runnner – eggshell

runnner is the project of Noah Weinman and Nate Lichtenberger, who make muic that they describe as “fus[ing] electronic and experimental elements into ragged, heart-on-your-sleeve folk-rock.” In May last year we premiered a video from their debut album Awash, and now the band are readying a follow-up EP entitled Fan On. In anticipation, runnner have released the first single, ‘eggshell’, a song that sees them inject a little lo-fi folk aesthetic into their bedroom pop. It’s something like the breezily reflective folk pop of Pinegrove meets the kitchen-based everyday introspection of early Trace Mountains. Lyrically the song is both smart and sad, probably the most affecting song you’ll hear about cooking eggs all year.

Stay tuned to the runnner Bandcamp page for news on the new EP.

Wy – Pavements

We wrote about ‘Gone Wild’ by Malmö’s Wy back in 2017, describing the track as “representing the sensation of being stuck in your own head, a vast lonely place that’s somehow claustrophobic too.” The track was taken from Okay, an album which existed within a great cloudy haze of atmosphere and emotion, though latest single ‘Pavements’ expands upon the record’s style and pushes into more urgent, aggressive territory. The evolution serves to increase the intensity and ferocity of the Wy sound, the insistent rhythm driving Ebba’s ominously threatening vocals and forthright lyrics.

‘Pavements’ is out now via Hybris.

Westkust – Swebeach

Based in Gothenburg, rock band Westkust have been quiet since the the release of Last Forever back in 2015, though this year will see that put right with a self-titled album with Run For Cover Records. Lead single ‘Swebeach’ gives an indication of what to expect, fun-filled garage rock as filtered through a shoegaze prism, Julia Bjernelind’s vocals emerging through the wall of noise with a sense of assurance and warmth, like a hand reaching out in the dark.

Merival – Sinner

Merival, the project led by Toronto’s Anna Horvath, make lush and emotive songs that combine self-searching introspection with slow-burning catharsis. Their latest single ‘Sinner’ is what Horvath describes as a song “about being caught between two places, one known and comfortable, and the other intoxicatingly new and impossible to avoid.” It combines the lyricism commonly associated with folk with sparse guitar arrangements and confident vocal delivery. The sense of grand emotion is heightened in the track’s second half as elegant strings weave onto the scene, proving that you don’t need to write a sad-sounding song to convey real feeling.

You can buy ‘Sinner’ from the Merival Bandcamp page.

community college – novocaine / karaoke

The side project of Horse Jumper of Love bassist John Margaris, community college are readying their debut album on Disposable America. Joined by his brother Dan on drums and fellow Horse Jumper Dimitri Giannopolous on bass, Margaris makes downbeat lo-fi pop songs that are nevertheless crunchy and catchy. The opening two tracks have been released into the wild early, and both ‘novocaine’ and ‘karaoke’ are short and moreish, the former feeling as numbed as the title suggests, while the latter has a bit more life, tentatively shambling towards glorious basement indie rock.

You can pre-order comco now from the Disposable America Bandcamp page.

Seamstress – Everything

New Jersey’s Gabriella Chavez met Charlie Sztyk in their local music scene, and the pair formed Seamstress, a band that take Chavez’s personal history of heartbreak and moulds it into songs that sweep and shift around a solid emotional core. Their latest single, ‘Everything’ is a case in point, a vulnerable admission of the difficulty of communication in trying times. Chavez’s vocals sound strong and still despite this sense of fragile yearning, resulting in the kind of sincere folk rock that Sharon van Etten has made her own.

I don’t wanna talk about it, anymore,
I don’t wanna talk about it

Tender Glue – Dear Peri

Tender Glue is Tom Gluewicki, born and raised in Poland but now residing in New York. ‘Dear Peri’ is a track from the latest Tender Glue album, Closet Leftovers, an achingly emotive song inspired by the death of a Polish climber on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas. The Peri of the title is a ghost of local legend which protects the mountain, and the lyrics confront imagined details of the climber’s last moments as he succumbs to the will of the mountain. Built on an anchoring guitar line, the song sways with waves of atmospherics as Gluewicki’s vocals deliver his words with an intense melancholy.

Closet Leftovers is out now and available from the Tender Glue Bandcamp page.

Charlotte Cornfield – Andrew

Charlotte Cornfield is a singer-songwriter from Toronto. Her third LP, The Shape of Your Name, is on its way in the Spring, and is set to feature a stellar cast of collaborators, including Leif Vollebekk and Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin (all of Broken Social Scene). In anticipation of release, Cornfield has unveiled the record’s first single, ‘Andrew’. She describes the song as a “reminder to step back and look at the bigger picture instead of dwelling on the minutiae,” and says that it could be about a partner both platonic or romantic. The press release promises something contemplative and contemporary, funny and heart-wrenching, and Cornfield makes good on the pledge, creating a folk rock song that feels both spry and tender, a clear-eyed and confident confrontation with the truth of a situation.

The Shape of Your Name will be released on the 5th April via Outside Music’s new imprint Next Door Records.

Zelma Stone – Light Bulb Boy

Zelma Stone are from San Francisco, with lead Chloe Zelma joined by Haley Pan (bass), Jake Kissner (drums), Jewelz (keys) and Kevin Fielding (lead guitar). Citing Big Thief and Angel Olsen as major influences, the band have recently released their debut EP, Layla, which promises to “channel grief and pain into a dreamy soundscape of empowering arrangements and addictive melodies.” ‘Light Bulb Boy’ is the third track on that EP, a song that builds from mellow folk rock beginnings into something altogether more stirring.

Being here where things are breakable
I guess we’ve chosen this path
It’s a long familiar road now darling
and these seasons just keep on coming back

Field Medic – henna tattoo

We’ve been fans of Field Medic, aka Kevin Patrick, for a long time here at VSF, and have been pleased to watch his progress as he has made music his full-time endeavour. His latest album, fade into the dawn, is on the way via Run For Cover Records, a release that promises to blend “black humour and bold introspection” to find meaning in the mundane. As a taster, Field Medic has unveiled first single, ‘henna tattoo’, a characteristically sincere song recorded to 4-track tape recorder. Acoustic guitar is joined by Patrick’s earnest vocals and subtle beats from his drum machine, making for a track that lands at the folkier end of the bedroom pop spectrum.

fade into the dawn will be released on Run For Cover Records on 19th April, and you can pre-order it now from their website or Bandcamp page.

Shady Bug – Make it Up

The latest addition to the ranks of Exploding in Sound, Shady Bug are an indie rock band from St Louis. Their forthcoming album Lemon Lime is due to be released next month. The first single, ‘Make It Up’ is available to stream right now, and it’s immediately apparent that their sound feels right at home next to their new label mates. Lead Hannah Rainey says the song is about sharing Sprite with a crush, although the sweetness is offset somewhat by the chorus which covers worries both personal and what Rainey describes to Flood Magazine as “anxiety caused by the trees blooming early and dying in my neighborhood because of global warming.” The thrashing, cathartic finale helps too, proving that Shady Bug have the indie rock chops to support their fun songwriting.

Pre-order Lemon Lime now from the Exploding in Sound Bandcamp page and the Shady Bug Bandcamp page.

UV Rays – Flowerhead

Though originating as the solo project of Adrien DeFontaine, Brooklyn’s UV Rays soon grew into a four piece and found their groove as a raucous indie rock band. New single ‘Flowerhead’ serves as a great introduction for the uninitiated, driven forward by the drums and vocals of  Erica Warner, the guitars and bass surging behind with warm energy—like a shoegaze track as imagined by a power pop band, all melancholy blown away by the sheer momentum.

‘Flowerhead’ is taken from the band’s debut EP, Try and Begin, which is set for release on the 1st March, so keep an eye on the UV Rays Bandcamp page.

a. harlana – faces

Juno Roome leads a. harlana, a band that make gauzy and vaporous ambient pop songs with a raw and emotional edge. They have recently released an EP, ada belle, three tracks that shift and swirl with dreamy feeling, or as the press release accurately puts it, “elegaic, elegant, enigmatic and extra-good.” ‘Faces’ is the initial standout, a 7+ minute lesson in patience and atmosphere, lingering like tendrils of fog over sparkling guitar and lovelorn vocals. The overall aura is one of yearning, especially with the final line of “but i can’t seem to will your face next to mine.”

Okay Embrace – Phantom Text

We first featured David Schaefer’s Okay Embrace back in November when we premiered their single, ‘Moving’. “The delivery has a breathless quality,” we wrote of the track. “like the words of a person who has withheld their feelings for too long, the mounting pressure breaching some threshold and spewing forth in manic flow.” ‘Phantom Text’ is the second song from the release Moving/Improving, a song that builds from uncertain beginnings and kicks into a tighter rhythm. Again, the track builds into an increasingly pressing emotional state, bringing to mind the likes of Bright Eyes and Slaughter Beach, Dog in its ability to craft personal struggles into affirming, searching tunes.

Moving/Improving is available now from the Okay Embrace Bandcamp page.

Lady Dan – What Sanity

Working out of Texas but with roots in Birmingham, Alabama, Lady Dan makes music which is self-described as “Melancholic cowboy sounds you can cry in front of your cat to.” Taken from a forthcoming EP, ‘What Sanity’ takes this aesthetic and runs in the direction of unrequited love, detailing the soul-sucking sensation of falling for someone when they are indifferent to your very existence.

Bellows – What Can I Tell You About the World?

Recording as Bellows, Oliver Kalb has made his name as an interesting, ambitious songwriter that deals in heartfelt honesty. The Rose Gardener, his forth record that’s coming soon on Topshelf Records, looks set to continue the trend, stretching the limits of the bedroom pop genre and calling into question the use of such terms. Still, leads single ‘What Can I Tell You About the World?’ keeps things simple, a humble, touching folk song that comes complete with an intimate video from Richard Gin, setting the tone for an album that looks to address the poisonous culture of judgement and loneliness that marks the contemporary Western experience.

The Rose Gardener will be released on Topshelf Records on the 22nd February and you can get it on Bandcamp.

The This – The Strangest Ritual

Beginning life as a solo project of Evan Matthiesen, the ungoogleable Victoria, B.C. band THE THIS put out a debut EP back in 2017, and have since followed up with a series of single in preparation for a full length album. After the dejected weariness of ‘Casual Encounters’, the band are back with ‘The Strangest Ritual’, a frantic slice of punk rock that trades any hesitancy for frantic forward motion. As Matthiesen shouts over runaway instrumentation, you get the sense that the song is determined to have a good time despite whatever might be happening around it, as though fun and assured energy can be willed into existence with enough desire and dedication.

Bleeder – Rusted and Raw

Bleeder is the recording project of Shelby Smoak a writer and musician who focuses much of his attention on his experiences as a haemophiliac. His memoir, also titled Bleeder, was published by Michigan State University Press back in 2013, detailing the quest for life and love when suffering from haemophilia and HIV, with what Joanna Smith Rakoff described as “not just brutal honesty, but also with humour and grace.”

Bleeder the band emerged from the book’s ashes, looking to explore similar themes through a different form and tone. The second video in the outfit’s Singles Series, ‘Rusted and Raw’ takes the emotion, fear and loneliness of the memoir and weaves it into a wistfully retro brand of indie rock—once again breathing human life into a story of suffering and perseverance.

You can find all previous editions of Bright Sparks here, and why not check out our monthly roundup mixes?

The post Bright Sparks: Vol. 21 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

A new volume will be posted every few weeks and will offer a collection of really great songs that we’re determined not to let slip past our radar.

Brenda – Children

Having been involved in the Toronto punk scene for a number of years, Brenda got together as a four-piece in 2015. After last year’s double A-side single Sally’s Spit / ICU, the band are back with a new song ahead of the EP, Creeper. ‘Childen’ is about ‘about manipulation and the inevitability of growing up’, exploring the interplay between wanting to grow up and a secret longing to return to childhood innocence. The result is an unsettling, off-kilter track that gets under your skin, the whimsical falsetto of the verses tending toward chaotic noise in the chorus. Watch the coulrophobia-inducing video below:

Creeper is due to be released later this year, and in the meantime you can get the ‘Children’ single from Bandcamp.

Wy – Gone Wild

Taken from Okay, a new album from Swedish duo Wy, ‘Gone Wild’ is a sparse, lonely song detailing a multitude of fears. From anxieties about the death of loved ones, to worries about being misunderstood and rejected, the track charts fear in its various forms, the focus on the vocals giving everything an isolated, introspective feel. As such, the song ends up representing the sensation of being stuck in your own head, a vast lonely place that’s somehow claustrophobic too.

Okay is out now via Better Call Rob and Hybris, and you can get it from Bandcamp.

blue milk – feelin’ Blue

blue milk is the lo-fi folk project of Nashville’s Chrissy Pederson. Pederson re-purposes the elements of age-old folk music for the young people of today, acoustic strums supporting lyrics reminiscent of Frankie Cosmos or Florist. Her latest release, a collection of songs called feelin’ Blue, is short and sweet, full of songs about Millennial angst, boredom and dying young. The whole thing is reassuringly DIY and the perfect antidote to sickly, overproduced chart folk pop.

You can get feelin’ Blue on a name-your-price download from the blue milk Bandcamp page.

Sam Valdez – It’s Alright

Based in Los Angeles, Nevada born songwriter Sam Valdez draws inspiration from Sufjan Stevens, Sylvia Plath and the desert of her childhood to create a sound both dreamy and spacious, as highlighted by new single ‘It’s Alright’. With equal focus on interior and exterior forces, the track examines the masked feelings behind a troubled relationship, though rather than placing them in claustrophobic melancholy, casts them into a wide, expansive soundscape with a life of its own. The result breaks the mould of personal folk, allowing the overall tone and message of the track to remain far more ambiguous, with the sadness accompanied by an unshakeable elation.

Be sure to check out her previous single, ‘Hours‘, and keep an eye on the Sam Valdez Facebook page for future news.

Heck Nugget – Never Feel Bad / Rookie, Judgement

Hailing from Houston, Texas, indie rock trio Heck Nugget mix pop punk energy with nostalgic melancholia, as demonstrated on their previous album, Sleeping With The Forcefield On. Since, the band have been working on new singles to form a split release with Austin band The Red Heroes. ‘Rookie, Judgement’ shows the upbeat, energetic version of the band, the track racing behind throaty vocals, while ‘Never Feel Bad’ is the pensive side of the coin, regret and sadness woven into something warm and affirming, no matter how blue.

The National – The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness

In some instances, the task of writing about your favourite bands or albums is almost impossibly difficult, especially when said act has exploded into about as mainstream a position a hard-working indie rock band can achieve these days. The world doesn’t need another think piece about The National, nor comparative piece on whether The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness stands up alongside their other work. Whether or not this reaches the heights of Alligator and Boxer is kind of beside the point—Berninger and Co. remain one of the most consistent and interesting groups going, and if this record been released by an unknown act we’d be praising it’s achievements. So, while they’ve risen beyond our remit, we still think The National warrant a mention on our site, for posterity’s sake.

The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness is out now via 4AD.

Dream Nails – Tourist

London’s self-described ‘feminist punk witches’ Dream Nails recently put out a sharp, snappy single in preparation for their forthcoming EP, Dare To Care. Channelling the spirit of the Riot Grrrl age, the band create music equal parts catchy and furious, retreating not one iota in their stance against misogyny and the patriacrhal society. “[‘Tourist’ is] about men who present themselves as a hero but all they really want to do is fetishise sad girls,” say lead Janey Starling. “We can smell those guys a mile away and they’re creepy.”

Dare To Care is set for release on the 27th October so keep an eye on the Dream Nails Bandcamp page.

The post Bright Sparks: Vol. 6 appeared first on Various Small Flames.