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	<title>naya mö Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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	<title>naya mö Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: February 2025 #4</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/24/weekly-listening-february-2025-4/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:52:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BOAT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breakfast Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cici Arthur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[D. Crane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dusty Lucite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dwi Riana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eli Carvajal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indonesia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Julie Meunier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leoblu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lex Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mumble Tide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naya mö]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oh Boy Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palmyra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toronto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Triathalon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wishy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=44159</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Cici Arthur &#8211; Way Through &#8220;Highlights how grand need not equate to ostentatious.&#8221; So we wrote of &#8216;Cartwheels For Coins&#8216;, a recent single from Way Through by Cici Arthur, the new collaboration between Toronto artists Joseph Shabason, Chris A. Cummings and Thom Gill. &#8220;Because for all of the richness of the [project&#8217;s] sound, there’s a grounded quality to it too. A kind of attention to detail which allows each track to become its own little slice of life.&#8221; With the album out now via Western Vinyl, [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/24/weekly-listening-february-2025-4/">Weekly Listening: February 2025 #4</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Cici Arthur &#8211; Way Through</h3>
<p>&#8220;Highlights how <em>grand</em> need not equate to ostentatious.&#8221; So we wrote of &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/29/cici-arthur-cartwheels-for-coins/">Cartwheels For Coins</a>&#8216;, a recent single from <em>Way Through</em> by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cici-arthur">Cici Arthur</a>, the new collaboration between <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/toronto">Toronto</a> artists <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/joseph-shabason/">Joseph Shabason</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/chris-a-cummings/">Chris A. Cummings</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/thom-gill/">Thom Gill</a>. &#8220;Because for all of the richness of the [project&#8217;s] sound, there’s a grounded quality to it too. A kind of attention to detail which allows each track to become its own little slice of life.&#8221; With the album out now via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl">Western Vinyl</a>, Cici Arthur are back with the opener and title track as a final single. The perfect encapsulation of the record&#8217;s ability to exist as something both cinematic Technicolor and drably human. &#8220;What good are dead ends when I’m looking for a way through?” as Cummings sings. &#8220;“When the miracle you’d hoped for never comes it’s hard to take, but it’s your fault for hoping.”</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1628378330/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=2308863680/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://ciciarthur.bandcamp.com/album/way-through">Way Through by Cici Arthur</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Cici Arthur - &quot;WayThrough&quot;" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h8iE8yW7iYQ?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><br />
Way Through</em> is out now via Western Vinyl and you can get it <a href="https://ciciarthur.bandcamp.com/album/way-through">from Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dusty Lucite &#8211; Old Feelings (feat. D. Crane)</h3>
<p>Led by H.L Stratton-Kuhta, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Portland">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Oregon">Oregon</a>-based indie outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Dusty-Lucite">Dusty Lucite</a> reach across a whole myriad of genres to bring to life a sound as colourful and idiosyncratic as it is fun. Latest album <em>Normal Harder</em> serves as the ideal introduction for the uninitiated, pitching the listener into a singular world carved from psych-inflected pop and folk. The album is something of a grab bag, mixing raucous garage rock numbers with sedate, dreamy croons, and thus no one single can quite capture the experience, but standout &#8216;Old Feelings&#8217; is perhaps the best place to dive in. It&#8217;s a song which embodies both the playful spirit and emotional depth of the Dusty Lucite sound, enlisting D. Crane (of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/boat/">BOAT</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/unlikely-friends">Unlikely Friends</a>) to add to the swirl of melancholic contemplation.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3994767522/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1193763209/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://dustylucite.bandcamp.com/album/normal-harder">Normal Harder by Dusty Lucite</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Dusty Lucite - Old Feelings (feat. D. Crane)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eeHEe7oUimc?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><br />
Normal Harder</em> is out now and available from <a href="https://dustylucite.bandcamp.com/album/normal-harder">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dwi Riana x Julie Meunier &#8211; Elsewhere</h3>
<p>Back in 2023, songwriters <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dwi-riana/">Dwi Riana</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/julie-meunier/">Julie Meunier</a> teamed up for single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/27/dwi-riana-julie-meunier-world-war-x/">World War X</a>&#8216;. &#8220;An exchange between lovers which begins as a seemingly innocuous conversation but ratchets up with every sentence,&#8221; as we wrote, &#8220;soon precipitating into an argument which draws the relationship’s tensions out into the open.&#8221; Now the pair have reunited for brand new track &#8216;Elsewhere&#8217;. What they describe as &#8220;a love song for winter,&#8221; the single celebrates those cold days that send you into cosy refuge, as well as the self-reflective peace which descends along with the snow. &#8220;When it snows here in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/toronto">Toronto</a>, I can&#8217;t help but think of where I come from,&#8221; Dwi Riana explains. &#8220;As each snowflake chaotically float along in the air, I think about all the little choices I&#8217;ve made in life to end up here.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Elsewhere (feat. Julie Meunier)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acZkeRF3qls?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;Elsewhere&#8217; is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Eli Carvajal &#8211; Fear of Love</h3>
<p>Across a number of albums, London-based songwriter Eli Carvajal has made a name with a markedly unguarded, earnest style, combining folk and pop sensibilities into something at once playful, curious and heartfelt. Following on from 2024 release <em>Eat Shiitake Now</em>, Carvajal is kicking off 2025 with a new single &#8216;Fear of Love&#8217;. It&#8217;s a song of two halves which emerged from a period of transition which in turn suggests his next direction. &#8220;The first [half] came in March 2022, isolated at home in Watford, aching to start a new life in Japan,&#8221; as Carvajal explains. &#8220;The second came a year later in Higashikitazawa, Tokyo, surfacing for air after a year afraid. This is a bridge between my last life and this one, my last album and the next. Hydrangeas were harmed.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1868805779/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://elicarvajal.bandcamp.com/track/fear-of-love">Fear of Love by Eli Carvajal</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Fear of Love&#8217; is out now and available from the Eli Carvajal <a href="https://elicarvajal.bandcamp.com/track/fear-of-love">Bandcamp page</a>. London-based readers can head to Next Door Records W12 in Shepherds Bush on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bryony-lloyd-eli-carvajal-tickets-1247276420349">Sunday March 16th</a> to catch him live.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Fime &#8211; Better Half of a Dollar</h3>
<p>Having made waves with 2019 EP <em>Sprawl</em>, the rise of Fime was in many ways derailed just as it was beginning, the LA outfit suffering the consequences of 2020 and everything that time brought with it. A period of mourning and self-reflection followed, before they teamed up with Melina Duterte (Jay Som) to record full-length <em>Sweeter Memory</em>, an album which grappled with nostalgia as the bittersweet, counterproductive force it can so often be. With this context in mind, new single &#8216;Better Half of a Dollar&#8217; feels like the dawning of a new era. One which has decided to lift itself from beneath the past and all of its unrealised dreams to contend with the present on its own terms. A song as searing and intense as anything Fime have written to date, with lead Beto Brakmo declining the temptation to retreat into nostalgia, instead staring the precarious, volatile present dead in the eye and refusing to blink.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1204576913/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://fime.bandcamp.com/track/better-half-of-a-dollar">Better Half of A Dollar by Fime</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed by Hailey Ruffner below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Fime - Better Half of A Dollar" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IA5xGnKDVLk?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;Better Half of a Dollar&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://fime.bandcamp.com/track/better-half-of-a-dollar">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Leoblu &#8211; livingroomfloor</h3>
<p>&#8220;An indie pop song filtered through a digital prism, it combines synths, beats and Carlsson’s signature vocals to create something at once emotional and oddly mesmerising.&#8221; So we wrote of &#8216;PEACHES&#8217; by Åland-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/berlin/">Berlin</a>-based producer <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/leoblu/">Leoblu</a> last year, the song continuing the artist&#8217;s willingness to test genre expectations to reach new ground. Latest single &#8216;livingroomfloor&#8217; is no different, evoking the intimate space of its title to explore the immediate experience of love, Leoblu creating a beguiling pop soundscape which is at once grounded and ethereal, alluring and strange. “Love is full of contradictions,” as Leoblu puts it. “It can be overwhelming yet fragile, euphoric yet filled with doubt. &#8216;livingroomfloor&#8217; is about letting yourself feel it all, and trying to stay present in these feelings.”</p>
<p><iframe title="Leoblu - livingroomfloor" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdoWzrCLpzE?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;livingroomfloor&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://www.submithub.com/link/leoblu?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZvRIcvzUiClfiJLVPzUX1DQBMqyWzZKTu2TmI6GF6S5RoM_rUK_V1mMaY_aem_0Y4DVvZzQNfErAR5uk2CDw">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Mumble Tide &#8211; Pea Soup</h3>
<p>&#8220;Grounds both the style and theme of the album, offering a sound undeniably sad yet reaching towards something more uplifting.&#8221; That&#8217;s how we described &#8216;Mawpao&#8217; from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mumble-tide/">Mumble Tide</a>&#8216;s forthcoming full-length <em>Might As Well Play Another One </em>on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/breakfast-records">Breakfast Records</a>. The song typified a release written as duo Gina Leonard and Ryan Rogers moved through a break-up to genuine friendship. Latest single &#8216;Pea Soup&#8217; embraces this space in all of its contradictions, juxtaposing bright power pop tones with morose bedroom pop reflection to emerge with a picture of a moment with all the dark, light and undecided future left intact. &#8220;&#8216;Pea Soup&#8217; is one big lumpy splurge, Leonard explains, &#8220;scribbled down on a hot day hiding away in my bedroom. It’s a bit of throwback to OG Mumble Tide with a chorus too big to slurp in one go.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=280932048/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3761781835/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://mumbletide.bandcamp.com/album/might-as-well-play-another-one">Might As Well Play Another One by Mumble Tide</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video by Mumble Tide, with colour and title card by Steph Dutton, below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Mumble Tide -  PEA SOUP (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pmh0ux0YsDg?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><br />
Might As Well Play Another One</em> will be released via Breakfast Records on the 1st May and you can pre-order it now from the Mumble Tide <a href="https://mumbletide.bandcamp.com/album/might-as-well-play-another-one">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">naya mö &#8211; reverb boy</h3>
<p>We&#8217;ve featured a number of singles from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/naya-mo/">naya mö</a>&#8216;s forthcoming debut EP <em>Dealing With Ghosts</em> in recent months, with &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2024-3/">wanderlust</a>&#8216; &#8220;draw[ing] on the grunge and alt-pop of the nineties and the soaring indie rock of the mid 00s [to create] something that sparkles with possibility despite being coated in gritty fuzz and shadowy reverb&#8221; and &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/16/weekly-listening-january-2025-1/">outsider</a>&#8216; &#8220;tap[ping] into a gauzy shoegaze style to create an enveloping sense of loneliness, though [one] charged with enough energy to face this darkness with a steely defiance.&#8221; Latest track &#8216;reverb boy&#8217; continues the dreamy aesthetic to offer a picture of the titular character—a figure adrift from everything yet able to make his voice heard around the world. &#8220;The EP is about the ghosts that haunt my mind and body—good and bad, dark and light, love and fear,&#8221; Mö explains. &#8220;Shadows of memories, ideas, regret, and people linger in my head. I wrote songs about them and drenched them in distortion, reverb, and fuzz.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="naya mö - reverb boy (video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XFjbSxSMxow?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;reverb boy&#8217; is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Palmyra &#8211; Arizona</h3>
<p>Emerging from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Palmyra is a folk rock outfit consisting of trio Teddy Chipouras, Mānoa Bell and Sasha Landon. Next month sees the release of new full-length album <em>Restless</em> on Hey Boy Records, and the band have shared new single &#8216;Arizona&#8217;. Described as &#8220;a little dose of summer in the dead of winter,&#8221; the song evokes the affirming joy of a road trip with a fresh, vivid Americana style, where everyday worries seem to evaporate within the languid rhythms of easy forward motion. &#8220;I was in a haze in Arizona come back won’t it come back,&#8221; as the opening lines detail:</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Hours felt like days and I was happy for the first time in a while<br />
I was at a payphone in Sedona calling someone falling<br />
Up over my head and back to Boston leave me in the desert please</h5>
<h5>Leave me open<br />
Arizona</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="Palmyra - &quot;Arizona&quot; (Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1x94qM15Ewo?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>Restless</em> is out on the 28th March via Hey Boy Records and you can <a href="https://palmyratheband.bandcamp.com/album/restless">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Triathalon &#8211; RIP</h3>
<p>It is not every day you come across an album built around the maxim &#8216;play this at my funeral,&#8217; but Triathalon&#8217;s forthcoming full-length <em>Funeral Music</em> is exactly that. The New York trio (Adam Intrator, Chad Chilton and Hunter Jayne) thought long and hard about what might soundtrack their respective requiems when writing their fifth record, and the result is perhaps their darkest and most unguarded collection of songs to date. Ahead of its release in May on Lex Records, Triathlon have shared single &#8216;RIP&#8217; to give an indication of the mood. A song so shadowy and dramatic is sounds almost sublime. “The aim for ‘RIP’ was to kick start feelings on what it felt like to listen to a late 90s rock song for the first time as a kid in your parents car in the backseat and asking to hear it louder,&#8221; as Intrator explains. &#8220;‘RIP’ has a double meaning; it’s about both dying and being reborn.”</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3544137476/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1207299311/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://triathalon.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-music">Funeral Music by Triathalon</a></iframe></center><em>Funeral Music</em> will be released on the 16th May via Lex Records and you can <a href="https://triathalon.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-music">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Wishy &#8211; Fly</h3>
<p>Back in January we featured &#8216;Planet Popstar&#8217;, a single by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/wishy/">Wishy</a> from the <em>Triple Seven</em> sessions which saw Kevin Krauter&#8217;s vocals &#8220;[land] somewhere between impassioned and laconic, while supporting harmonies from Nina Pitchkites work to leaven the heavy thicket of guitar to create something almost ethereal,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/01/wishy-planet-popstar/">as we wrote</a>. &#8220;And this otherworldly tone is a fitting match for the track’s themes, something of a message beamed into space into the hope it might be received, no matter how far away from earth the recipient might be.&#8221; The Indianapolis outfit have now announced the <em>Planet Popstar </em>EP, coming this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear">Winspear</a>, and latest single &#8216;Fly&#8217; is everything fans of the band have come to love. This time Pitchkites takes lead vocals for a song that looks to move beyond heartbreak with a mix of affirming energy and wistful longing.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Someday, babe, I don’t wanna feel the way<br />
I don’t need to know the taste<br />
Of not being with you</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4257174335/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=38622447/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/album/planet-popstar">Planet Popstar by Wishy</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video below, filmed by Wishy themselves with editing, color grading and title card by Bobby Sheppard:</p>
<p><iframe title="Wishy - Fly (Official Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v-JV3dyxvoM?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><br />
Planet Popstar</em> is out on the 25th April via Winspear and you can <a href="https://wishy.bandcamp.com/album/planet-popstar">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/24/weekly-listening-february-2025-4/">Weekly Listening: February 2025 #4</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">44159</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: January 2025 #1</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/16/weekly-listening-january-2025-1/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jan 2025 10:11:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cathy kio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clue Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clutter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[country girl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EMI North]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FADER Label]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gum Parker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lutalo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Molly Ganley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naya mö]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newcastle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NNA Tapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[OHYUNG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[phantom limb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pit Pony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PNKSLM Recordings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Repeating Cloud]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Ouyang Rusli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheffield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[since torino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Convenience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[william h. travis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winspear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zoe Firn]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=43934</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>cathy kio &#8211; Last Goodbyes Gathering momentum after a string of appearances at some of the biggest festivals in the UK (Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds among them), songwriter cathy kio has released a brand new single &#8216;Last Goodbye&#8217; to reinforce her burgeoning reputation. Crafted with a spare acoustic arrangement and kio&#8217;s signature heartfelt vocals, the song digs deep into the aftermath of a relationship in all of its tenderness and longing. A track poignant, aching and not entirely without fondness, [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/16/weekly-listening-january-2025-1/">Weekly Listening: January 2025 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">cathy kio &#8211; Last Goodbyes</h3>
<p>Gathering momentum after a string of appearances at some of the biggest festivals in the UK (Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds among them), songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cathy-kio">cathy kio</a> has released a brand new single &#8216;Last Goodbye&#8217; to reinforce her burgeoning reputation. Crafted with a spare acoustic arrangement and kio&#8217;s signature heartfelt vocals, the song digs deep into the aftermath of a relationship in all of its tenderness and longing. A track poignant, aching and not entirely without fondness, looking to salvage all the good from the time now gone while recognising the need to walk away.</p>
<p><iframe title="Last Goodbyes" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_TmG5gtlvbc?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;Last Goodbye&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://kycker.ffm.to/lastgoodbyes">the usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Clutter &#8211; Jesus</h3>
<p>Consisting of Hilda Ander, Emma French, Ove Jerndal and Ville Scott, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/clutter">Clutter</a> is a new project out of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/stockholm">Stockholm</a> who cut their teeth in the underground <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Sweden">Swedish</a> scene but now look set to make waves further afield. Their debut 7&#8243; single, <em>Jesus/Holy Brother</em>, out via via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/PNKSLM-Recordings">PNKSLM Recordings</a>, underscores exactly why the band have risen to prominence so quickly, offering a noughties-inflected shoegaze style that&#8217;s able to sound heavy and playful simultaneously. &#8216;Jesus&#8217; is a great example of the aesthetic, pairing existential lyrics and grungy guitar with an infectious sense of forward motion, showing Clutter&#8217;s ability to pack a punch while still having fun.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2625688124/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=4165027103/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://cluttersthlm.bandcamp.com/album/jesus-holy-brother-7">Jesus/Holy Brother [7&#8243;] by Clutter</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video shot and edited by Majken Bergman with animations by Henry Ander below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Clutter - &quot;Jesus&quot; (OFFICIAL VIDEO)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCqligZWFW4?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Jesus/Holy Brother</em> is out now via PNKSLM Recordings and available from <a href="https://cluttersthlm.bandcamp.com/album/jesus-holy-brother-7">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Convenience &#8211; I Got Exactly What I Wanted</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/the-convenience">The Convenience</a>&#8216;s 2021 debut <em>Accelerator</em> introduced a colourful, endlessly inventive brand of funk-inflected pop, but while follow-up <em>Like Cartoon Vampires</em> continues the imaginative style, the sound is very different. Because, following their artistic intuition, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Nick Corson and Duncan Troast have pivoted towards new genres, the album reaching out towards post-punk, noise rock and drone in its search for something different. Single &#8216;I Got Exactly What I Wanted&#8217; shows the wiry menace of this version of The Convenience, though beneath the shadowy mood lies something just as curiosity and playful in its craft as anything the duo have released to date.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1048797504/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3198923281/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://theconvenience.bandcamp.com/album/like-cartoon-vampires">Like Cartoon Vampires by The Convenience</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="The Convenience - I Got Exactly What I Wanted (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-nLTsLfEHYg?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Like Cartoon Vampires</em> is out on the 18th April via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winspear">Winspear</a> and you can <a href="https://theconvenience.bandcamp.com/album/like-cartoon-vampires">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">country girl &#8211; field day</h3>
<p>Back in September we wrote about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/country-girl/">country girl</a>, describing how single &#8216;i like that&#8217; tapped into a nostalgic vibe to paint a picture of real fondness. &#8220;The nineties aesthetic adds a fresh, wide-eyed quality to the sound,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/09/26/country-girl-i-like-that/">we wrote</a>, &#8220;creating an ode to a significant other as voiced from the heady early days.&#8221; With debut EP out now via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/FADER-Label">FADER Label</a>, country girl is back with the equally warm and affectionate &#8216;field day&#8217;. Another song which finds itself reflecting on the joys of a rose-tinted past, looking to preserve that sense of possibility and fun in the face of life&#8217;s inevitable progression. Watch the video directed and edited by Emma Callahan below:</p>
<p><iframe title="country girl — field day [Official Music Video]" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vu0yb3LNE0g?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>meet me at the fountain </em>is out now via <a href="https://www.faderlabel.com/countrygirl">FADER Label</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Gum Parker &#8211; Two Subarus</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/gum-parker">Gum Parker</a> is a new project out of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Portland">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Maine">Maine</a> who are preparing to release their debut album <em>The Brakes</em> this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Repeating-Cloud">Repeating Cloud</a>. Playing what they describe as &#8220;jangly songs&#8221; about &#8220;small disappointments and occasional wins,&#8221; the outfit draw on the considerable DIY history of its members to create good old-fashioned indie rock. Lead single &#8216;Two Subarus&#8217; embodies this spirit both in style and theme, combining unapologetic nostalgic with a sense of momentous immediacy. &#8220;This one is thinking back on my first serious band, which would have been in the early 2000s,&#8221; songwriter Galen Richmond explains. &#8220;Everything was always just teetering on the edge of falling completely apart and it was the most exciting thing ever. It’s easy to be sorta rose-colored thinking back on that time so I’m making fun of myself for it while I totally indulge it.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2415838547/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2427113495/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://gumparker.bandcamp.com/album/the-brakes">The Brakes by Gum Parker</a></iframe></center><em>The Brakes</em> is out on the 8th April via Repeating Cloud and available to <a href="https://gumparker.bandcamp.com/track/two-subarus">pre-order now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lutalo &#8211; I Figured</h3>
<p>We featured <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lutalo/">Lutalo</a>&#8216;s album <em>The Academy</em> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/06/25/weekly-listening-june-2024-4/">several</a> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/07/30/lutalo-the-bed-broken-twin/">times</a> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/08/27/weekly-listening-august-2024-4/">last year</a>, admiring how the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Vermont">Vermont</a>-based singer-songwriter delved into their past with such intention and fearlessness. Released via Winspear ahead of a headline tour, new single &#8216;I Figured&#8217; might not have quite made the cut to be included on the record, but it again shows how evocative Lutalo&#8217;s blend of rock and folk aesthetics can be. &#8220;Heard your train just holler / I just cussed your collar,&#8221; goes one of the verses, typifying the smouldering mix of drama and romance across the track. &#8220;You say I should come through / I know I shouldn’t want to / I know I shouldn’t but I want // You.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=640415897/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://lutalo.bandcamp.com/track/i-figured">I Figured by Lutalo</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video by Noah Lenker below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lutalo - I Figured (Official Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HZBcbNrOLS4?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;I Figured&#8217; is out now via Winspear and available from <a href="https://lutalo.bandcamp.com/track/i-figured">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Molly Ganley &#8211; Who Are You</h3>
<p>With debut album <em>Eldest Daughter</em> coming this March, songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Molly-Ganley">Molly Ganley</a> has unveiled brand new single, &#8216;Who Are You&#8217;. Another example of her warm, heartfelt brand of folk which celebrates the work previous generations have done to create and preserve a more hospitable world. &#8220;It asks the fundamental question: &#8216;Who are you to say?'&#8221;—who gets to make the call that women&#8217;s rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate action are unimportant, and that millions will suffer due to lack of legislative protection?&#8221; Ganley explains. The result is born of both love and defiance, promising to take up the mantle of our forebears to fight for the future we deserve.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/44xrlOc4LIhxxHyYlk68Vu?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center>&#8216;Who Are You&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://linktr.ee/mollyganley?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaan6y8KBo9KTfTBVtgpEf11JwKWIF5riZlqLDXjyCEU9p5bpofgIsvmU8E_aem_5iXtOQ7A02RTUx76VxOffQ">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">naya mö &#8211; outsider</h3>
<p>&#8220;Draws on the grunge and alt-pop of the nineties and the soaring indie rock of the mid 00s, resulting in something that sparkles with possibility despite being coated in gritty fuzz and shadowy reverb.&#8221; That&#8217;s what we wrote of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/naya-mo/">naya mö</a>&#8216;s previous single, &#8216;wanderlust&#8217;, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2024-3/">back in November</a>, and the latest track from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/france">French</a> artist is no less atmospheric. The second single from a forthcoming EP, &#8216;outsider&#8217; again taps into a gauzy shoegaze style to create an enveloping sense of loneliness, though is charged with enough energy to face this darkness with a steely defiance. “The EP is about the ghosts that haunt my mind and body. Good and bad, dark and light, love and fear,&#8221; naya mö explains of this duality. &#8220;Shadows of memories, ideas, regret, people linger in my head. I wrote songs about them and drench them in distortion, reverb and fuzz.”</p>
<p><iframe title="outsider" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ayr8JM0I41Q?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;outsider&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://naya-mo-outsider.submithublinks.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaa_wDwSsUh_BxGAGtzPLqjfJE65y0vUNHIC4rmZv5uRXiA9c5q0AvFq7TA_aem_Nx1_7MrCBRvJtvweTTGB3g">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">OHYUNG &#8211; no good</h3>
<p>You might know <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/robert-ouyang-rusli/">Lia Ouyang Rusli</a> as the composer behind soundtracks such at that of Julio Torres’s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/"><em>Problemista </em></a>(A24), but they also produce what is described as &#8220;experimental and political&#8221; under the moniker <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ohyung/">OHYUNG</a>. Taken from the upcoming OHYUNG album <em>You Are Always On My Mind</em>, latest single &#8216;no good&#8217; is every bit as cinematic as any of LOR&#8217;s scores, enlisting director and designer <a href="https://www.dayday.studio/">Day</a> to create a video capable of furthering the song&#8217;s portrayal of a quest of self-actualisation. The album itself uses a vivid, trip-hop-inspired sound to chart the process of gender transition, and &#8216;no good&#8217; explores the strange dualities which accompany such a process, where the desire to become the person you are supposed to be is matched by no small sense of fear. How do we feel when we achieve the very thing we want the most?</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1677948587/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/license_id=4341/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=943737767/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://ohyung.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-always-on-my-mind">You Are Always On My Mind by OHYUNG</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="OHYUNG - no good (Music Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s-kTMhl-tLw?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>You Are Always On My Mind</em> is out on the 28th March via NNA Tapes and Phantom Limb and you can <a href="https://ohyung.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-always-on-my-mind">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Pit Pony &#8211; Vacancy</h3>
<p>With new LP <em>Dead Stars</em> due for release next month via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/clue-records">Clue Records</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/EMI-North">EMI North</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Newcastle">Newcastle</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pity-party">Pit Pony</a> have returned with &#8216;Vacancy&#8217;, a track full of wry humour and cutting energy which sets its sights on the cultivated perfection of social media. “My news feed is full of suggested videos of people telling me my life will be better if I buy some leggings or get the ‘off menu’ Starbucks drink. I love an iced coffee as much as the next person but there’s a whole culture of people driving in nice cars drinking coffee and sitting making videos in carparks that I can’t get my head around,&#8221; explains lead Jackie Purver. &#8220;I feel like it’s opening a black hole somewhere that we’re all going to be swallowed into—a vacancy—like a Dorian Gray painting on a mass scale. I want to derail it, to take things in a different direction, to make it messy.&#8221; The song makes good on this wish with a building momentum, resulting in a chaotic crescendo that punctures the fictitious illusion through sheer disordered passion.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2737501553/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1224731377/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://pitponyband.bandcamp.com/album/dead-stars">Dead Stars by Pit Pony</a></iframe></p>
<p><em>Dead Stars</em> is out on the 7th February via Clue Records and EMI North and you can <a href="https://pitponyband.bandcamp.com/album/dead-stars">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">since torino &#8211; transatlantic flight song</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sheffield">Sheffield</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/since-torino">since torino</a> are preparing to release their debut EP in the coming months, and brand new single &#8216;transatlantic flight song&#8217; serves as the ideal introduction to the band for anyone unfamiliar with their work. Opening with a restrained hush, the song sets out a quiet, reflective mood, combining organ and murmured vocals to create an easy meandering fondness, and gradually develops to push the mood further. First with glitched guitars and eventually sweeps of violin, all working together to create a song which aches with the fondness of nostalgic contemplation.</p>
<p><iframe title="transatlantic flight song" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5dKjcIcm0hY?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>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;transatlantic flight song&#8217; is out now, and you can find since torino at the <a href="https://linktr.ee/sincetorino?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabmG9LptbeIc2I8VhYIVXA0mGkGkbPbkmY-dyVZ6Nql1AshAZu9gdWQulY_aem_fiI8Mn9YGLYbXKCOll5tfw">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">william h. travis &#8211; unfuck my mind</h3>
<p>Described as &#8220;a moniker for a person and a group of friends from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bethlehem">Bethlehem</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a>,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/william-h-travis">william h. travis</a> makes an empathetic brand of folk which walks the line between fondness and disaffection. As such, latest track &#8216;unfuck my mind&#8217; could be something of a theme tune for the project. A song delivered from a jaded person stuck within the awful present, though nevertheless pining for a return to something more curious and joyful. &#8220;Candy cigarettes, big league chew were fantastic / now I can’t even drink water without the microplastic,&#8221; as a typical verse goes. &#8220;Is it the world or is it me, it’s the two of us probably.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3898876101/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://williamhtravis.bandcamp.com/track/unfuck-my-mind">unfuck my mind by william h. travis</a></iframe></center>&#8216;unfuck my mind&#8217; is out now and available from the william h. travis <a href="https://williamhtravis.bandcamp.com/track/unfuck-my-mind">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Zoe Firn &#8211; Forever New</h3>
<p>The latest single from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn">Brooklyn</a> songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/zoe-firn">Zoe Firn</a>, &#8216;Forever New&#8217; is a song about the enduring nature of love drawn from an experience of that very thing. The song &#8220;is inspired by my grandparents, who were married for over 50 years until my granddad passed last October,&#8221; Firn explains. &#8220;According to gramgram, she and granddad are together in every life, past, present, and future.&#8221; Written from the perspective of her grandmother, the track illuminates this romantic idea further, serving as both a highly personal picture of a treasured relationship and a wider embrace of the hope and joy. &#8220;Told the grandkids how we met / in every other past life,&#8221; as one verse goes. &#8220;Distance never did keep us apart / on earth and I believe / that neither does time.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=674682267/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://zoefirn.bandcamp.com/track/forever-new">Forever New by Zoe Firn</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Forever New&#8217; is out now and available from the Zoe Firn <a href="https://zoefirn.bandcamp.com/track/forever-new">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/16/weekly-listening-january-2025-1/">Weekly Listening: January 2025 #1</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">43934</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: November 2024 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2024-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:27:47 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Shishkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AMF Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Audio Antihero]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Casper Skulls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Casual technicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ciao Malz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clover County]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[london]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mary in the junkyard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naya mö]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New West Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Niall Summerton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Repeating Cloud]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sunny War]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thirty Tigers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiny Library Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=43361</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Alexei Shishkin &#8211; Greenwich Mean &#8220;As inventive as it is relaxed, the whole thing buoyed by a sense of patience and curiosity as it explores whatever avenue seems appropriate.&#8221; So we wrote of Open Door Policy, the recent release by Brooklyn songwriter Alexei Shishkin, back in June. If the album typified Shishkin&#8217;s sense of invention, then it is fitting that new release Greenwich Mean EP is something different altogether. A collection of jazz-adjacent (mostly) instrumentals which takes the patience and [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2024-3/">Weekly Listening: November 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;">Alexei Shishkin &#8211; Greenwich Mean</h3>
<p>&#8220;As inventive as it is relaxed, the whole thing buoyed by a sense of patience and curiosity as it explores whatever avenue seems appropriate.&#8221; So we wrote of <em>Open Door Policy</em>, the recent release by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a> songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/alexei-shishkin/">Alexei Shishkin</a>, back in June. If the album typified Shishkin&#8217;s sense of invention, then it is fitting that new release <em>Greenwich Mean EP</em> is something different altogether. A collection of jazz-adjacent (mostly) instrumentals which takes the patience and curiosity of <em>ODP </em>and applies them in another manner. Only opener and title track &#8216;Greenwich Mean&#8217; has vocals. The portal through which listeners are invited into the album. The abstract lyrics might sound foreboding on first listen, but take the time to listen and you come to realise there&#8217;s no substance behind the mood. As though Shiskin is working to prove how even the most nonsensical strings of words might come to take on a certain feel if presented with a particular soundscape.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1016660649/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=4108663480/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/greenwich-mean-ep">Greenwich Mean EP by Alexei Shishkin</a></iframe></center><em>Greenwich Mean</em> EP is out now and available from <a href="https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/greenwich-mean-ep">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Casper Skulls &#8211; Spindletop</h3>
<p>New single &#8216;Spindletop&#8217; represents something of a fresh start for indie rock band Casper Skulls. It is the first taste of the band in their new three-piece setup, and also sees guitarist Neil Bednis take on vocal duties for the first time since the band&#8217;s debut record. The song explores the Texas oil boom of the early 20th Century, and Bednis describes how he &#8220;tried to capture the ominous atmosphere and avarice&#8221; of Paul Thomas Anderson&#8217;s <em>There Will Be Blood </em>while writing it. In contrast, the music video is a lighthearted one, what guitarist and vocalist Melanie St-Pierre calls &#8220;a funny lil take on me being annoying and late to jam,&#8221; following her journey to band practice through the local Sudbury scene, amp in tow.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=526157912/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://casperskulls.bandcamp.com/track/spindletop">Spindletop by Casper Skulls</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Casper Skulls - Spindletop (OFFICIAL VIDEO)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IPvJTeC9pSk?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;Spindletop&#8217; is out now and available from the Casper Skulls <a href="https://casperskulls.bandcamp.com/track/spindletop">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Casual Technicians &#8211; This Emotion</h3>
<p>Catching &#8220;the ache and yearn of a lonesome night under the stars&#8221; as <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/09/20/casual-technicians-midnight-moon/">we described in a preview</a>, single &#8216;Midnight Moon&#8217; by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/casual-technicians/">Casual Technicians</a> introduced their new album, <em>Deeply Unworthy</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/repeating-cloud/">Repeating Cloud</a>. The record &#8220;sees the three songwriters cross the beams of their creativity once more and embrace the loveable strangeness of the result,&#8221; we continued, with everything from Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch to <em>Smile</em>-era Beach Boys and Steely Dan listed as influences. With the album now out, the trio have shared single &#8216;This Emotion&#8217;, the album&#8217;s closing track which at least partially turns away from the overtly western sensibilities of the previous songs but lacks none of the heartfelt reflection or idiosyncratic charm.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1676120354/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=703171939/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://casualtechnicians.bandcamp.com/album/deeply-unworthy">Deeply Unworthy by Casual Technicians</a></iframe></center><em>Deeply Unworthy</em> is out now via Repeating Cloud and available from <a href="https://casualtechnicians.bandcamp.com/album/deeply-unworthy">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Ciao Malz &#8211; Two Feet Tall</h3>
<p>Having caught the attention of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/audio-antihero/">Audio Antihero</a> with a cover of Frog&#8217;s &#8216;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ciaomalz/you-know-im-down-frog-cover">You Know I’m Down</a>&#8216;, Connecticut-born, Brooklyn-based Filipino-American Ciao Malz (Malia DelaCruz) is teaming up with the label to release their debut EP, <em>Safe Then Sorry</em>. The Ciao Malz sound pairs equal parts upbeat energy and probing introspection to explore themes of identity and love in young life. &#8220;These stories and characters came to me subconsciously and asked to be spoken into existence,&#8221; DelaCruz explains. &#8220;These songs are about the unlikely connections we make, how they’re simultaneously inexplicable and meaningful.&#8221; Lead single &#8216;Two Feet Tall&#8217; introduces the project to the uninitiated, embodying the release&#8217;s unguarded nature with lush textures and a binding sense of forward motion.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I’ve been feeling two, two feet tall<br />
I’ve already heard, heard it all<br />
I’ve been meaning to, call your bluff<br />
But I can never tell, quite tell you stuff</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1336697927/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3179179586/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://ciaomalz.bandcamp.com/album/safe-then-sorry">Safe Then Sorry by CIAO MALZ</a></iframe></center><em>Safe Then Sorry</em> is out on the 6th December via Audio Antihero and you can <a href="https://ciaomalz.bandcamp.com/album/safe-then-sorry">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Clover County &#8211; Under These Conditions</h3>
<p>Growing up in Florida and now based in Athens, Georgia, Clover County is a songwriter inspired by the greats in the genre—from Stevie Nicks and Carol King to Ella Fitzgerald and Dolly Parton. With new EP <em>Porch Lights</em> out now via Thirty Tigers, new single &#8216;Under These Conditions&#8217; introduces the artist as a continuation of this lineage, with vulnerability and strength marbling into something as assured as it is heartfelt. &#8220;[The single] was the &#8216;kick-in-the-ass-come-to-Jesus&#8217; talk I needed to have with myself,&#8221; she explains. &#8220;A reminder not to sacrifice the life I wanted while people pleasing the generational expectations placed on me by the town I was living in, the church I grew up in, or the people I was raised by.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Clover County - Under These Conditions (Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G20Bjl5kl4k?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>Porch Lights</em> is out now via Thirty Tigers and available from the <a href="https://orcd.co/porchlights">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grandmas House &#8211; Screw It Up</h3>
<p>Following last year&#8217;s EP <em>Who I Am</em>, which garnered attention from all corners with its anarchic energy, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bristol/">Bristol</a> post-punks Grandmas House are back with new single, &#8216;Screw It Up&#8217;. The band say the song is about &#8220;having to walk on eggshells in a relationship and feeling like you have to keep you emotions bottled up in order to be liked,&#8221; but there&#8217;s nothing held back in the sound that twitches and snarls with furious frustration. It&#8217;s a loud one, even from a band who have made a name for it, moody guitars and stomping percussion jostle for space behind brash and cathartic vocals. Watch the video by the band themselves below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grandmas House - Screw It Up" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aOTY01DaOOQ?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;Screw It Up&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">mary in the junkyard &#8211; this is my california</h3>
<p>Back in May, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/London/">London</a> group mary in the junkyard released their debut EP, <em>this old house</em>, to much fanfare and critical acclaim. The record&#8217;s unique style of experimental rock and unsettling visual imagery saw the trio&#8217;s (that&#8217;s Clari Freeman-Taylor, Saya Barbaglia and David Addison) reputation skyrocket. Now the band have returned with a new single, &#8216;this is my california&#8217;. What Freeman-Taylor describes as &#8220;a nostalgic song about finding my own dreams,&#8221; the song dials back the unpredictability and intensity that made the EP so startling, opting instead for a laidback vibe that lands somewhere between Sun June&#8217;s twilit dreamy grooves and the knotty emotion of Big Thief.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1252559669/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://maryinthejunkyard.bandcamp.com/track/this-is-my-california">this is my california by mary in the junkyard</a></iframe></center>&#8216;this is my california&#8217; is out now via AMF Records and is available from the mary in the junkyard <a href="https://maryinthejunkyard.bandcamp.com/track/this-is-my-california">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">naya mö &#8211; wanderlust</h3>
<p>Recorded in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Baltimore/">Baltimore</a> with help from Bartees Strange, &#8216;wanderlust&#8217; is the new single from French alternative artist naya mö. The song draws on the grunge and alt-pop of the nineties and the soaring indie rock of the mid 00s, resulting in something that sparkles with possibility despite being coated in gritty fuzz and shadowy reverb. &#8220;The lyrics explore the bittersweet journey of longing and letting go,&#8221; naya mö describes. &#8220;It captures the feeling of being caught in a loop of memories while hoping to find a way forward.&#8221; With a new EP scheduled for release early in 2025, the single marks mö as an artist to keep an eye on moving into 2025 and beyond.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1941767435&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="naya mö" href="https://soundcloud.com/nayamo-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener">naya mö</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="wanderlust" href="https://soundcloud.com/nayamo-music/wanderlust" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wanderlust</a></div>
<p>&#8216;wanderlust&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Niall Summerton &#8211; No One</h3>
<p>When we last featured Yorkshire artist <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/niall-summerton/">Niall Summerton</a> back in September, we mentioned he had a new EP, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/09/11/niall-summerton-tread-water/"><em>Tread Water</em></a>, on the way via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tiny-library-records/">Tiny Library Records</a>. The title track represented both &#8220;an ode to friendship and an antidote to our busy world,&#8221; we wrote, &#8220;brought to life by the patient guitar and soothing delivery, a spacious arrangement which allows the surrounding world to bleeds into the gaps.&#8221; Latest single &#8216;No One&#8217; is no less unhurried in style, though here the languid rhythm brings to life a different shade of character. An almost slacker-style sound which lands somewhere between downbeat lethargy and calming respite. &#8220;No one&#8217;s coming in,&#8221; Summerton repeats to capture this mood, a statement which carries inherent loneliness but also a clear thread of relief.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1923444743&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Niall Summerton" href="https://soundcloud.com/niallsummerton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Niall Summerton</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="No One" href="https://soundcloud.com/niallsummerton/no-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No One</a></div>
<p><em>Tread Water</em> is out now on Tiny Library Records and available via streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sunny War &#8211; Walking Contradiction</h3>
<p>After releasing critically acclaimed record <em>Anarchist Gospel</em> in early 2023, Sunny War moved into her late father&#8217;s Chattanooga home and began obsessively working on new material save she slip back into the substance abuse that almost killed her in the past. These long hours of crafting elaborate demos allowed her to experiment, trading her acoustic guitar for an electric one. &#8220;I definitely wanted to make this album for a badass five-piece band,&#8221; she says of the resulting record, <em>Armageddon In A Summer Dress</em>, which comes out next year on New West Records. Our first glimpse of this new, louder direction is &#8216;Walking Contradiction&#8217;, a duet with Crass&#8217;s Steve Ignorant which brings elements of punk rock into her usual folk and Blues stylings, a blend which actually makes a lot of sense. As Sunny War explains &#8220;Folk used to be very anti-establishment. Pete Seeger, union songs, Woody Guthrie—that’s punk rock shit. It’s all about being an outsider.”</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1674534329/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3347964582/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://sunnywar.bandcamp.com/album/armageddon-in-a-summer-dress">Armageddon In A Summer Dress by Sunny War</a></iframe></center><em>Armageddon In A Summer Dress</em> will be released via New West Records on 21st February. Pre-order it now from the Sunny War <a href="https://sunnywar.bandcamp.com/album/armageddon-in-a-summer-dress">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/18/weekly-listening-november-2024-3/">Weekly Listening: November 2024 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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