “‘Joan of Arc’ is a very melodramatic song—I think partly because I was younger, and partly because it’s impossible to think the world isn’t ending when you love someone and it doesn’t work out,” Madden continues. “There’s a lot of religious imagery in the song, which I always love using because it was the background of my early childhood, but also because my relationship felt like my religion, and having it taken away made a real empty space in me.”

The post Celeste Madden – Joan of Arc appeared first on Various Small Flames.