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	<title>Grocer Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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	<title>Grocer Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:49:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dark Mean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghost Mountain Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good Looks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Granata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hamilton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keeled Scales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lamplight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mansions and Millions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Margaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Massif Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meagre Martin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ontario]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Ouyang Rusli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40497</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard Hamilton, Ontario indie rock outfit Dark Mean have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hamilton/">Hamilton</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ontario/">Ontario</a> indie rock outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dark-mean/">Dark Mean</a> have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by work schedules and personal responsibilities. A song fired by the twin forces of frustration and passion and driven by the urgency of the ticking clock.  &#8220;I haven’t forgot your name / I’d give it to you if you ever came,&#8221; as one verse plays. &#8220;I’ve still got a lot to say / I’ll tell you about it someday.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2123605970/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://darkmean.com/track/working-hard">Working Hard by Dark Mean</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Working Hard&#8217; is out now and available from the Dark Mean <a href="https://darkmean.bandcamp.com/track/working-hard">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grocer &#8211; Caterpillar Pilled</h3>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Packrat&#8217; finds Grocer at their most collaborative, trusting in the bonds which have now developed between the members to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.&#8221; So we wrote of the first single from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philly</a> band&#8217;s new album <em>Bless Me</em>, coming later this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>, which promises to elevate Grocer&#8217;s trademark volatility to new heights. Latest single &#8216;Caterpillar Pilled&#8217; embodies this spirit, possessing both brash energy and off-the-wall charm. With constant changes of speed, the song is always on the verge of unravelling into chaos but manages to cling on by its fingertips, emerging all the more triumphant as a result. Watch the video by Nicholas Rahn below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grocer - Caterpillar Pilled (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kevlqN-k92I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Bless Me</em> is out on the 19th April via Grind Select and you can <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/bless-me">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">hemlock &#8211; Garbage Truck</h3>
<p><em>Back in 2022</em> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/">we mentioned</a> <em>talk soon</em> by Chicago&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a>, describing single &#8216;to carry&#8217; as &#8220;a song of hushed yet heartfelt vignettes which rises toward an impassioned finale, providing snapshots of love in its various guises.&#8221; The project has since gone on to put out several further releases, including the single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/">monarch</a>&#8216;, a month-long song-a-day challenge album and a live session, but now hemlock is teaming up with the good folks at Ghost Mountain Records to celebrate the second anniversary of the talk soon release with the album&#8217;s first ever vinyl run. To mark the occasion, hemlock has unveiled a video for the single &#8216;Garbage Truck&#8217; directed and edited by lead Carolina Chauffe and filmed along with Daniel Joseph and Reed Everette. Check it out below:</p>
<p><iframe title="hemlock - garbage truck (official music video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y0RkmX-vBHQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The <em>talk soon</em> vinyl is out on the 10th May via Ghost Mountain Records and you can <a href="https://store.ghostmountainrecords.com/products/779665-hemlock-talk-soon-pre-order">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lamplight &#8211; S/T</h3>
<p>Back in January <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/01/18/lamplight-house-rules-call-mom/">we previewed</a> the self-titled album Ian Hatcher-Williams&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lamplight/">Lamplight</a> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl/">Western Vinyl</a>, what we called &#8220;an exploration of how one’s sense of identity shifts and changes according to any number of present conditions, not least the place we call home at any given time.&#8221; With the record now out, Lamplight has shared the title track as a final single, which serves to not only underline the intentions behind the album but the Lamplight project as a whole. After experiencing a profound mixture of love and grief on contemplating the inevitable end of an intimate relationship, Hatcher-Williams found comfort in the concept of reincarnation, as well as a poem by Mark Strand titled &#8216;Love Silhouetted by Lamplight’ (from which Lamplight would come to take its name). &#8220;I&#8217;m too high<br />
the lamp light, you&#8217;ve / caught me crying,&#8221; as he sings:</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>now we&#8217;re laying here uncovered<br />
our legs braided around each other</h5>
<h5>i&#8217;m fixated on the future<br />
that one day we lose the other</h5>
<h5>come back to, for a moment<br />
that&#8217;s just long enough notice</h5>
<h5>we&#8217;re cosmically together<br />
a bond older than each other</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1111231400/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3206646194/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Lamplight by Lamplight</a></iframe></p>
<p>The song comes complete with a video which further develops these themes:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lamplight - &quot;Lamplight&quot; (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KhI_En3cGeI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Lamplight</em> is out on now via Western Vinyl and available from the Lamplight <a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Margaux &#8211; DNA</h3>
<p>Back in 2019 <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2019/10/18/margaux-palm/">we wrote about</a> <em>More Brilliant Is The Hand That Throws The Coin</em>, the debut EP by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/margaux/">Margaux</a> released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/massif-records/">Massif Records</a>, describing how the juxtaposition of bright energy and syrupy dreamscape on single &#8216;Palm&#8217; &#8220;serve[d] to bring to the life to duality of people too, as though beneath the outward face of our feelings lies depth more expansive and strange.&#8221; With a debut full-length on the way later this year, The <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a> singer-songwriter has now returned with &#8216;DNA&#8217;, another nuanced picture where longing and confrontation can occur simultaneously, and a floating drift can quickly escalate towards a cathartic climax. It&#8217;s apparently the first song from an album due later in the year, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more info.</p>
<p><iframe title="Margaux - &quot;DNA&quot; (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hq6-xlQ1CaQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The debut Margaux full-length will be released later this year via Massif Records.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">May Rio &#8211; Fun!</h3>
<p>Stretching the definition of a solo project, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>&#8216;s May Rio sometimes plays with a classic guitar/drums band, and others an arrangement of cello, piano and saxophone. The latter, what she calls the Elegant Ensemble, gives its name to the new May Rio album. A collection of rearrangements of previously released tracks, scrubbed clean of the gloss of studio production and presented anew as an assemblage of their essential parts. There is one brand new track too though. Titled &#8216;Fun!&#8217; it&#8217;s a song about a teenage car accident delivered with the idiosyncratic blend of playfulness and grace which runs through Rio&#8217;s work. &#8220;The day I got my driver&#8217;s permit, aged sixteen,&#8221; she describes, &#8220;I borrowed my mother&#8217;s forest-green Isuzu Trooper for a trip to a new movie showing at the mall,&#8221; only the adventure was cut short at a junction.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Sweet sixteen I get to take a spin<br />
Windows rolled down wind’s all on my skin<br />
T-boned by a speeding stoner hard<br />
Momma’s Trooper’s totaled but what’s worse<br />
Is it was fun</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2759883164/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://mayrio.bandcamp.com/track/fun">Fun! by May Rio</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed by Ben Gordon below:</p>
<p><iframe title="May Rio - &quot;Fun!&quot; (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7UUvR17LIyM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Elegant Ensemble</em> is out on the 3rd May.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Meagre Martin &#8211; Malcolm</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/meagre-martin/">Meagre Martin</a>&#8216;s <em>Gut Punch</em>, released last year on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mansions-and-millions/">Mansions and Millions</a> introduced the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/berlin/">Berlin</a>-based band&#8217;s ability to broach the most pressing social themes of the moment with both confidence, fire and relatability. &#8220;The gut punch of the title therefore refers not so much to the Meagre Martin sound but rather the subject matter they take on,&#8221; as <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/10/25/meagre-martin-big-death/">we put it in a preview</a>. &#8220;The world as a series of debilitating blows.&#8221; New single &#8216;Malcolm&#8217; continues this style to great effect, leaning into a more guitar-led sound to better evoke the track&#8217;s rebellious nature. An ode to <em>Malcolm in the Middle</em> at once fond and discordant, teasing out themes of precarity and generational trauma from within nostalgic memories of the show.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I’m human too,<br />
We break the rules<br />
That’s nothing new<br />
Why settle down<br />
You start to drown<br />
So pull me out</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1066848802/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Malcolm by meagre martin</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Malcolm&#8217; is out now and available from the Meagre Martin <a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Robert Ouyang Rusli &#8211; Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</h3>
<p>Brooklyn-based composer and artist Robert Ouyang Rusli took on their most ambitious project to date with the soundtrack for Julio Torres&#8217;s <em>Problemista</em>, a new film coming later this month via A24, starring Torres alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton. The artist, who also records under the moniker Ohyung, created over fifty songs for the score, looking to match the surreal world Torres has created with something just as agile and inventive. Single &#8216;Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail&#8217; serves as an enticing glimpse of the project&#8217;s full scope, the film bleeding into the soundtrack in the same manner the music pours into the film. Orchestral arrangements of synths and choral vocals are accentuated with sounds from the colourfully whimsical film-world, creating what the press release describes as &#8220;rhythmic backdrops for the bureaucratic nightmares of the American immigration system.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1555907740&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="Robert Ouyang Rusli" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Ouyang Rusli</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Elizabeth's Voicemail" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli/elizabeths-voicemail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</a></div>
<p>The <em>Problemista </em>soundtrack will be released on the 15th March, and the film itself on the 22nd.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)</h3>
<p>Facing the sudden onset of chronic pain, Singapore-born, New York-based singer-songwriter W. Y. Huang turned to music as an outlet. His new EP <em>Knots</em>, coming later this spring, serves as an exploration of pain and healing, as well as the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope. First single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; introduces this with a bright and breezy indie pop style, welcoming New York rap artist Granata to further the track&#8217;s unguarded tone and capture the mood of the release as a whole. &#8220;This EP was a deeply personal endeavour, both in how the songs came together and the writing process,&#8221; as Huang explains. &#8220;It all blossomed from a very vulnerable place.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4025125211/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Life Just Lately (feat. Granata) by W. Y. Huang</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="W. Y. Huang - Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNPlhGTIgIk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; is out now and available from the W. Y. Huang <a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Bandcamp page</a>. <em>Knots</em> will be released in May.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">40497</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: February 2024 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/02/12/weekly-listening-february-2024-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Feb 2024 16:07:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[9T Antiope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Dreams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anna tivel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beti Masenqo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bitzen Trapper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crow Baby]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duchess Box Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earth Libraries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hot Wheels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johannesburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelley Swindall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Wings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Night Hawk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perpetual Doom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailer Dust]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yep Roc Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40124</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>9T Antiope &#8211; Shapeshift Hailing from Iran and now based in Paris, 9T Antiope has served as a vehicle for duo Nima Aghiani and Sara Bigdeli Shamloo to explore the unique difficulties of the expatriate experience. New album Horror Vacui lives up to its title to go further still. To live between two cultures is to never quite belong to either, to perpetually seek firmer roots in the present while fighting the fear of forgetting where you have come from, [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/02/12/weekly-listening-february-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: February 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">9T Antiope &#8211; Shapeshift</h3>
<p>Hailing from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/iran">Iran</a> and now based in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/paris">Paris</a>, 9T Antiope has served as a vehicle for duo Nima Aghiani and Sara Bigdeli Shamloo to explore the unique difficulties of the expatriate experience. New album <em>Horror Vacui </em>lives up to its title to go further still. To live between two cultures is to never quite belong to either, to perpetually seek firmer roots in the present while fighting the fear of forgetting where you have come from, or even that place forgetting you. 9T Antiope address such dualities with a concept album almost cinematic in scope, and single &#8216;Shapeshift&#8217; offers a compelling mix of haunting and alluring tones to welcome the listener through its doors.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1834444482/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=111750276/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://9tantiope.bandcamp.com/album/horror-vacui">Horror Vacui by 9T Antiope</a></iframe></center><em>Horror Vacui</em> will be released on 12th April via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/American-Dreams">American Dreams</a> and is available to pre-order from the 9T Antiope <a href="https://9tantiope.bandcamp.com/album/horror-vacui">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Beti Masenqo &#8211; better than before</h3>
<p>Following last summer&#8217;s debut single <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/15/weekly-listening-august-2023-3/">&#8216;much of anything&#8217;</a>, which we described as a &#8220;delicate [and] often reflective folk [song] which ties together melancholy and joy with a wistful thread,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/California">California</a> songwriter Beti Masenqo is back with a new song, &#8216;better than before&#8217;. What she describes as &#8220;a nostalgic tune about loving someone who is plagued with uncertainty,&#8221; the track pairs an upbeat rhythm with another reflective tone, capturing a bittersweet mood which looks to shake free of doubt and look towards something brighter.</p>
<p><iframe title="better than before" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jgH7LptMHRY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;better than before&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Blitzen Trapper &#8211; Cosmic Backseat Education</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Portland">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Oregon">Oregon</a>&#8216;s Blizten Trapper have been a significant force in indie rock for over twenty years now, and new album <em>100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions</em>, coming this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/yep-roc-records/">Yep Roc Records</a>, returns to the ideals which first fired the project into being to explore ideas of freedom and rebirth. With guests including Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman) and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/anna-tivel">Anna Tivel</a>, the album melds earnest folk/psych rock with something more metaphysical. Lead single &#8216;Cosmic Backseat Education&#8217; returns to the childhood experience of listening to the radio in the car, when music was nothing more than a source of joy. The video, directed by Mychal Sargent, offers a playful dimension, riffing off Mr Rogers and ultimately questioning just who is in control of the puppet/puppeteer relationship.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3692876616/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=2631443763/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://blitzentrapper.bandcamp.com/album/100s-of-1000s-millions-of-billions">100&#8217;s of 1000&#8217;s, Millions of Billions by Blitzen Trapper</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Blitzen Trapper - Cosmic Backseat Education" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PIGTeyrcg1k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions</em> is out on the 17th May via <a href="https://blitzentrapper.bandcamp.com/album/100s-of-1000s-millions-of-billions">Yep Roc Records</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Crow Baby &#8211; Pity Party</h3>
<p>Having both been raised in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/johannesburg">Johannesburg</a> multi-instrumentalists Cherilyn MacNeil and Jean-Louise Parker formed Crow Baby upon being reunited in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Berlin">Berlin</a>. Debut album <em>Get Yourself Together</em> will be released this spring, and if single &#8216;Pity Party&#8217; is anything to go by, it&#8217;s going to be quite the ride. An ever-shifting track which never quite settles in any one shape, creating and undermining a number of moods and meanings, and ultimately leaving the listener to question the very ground beneath their feet. The result is something as clever as it is infectious, and as the triumphant chorus comes around, the self-pity is proven to be anything but.</p>
<p><iframe title="Crow Baby - Pity Party" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8dRz_rnSPhs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Get Yourself Together</em> will be released this spring via <a href="https://duchessboxrecords.bandcamp.com/artists">Duchess Box Records</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grocer &#8211; Packrat</h3>
<p>We&#8217;ve covered <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grocer/">Grocer</a> several times in recent years, always appreciating the unapologetic chaos of their sound. Recent EP <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/03/11/grocer-scatter-plot/"><em>Scatter Plot</em></a> felt like a band exploring the possible new directions such a style might take, and this spring sees Grocer return with their second full-length on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a> to capitalise on these gains. Evoking the sensation of &#8220;feeling stricken with the inability to make decisions and the procrastination paralysis of anxiety,&#8221; single &#8216;Packrat&#8217; finds Grocer at their most collaborative, trusting in the bonds which have now developed between the members to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1665969354/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2779156426/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/bless-me">Bless Me by Grocer</a></iframe></center><em>Bless Me</em> is out on the 19th April via Grind Select and you can <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/bless-me">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Hot Wheels &#8211; August</h3>
<p>What do you get if you mix equal parts Brian Eno, Julee Cruise and Link Wray? <span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles">LA</a>-based painter and musician Dan Bruinooge, AKA</span> Hot Wheels, has the answer with &#8216;August&#8217;, a new single on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/earth-libraries">Earth Libraries</a>. The song looks to add sixties surf and ambient sensibilities to nostalgic dream pop in order to bring to life a sonic representation of the culture and climate of California. But far from being a blissed-out image of Western sun and sea, &#8216;August&#8217; sees Hot Wheels mine the landscape for all of its complexities and contradictions, where every instance of natural beauty is countered by gridlocked traffic, and apparently carefree summers are stalked by worsening wild fires.</p>
<p><iframe title="August" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-E-bJNKec60?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;August&#8217; is out now via <a href="https://earthlibraries.com/">Earth Libraries</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Little Wings &#8211; Bubbles Go Pop</h3>
<p>Kyle Field has recorded under the moniker Little Wings since the late nineties, pushing and pulling his folk rock sound into every shape imaginable while leaning into the joy of the ephemeral moment. A few years ago <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/antiquated-future-records/">Antiquated Future</a> tried to capture this ever-shifting style in one album with <em>Sing Wide (Selected Songs 2002​-​2019)</em>, though true to the spirit of the project, Field has since taken the Little Wings sound onwards. New full-length <em>High On The Glade </em>will be released this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Perpetual-doom">Perpetual Doom</a>, and single &#8216;Bubbles Go Pop&#8217; is every bit as idiosyncratic and inventive as you&#8217;d hope. With its ramshackle percussion and sing-song melody, it tells the story of a wild party in a zany vaudevillian procession befitting of a Pynchon novel. &#8220;The bubbles go pop,&#8221; as Field sings, &#8220;the laughter doesn’t stop / Effervescence grows into a roar.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=562925934/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1991926226/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/album/high-on-the-glade">High On The Glade by Little Wings</a></iframe></center><em>High On The Glade</em> will be released on 1st May via Perpetual Doom. Pre-order on LP and cassette via <a href="https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/album/high-on-the-glade">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Night Hawk &#8211; Bedroom Waltz</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/07/07/night-hawk-casual-fatality/">Back in February</a> we featured <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/night-hawk/">Night Hawk</a>, the Brunswick, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/maine/">Maine</a>-based project led by Colter Adams and Peyton Semjen. As we wrote previously, the pair work alongside &#8220;a rotating cast of band members [&#8230;] to create a sound which evokes the Edward Hopper painting after which they are named.&#8221; After a slew of singles, the band are readying their debut EP, <em>Everything Good Ends</em>, and have just unveiled lead single &#8216;Bedroom Waltz&#8217; as a taster of what to expect. It&#8217;s a picture of a relationship curdled by overdependence, depicted with both raw feeling and poetic grace. Cello and guitar weave across each other in somber patterns, while the percussion drives things forward towards the eventual cathartic climax.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>In love with an addict<br />
He works fighting fires<br />
He gets paid in forgiveness<br />
And he never gets tired</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=995805201/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://nighthawk4.bandcamp.com/track/bedroom-waltz">Bedroom Waltz by Night Hawk</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Bedroom Waltz&#8217; is out now via the Night Hawk <a href="https://nighthawk4.bandcamp.com/track/bedroom-waltz">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Trailer Dust &#8211; Sunday Morning (feat. Kelley Swindall) (The Velvet Underground Cover)</h3>
<p>Taking inspiration from the likes of Sparklehorse and Sonic Youth and adding a country inflection, Trailer Dust is the new project of songwriter/producer, Greg Griffith. As if to highlight the success of such a marriage, Griffith has enlisted Kelley Swindall for a take on The Velvet Underground&#8217;s &#8216;Sunday Morning&#8217;. A version which swaps the dreamy drift of the original for something with more dirt on its boots. Griffith and Swindall&#8217;s chemistry is clear in the playful, carefree atmosphere, the song lifting towards its affirming conclusion as though gambolling in childlike wonder.</p>
<p><iframe title="Sunday Morning" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DdatLcFGFkU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Sunday Morning&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/02/12/weekly-listening-february-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: February 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Grocer &#8211; Scatter Plot</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/03/11/grocer-scatter-plot/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Mar 2023 14:58:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=36752</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;A collection of songs seeking interior spaces as a refuge from the exterior chaos, only to find such an escape impossible.&#8221; That&#8217;s how we described Number&#8217;s Game by Philly&#8217;s Grocer, released last year via Grind Select. &#8220;The slow and unnerving discovery that we are not separate from the blights of the world [&#8230;] the perfect themes, that is, for the tumultuous and chaotic Grocer aesthetic.&#8221; And tumultuous and chaotic it was, setting out the band&#8217;s blend of sugary pop sensibilities [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/03/11/grocer-scatter-plot/">Grocer &#8211; Scatter Plot</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;A collection of songs seeking interior spaces as a refuge from the exterior chaos, only to find such an escape impossible.&#8221; That&#8217;s how we described <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/22/grocer-pick-a-way/"><em>Number&#8217;s Game</em></a> by Philly&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grocer/">Grocer</a>, released last year via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>. &#8220;The slow and unnerving discovery that we are not separate from the blights of the world [&#8230;] the perfect themes, that is, for the tumultuous and chaotic Grocer aesthetic.&#8221; And tumultuous and chaotic it was, setting out the band&#8217;s blend of sugary pop sensibilities and dissonant, volatile experimentation, all tied together by three vocalists.</p>
<p>Grocer have now returned with <em>Scatter Plot</em>, a new EP again on Grind Select which continues to develop this exciting and idiosyncratic style. Writing back in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/01/18/weekly-listening-january-2023-1/">January</a>, we described lead single &#8216;Downtown Side&#8217;, as &#8220;utilising the frantic, twitchy energy to capture personal experiences of anxiety and unease,&#8221; and the EP as a whole is no less energetic and fidgety. A collection of songs willing to embrace their own directions and energies, albeit united by the common Grocer spirit. &#8220;The name &#8216;Scatter Plot&#8217; seemed fitting because there was a certain unconnectedness from song-to-song, but maybe an underlying trend line which we had not yet discovered,&#8221; bassist/vocalist Danielle Lovier explains. A sense of surreal disconnection was central to &#8216;Downtown Side&#8217;, so perhaps the connective tissue of the release is exactly that feeling of detachment.</p>
<p>&#8216;Smooth Operator&#8217; follows with its harsh, combustible sound, the sneering vocals delivered with palpable snarl, while &#8216;Not By Choice&#8217; offers a more taut, withheld style, its own chaos bubbling below the surface and only fully spilling over in the closing moments. This is again challenged by the urgent insectile drone which introduces &#8216;Open Wide&#8217;, where the energy is held front and centre, the track like a runaway vehicle swerving not to limit its damage but more to create a bigger spectacle. The vibe is captured in the lyrics too. A kind of unhinged momentum threading the words which reveals more than any of the lines themselves</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I don’t think I trust how I’m doing<br />
Caught in the door but I need to leave<br />
Save it for the mood ring<br />
Hey I’m doing great, I’m improving</h5>
</blockquote>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3485993072/album=529941783/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>What emerges across <em>Scatter Plot</em> is the sense of a band not only embracing their singular style but pushing it forward. &#8220;We went into this EP, thinking we were just going to making a single and remix (&#8216;Downtown Side&#8217;),&#8221; as Lovier continues. &#8220;As things started progressing with the recordings, some dynamics were changing within the band. We eventually found ourselves down a guitarist, but with a handful of exciting new song ideas. It felt like a moment to try out some new material as a trio, and  began to take shape.&#8221;</p>
<p>Take the acoustic strum of &#8216;Here On Out&#8217;, a style which feels a world away from that which preceded it, even if the dissonance is not held at bay for long. As though heartfelt emotions emerge even through the anxiety and fury, albeit subject to the same wry humour and ironic distrust as anything else. &#8220;Wait,&#8221; as the song says. &#8220;I think I’m feeling an emotion.&#8221; Amid the barrage of everything else, feeling anything is worthy of note.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3344391504/album=529941783/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p><em>Scatter Plot</em> is out now via Grind Select and available from the Grocer <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/scatter-plot">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/03/11/grocer-scatter-plot/">Grocer &#8211; Scatter Plot</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">36752</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: January 2023 #1</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/01/18/weekly-listening-january-2023-1/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:05:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adam Spry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bailey Miller]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bud Tapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crosslegged]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dear Life Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[En Attendant Ana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jack Keyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joanna Mattrey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonny G and the Music Factory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[melbourne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pittsburgh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romanie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sad Girls Aquatics Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[san francisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steven Long]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trouble In Mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whited Sepulchre Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=36172</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Adam Spry &#8211; Rotten Mausoleum The title of Adam Spry&#8217;s forthcoming album Slightly Off Kilter gives a hint as to what to expect from the San Francisco songwriter. Dispatches from an artist somewhat out of whack with the world, trying to create and communicate in a society which hardly values such things. But with wry humour and a few coats of seventies rock polish, Spry plants his flag regardless, and single &#8216;Rotten Mausoleum&#8217; captures the bravery of such an act [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/01/18/weekly-listening-january-2023-1/">Weekly Listening: January 2023 #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;">Adam Spry &#8211; Rotten Mausoleum</h3>
<p>The title of Adam Spry&#8217;s forthcoming album <em>Slightly Off Kilter</em> gives a hint as to what to expect from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/san-francisco/">San Francisco</a> songwriter. Dispatches from an artist somewhat out of whack with the world, trying to create and communicate in a society which hardly values such things. But with wry humour and a few coats of seventies rock polish, Spry plants his flag regardless, and single &#8216;Rotten Mausoleum&#8217; captures the bravery of such an act with its tongue-in-cheek humour, however futile it might seem. &#8220;Walking through the streets of Rome, I kept picturing an emperor who &#8216;went into the family business&#8217; so to speak,&#8221; Spry explains of his inspiration. &#8220;He just wanted to play the lute and study philosophy with his friends. Sick and tired of the class disparity around him, he decided to have the old statues torn down. He was of course killed and replaced with someone who would rule with an iron fist and was subsequently erased from history.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Emperor made of marble<br />
All you do is stare<br />
Rotten Mausoleum<br />
There’s someone in my chair</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Check out the video filmed by Spry himself and edited by Matt Kreizenbeck below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Adam Spry - Rotten Mausoleum (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fMCm5DtON5E?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>Slightly Off Kilter</em> will be released on the 24th March and you can <a href="https://adamspry.bandcamp.com/album/slightly-off-kilter">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Bailey Miller &#8211; cul-de-sac</h3>
<p>&#8220;A sound best described as translucent,&#8221; was how we described Bailey Miller&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/19/bailey-miller-parallel-place/"><em>Still Water</em></a>, released last year on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/whited-sepulchre-records/">Whited Sepulchre Records</a>. &#8220;Not too clear, not too fogged, any ethereality countered by directness, yet nothing allowed to be too grounded for long.&#8221; This February sees Miller return with <em>love is a dying</em>, a follow-up record which forgoes some of the nuance and layering in favour of a more forthright tone. Directness as the prime focus. Intention unmasked and offered up. Single &#8216;cul-de-sac&#8217; gives an indication of what such a change sounds like, its hushed and understated style made almost cavernous by the sense of space Miller conjures around it. An echo which carries the full weight of the dark which surrounds any instance of love.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3648544352/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3744377564/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://baileymillermusic.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-a-dying">love is a dying by Bailey Miller</a></iframe></center><em>love is a dying</em> is out on the 10th February via Whited Sepulchre and you can <a href="https://baileymillermusic.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-a-dying">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Crosslegged &#8211; Automatic</h3>
<p>Ahead of brand new full-length <em>Another Blue</em>, which releases at the end of the month, Keba Robinson&#8217;s Crosslegged has unveiled a new track, &#8216;Automatic&#8217;. The album&#8217;s second single following the playfully undulating &#8216;Only in The&#8217;, &#8216;Automatic&#8217; is a tender and assured grower, its spacious sound unfurling into an all-encompassing warmth before folding back up again, Robinson controlling the mood with an expert hand. By the close the listener is cast out into a hazy drift, anchored only by the crooned vocals, a safe hand ever-present allowing you to close your eyes and enjoy the float.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2184460868/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=402334292/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://crosslegged.bandcamp.com/album/another-blue-2">Another Blue by Crosslegged</a></iframe></center><em>Another Blue</em> will be released on 27th January and you can order it now via the Crosslegged <a href="https://crosslegged.bandcamp.com/album/another-blue-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">En Attendant Ana &#8211; Same Old Story</h3>
<p>Ahead of their new LP, <em>Principa</em>, out next month via Trouble in Mind, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/paris/">Paris</a>-based En Attendant Ana have unveiled single &#8216;Same Old Story&#8217; to give an indication as to what to expect. A blend of playful indie pop rhythms and post-punk angles, the track whips up a detailed and often disorientating sound, pitching the listener into a funhouse room of mirrors with only the smooth clarity of Margaux Bouchaudon&#8217;s vocals as a guide. The sound is intended to represent the band as they appear &#8220;behind closed doors,&#8221; as they put it, &#8220;locked in a mortifying loop, repeating over and over the same gestures of a banal and falsely comfortable scene&#8230; until exhaustion,&#8221; leading to a sound which captures the idiosyncratic combination of escalation and fatigue typical of a racing mind.</p>
<p><iframe title="En Attendant Ana &quot;Same Old Story&quot; (Official Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h8Vh7bQh_uU?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>Principa</em> is out on the 24th February and you can <a href="https://enattendantana.bandcamp.com/album/principia">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grocer &#8211; Downtown Side</h3>
<p>Following on from last year&#8217;s <em>Number&#8217;s Game</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philadelphia</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grocer/">Grocer</a> are set to return with a brand new EP <em>Scatter Plot</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>. Single &#8216;Downtown Side&#8217; shows the band pushing further into the volatile blend of pop charm and angular dissonance which has come to be their signature, this time utilising the frantic, twitchy energy to capture personal experiences of anxiety and unease. Because the lyrics deal with lead Nicholas Rahn&#8217;s experience of living with Vasovagal Syncope, a condition where specific triggers can cause him to faint, and moreover the secondary anxieties which come along with it. Including the very real fear &#8220;that at any given point in time,&#8221; as he puts it, &#8220;I am actually unconscious and simply experiencing a lifelike dream.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>then I realized&#8230;<br />
Was I even alive?<br />
I coulda passed out cold on my walk from home<br />
I could be bleeding from my head on the side of the curb<br />
Am I dreaming that I&#8217;m even waiting for a dessert?</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=529941783/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1030765523/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/scatter-plot">Scatter Plot by Grocer</a></iframe></center><em>Scatter Plot </em>is out on the 3rd March via Grind Select and you can <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/scatter-plot">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jack Keyes &#8211; Skyscraper</h3>
<p>Across a series of albums and singles in recent years, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/kentucky/">Kentucky</a>-based songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jack-keyes/">Jack Keyes</a> has developed a warm and intimate sound somewhere between folk and bedroom pop. With a new full-length due later this year, new single &#8216;Skyscraper&#8217; serves as both an acknowledgement of collaboration and a reminder to trust one&#8217;s own tastes. &#8220;[The single] is a celebration of the wonderful musical community I&#8217;ve found in Kentucky,&#8221; Keyes says &#8220;with contributions from friends I&#8217;ve met throughout my musical journey in town,&#8221; but also &#8220;about wanting to be more comfortable in my own choices and in my own skin.&#8221; A song which feels like an artist taking stock of how far they have come before setting off on a new journey.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7Bc84069rlGBDuATUWufTH?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center>&#8216;Skyscraper&#8217; is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Joanna Mattrey &amp; Steven Long &#8211; EP</h3>
<p>Next month Joanna Mattrey &amp; Steven Long will release their debut full-length <em>Strider</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dear-life-records/">Dear Life Records</a>. An ambient album written and recorded with a clear set of rules: each track must revolve around one idea and one idea alone. But while this seemingly spartan approach might stand distinct in a genre prone to ambiguous meanderings, Mattrey and Long were endlessly inventive within each song, looking everywhere for possible sounds. That includes a variety of synths, a toy keyboard, a seventies electric Kimball organ and the &#8220;curious and magical&#8221; Stroh Violin, as well as field recordings<br />
of ice clashing in the Hudson river. Not to mention, as per the liner notes, how the pair &#8220;banged, blew on, and bowed various dusty pieces of junk, antiques, and old metal franklin stoves that filled [Mattrey&#8217;s] family’s house in upstate New York.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=965507638/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1272006638/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://joannamattrey.bandcamp.com/album/strider">Strider by Joanna Mattrey &amp; Steven Long</a></iframe></center><em>Strider</em> is out on the 10th February via Dear Life Records and you can <a href="https://joannamattrey.bandcamp.com/album/strider">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jonny G and the Music Factory &#8211; Life of Jonny</h3>
<p>Next month, Jonny G and the Music Factory (AKA Jonny Gundersen) is releasing his debut full-length album <em>Life of Jonny</em> via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bud-tapes/">Bud Tapes</a>. Having been working as a musician for over decade, the record finds Gundersen in a pretty unique position—in possession of all the hard-won experience required to craft a collection of meaningful songs, yet still retaining the freshness and freedom which comes with a debut. Both the lead single and opener, the title track highlights how powerful such a mix can be, living up to its title to cast an eye over Gundersen&#8217;s life and paint a nuanced picture of living and creating. Highly personal details to capture something more universal, from the experience of existing within a working class space to the ups and downs of life in general. What changes within a person, what proves enduring.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Moved back home.<br />
Life is change<br />
I have changed<br />
and now I&#8217;m changing again</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=126820910/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://jonny4.bandcamp.com/track/life-of-jonny">Life of Jonny by Jonny G and The Music Factory</a></iframe></center><em>Life of Jonny</em> will be released via Bud Tapes on 23rd February. Pre-order it now via <a href="https://budtapes.bandcamp.com/album/life-of-jonny">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Pile &#8211; Nude With A Suitcase</h3>
<p>With new LP <em>All Fiction </em>arriving next month on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/exploding-in-sound-records/">Exploding in Sound</a>, rock stalwarts Pile have been sharing numerous singles over recent weeks, from the frantic motion of &#8216;Loops&#8217; to the slow tilting heft of &#8216;Poisons&#8217;. Latest track &#8216;Nude With A Suitcase&#8217; is no less striking, a dense, tenebrous song which invites the listener inside its cryptic world with what might be alluring shimmer or ominous dread. A fitting ambiguity for an record built around subjectivity and its disorientating pressures, forcing the listener to sit down and examine just what is unfolding around them, even if there is no correct answer at all. Watch the video by Sam Circle with animation from Lynn Tomlinson below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Pile - Nude with a Suitcase (official video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4K9JY4braHU?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>All Fiction</em> is out on the 17th February via Exploding In Sound and you can <a href="https://store.pilemusic.com/">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Romanie &#8211; Anthony</h3>
<p>Belgian born, Naarm/<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/melbourne/">Melbourne</a> based songwriter Romanie has never been afraid to push into personal territory in her music. 2021&#8217;s <em>Little Big Steps </em>delved into themes of loneliness and self-doubt, but new single &#8216;Anthony&#8217; cuts especially close to the bone. Written after seeing Anthony Hopkins in <em>The Father</em>, and in the aftermath of losing a close relative with dementia, the track combines a pressing energy with passionate delivery to confront the cruelty of the illness while declaring an unwavering love. A promise to go on caring and remembering no matter what is taken away.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1424947702&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>&#8216;Anthony&#8217; is out now and available via <a href="https://linktr.ee/romaniemusic">streaming services</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sad Girls Aquatics Club &#8211; Who&#8217;s Your Witness</h3>
<p>A self-described &#8220;dramatic duo&#8221; from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pittsburgh/">Pittsburgh</a>, PA, Sad Girls Aquatics Club specialise in what they describe as &#8220;breakup pop&#8221;. First announcing themselves with debut EP <a href="https://sadgirlsaquaticsclub.bandcamp.com/album/vodkawine"><em>Vodkawine</em></a> back in 2018, the pair (Chelsea Rumbaugh and Marie Mashyna) make sharp and slightly melancholy pop songs that combine personal angst and a sense of wider social critique. They now have a full-length record on the way, and have recently released a couple of singles in anticipation of its release. &#8216;Who&#8217;s Your Witness&#8217; might be the standout, a somewhat facetious wave goodbye to someone or thing that has outstayed its welcome, all wrapped in a 90s alt-rock fuzz.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1378475542&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>&#8216;Who&#8217;s Your Witness&#8217; is out now and available from the Sad Girls Aquatic Club <a href="https://sadgirlsaquaticsclub.bandcamp.com/track/whos-your-witness">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/01/18/weekly-listening-january-2023-1/">Weekly Listening: January 2023 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<title>Grocer &#8211; Mountain Home</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/03/24/grocer-mountain-home/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2022 19:43:17 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=27995</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Back in February we introduced Numbers Game, the upcoming album by Philly outfit Grocer on Grind Select, with single &#8216;Pick a Way&#8216;. A song which &#8220;delve[d] into the outlandish justification and rationale surrounding toxic masculinity,&#8221; with a style as tumultuous and chaotic as the moment it described. It was part of an album which promises to explore our futile attempts to escape the calamities facing us. &#8220;The slow and unnerving discovery that we are not separate from the blights of [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/03/24/grocer-mountain-home/">Grocer &#8211; Mountain Home</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in February we introduced <em>Numbers Game</em>, the upcoming album by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philly</a> outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grocer/">Grocer</a> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>, with single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/22/grocer-pick-a-way/">Pick a Way</a>&#8216;. A song which &#8220;delve[d] into the outlandish justification and rationale surrounding toxic masculinity,&#8221; with a style as tumultuous and chaotic as the moment it described. It was part of an album which promises to explore our futile attempts to escape the calamities facing us. &#8220;The slow and unnerving discovery that we are not separate from the blights of the world,&#8221; as we put it, &#8220;and indeed most probably bear some blame as to their prevalence due to the way in which we live.&#8221;</p>
<p>Latest track &#8216;Mountain Home&#8217; is just as scathing, its volatile sound both furious and deranged as it faces up to the fictions underpinning the Western project. &#8220;I’ve always fantasized about living an Idahoan range life,&#8221; explains lead Nicholas Rahn of the title. &#8220;And sort of romanticized in my mind Mountain Home, ID as the quintessential Manifest-Destiny-laden slice of a bygone American Dream.&#8221; But the song presents this idyllic surface as a kind of coping mechanism. Pristine lawns rolled out and neatened over bones and blood. A landscaping which comes with a double whammy of destructive costs. In trying to mask past violence, we confirm its haunting presence in everything we do, and in cultivating this comfortable ignorance we invite the future violence of nature to our door.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>If no man&#8217;s land is no one&#8217;s land,<br />
Then what&#8217;s the plan to clean it up?<br />
Or was that dirt what always was?<br />
The carpet pile&#8217;s wearing down and now the cat is throwing up</h5>
<h5>Lay em down in the lawn</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>The video comes complete with a trippy video by Rahn himself so check it out below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grocer - Mountain Home (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qXeMJ5Bso5s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Numbers Game</em> is out via Grind Select on the 6th May and you can pre-order it now from the Grocer <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/03/24/grocer-mountain-home/">Grocer &#8211; Mountain Home</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<title>Grocer &#8211; Pick A Way</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/22/grocer-pick-a-way/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:26:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=27598</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The fact Philadelphia&#8216;s Grocer have a number of vocalists and lyricists is some hint at the variety and invention of their sound. With Danielle Lovier and Nicholas Rahn of all boy/all girl joined by Emily Daly and Cody Nelson, each member brings their own tastes and ideals. These distinctive creative inputs might not be in competition exactly, but their presence within the band adds a certain tension to their output. A restlessness which always hovers near, threatening to head off [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/22/grocer-pick-a-way/">Grocer &#8211; Pick A Way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The fact <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philadelphia</a>&#8216;s Grocer have a number of vocalists and lyricists is some hint at the variety and invention of their sound. With Danielle Lovier and Nicholas Rahn of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/all-boy-all-girl/">all boy/all girl</a> joined by Emily Daly and Cody Nelson, each member brings their own tastes and ideals. These distinctive creative inputs might not be in competition exactly, but their presence within the band adds a certain tension to their output. A restlessness which always hovers near, threatening to head off in a new (and often chaotic) direction. But holding this together is an overarching chemistry. A trust between the four members which embraces this instability and weaves it into the Grocer personality.</p>
<p>This spring sees the release of <em>Numbers Game</em>, the second Grocer album that&#8217;s out via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>. Initially conceived as an EP, the release came into being during a stay in rural Georgia in early 2021, and by the time the band had finished a tour in the summer of that year, the full record had taken shape. A collection of songs seeking interior spaces as a refuge from the exterior chaos, only to find such an escape impossible. The slow and unnerving discovery that we are not separate from the blights of the world, and indeed most probably bear some blame as to their prevalence due to the way in which we live. The perfect themes, that is, for the tumultuous and chaotic Grocer aesthetic.</p>
<p>Lead single &#8216;Pick A Way&#8217; delves into the outlandish justification and rationale surrounding toxic masculinity, especially in light of events such as the Jan 6th insurrection. A tale of frustrated hopes and aborted futures. A voice looking to be heard among many others. &#8220;I don&#8217;t hear my name / so I shout it out,&#8221; go the lyrics. An attempt to persevere beyond the moment, to make yourself lasting within a system slowing falling down.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Done gazing in no longer lingering on<br />
Why this entire planet must envision me wrong<br />
Some rush, white and in the front<br />
Poking just for fun<br />
Pick away and run</h5>
</blockquote>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=1592442660/album=1735717256/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Check out the video by Nicholas Rahn below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grocer - Pick A Way (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XSKf3Zze8Gc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Numbers Game</em> is out on the 6th May via Grind Select and you can pre-order it now from the Grocer <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grocer-pic.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/grocer-pic.jpg?resize=1170%2C801&#038;ssl=1" alt="a picture of the band Grocer" width="1170" height="801" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/22/grocer-pick-a-way/">Grocer &#8211; Pick A Way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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