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	<title>Indiana Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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	<title>Indiana Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: May 2024 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/05/20/weekly-listening-may-2024-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2024 11:51:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bayonet Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Copenhagen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Escho]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eve Essex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hearsing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indianapolis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Just Step Sideways]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[La Bonte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mal Not Bad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Queens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Same Same]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soap Library]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steak Blake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[STEFA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tasha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wishy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=41284</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Eve Essex &#8211; Room with a View The Fabulous Truth, the new album from Brooklyn&#8216;s Eve Essex forthcoming via Soap Library, uses the full spectrum of styles and genres in attempt to offer the elusive phenomenon of its title. &#8220;Trip-hop, outlaw country, kosmische, spiritual jazz, avant-garde classical, and—yes—musical theatre,&#8221; are all cited as touchstones in the press release, as Essex moves with an improvisational freedom in search of a sound capable of capturing the full duality of intimacy and expansiveness [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/05/20/weekly-listening-may-2024-3/">Weekly Listening: May 2024 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Eve Essex &#8211; Room with a View</h3>
<p><em>The Fabulous Truth</em>, the new album from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a>&#8216;s Eve Essex forthcoming via Soap Library, uses the full spectrum of styles and genres in attempt to offer the elusive phenomenon of its title. &#8220;Trip-hop, outlaw country, kosmische, spiritual jazz, avant-garde classical, and—yes—musical theatre,&#8221; are all cited as touchstones in the press release, as Essex moves with an improvisational freedom in search of a sound capable of capturing the full duality of intimacy and expansiveness which exists within the boundaries of our selves. The style is encapsulated by latest single &#8216;Room with a View&#8217;, in which a hauntingly patient sound evokes the strange geography of our interiors, where whispered secrets and vast expanses can feel like one and the same. Watch the animated video by Andy Cahill below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Eve Essex - Room With A View" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/juoUn26J5ao?start=113&#038;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>The Fabulous Truth</em> is out on the 21st June via Soap Library and you can <a href="https://eveessex.bandcamp.com/album/the-fabulous-truth">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Fine &#8211; Coasting</h3>
<p>Recording under the moniker Fine (that&#8217;s <em>feen-uh</em>), <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/copenhagen/">Copehagen</a>-based songwriter Fine Glindvad Jensen collides folk sensibilities with those of dream pop and electronic genres, stitching together guitars, drums, samples and synthesisers to form ambiguous, often minimal soundscapes for her vocals to drift across. So while debut album <em>Rocky Top Ballads </em>might be full of the melancholy and longing of classic country music, its intentions are far more evasive, drawing the listener into a shimmering world where ennui and fondness are marbled into one. The result, as highlighted by single &#8216;Coasting&#8217;, are songs whose apparent simplicity belies the true depth of meaning, Fine&#8217;s minimalist style allowing the listener to feel they are edging closer to the elusive heart of each track with every repeated listen.</p>
<p><iframe title="Fine - Coasting" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hAgi8XnX4LA?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><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=502063207/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=1230143961/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://finefinefinefine.bandcamp.com/album/rocky-top-ballads">Rocky Top Ballads by Fine</a></iframe></p>
<p><em>Rocky Top Ballads</em> comes out on 7th June is is available to order from the Fine <a href="https://finefinefinefine.bandcamp.com/album/rocky-top-ballads">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Hearsing &#8211; Montauk</h3>
<p>Consisting of multi-instrumentalists Avery Murphy and Jordan Taylor, Hearsing look to offer a new flavour of western music by drawing on the surf punk roots of its founders (who were both founding members of the ensemble SUBPAR). The band have a new EP <em>Pastoral</em> on the way, and single &#8216;Montauk&#8217; gives a glimpse of the expansive, nostalgic quality of the Hearsing sound. Ellington Peet (drums, percussion, synthesizer, production), Cole Brossus (lap steel guitar) and Kemper Thornberry (additional vocals) complete the line-up, helping to create a vivid soundscape which feels like a world of its own. Because as &#8216;Montauk&#8217; suggests, <em>Pastoral</em> sees Hearsing push beyond personal experience into a more allegorical and creative style of lyricism, and it is fitting the sound comes to feel like an environment you might step inside.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I live behind a truck stop<br />
North of Jersey<br />
Every day I smell the sea<br />
I work inside a steel mill<br />
Cause veneration is better than defeat</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1802880270&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" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>
<p>Check out the video by Diego Diaz-Lundquist below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Hearsing - Montauk (Official Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/evkZi15YI0c?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>&#8216;Montauk&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://orcd.co/pr65joy">the usual places</a>.<em> Pastoral</em> is coming soon.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">La Bonte &#8211; Marching In A Field Of Wheat</h3>
<p>Following on from 2022&#8217;s <em>Grist For The Mill</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/la-bonte/">La Bonte</a> is returning this summer with <em>Economy Pla</em>y, a new EP again released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/anxiety-blanket-records">Anxiety Blanket Records</a>. Garrett La Bonte has made a name with a considered, reflective sound able to examine grief and love with the kind of thoughtful tone such subjects demand. Living up to its title, the new EP continues this sensibility with a measured hand, choosing to not overextend itself within an environment of financial constraints to instead deliver a shorter release that does justice to the ideas underpinning it. Single &#8216;Marching In A Field Of Wheat&#8217; confronts this society of precarity directly, sparking with the tension between capitalism and creativity as it comes to understand the empty promise of the American dream. But while the less-is-more descriptor might apply to the release&#8217;s quantity, the sound refutes such ideals, rising with tumultuous weight as though directly wrestling with the malevolent forces within.</p>
<p><center> <iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=624729670/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3831243765/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://thelabontebandis.bandcamp.com/album/economy-play">Economy Play by La Bonte</a></iframe></center><em>Economy Play</em> is due for release on 19th July and available to pre-order via <a href="https://thelabontebandis.bandcamp.com/album/economy-play">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Mal Not Bad &#8211; Come On/Hard Times / Mustang</h3>
<p>Following the track &#8216;No Worries&#8217; back in March, Mal Hauser&#8217;s Mal Not Bad has released a new double single ahead of their debut full-length <em>This Is Your New Life </em>which will be released in August by Same Same. Described as &#8220;a succinct glimpse&#8221; into the record&#8217;s sonic palette, the songs inhabit slightly different sides of the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles/">LA</a> artist&#8217;s style. &#8216;Come On/Hard Times&#8217; is a sober slice of ambient indie folk adorned with subtle glitchy electronics, while &#8216;Mustang&#8217; invites LA band Junaco along to create an emotive and haunting downtempo electro pop song. &#8220;&#8216;Mustang&#8217; feels like the emotional release of &#8216;Come On/Hard Times&#8217;, Hauser describes, &#8220;though both songs remain in moments of reflection and stillness.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Find yourself inside a new life<br />
Find yourself inside a different mind</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3651693922/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=4180959089/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://malnotbad.bandcamp.com/album/come-on-hard-times-mustang">Come On/Hard Times / Mustang by Mal Not Bad</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Mal Not Bad, Junaco - Mustang (Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5QET6z6ANu8?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>Come On​/​Hard Times / Mustang</em> is out now via the Mal Not Bad <a href="https://malnotbad.bandcamp.com/album/come-on-hard-times-mustang">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Steak Blake &#8211; Under Knives</h3>
<p>Next month, Blake Joshua (of Beige Banquet) will release an EP with his solo project <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/steak-blake/">Steak Blake</a>. Titled <em>This One</em>, the record promises to continue the Steak Blake MO we first glimpsed on last year&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/07/18/weekly-listening-july-2023-3/">&#8216;Wonderbread&#8217;</a>, all sharp post punk guitars, deadpan vocals and introspective, politically conscious lyrics. To announce the EP, Steak Blake has unveiled lead single and opening track &#8216;Under Knives&#8217;, a lo-fi but hook-laden punk song that is certain to appeal to fans of the likes of Gorgeous Bully. &#8220;The song speaks to the relentless challenges of modern life,&#8221; Joshua describes of the single, &#8220;depicting a state where people constantly feel behind and unable to escape from reality. It explores the psychological burden of believing that these struggles are self-inflicted, turning to vices as a form of escapism, a way to momentarily relieve stress and despair.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3402393981/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1191120177/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://steakblake.bandcamp.com/album/this-one">This One by Steak Blake</a></iframe></center><em>This One</em> will be released via Just Step Sideways on 28th June. Pre-order it now from the Steak Blake <a href="https://steakblake.bandcamp.com/album/this-one">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">STEFA* &#8211; differ3nt today</h3>
<p><em>Born With An Extra Rib</em>, the debut album by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/queens/">Queens</a> vocalist, composer, educator and performance artist Stefa Marin Alarcón (aka STEFA*) is something of an amalgamation between autobiography and origin story. Exploring personal stories on a grand scale, the record sees STEFA* blend classical, electronic, punk and Latin styles to capture the different selves they embodied throughout its nine year gestation. Genre convention goes out the window, replaced with a sense of freedom and desire to embrace change. Latest single &#8216;differ3nt today&#8217; is a great example, a downtempo electronic song that draws on contemporary pop and a decidedly 90s nostalgic sensibility. &#8220;I wanted this to feel like an anthem for people,&#8221; Alarcón describes of the song. &#8220;For everyone – not just for trans people, not just for non-binary people, not just for queer people. We all change so often and we have a right to change, so I wanted it to be an invitation for people to ask these same questions.”</p>
<p><iframe title="STEFA* -  differ3nt today (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vtkevvCi64s?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>Born With An Extra Rib</em> is out now via <a href="https://stefa.bandcamp.com/album/born-with-an-extra-rib">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Tasha &#8211; Michigan</h3>
<p>Over two years since her last release, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tasha/">Tasha</a> has signed to <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bayonet-records/">Bayonet Records</a> and released a new single, &#8216;Michigan&#8217;. Produced by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/greg-ulhmann/">Gregory Uhlmann</a> and written during a &#8220;both lonely and extremely creatively fulfilling&#8221; writing trip to a friend&#8217;s house in the titular state, the track is suffused with the sadness and gladness found in the warm glow of a late summer afternoon. Steady percussion propels things forward, but Tasha&#8217;s vocals glide at their own pace, attuned more with the slow rhythms of the natural world than our usual human calendar. &#8220;This song is about the missing and the return, Tasha describes,&#8221; the reliable comfort of a sunset on a nice day, a friend to sit with, and the shining hope of more comfort to come.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Drive to Michigan, spend some time alone<br />
Make good friends with the horses down the road<br />
Oh I wish our dog was here with me<br />
But I know he’s barking loudly somewhere warm and free</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2833833650/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://tashamusic.bandcamp.com/track/michigan">Michigan by Tasha</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Michigan&#8217; is out now and available from the Tasha <a href="https://tashamusic.bandcamp.com/track/michigan">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Wishy &#8211; Love On The Outside</h3>
<p>Fresh from the success of 2023 EP<em> Paradise</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/indiana/">Indianapolis</a> outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/wishy/">Wishy</a> have wasted no time in announcing their debut full-length album, <em>Triple Seven</em>. Again released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear/">Winspear</a>, the record looks to build on the combination of dream pop, shoegaze and indie rock which we so admired on the EP <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/11/16/wishy-too-true/">last year</a>. Lead single &#8216;Love On The Outside&#8217; plays these various stylistic influences off against one another, granting the track equal doses of heaviness and anthemic release. Such a duality is fitting for a track charting those early days of a relationship, where the tantalising promise of all the possible futures is troubled by an impatience to get to those halcyon days. A song sweet, frustrated and full of the hooks which make Wishy so engaging.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=803374530/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=2907563179/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/album/triple-seven">Triple Seven by Wishy</a></iframe></p>
<p>Check out the accompanying video by Rich Smith below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Wishy - Love On The Outside (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kz6nb7yIsCQ?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>Triple Seven</em> is out on the 16th August via Winspear and you can <a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/track/love-on-the-outside">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/05/20/weekly-listening-may-2024-3/">Weekly Listening: May 2024 #3</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">41284</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Amy O &#8211; Early Days</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/10/amy-o-early-days/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2024 18:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amy O]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40930</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Last month we introduced Mirror, Reflect, the forthcoming album by Bloomington, Indiana-based songwriter Amy O on Winspear. &#8220;The record charts the experience of new motherhood during the pandemic,&#8221; we wrote, &#8220;where twin forces of uncertainty and isolation ran a deep seam of precariousness through everything.&#8221; But as single &#8216;Dribble Dribble&#8217; highlighted, Amy O explores such themes with a compassionate and playful tone. &#8220;The lo-fi pop sound lift[s] rhyming schemes from the books she read to her daughter,&#8221; as we continued, &#8220;to offer [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/10/amy-o-early-days/">Amy O &#8211; Early Days</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/25/weekly-listening-march-2024-4/">Last month</a> we introduced <em>Mirror, Reflect</em>, the forthcoming album by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bloomington/">Bloomington</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/indiana/">Indiana</a>-based songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/amy-o/">Amy O</a> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear/">Winspear</a>. &#8220;The record charts the experience of new motherhood during the pandemic,&#8221; we wrote, &#8220;where twin forces of uncertainty and isolation ran a deep seam of precariousness through everything.&#8221; But as single &#8216;Dribble Dribble&#8217; highlighted, Amy O explores such themes with a compassionate and playful tone. &#8220;The lo-fi pop sound lift[s] rhyming schemes from the books she read to her daughter,&#8221; as we continued, &#8220;to offer a mood at once fun and incisive, and Glenn Myers’s backing vocals further the conversational closeness.&#8221;</p>
<p>New single &#8216;Early Days&#8217; continues these sensibilities, broaching the difficult experience of becoming a parent with a distinctly relaxed mood. Fingerpicked guitar and gentle vocals knit into a comforting blanket which Amy O uses to reassure both her past and present self, viewing the naivety of young motherhood as both a blessing and a curse. It ultimately finds both joy and grief in time&#8217;s habit to slowly slip on past us. Snapshots from the time are presented side by side, the song a scrapbook cataloguing the years. Days of being milked like a cow, post-partum OCD, batches of lemonade, a bear digging through the trash. As the song concludes: &#8220;I’m piecing it together again / Nothing is lasting.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3551394613/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1108498594/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://amyo.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reflect">Mirror, Reflect by Amy O</a></iframe></center><em>Mirror, Reflect</em> is out on the 10th May via Winspear and you can <a href="https://amyo.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reflect">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/amy-o-tape.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/amy-o-tape.jpg?resize=1170%2C1170&#038;ssl=1" alt="cassette artwork for Mirror, Reflect by Amy O" width="1170" height="1170" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/10/amy-o-early-days/">Amy O &#8211; Early Days</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">40930</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wishy &#8211; Too True</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/11/16/wishy-too-true/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Nov 2023 19:56:15 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indie rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shoegaze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wishy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=39378</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Last month we introduced Wishy, the new project led by Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites which also features Paul Cherewick, Ben Lumsdaine and Steve Marino. The band are set to release their debut EP Paradise with Winspear in December, and first single &#8216;Donut&#8216; gave an idea of what to expect from the outfit. &#8220;A song which embraces alt rock energy and grungy weight alongside a gauzy shoegaze texture, making for something both propulsive and transportive,&#8221; as we described. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/11/16/wishy-too-true/">Wishy &#8211; Too True</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last month we introduced <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Wishy">Wishy</a>, the new project led by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Indiana">Indiana</a> songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites which also features Paul Cherewick, Ben Lumsdaine and Steve Marino. The band are set to release their debut EP <em>Paradise</em> with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear">Winspear</a> in December, and first single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/10/16/weekly-listening-october-2023-3/">Donut</a>&#8216; gave an idea of what to expect from the outfit. &#8220;A song which embraces alt rock energy and grungy weight alongside a gauzy shoegaze texture, making for something both propulsive and transportive,&#8221; as we described. &#8220;Pitchkites&#8217;s vocals slice through the haze with real clarity, a thread the listener follows into the sound and holds on to through the enveloping experience.&#8221;</p>
<p>With the EP a month away from release, Wishy have now unveiled follow-up single, &#8216;Too True&#8217;. Shoegaze, power pop and alt-rock sensibilities are drawn upon in weaving the song&#8217;s tactile atmosphere, again pairing punchy weight and hazy dreaminess to more fully inhabit the nuances of the themes. Namely how the passage of time gradually alters the shape of relationships, and moreover learning to accept such changes as an inherent part of any friendship.</p>
<p>What results is a sound confessional but assured. Delivered with the kind of wisdom only earned through lived experience. &#8220;Too true I wanted to be like you / Wanted to reverse myself,&#8221; Krauter sings in the opening lines. &#8220;Tough break all the hell that I created / Finally pouring out my mouth.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Open up your eyes you can see what I see<br />
Learning to survive only half empty don’t bother me<br />
Cause no one knows from the first taste<br />
We can never go back to the same place</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3133518416/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=986352819/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/album/paradise">Paradise by Wishy</a></iframe></center><em>Paradise</em> is out on the 15th December via Winspear and you can <a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/album/paradise">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/wishy-tape.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/wishy-tape.jpg?resize=1170%2C1170&#038;ssl=1" alt="tape artwork for Paradise by Wishy" width="1170" height="1170" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/11/16/wishy-too-true/">Wishy &#8211; Too True</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">39378</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: September 2023 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/09/11/weekly-listening-september-2023-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:02:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[129600]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acrophase Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Casters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Chism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Get Better Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghost Mountain Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hit Bargain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[June Rosewell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kendl Winter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leoblu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Like You Mean It Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mali Velasquez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paper Bag Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[richmond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saddle Creek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Rural Alberta Advantage]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=38649</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>129,600 &#8211; Techi Seattle&#8217;s 129,600, the recording project of Jade Tcimpidis, is preparing to release their debut album Granular Convection with Ghost Mountain Records. Described as exploring the &#8220;limits of tradition in the consumer era,&#8221; the album sees Kalen Walther (bass), Kirsten Ourada (drums) and Neil Welch (baritone saxophone) join Tcimpidis to conjure a sound which straddles dustbowl folk and art pop invention, all while reaching towards psych and jazz. Lead single &#8216;Techi&#8217; highlights this singular style, where all manner [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/09/11/weekly-listening-september-2023-2/">Weekly Listening: September 2023 #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;">129,600 &#8211; Techi</h3>
<p>Seattle&#8217;s 129,600, the recording project of Jade Tcimpidis, is preparing to release their debut album <em>Granular Convection</em> with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ghost-mountain-records/">Ghost Mountain Records</a>. Described as exploring the &#8220;limits of tradition in the consumer era,&#8221; the album sees Kalen Walther (bass), Kirsten Ourada (drums) and Neil Welch (baritone saxophone) join Tcimpidis to conjure a sound which straddles dustbowl folk and art pop invention, all while reaching towards psych and jazz. Lead single &#8216;Techi&#8217; highlights this singular style, where all manner of details spin from a taut rhythm, making for a twitchy, volatile mood. Tcimpidis&#8217;s vocals are equally frantic, and coupled with the sax evokes the paranoid vibe of Coppola&#8217;s <em>The Conversation</em>, with all its schemes and surveillance.</p>
<p><iframe title="129,600 Techi (Offical Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zTAWTIwxNQ0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Techi&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://129600.bandcamp.com/track/techi-2">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Casters &#8211; Memory</h3>
<p>Casters is the recording project of Andrew Strader and a rotating cast of supporting musicians, based in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a> via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nashville/">Nashville</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/knoxville/">Knoxville</a>. With EP <em>Walk on Home</em> coming soon via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/like-you-mean-it-records/">Like You Mean It Records</a>, Strader has shared single &#8216;Memory&#8217; to give an indication of what to expect from the release. This time featuring Neil MacLean (Home Visions, Griffin Moyer) on keys/synths and Connor James (Pat &amp; The Pissers) on drums, the track draws on Thomas Wolfe’s <em>You Can’t Go Home Again</em> to explore the impossibility of returning to a place you&#8217;ve left behind. All cast in a dreamy drift that marbles fondness and regret into sound so rich you could suspend yourself within it.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2955314099/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://likeyoumeanitrecords.bandcamp.com/track/memory-4">Memory by Casters</a></iframe></center><em>Walk On Home</em> will be released via Like You Mean It Records and you can <a href="https://share.amuse.io/track/casters-memory">pre-save it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Chris Chism &#8211; On The Run</h3>
<p>Focusing on the working class experience and following a lineage through Dylan and van Zandt, Richmond, Indiana&#8217;s Chris Chism delves into the personal to emerge with a more universal picture of life&#8217;s joys and struggles. New EP <em>Things Has Changed</em> develops this style, and single &#8216;On The Run&#8217; is the perfect place to jump in. A semi-autobiographical portrait of a young person beaten down by life—loosing those close to them, experiencing brushes with the law, and generally searching for reasons to continue on amid a slew of misfortune—though one captured with the patience and empathy only hindsight can bring.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2979088167/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1270123451/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://chrischism.bandcamp.com/album/things-has-changed">Things Has Changed by Chrischism</a></iframe></center><em>Things Has Changed</em> is out now and available from the Chris Chism <a href="https://chrischism.bandcamp.com/album/things-has-changed">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"> Hit Bargain &#8211; Degree Decree</h3>
<p>Featuring members who are/have been parts of acts like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Beach Fossils and Cold Beat, Hit Bargain is a <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles/">LA</a>-based project led by Nora Singh which aims to stare the worst excesses of our society square in the eye. It is of no surprise then that new album <em>A DOG A DEER A SEAL </em>is charged by equal parts manic fervour and anxious frenzy, playing like the fevered delirium of a country&#8217;s dying mind. Single &#8216;Degree Decree&#8217; might clock in at barely two minutes but portrays this mood in all of its maniacal panic, where the technological hubris of consumerism encroaches on our world as a synthetic blight.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=854830043/album=62136826/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Check out the video directed by Katharine Antoun below (though those with photosensitive epilepsy should note there are flashing images):</p>
<p><iframe title="Hit Bargain &quot;Degree Decree&quot; [Official Music Video]" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AdqtuMam76I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>A DOG A DEER A SEAL </em>is out on the 10th November via Get Better Records and you can <a href="https://hitbargain.bandcamp.com/album/a-dog-a-deer-a-seal">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">June Rosewell &#8211; a solid state</h3>
<p>Nashville songwriter June Rosewell recently released a new EP, <em>the dog bit at such an angle</em>. It&#8217;s a collection of songs in which frustration and tenderness coexist and hope refuses to ever quite evaporate. Take single &#8216;a solid state&#8217;, a track about moving home which sees Rosewell&#8217;s intimate croon relays scenes with an everyday poetry. &#8220;In the morning we were packing up our boxes,&#8221; the opening lines play, &#8220;and our friends / Brushed our backbones with their warm thumbs while they sent us off again.&#8221; Later the song reveals the significance of the EP&#8217;s title (&#8220;The dog bit at such an angle where I thought I&#8217;d need a stitch&#8221;), and endeavours to show the invisible bonds that persist even as all that is familiar is upended.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Sitting quietly in a pair in the back seat of mother&#8217;s car<br />
While she hummed along to songs she chose to deaden worry&#8217;s roar<br />
We&#8217;re moving states, we&#8217;re moving states<br />
A solid state, a solid state</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="a solid state" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xx2_sWEKajs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>the dog bit at such an angle</em> is out now and available from <a href="https://linktr.ee/junerosewell">the usual places</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Kendl Winter &#8211; Humming Mantra</h3>
<p>Beginning as a way to both explore the clawhammer banjo and share this process with fans and peers, Kendl Winter&#8217;s forthcoming album <em>Banjo Mantras</em> originated in a daily practice of improvisation. &#8220;The banjo mantras started off as morning writings, like morning pages but in musical form,&#8221; she explains. &#8220;Daily pen to paper, fingers to strings, listening, feeling, sliding and thumbing my way around my open back banjo.&#8221; But the more Winter committed to the concept, the more she became attached to the ideas which emerged, and eventually decided to expand the resulting mantras into fleshed out soundscapes. First single &#8216;Humming Mantra&#8217; channels the Pacific Northwest&#8217;s verdant summertime, full of small details and a sense of invigorating clarity.</p>
<p><iframe title="Humming Mantra" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iOFQWWwSzKM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Humming Mantra&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/kendlwinter/humming-mantra">usual places</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">leoblu &#8211; dirty windows</h3>
<p>&#8220;It’s unclear if the events [portrayed] are autobiographical or fiction,&#8221; we wrote of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/leoblu/">leoblu</a>&#8216;s &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/01/11/leoblu-cake/">cake</a>&#8216; back in January, &#8220;but the emotions are so keenly felt that whether these things actually happened seems almost besides the point.&#8221; The project of Åland-based songwriter Julia Carlsson, leoblu complicates the divide between truth and fiction in order to locate a deeper emotional honesty, weaving a layered and controlled sound that has been described as &#8216;dark pop&#8217;. Latest single &#8216;dirty windows&#8217; pushes further into this style, taking the titular image to explore the cycles of stasis and rejuvenation that come with depression. Again the sound is beguilingly understated, growing subtly across its length as though slowly thawing from a deep freeze.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1597664205&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" width="100%" height="100" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">﻿</span></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video shot and edited by Jonathan Carlsson below:</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;">
<p><iframe title="LEOBLU - dirty windows" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L85w-mbRx9E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
</div>
<p>&#8216;dirty windows&#8217; is out now and available via <a href="https://share.amuse.io/track/leoblu-dirty-windows-1">streaming services</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Mali Velasquez &#8211; Shove</h3>
<p>Next month <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mali-velasquez/">Mali Velasquez</a> is releasing full-length <em>I&#8217;m Green</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Acrophase-records/">Acrophase Records</a>. An album, as we described in a preview of single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/16/mali-velasquez-bobby/">Bobby</a>&#8216;, which explores &#8220;how our relationships with ourselves can be so conflicted and uneasy, and the way in which this is governed by our experiences with those around us.&#8221; Homing in on a specific relationship with a sound somewhere between vulnerable and visceral, latest single &#8216;Shove&#8217; delves into the way our actions can be detrimental within such experiences no matter how pure the motivation. &#8220;I wrote this song in an attempt to explain the feeling of seeing myself doing the wrong things in the perfect moment,&#8221; as Velasquez puts it.</p>
<p><iframe title="Shove - Mali Velasquez (2023)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZYyAHiUGk5Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>I’m Green</em> is out on the 13th October via <a href="https://acrophase.com/artist/mali-velasquez">Acrophase Records</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Rural Alberta Advantage &#8211; Conductors</h3>
<p>Next month sees the return of Canadian indie stalwarts <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/the-rural-alberta-advantage/">The Rural Alberta Advantage</a> with their brand new full-length <em>The Rise &amp; The Fall</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/paper-bag-records/">Paper Bag Records</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/saddle-creek/">Saddle Creek</a>. Though, despite their experience, latest single &#8216;Conductors&#8217; explores how the process of writing songs gets no easier no matter how many records you have under your belt. “There is so much I love about being in a band. But one of its most fundamental aspects causes me more mental anguish than anything else, and that’s actually writing songs,&#8221; as Nils Edenloff explains. &#8220;When I’m able to tune out the doubting voice in my head and get it done, there’s no greater feeling. But often the devil wins and it’s easier to just run away.” This time it took drummer Paul Banwatt&#8217;s threat to use AI generated lyrics for Edenloff to shake off the doubt, and the video by <a href="https://goodjobhifive.com/">Good Job Hi Five</a> channels Adam Curtis to foreground the sense of human creativity struggled against the encroachment of systems and machines.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Why, why do I run?<br />
From the work and the words before it&#8217;s done<br />
Sometimes I&#8217;m always waiting on what will never come<br />
Before it&#8217;s done, now every thought weighs a ton<br />
Taking it on the chin for a while<br />
Taking it like a champ for a while</h5>
</blockquote>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=2051909162/album=644276106/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p><iframe title="Conductors by The Rural Alberta Advantage [Official Lyric Video]" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hhWJ3eE43-c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>The Rise &amp; The Fall</em> is out on the 6th October via Paper Bag Records and Saddle Creek and you can <a href="https://ruralalbertaadvantage.bandcamp.com/album/the-rise-the-fall">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/09/11/weekly-listening-september-2023-2/">Weekly Listening: September 2023 #2</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">38649</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Airport People &#8211; From Nine Mornings</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/01/airport-people-from-nine-mornings/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2022 18:26:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[airport people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ambient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indianapolis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Instrumental]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neo-classical]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whited Sepulchre Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=28878</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Leon Johnson&#8217;s Airport People project has roots in its creator&#8217;s past. A child of what has been labelled a &#8220;Civil Rights dynasty,&#8221; the Indianapolis-based multi-instrumentalist spent his early years travelling across the US and Africa with his family as his grandfather fought against apartheid. A life of constant departures and arrivals, never fully settling in one place. But the young Johnson found comfort within the environment of the airport, watching the people around him, sitting quietly and taking stock. An [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/01/airport-people-from-nine-mornings/">Airport People &#8211; From Nine Mornings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Leon Johnson&#8217;s Airport People project has roots in its creator&#8217;s past. A child of what has been labelled a &#8220;Civil Rights dynasty,&#8221; the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/indiana/">Indianapolis</a>-based multi-instrumentalist spent his early years travelling across the US and Africa with his family as his grandfather fought against apartheid. A life of constant departures and arrivals, never fully settling in one place. But the young Johnson found comfort within the environment of the airport, watching the people around him, sitting quietly and taking stock. An airport, after all, is a space in which &#8220;we’re in between where we’re going and where we were,&#8221; as Johnson phrases it, &#8220;and we don’t have much to say.&#8221;</p>
<p>The meditative, welcoming style of debut Airport People record <em>From Nine Mornings</em> taps into this state of mind. Out later this summer on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/whited-sepulchre-records/">Whited Sepulchre Records</a>, the album offers a <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/neo-classical/">neo-classical</a> sound marked by its modest tones and easy space, inviting the listener to step out of the perpetual movement of their day if only for a short while. The result is not only comforting, offering the sedate pace and order of the airport as a balm against hectic life, but also deceptively rebellious in nature. Standing in opposition to the accepted modes of existence. When so much contemporary wisdom relies on clear plans and paths of progression, on being productive and racing from A to B, then embracing the slack rhythms of the in-between becomes an act of defiance. Why race to flee the liminal spaces, Johnson asks, when they might hold our only chance of peace?</p>
<p>The idea extends to the very creation of the record. After losing his job and moving home, Johnson used the freedom of the in-between to work on a new melody each morning, soon building up a collection which would eventually be curated and edited to leave the nine mornings of the album. Melodies supported and developed by arrangements of piano, violin, upright bass, guitar, drums, field recordings and manipulated orchestral samples, elements all handled with characteristic precision which to craft a sound both bright and careful.</p>
<p>Take single &#8216;from morning no. 2&#8217;. Textures of gentle rainfall draw the listener in before the piano emerges, fond and vibrant and coloured by just the smallest shade of sadness, as all fond things must be. But Airport People does not present its moods clearly, instead working to accentuate whatever the listener might be feeling. A personal soundtrack open to interpretation, crafted to fit any listener&#8217;s surroundings.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4174651807/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3304638019/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://airportpeople.bandcamp.com/album/from-nine-mornings">from nine mornings by airport people</a></iframe></center><em>From Nine Mornings</em> is out on the 5th August via Whited Sepulchre Records and you can <a href="https://airportpeople.bandcamp.com/album/from-nine-mornings">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/airport-people-pic.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/airport-people-pic.jpg?resize=1170%2C780&#038;ssl=1" alt="a picture of Leon Johnson of Airport People" width="1170" height="780" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/01/airport-people-from-nine-mornings/">Airport People &#8211; From Nine Mornings</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">28878</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Houndmouth &#8211; Make It To Midnight</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/10/14/houndmouth-make-it-to-midnight/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Oct 2021 14:11:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dualtone Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houndmouth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indie rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Albany]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=26421</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Consisting of Matthew Myers (guitar/vocals), Shane Cody (drums/vocals) and Zak Appleby (bass/vocals), New Albany, Indiana-based Houndmouth have carved their place in the contemporary folk rock movement across three records, earning considerable acclaim and attention in the process. With an uncanny ability to straddle the holy trinity of fun, emotional resonance and narrative depth, the band have won fans near and far, getting as mainstream as primetime TV on Conan and Letterman without losing any of their ragged sincerity and charm. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/10/14/houndmouth-make-it-to-midnight/">Houndmouth &#8211; Make It To Midnight</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Consisting of Matthew Myers (guitar/vocals), Shane Cody (drums/vocals) and Zak Appleby (bass/vocals), New Albany, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/indiana/">Indiana</a>-based Houndmouth have carved their place in the contemporary folk rock movement across three records, earning considerable acclaim and attention in the process. With an uncanny ability to straddle the holy trinity of fun, emotional resonance and narrative depth, the band have won fans near and far, getting as mainstream as primetime TV on Conan and Letterman without losing any of their ragged sincerity and charm.</p>
<p>Forthcoming record <em>Good For You</em> consolidates this status, and represents the fullest realisation of their modern interpretation of classic country rock to date. As with many of the genre&#8217;s figureheads, Houndmouth use their music to weave fully-formed stories, and the new record sees them push the boat out on this front, offering detailed and often surrealist tales that blend magical realism with goodtime energy and good ol&#8217; country heartbreak. Be it Elvis staring down his own downfall on &#8216;Las Vegas&#8217; or the fairy tale-esque dreaming of &#8216;Cool Jam&#8217;.</p>
<p>Latest single &#8216;Make It To Midnight&#8217; serves as a perfect example. A midwestern gothic of nocturnal vistas and bright burning flames, an attempt to ward off the darkness through sheer will. As the track builds and the vocals emerge with increasing intensity, the stakes are raised, a lycanthropic thread emerging in the narrative. A real reason to fear the night. But by the time the guitar solo kicks in, the fear is replaced by something else altogether. Music&#8217;s coolest werewolf since Warren Zevon dropped one onto the rainy streets of Soho.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=888354097/album=3329431051/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>The band have also unveiled a live performance video to accompany the single, recorded at the 18th-century shotgun style home known as &#8216;The Green House&#8217; and directed Matt Fulks (Tomahaux).</p>
<p><iframe title="Houndmouth - &quot;Make It To Midnight&quot; [Live from the Green House]" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jbzf5X3r2MM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Good For You</em> is out on the 5th November via Dualtone Records and you can pre-order it now from the Houndmouth <a href="https://houndmouth.bandcamp.com/album/good-for-you-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/houndmouth-lp.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/houndmouth-lp.jpg?resize=1170%2C857&#038;ssl=1" alt="the vinyl artwork for Good For You by houndmouth" width="1170" height="857" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/10/14/houndmouth-make-it-to-midnight/">Houndmouth &#8211; Make It To Midnight</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">26421</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Nice Try &#8211; s/t</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/12/04/nice-try-s-t/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Dec 2018 14:55:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nice Try]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=17099</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>We last wrote about Bloomington, Indiana band Nice Try (aka Madeline Robinson and Mahler Willits) back in 2016, when we described their self-titled album as &#8220;a collection of short and concise songs which have a fun and sweetly wistful vibe.&#8221; Now, Nice Try are back with another album (another self-titled album, at that), and not too much as changed in the meantime aside from the addition of Jake Alexander on bass. Robinson is still making super sweet pop songs that don&#8217;t [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/12/04/nice-try-s-t/">Nice Try &#8211; s/t</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We last wrote about Bloomington, Indiana band Nice Try (aka Madeline Robinson and Mahler Willits) <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/04/12/nice-try-st/">back in 2016</a>, when we described their self-titled album as &#8220;a collection of short and concise songs which have a fun and sweetly wistful vibe.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now, Nice Try are back with another album (another self-titled album, at that), and not too much as changed in the meantime aside from the addition of Jake Alexander on bass. Robinson is still making super sweet pop songs that don&#8217;t outstay their welcome, and the songs still form a winning blend of reflective and carefree attitudes.</p>
<p>The album opens with &#8216;Waves’, a song about coping through motion, avoiding difficult times by jumping on a bus and riding it ten hours south. It&#8217;s a great introduction for the uninitiated, elastic guitars wrapped in just enough fuzz as Robinson delivers her gently candid lyrics.</p>
<p>&#8216;Soft Rock’ paints a little impressionistic scene, floating in a lake beneath the hot dry air of an approaching storm, small anxieties wriggling into even the nicest moments. &#8220;Inevitably the internal shout,&#8221; Robinson sings, &#8220;am I good enough for you or anyone else?&#8221;</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=1553178135/album=2380533793/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>&#8216;Angry’ is a minute-long blast of lo-fi pop that&#8217;s bursting with a need to share true feelings, looking for someone to be the deep and cool plunge pool at the bottom of a waterfall of fears and frustrations. &#8216;Smart’ is another bouncy indie rock song that feels like the sequel, although as is often the case, things seem to have moved on to something equally uncertain and confusing. &#8220;Shut my mouth for nearly a year,&#8221; Robinson sings, &#8220;when I told you how I felt, you said it was weird.&#8221;</p>
<p>Robinson yearns from an old friend on&#8217; ‘Micah’, someone who has moved on to new jobs and houses and dogs, but who (clearly) still means a lot. It&#8217;s also a song about stasis, our narrator asking &#8220;what do I have to show for the last year? I&#8217;m older and wiser but I&#8217;m still just right here.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8216;No Good’ is reminiscent of the soft pop of Free Cake For Every Creature, as smooshy and sleepy as a bedtime phonecall to a loved one, while closer &#8216;Relax’ creates a sense of golden gladness from small meaningful moments. It&#8217;s the perfect finale to the album, ending on a kind and hopeful note that murmurs away the worries that have come before.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>&#8220;I could walk you home<br />
or wave to you across the road<br />
and either way it goes I&#8217;ll be satisfied to know<br />
our paths are in line<br />
and I&#8217;m just happy to be somewhere<br />
I don&#8217;t feel like I&#8217;m wasting most of my time&#8221;</h5>
</blockquote>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=1815952354/album=2380533793/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>You can get <em>Nice Try</em> on LP or a name-your-price download from the Nice Try <a href="https://nicetry.bandcamp.com/album/nice-try-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nice-try-LP.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nice-try-LP.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&#038;ssl=1" alt="photo of nice try LP" width="1024" height="1024" /></a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/12/04/nice-try-s-t/">Nice Try &#8211; s/t</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">17099</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Premiere: Fresh Kill announce debut album, release single &#8216;San Diego&#8217;</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/05/31/premiere-fresh-kill-announce-debut-album-release-single-san-diego/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 May 2018 17:41:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Previews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1212 Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fresh Kill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=15042</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Fresh Kill are a trio from Bloomington, Indiana, comprising of Jess Mann (vocals/guitar), Emma Johnson (vocals/drums) and KC Cifizzari (bass). After releasing a few demos last year, Fresh Kill have just announced their self-titled debut album on 1212 Records. Citing influences as diverse as Neil Young, Mitski and Death, the band create emotive indie rock that manages to sound both vulnerable and empowering, what the band describe as &#8220;sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, often angry.&#8221; In anticipation of the album, here&#8217;s [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/05/31/premiere-fresh-kill-announce-debut-album-release-single-san-diego/">Premiere: Fresh Kill announce debut album, release single &#8216;San Diego&#8217;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fresh Kill are a trio from Bloomington, Indiana, comprising of Jess Mann (vocals/guitar), Emma Johnson (vocals/drums) and KC Cifizzari (bass). After releasing a few demos <a href="https://freshkill.bandcamp.com/album/fresh-kill-demos">last year</a>, Fresh Kill have just announced their self-titled debut album on 1212 Records. Citing influences as diverse as Neil Young, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mitski/">Mitski</a> and Death, the band create emotive indie rock that manages to sound both vulnerable and empowering, what the band describe as &#8220;sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, often angry.&#8221;</p>
<p>In anticipation of the album, here&#8217;s a sneak peek of the first single, &#8216;San Diego&#8217;, a bittersweet pop song that&#8217;s part sunny vibes and part heavy-hearted woe. The track opens with skittering drums and a pulsing bass line, the lyrics a daydream of escaping a town and the people who live there, allusions to disappointment and soured relationships hanging heavy as summer storm clouds. But the catchy chorus blows all that away, that rush of sickly excitement that comes with new possibilities.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>&#8220;Maybe I should move to San Diego<br />
where it&#8217;s summer all year round<br />
wash my hands in salty water<br />
and dig my feet into the ground&#8221;</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/442694559%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-iKdOP&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></p>
<p><em>Fresh Kill</em> will be released later this summer. Keep an eye on <a href="https://www.1212records.com/">1212 Records</a> and the Fresh Kill <a href="https://freshkill.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a> to pre-order.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Header photo credit Francesca Hanson</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/05/31/premiere-fresh-kill-announce-debut-album-release-single-san-diego/">Premiere: Fresh Kill announce debut album, release single &#8216;San Diego&#8217;</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">15042</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Simon Balto &#8211; Murmurations</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/09/27/simon-balto-murmurations/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Sep 2016 18:06:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bandcamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[country]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[field report]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simon Balto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wisconsin]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wakethedeaf.co.uk/?p=10671</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Simon Balto is a singer songwriter who, like several of our favourite artists, is originally from Wisconsin but now resides elsewhere in the US. That said, Balto returned to his home state to record his new album, Murmurations, which he says is, &#8220;at its core&#8230;about living, struggle, love, and loss in the Midwestern United States&#8221;. This translates into a blend of heartfelt folk and country, that balance between small town Midwest grit and helpless poetic romanticism. Add the fact that the songs are [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/09/27/simon-balto-murmurations/">Simon Balto &#8211; Murmurations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Simon Balto is a singer songwriter who, like several of our favourite artists, is originally from Wisconsin but now resides elsewhere in the US. That said, Balto returned to his home state to record his new album, <em>Murmurations</em>, which he says is, &#8220;at its core&#8230;about living, struggle, love, and loss in the Midwestern United States&#8221;. This translates into a blend of heartfelt folk and country, that balance between small town Midwest grit and helpless poetic romanticism. Add the fact that the songs are fleshed out by players from <a href="http://www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/2014/10/10/field-report-marigolden/">Field Report</a>, <a href="http://www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/2015/03/12/aero-flynn-s-t/">Aero Flynn</a> and The Tallest Man on Earth touring band, and you&#8217;ve got all the ingredients of a great record.</p>
<p>Opener &#8216;Foothills&#8217; sets the tone, an emotive and contemplative alt-folk song that sounds like a chill in the air, like the smell of wood smoke on the wind. At its heart it&#8217;s a love song, although delivered not from the blushing early stages like many romantic songs, but rather much later.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never been a faithful man<br />
I&#8217;ve always been too proud to pray<br />
But won&#8217;t you come out to the foothills<br />
And hold me together for one more day&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<iframe width="100%" height="120" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=358166952/album=1677397987/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>&#8216;Disappearing Act&#8217; is a well-written tale of the aforementioned love and loss, of turning to drink and wandering to overcome thoughts of someone who has &#8220;been coming back in focus lately / resurrecting bones from graveyard ash&#8221;. Whether that line is literal or metaphorical seems besides the point, the depth of feeling is considerable regardless. &#8216;Revelation Road&#8217; is the perfect track for the oncoming autumn, as Balto sings &#8220;Thunder clouds are rolling through the heavens over Revelation Road / pirouette the leaves from off the branches cascading rust and gold&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8216;Midwest Elegy&#8217; is just that, an ode to a region hung out to dry, a grandfather whose farm was run out of business by the big guys, a father made strong from 25 years on the engine block line at General Motors only to find himself out of work after the recession. It&#8217;s just one example of that confronts a major theme in Simon Balto&#8217;s music &#8211; a sense of loss, be it in terms of livelihoods or actual lives.</p>
<p>You may have also noticed that Simon Balto is the kind of songwriter whose lyrics you want to quote. Like on &#8216;True North&#8217;, a love song rich with natural imagery, where he sings &#8220;Amongst cicadas and the whispering pines / you tangled your bony fingers up in mine&#8221;, or on the sorrowful &#8216;Dark Burns&#8217;, where, backed with woozy harmonica he sings, &#8220;If the dark burns like cigarettes on the body / goddamn, I&#8217;m sorry for the things I couldn&#8217;t do / with every heathen&#8217;s breath buried here in my chest / I will pray my best for you to get good again&#8221;.</p>
<p>The title track closes the album, a song that sounds like it&#8217;s beamed from a classic folk record of a bye-gone age. The image of a great twisting cloud of starlings sits at the forefront of a track that&#8217;s suffused with a real sense of melancholy but also hope, the narrator praying that the birds guide a passing loved one to their next destination.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;And on the bright day when it comes your time to go<br />
I hope your heart breaks into starlings that’ll carry you home<br />
And murmur you on out to where the north wind softly blows<br />
I hope your heart breaks into starlings when it’s time for you to go&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/175016110" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Even if you&#8217;re not from the Midwest, or even from the USA, it&#8217;s likely you will relate to some of the issues that Simon Balto confronts on <em>Murmurations</em>. The struggle to get by in small towns in an age where power and wealth is increasingly confined to big cities, where traditional, community-supporting businesses are collapsing as the world gets better connected and the banks gamble away our money. But the album doesn&#8217;t come off sounding like a protest. Balto still sees enough beauty in the everyday, in the changing of the seasons and the faces of loved ones, to deal with these struggles with stoicism and hope. The thoughts and ruminations here are rooted in the personal, in all the wishes and fears that make us uniquely human.</p>
<p>You can get <em>Murmurations</em> now from the Simon Balto <a href="https://simonbalto.bandcamp.com/album/murmurations">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/09/27/simon-balto-murmurations/">Simon Balto &#8211; Murmurations</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">10671</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Brenda&#8217;s Friend &#8211; House Down</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/06/13/brendas-friend-house/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jun 2016 18:35:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amy O]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amy Oelsner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bloomington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brenda's Friend]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Erin Tobey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garage rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[House Down]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indiana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indie rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riot grrrl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wakethedeaf.co.uk/?p=9459</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>You might recognise Erin Tobey from her album Middlemaze, a release we described as &#8220;all echoey drums and cool-as-heck snaky guitars&#8221;. Well, thanks to a fair dose of mutual appreciation and respect,  Tobey last year teamed with fellow Bloomington songwriter Amy Oelsner (AKA Amy O) to form Brenda&#8217;s Friend. The project, which the duo hope to use as an outlet for their more abstract writing, cannot quite be pinned within any one genre, traversing a gamut of musical variations to include [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/06/13/brendas-friend-house/">Brenda&#8217;s Friend &#8211; House Down</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You might recognise Erin Tobey from <a href="http://www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/04/25/erin-tobey-releases-new-single-im-young/">her album <em>Middlemaze</em></a>, a release we described as &#8220;all echoey drums and cool-as-heck snaky guitars&#8221;. Well, thanks to a fair dose of mutual appreciation and respect,  Tobey last year teamed with fellow Bloomington songwriter Amy Oelsner (AKA Amy O) to form Brenda&#8217;s Friend. The project, which the duo hope to use as an outlet for their more abstract writing, cannot quite be pinned within any one genre, traversing a gamut of musical variations to include (as the press release describes) &#8220;sonorous folk rock, distorted doo-wop, the melodic richness of Talulah Gosh’s early indie-pop and a Wire-like post-punk stomp&#8221;.</p>
<p>Following up 2015&#8217;s <a href="https://brendasfriend.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-shrub">Under the Shrub</a>, Brenda&#8217;s Friend are back with a new six-song release, <em>House Down</em>. The album opens with the title track, a song which begins with a clear kick-drum thump but soon descends (or ascends) into an intricate stack of sound and lyrics. The spine of percussion remains throughout, a lifeline tied around the listeners ear as they delve into the kaleidoscopic shifting of vocals and instrumentation. &#8216;Sponge&#8217; strips things back, the vocals now superimposed for emphasis, the lyrics ranging from pre-teen demands (&#8220;I want it! / I need it!&#8221;) to weird allegorical verses:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to stay at the bottom of that pond<br />
I don&#8217;t want to lick up all that scum<br />
don&#8217;t want to float with the salient sponge<br />
take a breath, say hello to the sun&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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<p>&#8216;Who Who&#8217; is a track heavy in reverb, sitting between a bluesy rock and the riot grrrl sound of the 90s. Oelsner and Tobey join together to give the vocals a mantra-like quality, the collaborative casting of some swaggering, self-assured spell. &#8216;Pas De Deux&#8217; is far gentler, the vocals soft and fine though cut with slight suggestions of something stranger, the lyrics abstract and instrumentation pulsing and buzzing in odd repetitions, as though accelerating toward some unclear conclusion.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Oh I made a mess and cleaned it up<br />
then the sky opened wide, it was terrible.<br />
Oh I, melting candles underfoot<br />
But your guard was so hard you laughed at the air<br />
burned your own hair&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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<p>&#8216;Horoscope&#8217; is short and off-kilter, packed with a high-school blend of confidence and confusion (&#8220;stuck in the middle of my horoscope / its set to wait all month&#8221;), like the soundtrack of the best 90s kids TV show you&#8217;ve never seen, while closer &#8216;Navy Beach&#8217; is a reckless garage rock hit to be played in dive bars packed out by rough heads on shore leave.</p>
<p><em>House Down</em> is out now and you can buy it from the Brenda&#8217;s Friend <a href="https://brendasfriend.bandcamp.com/album/house-down">Bandcamp page</a>, including on limited-edition cassette via <a href="http://winspear.biz/store/brendas-friend-house-down">Winspear Records</a>. Also, be sure to check out the <a href="https://amyo.bandcamp.com/">Amy O</a> and <a href="https://erintobey.bandcamp.com/album/erin-tobey">Erin Tobey</a> Bandcamp pages.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="9461" data-permalink="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/06/13/brendas-friend-house/0007524099_10/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1200,798" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="0007524099_10" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?fit=1024%2C681&amp;ssl=1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9461" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?resize=1170%2C778" alt="0007524099_10" width="1170" height="778" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?resize=1024%2C681&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0007524099_10.jpg?resize=360%2C240&amp;ssl=1 360w" sizes="(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Album art by Janelle Beasley</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/06/13/brendas-friend-house/">Brenda&#8217;s Friend &#8211; House Down</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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