Originating from Asheville, North Carolina and now based in Los Angeles, Adriana McCassim introduced her distinctive brand of folk rock back in 2020 with the EP Quiet Sides. It was a release equal parts visceral and ethereal which looked for sparks of beauty and solidarity amid difficult circumstances. With debut full length See It Fades coming next year, McCassim has shared the new single ‘TOUCH’. A track which builds upon the previous releases, stripping out all excesses to place the vocals front and centre, left to work through unreciprocated desire with nothing to hide behind. “This song is about finally allowing myself to take up space,” McCassim explains. “To be naked, ugly and loud.”

Arima Ederra – Steel wing

Discovering the Ethiopian spiritual music mezmur in a Las Vegas Ethiopian Orthodox Church during childhood, Arima Ederra was convinced of the power of music from an early age. Her work since 2016 debut Temporary Fixes has been geared towards capturing this joyous, healing force, and latest album An Orange Colored Day feels like the most confident yet, applying everything learned from a life steeped in music to process any and every pressing issue at hand. Single ‘Steel wing’ is a good place to start for a window into what this entails, its inventive and relaxed style imbued with an infectious, toe-tapping rhythm, inviting you in to sit a while and leave your concerns at the door.

Credit Electric – summit sipper

Fresh from single ‘here 4 u‘ on the Royal Oakie Records tenth anniversary compilation, Bay Area outfit Credit Electric have released their latest full-length record, out of love in the face of a shadow. Germinating within the limitations imposed by the global pandemic, the album represents a new era for the Credit Electric style, their moves to adapt to the novel conditions opening up new avenues of inquiry. Which is how the liner notes can describe the album as one drawing from acts as diverse as Hiroshi Yoshimura, American Football, Dire Straits and Magnolia Electric Co. Single ‘summit sipper’ is just one snapshot of this style, a laidback yet affirming pop number penned after a hike in the Sierra Nevadas, overcoming mountains both figuratively and literally to delve into themes of resilience and recovery.

Denitia – My Weakness

We’ve previewed Highways, the new album from Denitia, a few times in recent months, first with the title track in April and then ‘All the Sweet Tea‘ a little later. Wrapped in a wistful atmosphere, the latter “tap[ped] into bluegrass sensibilities to evoke the American landscape in all its nostalgic idealism,” we explained, and served as an introduction to the bittersweet tone of the album and Denitia’s quest to reimagine the concept of home. Final single ‘My Weakness’ sits at the heart of the record, another track of conflicted moods which possesses real depth beneath its controlled burn.

Grace Hellen – Bubblegum Pink

Hailing from the coast of North Carolina and now based in Nashville, singer-songwriter Grace Hellen cut her teeth in jazz and bluegrass but is now turning toward a more indie pop/rock style. Latest single ‘Bubblegum Pink’ is a great introduction to this aesthetic. A combination of psych and surf sensibilities laid over pop tones sweet enough to live up to its title, though the sugary energy belies the tension beneath the surface. “Bubblegum pink when you spit in the sink this morning,” Hellen sings, twisting the tone. “Flash forward, last night’s an empty dream.” Because this is a song “about fighting depression with hyper-femininity and candy-coated optimism,” as Hellen describes it. As though to keep moving is to stay ahead, no matter how exhausting.

‘Bubblegum Pink’ is out now and available to stream from the usual places.

h. pruz – what a long way i’ve come to be destroyed

h. pruz is the recording alias of Brooklyn-based Hannah Pruzinsky, who will soon release debut EP again, there via oof records. Lead single ‘old car’ introduced the style, which finds emotional power in a gentle, intimate hush. Now h. pruz has unveiled the record’s second single, ‘what a long way i’ve come to be destroyed’, another folk-slash-bedroom-pop song that burns with quiet intensity. Lyrically sparse, the song captures one of the EPs main themes—of recognising life’s cycles and rhythms and the feeling of uncertainty experienced after breaking out of them and moving on.

Jenny O. – The Natural World

Following on from ‘Prism‘, a single we described as allowing “us to see fine cracks in a seemingly unscalable wall of disempowerment, and begin to realise we might not be completely helpless after all,” Jenny O. is back with a brand new single on Mama Bird Recording Co. No less ambitious and heartfelt, ‘The Natural World’ confronts the ecological emergency from a new angle. Turning away from the usual visions of doom and destruction to instead offer a vision of what might be. “This is a declaration of wonder and reverence for the living Earth,” Jenny O. explains. “As we phase out fossil fuels, the way through the climate crisis is by the regeneration of this planet’s incredible natural systems. This song is for alignment with life on Earth (including one another). The future requires us to consider everything and everyone; love and curiosity are key.” Check out the suitably celebratory video filmed and edited by Sam Gezari below:

‘The Natural World’ is out now via Mama Bird Recording Co. and available from Bandcamp.

Joe McCarthy and the Faders – Hey Dom

With new release Outpost Truck Stop out later this week, Joe McCarthy and the Faders have unveiled new single ‘Hey Dom’ to raise the anticipation. An ode to friendship, the track captures the road trip spirit of the EP. One following in the footsteps of Craig Finn or The Boss himself, built on a togetherness and camaraderie which faces down life’s difficulties through equal parts compassion and momentum. The result is bittersweet but undeniably joyous, and better yet its triumphant energy invites the listener along for the ride. Check out the video edited by Zach Pulls below:

You’re just as dumb as me
And we’re as thick as thieves when we can stand
Hey dom!
Why don’t you take my hand

Outpost Truck Stop is out on the 21st October and you can pre-order it now.

Poolblood – shabby

Back in July we wrote about ‘twinkie‘ by Poolblood, their first single since signing with Next Door Records. Now the project (Toronto‘s Maryam Said) has announced their debut album, mole, which will release early next year. To celebrate the announcement, Poolblood has unveiled a brand new single ‘shabby’, a song which they says “celebrates the intimacy of friendship.” Fittingly then, the song is reflective and introspective, pairing bedroom pop sincerity with just the faintest hint of country twang. There is also a video featuring friends and collaborators Shamir and Drew Harmon, which you can watch below:

mole will be released on 13th January and you can pre-order a copy from the Poolblood Bandcamp page.

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This duality between individual and societal issues is what drives Jenny O.’s work, the former framed against the latter as thus acknowledged as component parts of the problems we all face. “People in power are just people,” she offers on Peace & Information. “And when you see it repeating / It comes down to you not to be that way.” The result is to view the personal and political not as juxtaposed phenomena but instead something more synergistic, inherently linked forces with real power over one another. So what at first appears to be stories of soured relationships told with relaxed guitar solos and blissful harmonies is actually something far deeper. A new perspective, one which allows us to see fine cracks in a seemingly unscalable wall of disempowerment, and begin to realise we might not be completely helpless after all.

Earlier this year Jenny O. unveiled ‘Prism’, the first single from an album due for release later this year which centred this vision more overtly. A slow, swirling jam which lures the listener into its folds, murmuring in their ear, convincing them of the power of love. “Baby where you going?” Jenny O. croons, “You should see / What my love can do.” A force capable of magnification and transformation, an agent of change. “Love is a prism,” as Jenny O. describes. “It amplifies or alters how we see and conduct ourselves. Through love, I was able to write everything else on the upcoming album, so it’s right that ‘Prism’. comes out first.”

My love for you
Is a prism for your electric art
Is a castle for your magical heart
Let me be your magnifier
And meet you higher
A reciprocal spirit!

Ahead of a Europe/UK tour with Strand of Oaks (see below for a full list of dates), Jenny O. has unveiled a brand new video for the track, edited by Elizabeth Weinberg who filmed it at George’s Lighting in Hollywood, California. Check it out below:

Prism is out now via Mama Bird Recording Co. and is available from all the usual places. Jenny O is about to head to Europe and the UK for a string of shows with Strand of Oaks, as well as appearing at the Manchester Psych Fest. Check out a full list of dates below:

Aug 16 – Utrecht, NL – TivoliVredenburg*
Aug 21 – Oslo, NO – Krosset*
Aug 23 – Gothenburg, SE – Pustervik*
Aug 24 – Stockholm, SE – Nalen Klub*
Aug 25 – Degerhamn, SE – Carlas Cafe*
Aug 26 – Lund, SE – Mejeriet*
Aug 27 – Copenhagen, DK – Loppen*
Aug 29 – Berlin, DE – Privatclub*
Sept 1 – Groningen, NL – Oosterpoort*
Sept 2 – Zwolle, NL – Hedon*
Sept 3 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Psych Fest
Sept 5 – Den Haag, NL – Paard*
Sept 7 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club*
Sept 8 – Bristol, UK – Exchange*
Sept 9 – Brighton, UK – The Prince Albert*
Sept 10 – London, UK – Lafayette*
* w/ Strand of Oaks

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Recorded with Kevin Ratterman (who also provides drums), New Truth sees Jenny O. play all guitars on the record, taking the creative freedom of early EPs and giving it the full studio treatment. Ratterman also set up a microphone at Jenny O’s home, leaving her to work on the vocals in her own time. The result is a more experimental and organic development of the sound, a way of working that minimised the miscommunications and gaps in understanding between artist and engineer, leaving as much control as possible with Jenny O.

This freedom is fitting, because New Truth is a personal album. If the creative process allowed Jenny O. the space to work toward the conclusion most fulfilling to her artistically, then the record itself could be said to serve a similar purpose in some higher, existential regard. Be it through considered effort, trial and error, or plain old happenstance, the songs work through a life until now and suggest a way forward within the current circumstances.

“I wrote [the opening track] ‘God Knows Why’ after going deaf in one ear and asking why perplexing things happen—fate, cause and effect,” she told Flood Magazine. “When I lost my hearing, a doctor said, ‘God took it.’ Something happened to me neurologically, but here we are. Why do people behave against their own interests? Why do some people survive and others don’t? New Truth has to do with coming to terms with a New Reality, what is and what will be now that things have changed or information has come to light. Feels accurate in this period of adjustment and great sadness.”

Asking similar questions, latest single ‘What About That Day’ turns to a failing relationship, a lament from within the ruins of something that might have been. Couple with a video filmed by Sam Gezari, the song takes on an ethereal quality, like some moment snatched from the progression of things, allowed to sit if only for a while free of the context which dooms it. If nostalgia is allowed to creep in before the titles have rolled, then perhaps we might remember the film more fondly, if only for a moment.

New Truth is out via Mama Bird Recording Co. on the 19th June and you can pre-order it from the Jenny O. Bandcamp page.

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Tracklisting:

1. prairie creek redwoods state park, ca – bedbug
2. See the World – Kidsmoke
3. Motion | Sickness – Good Good Blood
4. Downtown – Gabriella Cohen
5. Automatic – Kyle Morton
6. Throwing Roses – Eva Foote
7. vildt+sødt – Eugenia
8. Dicktations Forever – Dicktations
9. Fallen Robin – Wild Leaves
10. Palms – Native Other
11. Not Your Prey – Squirrel Flower
12. Luna – Akira Kosemura
13. Made of Gold – Albert af Ekenstam
14. She Floats – Van-Anh Nguyen
15. Dead Radiance – Ego Death
16. Sponge State – Sløtface
17. Black Mass – Wooden Maria
18. Float – Silver Liz
19. glass machines discovering water – Corvus B.
20. Longshot – The Furious Season
21. The Same Chords – Tiger in My Tank
22. Let’s Go to the Beach – Sophie Longshaw
23. Blue Moon – Many Voices Speak
24. One Footed – MAH KEE OH
25. Country Room – Static Animal
26. The Ground Before Him – Drowning By Numbers
27. Refugee – Cameron James Henderson
28. down (kenny) – ever
29. Strange Tones – Youceff Kabal
30. Don’t Let Love Go By – Golden Suits
31. Sit and Stare – Tiny Dinosaurs
32. Settle Down – Dark Mean
33. telegraph ave. – Betty Becky
34. WEN – glider
35. Nicholas – Holiday Oscar
36. Lyse Striber – True Strength
37. Careless – Stationary Suns
38. Vulnerable – Mark Timmins
39. On & On – Reuben Hollebon
40. Recoiled – William Ryan Fritch
41. Lonely Girl – Praything
42. Drinking the Same Water – Katie Spencer
43. Get It Right – Magana
44. Cheer Up Free Your Mind – Jenny O.

That was October 2016, and if you like what you see/hear, why not check out the other months too?

The post October 2016 Roundup appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Reuben Hollebon – On & On

We first wrote about the music of Reuben Hollebon back in 2012, though his latest single is a departure from the folk tunes he was releasing back then. Complete with a strange, evocative video, ‘On & On’ is an experimental sounds that’s at once tender and ominous, channelling the likes of Siskiyou to push into emotional areas with understated intensity.

Jenny O. – Cheer Up, Free Your Mind

Taken from her latest EP, Work, ‘Cheer Up, Free Your Mind’ is the perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the Californian songwriter. Blending folk and jangle pop, Jenny O. creates rich songs which belong to a sepia tone world of summer evenings and wide open spaces. Released earlier this month, you can grab the EP now via Bandcamp.

Holiday Oscar – Nicholas

Holiday Oscar couples a warm folk sound with smart lyrics, kind of like You Won’t crossed with The Head and The Heart. Take ‘Nicholas’ as an example, the song’s basic premise (learning to play guitar!) used to conjure a funny, interesting and almost poignant story about wanting to be an artist. If you’re a fan, his latest EP, Spilt Milk and Teething Powder, is available now.

True Strength – Lyse Striber

True Strength is the collaboration between Copenhagen’s Ida Duelund-Hansen and Melbourne’s Alexander Garsden. The duo’s debut self-titled album is out in December on Eastmint, and to whet your appetite we have the beautiful ‘Lyse Striber’. The track is darkly elegant and somehow timeless, Duelund-Hansen’s vocals soaring over gentle instrumentation like a heartbroken crooner from a byegone age.

The song comes complete with a video by award-winning filmmaker Hanna Chetwin, which you can check out below.

Golden Suits – Don’t Let Love Go By

Back in 2013, as “autumn suddenly descended [with] summer finally on its knees” we turned to the self-titled album by Daniel Rossen’s Golden Suits. Well, fast forward a few years and we’re back in the same position, wondering whether we need the heating on with new music from Golden Suits in our ears. The third single from his latest album, Kubla Khan, ‘Don’t Let Love Go By’ hits the sweet spot between reflective and raging, like some of The Walkmen’s more rattled moments. Grab the album now via Hit City U.S.A.

Drowning by Numbers – The Ground Before Him

Featuring on the Netflix sports documentary Last Chance U, ‘The Ground Before Him’ by Adelaide’s Drowning By Numbers is a down-tempo ambient track shrouded in melancholy and loneliness, sounding like the world as half-heard from within the head of someone occupied by their own business.

Many Voices Speak – Blue Moon

Many Voices Speak is Matilda Mård from Stockholm. An outtake from the recording sessions for her new EP, this cover of ‘Blue Moon’ is the perfect way into her music, classic US folk with a Twin Peaks-y plink. The EP, Away for All Time is out on the 28th October via Hit City U.S.A. and Strangers Candy and you can pre-order it here.

Silver Liz – Float

Silver Liz is the new bedroom pop project of Carrie Wagner and Matt Wagner from Chicago. Combining harsh, 90s-esque noise with velvety vocals, their new track ‘Float’ packs a double punch of goodness, shaking things up like Sonic Youth fronted by Bethany Cosentino. Grab the two-song EP from their Bandcamp page.

Ego Death – The Total End

Canada’s Ego Death began as the solo project of Noah York but has since evolved into a duo with Maya Gulin. Their latest release, The Total End, is made up of four soundscapes which pull together neoclassical, ambient and guitar-based experimental to form something vaguely geological, bursts of noise emerging from the constant swirl of primordial drone. The EP is out now via Deep Sea Mining Syndicate and you can snag a cassette from Bandcamp.

Akira Kosemura – Luna

One Day is a new album of improvisational piano pieces by Japanese artist Akira Kosemura. The entire thing is breathtakingly pretty, though single ‘Luna’, complete with a beautiful video directed by Kimihiko Nitta, is a great place to start. Once convinced, you can grab the record from Schole Inc.

Wild Leaves – Fallen Robin

‘Fallen Robbin’ is a single taken from the new full-length by Brooklyn-based folk-rock outfit, Wild Leaves. With its smooth vocals and easy, near-hypnotic flow, the track exudes a gentle autumnal peace, a serenity disrupted only by a distant nostalgia. Despite the creeping sense of loss, the whole thing is wrapped in a certain kindness, as though the narrator and you both are in this thing together.

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