With the release of MELT coming soon via her own Paraná Records, Malena Zavala has returned with the EP’s opener as a new single. Described as a song which “encapsulates the feeling of foreseeing the future and knowing that you are about to meet the love of your life,” the track sees Zavala use her distinctively lush, warm style to evoke the tranquility of predestination. The sense that, no matter what else might be going on, some pleasurable future is about to descend. And while the opening segment proceeds with the airy vibe of an idle daydream, the track escalates into something rich and driven, Zavala injecting a newfound energy into her sound. The result plays less like a hopeful wish as a conviction so tightly held it has no choice but to manifest in reality, and heralds what promises to be a transportive collection.

MELT is coming soon via Paraná Records.

The post Malena Zavala – Saw You Coming appeared first on Various Small Flames.

There is a repeated line, a single word refrain, in ‘The Glow’, the new song from Aïda Mekonnen Caby, which you may have some trouble comprehending. Fjaðrárgljúfur is the name of a canyon in south east Iceland which Caby and her partner visited in the early days of their relationship, and the landmark’s cinematic majesty leaks into the song’s very DNA, transforming a gentle indie folk song into something rich with widescreen emotion. It also represents something of a new dawn. For one, it is the opening track of the debut Aïda Mekonnen Caby album, Mais Uma, which comes out at the end of August via Mtn Laurel Recording Co. But also because the trip that inspired it and the feelings it evokes marked a turning point in Caby’s life too, one which saw her move first to Portugal and then to France. Mais Uma promises to explore this period of personal change and all its associated heart swells and aches, illuminated throughout with that sense of wonder at newfound love.

Dead Tooth – Song of the Weak

Led by New York-based songwriter Zach Ellis, self-described ‘rodeo-core’ outfit Dead Tooth have made a name crafting an atmospheric and often slightly chaotic brand of post-punk, combining the brooding shadow of the genre with raw energy. With their self-titled debut out now via Trash Casual, Dead Tooth have shared single and opener ‘Song of the Weak’ to introduce their work to the uninitiated. A song full of volatility and bite, Ellis’s vocals spiking with frustration as though driven half-crazed by the constant motion beneath him, or else how it never seems to lead to anywhere new. “In so many words [the song is] about struggling with cyclical destructive decision making,” Ellis explains. “Choosing hedonism over looking in the mirror. I’ve spent many years in NY on what feels like a hamster wheel of trying to fill a void or chase some kind of unattainable self/other. A song written for the darker times that in retrospect I feel have eaten too many years of my life.”

Dead Tooth is out now via Trash Casual and available from Bandcamp.

Living Hour – Wheel

Winnipeg’s Living Hour have announced Internal Drone Infinity, their fourth record, which will release later this year. What the band themselves have coined “yearn-core”, their style combines slowcore, indie rock and dream pop into something shaded by the gauzy texture of memory. The record was in part inspired by lead Sam Sarty’s time as a cinema projectionist, and it exists in a similarly otherworldly setting, its dark backdrop illuminated by a wistful glow as the band express what they call “the quiet magic hidden in everyday life.” To celebrate the announcement, Living Hour have unveiled lead single ‘Wheel’, which shows off both the dreamy yearn and crunchy rock sides of their sound very nicely.

The track comes complete with a video by Leigh Lugosi and Brett Ticzon, which you can see below:

Internal Drone Infinity will be released on 17^th October via Keeled Scales, Paper Bag Records (Canada) and Beloved Records (Australia). Pre-order a copy now from the Living Hour Bandcamp page.

Malena Zavala – MELT

Born in Argentina and now living between London and Mexico City, Malena Zavala is a self-taught musician and producer who first caught attention with her 2018 debut, Aliso. Drawing inspiration from both Latin American music and the likes of Devendra Banhart, Beach House and Feist, Zavala’s music layers poetic lyrics over hypnotic and haunting instrumentation. Latest single ‘MELT’, the first single from an EP of the same name that comes out later this year on Zavala’s own new label Paraná Records, is a good example. A soft and cosy love song that Zavala says tries “to express the feeling of being wrapped up in bed,” it’s built on gentle acoustic guitar and her hushed and intimate vocals and accentuated by ethereal harmonies and subtle synths.

‘MELT’ is out now via streaming services

Oh, Rose – For Art

Almost a year on from their last full-length Dorothy, Olympia/Portland mainstays Oh, Rose return in September with For Art, a brand new EP released via the good folks as Antiquated Future Records. The EP finds the band’s members in the midst of some big personal events, like getting married and starting families, and perhaps understandably this has them ruminating on family and relationships. As the label put it, the EP focuses on “themes of long-term commitment and partnership—both in romantic and platonic relationships, as well as to artistic practice itself.” Oh, Rose have released the title track by way of introduction, an unhurried and heartfelt song that captures these themes perfectly. “At first I feel so nervous to be this vulnerable,” Rose sings with courageous clarity, “it’s true that I was thinking about you.”

Routine Caffeine – Green Glass

“A track which marries a taut central rhythm with a dreamy haze, and hints at a sharp bite too, all highlighting just how much control Katie O’Brien Kelley (vocals, guitar), Madison Elizabeth Case (bass, synth, background vocals) and Emma Treganowan (drums) have over the mood of their work.” So we wrote of Routine Caffeine‘s ‘Philodendron‘ back in 2024, a track taken from the Louisville-based trio’s Weeds Under Concrete Stones. Their first release since that EP, new single ‘Green Glass’ is no less evocative, again crafting an immersive atmosphere to explore themes of nostalgia, belonging and the passing of time. “This song has served as a way for me to reflect on my family’s old farm in Michigan, one of my most treasured places,” they explain. But more than a lesson in simple longing for home, the track also charts the changes to the beloved place which accumulate with every return, adding an extra layer melancholy as the familiar slowly shifts into something different, and the past only grows further away.

runo plum – Lemon Garland

Minnesota singer-songwriter runo plum has slowly amassed a following over recent years, her detailed, wistful style of bedroom folk winning plenty of attention online. Having now signed with the ever-impressive Winspear, plum has released new single ‘Lemon Garland’ to celebrate. The first taste of forthcoming debut album patching, the song embodies the fondness and compassion of the runo plum style, as well as the longing for connection which underpins it. “Give me company / barefoot and muddy,” as she sings, “give me pointing / at the birds we’ve never seen before / we’ll stop to pick some veggies / for the big feast at our friendly table.” The result is inherently bittersweet, a hopeful vision of the future shadowed by the suggestion such community remains just a dream, though the lasting feeling is one of affection. As though it wishing for something so simple and fulfilling, runo plum shows our desires need not be so far away.

Watch the video directed by Karlee Boon below:

patching will be released soon via Winspear.

Scree – TV Sometimes

Brooklyn experimental maestros Scree return next month with August, a brand new full-length on Ruination Record Co. The band—that’s primary trio guitarist/composer Ryan El-Solh, bassist Carmen Quill and drummer Jason Burger, plus lots of guests—are hard to pin down, smashing together everything from Romantic classical music, dusty lonesome Americana, improvisational jazz and weighty indie rock to create some of the most interesting and deep instrumental music around. Scree released the title track as the lead single a few weeks back, and have now returned with a second cut, the enigmatically titled ‘TV Sometimes’. The song has been part of the band’s live repertoire for years, and here it gets a richer arrangement with contributions from the cast of collaborators. “It’s something like a love song,” El-Solh describes. “I probably should’ve chosen a more generally intelligible title, but at the time there was really only one person I was trying to reach with this bit of code and she got the message so the title stuck.”

The post Weekly Listening: July 2025 #4 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

The New Tusk – Tarmac
Lazy Legs – Gloss
Sam Moss – Flowers
Varsity – Must Be Nice
Falcon Jane – Go with the Flow
Desert Liminal – Heavy Heads
Jamison Isaak – Sharalee
Nilein – Central Park
Pendulum Girl – crying in the carwash
Freya – Breath and Chime
Malena Zavala – A Vision That’s Changed
Alex Bayly – Wade in the Water
James Edwyn & The Borrowed Band – Pushing Statues
Tiny Fireflies – Nothing
Boreen – Halley’s Comet
Jenno Snyder – Take Care
Normal State – Summertime
Clare – Loquats
Leathan Milne – Now I Say Goodnight
John Moods – Leap of Love
Guts Club – Mustard Tears
Brianna Kelly – To Behold You
Sympathy Pain – Bless This Ugly Heart
Lung Cycles – Smoke column (Jonathan)
Be Softly – My Hands End With You Fingertips
Hour – Still New To This

Spotify:

Playmoss:

You can find all of our monthly mixes here, and be sure to check back in May for whatever April brought by way of good music.

The post March 2018 Roundup appeared first on Various Small Flames.

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

Malena Zavala – A Vision That’s Changed

Born in Argentina but raised in London, filmmaker, artist and producer Malena Zavala is set to release her debut album, Aliso, this spring. As the previous singles attest, Zavala makes a dreamy brand of indie rock coloured with a Latin dimension, and the third single from the record is no different. Slowing the tempo from the other tracks, ‘A Vision That’s Changed’ sees Zavala’s vocals suspended within a column of dusky warmth, though an underlying sadness lurks just out of view. As such, the track plays like a snatched dream of a previous love, any joy or solace shaded with the realisation that the experience will not last, and morning will bring reality back once more.

Aliso will be released on the 13th April and you can pre-order it now via Yucatan Records.

James Edwyn & The Borrowed Band – Pushing Statues

Rooted in the classic Americana tradition, Glasgow six-piece James Edwyn & the Borrowed evoke timeless tales of love and loss and moving on. After releasing their debut album, The Tower, back in 2014, last year saw the band put out the follow-up, High Fences. The second single from that release, ‘Pushing Statues’ is the perfect introduction for the uninitiated—the heartbroken tenderness conjured not just through the lyrics but the instrumentation too, the rhythm driving a sense of motion that threatens to run away with itself. In doing so, the song captures the tension of travel in this genre, the push and pull between moving on and returning home.

High Fences is out now via Dead Records Collective and you can buy it from the James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band webpage.

The New Tusk – Tarmac

Describing their sound as “lo-fidelity short attention span punk,” Brighton trio The New Tusk make short, frantic songs that smash together punk and post-punk sensibilities, the vocals darting between sardonic and snarling and shouting. New single ‘Tarmac’ is no exception, with the instrumentation whipping into a frenzy as the vocals try to keep up with a kind of pissed-off demeanour. However, by the end of the track, you wonder whether it’s in fact the vocals that are commanding the instruments, as a new, more hopeful tone emerges. It can’t promise a new start, or some deliverance to eternal satisfaction, but rather some semblance final comfort, the antithesis of a sting in the tail.

“This year’s came and went, just like the last ten of them.
In my honest uneducated opinion I believe it’s in us all to die happy.”

You can grab ‘Tarmac’ now from The New Tusk Bandcamp page, as well as a number of previous EPs.

John Moods – Leap of Love

The solo project of Fenster‘s Jonathan Jarzyna, John Moods is set to release a debut record, The Essential John Moods, this spring. The album came to life during a hiking trip along the Iberian coast, with Jarzyna recording songs each evening as he arrived in a new town, and the method informs the sound and style of the track in more ways that one. On the surface there’s the languid, psych-tinged summer aesthetic that runs across the record, but the analogy can also be applied in a metaphorical sense—each song representing a different stop in a journey, all linked by a certain structural and stylistic (think architectural) similarity, yet made distinct by differences in mood, pace and atmosphere, not to mention the small nuances and details which populate each track.

The Essential John Moods is set for release on the 20th April via Mansions and Millions.

Nilein – Central Park

Based in Kolkata, nilein make a shimmering bedroom pop that draws on both lo-fi indie rock influences and elements of shoegaze. Last year, the trio put out the short holiday ep, as well as single, ‘Dive’, and 2018 sees them return with a brand new song. ‘Central Park’ feels more weighty than its summery predecessors, the wistful opening and murmured vocals giving way to a heavier midsection, channelling the likes of Gleemer in the way that the drums pound their way over the more delicate guitars before dropping to allow pretty ambient swells. The track comes complete with a video taken from the Makoto Shinkai film, 5 Centimeters Per Second.

You can find nilein on Bandcamp and Facebook.

Alex Bayly – Wade in the Water

Following his self-released debut EP, New America, ‘Wade in the Water’ is Alex Bayly’s first single with My Little Empire Records. Drawing its name from the African-American spiritual, the track uses a rich sense of imagery and metaphor to strike a balance between pain and healing. This is clear from the allegorical visions of the natural world in the opening verse, right through to the steely optimism of the conclusion, preaching a sense of endurance and hope in the face of adversity.

“The grass is growing
on the hill
my time’s not up yet
or so I feel”

‘Wade into the Water’ is out now via My Little Empire Records.

Falcon Jane – Go With The Flow

Fronted by Ontario’s Sara May, Falcon Jane describe their sound as ‘plez rock’—”a music genre inspired by nature, truth, peace and magic.” Ahead of a full-length Feelin’ Freaky which is to be released this summer, the band have released single ‘Go With The Flow’. Described by May as  “the ultimate chill out song for freaky, anxious, over-thinkers like me,” the track is a half-paced bob down a meandering river. With the languid instrumentation and May’s lovely vocals, Falcon Jane encourage you to stop thrashing against the current and float wherever the water takes you. Check out the video, directed by Deviio, below:

Feelin’ Freaky is set for release this summer, so keep a eye on the Falcon Jane Bandcamp page.

Guts Club – Mustard Tears

Last year, London’s RIP Records ran an Introduces… series, with the likes of Dama Scout and Canshaker Pi contributing singles that were eventually released as a 12″ record. After the success of Volume One, the label are back with a second edition, including a new track from New Orleans’ Guts Club. The recording project of Lindsey Baker, Guts Club make tunes woven from the American landscape, drawing upon the likes of Scout Niblett and Patti Smith to explore the concepts of situation and place, and how all but the most privileged are more or less confined to certain spaces and lifestyles—unless they want to risk it all in an attempt to change.

‘Mustard Tears’ is to be released on RIP Records, and a new Guts Club album is set to appear later this year.

Varsity – Must Be Nice

We first featured Chicago’s Varsity back in 2016 when we wrote about the dreamy pop of their single, ‘Smash / Still Apart‘. Now the band are readying a full-length album, Parallel Person, due for release on Babe City Records at the end of April. As a taster they have unveiled ‘Must Be Nice’, another pop gem that shimmers with a gently kaleidoscopic psych edge. The lyrics are a little less sunny though, as lead Stephanie Smith delivers lines that are blurred with uncertainty.

“I know I can’t cry in front of them
But if I could…”

Parallel Person is out on the 27th of April and you can preorder it via Babe City Records and from the Varsity Bandcamp page.

Dan Michaelson – Sand

The final track to be taken from the album First Light, ‘Sand’ finds Dan Michaelson at his tender best, his throaty vocals cutting through the sparse, moving soundscape. Thanks to the work of Arnulf Lindner (Skeleton Key), the instrumentation soon develops into a full-bodied orchestral piece, juxtaposing simplicity with carefully crafted emotion to produce a hopeful, poignant track.

First Light is out now and you can get it via the Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards website.

Clare – Loquats

Houston quartet Clare is described in the press release as not so much a band, rather “a group of friends who love and support each other and help each other make sense of this crazy world through music.” Taken from a new EP, Always Afternoon, their latest single ‘Loquats’ acts as solid proof of this relationship, the energetic shimmer propelled forward by a sense of cohesive and community. Thematically, the track takes inspiration from the tangy fruit of it’s title to explore the end of a relationship, finding some nourishment in the bittersweet aftertaste that lingers on the tongue.

Always Afternoon is out now via Poison Moon Records an you can get it from Bandcamp.

Be Softly – My Hands End with Your Fingertips

Last December, we wrote about a collaboration between American poet Sam Pink and Bristol’s Be Softly, an experimental blend of spoken word and music we described as “like the fever dream manifesto of the archetypal Disillusioned Kid.” Be Softly has returned with a new single, this time the providing poetry themselves. There is a big difference between this and Pink, the words carved more out of melodrama than nihilism, though the instrumentation manages to provide moments both mean and lonely enough to prevent it becoming too sentimental or affected.

You can find on ‘My Hands End with Your Fingertips’ on Bandcamp.

Be sure to stick around for the next volume, and check out the entire Bright Sparks series here.

The post Bright Sparks: Vol. 10 appeared first on Various Small Flames.