After a hiatus from music, Yasi Lowy moved to San Francisco in 2018 and returned as Bad Tiger. Released in 2020, album The Goat and the Bad Tiger was the first product of this new period, but far from being the full realisation of Lowy’s goals, it merely opened the doors to new possibilities. With new ideas in hand, Bad Tiger worked with Mackenzie Bunch at Coyote Hearing Studio on a new EP, Sanctuary. ‘Clear Vision’ is our first taste of the release, a bedroom pop track stretched taut with strength of feeling. A track which holds paradoxes in its palm with a sense of curiosity. “I know what I want so long as it’s gone,” Lowy sings, “so long as it’s out of sight, I’ve got clear vision.”

Head to the Bad Tiger Bandcamp page for info on pre-ordering Sanctuary.

bedbug – songs about ghosts

When bedbug released their last full-length, life like moving pictures, back in 2020, it was something of a conclusion. The final part of a trilogy of albums that began with on 2016’s if i got smaller grew wings and flew away for good, it marked the end of a significant stage of the project’s life. It served “not only as a conclusion,” we wrote in a review, “but a summation of what bedbug has come to mean over the previous few years.” So the natural question was, what comes next?

After a little wait, the answer is now revealed. bedbug has evolved Pokémon-style into a full band and announced a self-titled EP, to be released in March on the inimitable Disposable America. To display this new direction, bedbug have unveiled the EP’s lead single, a reimagining of ‘songs about ghosts’, which initially featured on if i got smaller…. Check it out below:

Big Nothing – A Lot of Finding Out

Philly-based outfit Big Nothing are set to release their second record Dog Hours this coming February. Their first on Lame-O Records, the album captures the buoyant blend of compassion and confidence that makes Big Nothing so compelling. Equal parts intimate alt-country and bold power pop, as highlighted by lead single ‘A Lot of Finding Out’ with its acoustic guitars and elastic bounce.

Julia Blair – Waste Away

Making her name fronting Wisconsin country rock outfit Dusk, whose 2018 self-titled record on Don Giovanni Records won wide acclaim, Julia Blair has gone solo for brand new album Better Out Than In on Crutch of Memory. After the bright and fierce nineties-inflected pop rock of lead single ‘Relax’, new song ‘Waste Away’ shows off another side to Blair’s work. A considered meditation on the dissolution of a relationship wrapped within a rich arrangement of strings. The track comes complete with a video directed by Finn Bjornerud, with choreography by Monica Endres.

Better Out Than In is out via Crutch Of Memory and you can pre-order it from the Julia Blair Bandcamp page.

Bryde – Silver Suns

Hailing from Pembrokeshire and now based in London, Bryde has won acclaim with an emotive and cathartic brand of indie rock. Following on from 2020’s The Volume of Things, Bryde is opening 2022 with the first taste of a brand new record. With its tenderhearted piano foundations, ‘Silver Suns’ explores the diversity of love, pushing beyond the stereotypical images to delve into ideas of self-acceptance and non-judgemental affection.

Georgia Harmer – Austin

Following on from first single, ‘Headrush‘, Toronto‘s Georgia Harmer returns with new track, ‘Austin’, on Arts & Crafts. Building on the rich and nostalgic sound of the first song, ‘Austin’ tackles homesickness and familial love with a special focus on Harmer’s father and his experiences as a touring musician. Indeed, Harmer Snr. plays lead guitar on the track, recorded in the family living room. A tangible link to the connection which sparked the song in the first place. “Went to Austin Texas for a day / To everyone I saw I said your name,” she sings in the opening line. “The setting sun the hot wind on my face / Felt like home an unfamiliar place.”

We were cowboys in another life
But I am you your other life is mine
Often when I speak to you I cry
Never can explain the reason why
Never understood the reason

KASHKA – isolation

Last winter saw the return of Toronto-based dream pop project KASHKA with latest release, soft. Part of Kat Burns‘s ever-evolving style, the record lived up to its title with its gentle and welcoming sound, providing a nook in which the listener can sit and contemplate the current moment. Single ‘isolation’ captures this mood through the muted beauty of a snow day, looking for common humanity within the experience of being cut off from the world.

soft is out in February and you can find it on the KASHKA Bandcamp page.

Lofi Legs – My Silence

Combining garage rock and bedroom pop with psych and surf sensibilities, San Francisco‘s Lofi Legs are out to capture the highs and lows of life. Ahead of their album Leg Day on Italian-American label We Were Never Being Boring Collective, they have unveiled lead single ‘my silence’ to welcome us into this style. A song smack back in the middle of a Venn diagram between poignant and playful. “‘My Silence’ started as a conversation on shrooms about how I had gotten quieter,” explains Paris Cox-Farr, “and in the song I am picking apart my silent vulnerability to see if there’s something happening inside.”

Night Shop – Let Me Let It Go

Next month sees the release of Forever Night, the full-length album from LA‘s Night Shop on Dangerbird Records. To add to the anticipation for what we’ve described previously as a “triumphant meditation on nocturnal life,” Justin Sullivan has unveiled a brand new single, ‘Le Me Let It Go’. With a band featuring Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Will Ivy (Flatworms) and Anna St. Louis, as well as engineering from Jarvis Taveniere (Woods), the song finds a bona fide supergroup at the height of their chemistry. Check out the video by Jeff Davenport and Cooper Kenward below:

I was halfway through my time on this earth. When I had a strange feeling like I had at my birth. Surrounded by strangers, crying in some room. I felt myself at such a remove. And I loved them all but I couldn’t say how, I just screamed a lot and then I shut my mouth.

Forever Night is out via Dangerbird Records on the 11th February and you can pre-order it from the Night Shop Bandcamp page.

Quiet Hollers – Garden of Love

Louisville outfit Quiet Hollers returned this January with Forever Chemicals, what they describe as their “joyfully nihilistic” fourth record. True to their genre-bending spirit, the album draws from all facets of the rock style to create a sound at once mischievous and sincere, leaning toward the darker end of the spectrum without sacrificing the steely will beneath the gloom. Single ‘Garden of Love’ is and example of the record’s earnest side, a yearning track fired by propulsive drums and lifted by the evocative delivery of lead Shadwick Wilde.

Rascal Miles – Locusts

We’ve previously described Rascal Miles‘s Tailor-Made as an examination of “both the violence and banal practicalities of becoming the person you are meant to be,” and latest single ‘Locusts’ is no different. Taking inspiration from Ennio Morricone and the world of Spaghetti Westerns, the track confronts post gender transition dysphoria and the hostility of the world with a sense of defiance. “I am who I am, and sometimes it seems like the whole world is out to get me, but even if we’re marching into an outnumbered battle in our fight for acceptance, we’re stepping out of the shadows and into the light,” Miles explains. “No more hiding. No backing down. Bring on the locusts.”

You can grab a copy of Tailor-Made from the Rascal Miles Bandcamp page.

Lee Switzer-Woolf – The Negative Twin

Having been a part of bands like Launch Control and The Seasons in Shorthand, 2022 sees Reading-based artist Lee Switzer-Woolf step out on his own with debut single, ‘The Negative Twin’. Taken from full-length Scientific Automatic Palmistry, out by All Will Be Well Records this February, the song introduces the darkly ruminative tone of Switzer-Woolf’s sound. A sparse and haunting track which nevertheless carries a stark urgency beneath its inky surface. Like an undercurrent pulling toward some unfortunate conclusion.

Erisy Watt – New Same

This spring sees the release of Eyes like the Ocean, a new record from Portland’s Erisy Watt on American Standard Time Records. Lead single ‘New Same’ welcomes us into the world of the record, one as indebted to contemporaries like Haley Heynderickx as the sixties stars of the genre. “I was reflecting on habits, trying to break the old and shape the new, and I was feeling stuck,” Watt explains. “We all want to blossom into the best versions of ourselves and often forget that it takes time, that it’s never a linear path. Old voices linger. Old behaviours crop up.” ‘New Same’ is a recognition of this fact, learning to adapt one’s outlook as the landscape shifts below.

Anna Westin – Bright Burning Mess

‘Bright Burning Mess’ finds Canadian poet and songwriter Anna Westin working at the intersection of her various artistic outlets. With both spoken word and sung lyrics populating the lushly ethereal folk arrangement, the track slots in alongside those contemporaries like Cassandra Jenkins. Songs looking to push the possibilities of language within the indie folk movement, and elevate the emotions found within.

‘Bright Burning Mess’ is out now more about Anna Westin’s work on her website.

Kimberly Morgan York – Real Thing

Though it was recorded way back in 2006, only to be released in 2022, Kimberly Morgan York’s debut LP Found Yourself a Lady transports you far further back than that. Recorded with The Everlovin’ Band and featuring Brad Morgan of the Drive-By Truckers, Found Yourself a Lady is a country record in the classic sense. A collection of songs occupying a timeless space of love and loss, as demonstrated by single ‘Real Thing’. A romance so fierce it could never burn for long, but oh how warm it is in the moment.

Call your momma we ain’t coming tonight
I need some lovin by the pale moon light
She’ll forgive you and I won’t wait
Tomorrow I’ll call in late

Found Yourself a Lady is out now and you can find more about Kimberly Morgan York’s work on her website.

The post Weekly Listening – Jan 2022 #2 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

The sentiment bleeds into every facet of the Night Shop sound. Writing on single ‘Hello Take Me Anywhere‘ last year, we described the project as possessing “an infectious tone, a kind of wry, lopsided spirit that’s equal parts playful and heartfelt,” one capable of pushing beyond cynicism to achieve something almost celebratory. Finding joy on dark city streets, in the act of making music with friends. “But me, I got a dream,” went one line. “I’m gonna go real far / Gonna be the singer in a dimly lit bar.”

This winter sees Night Shop return with Forever Night, a brand new album which continues this theme. Released on Dangerbird Records, the album sees Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Jess Williamson, Anna St. Louis and Jarvis Taveniere (Woods/Purple Mountains) all join Sullivan in what amounts to a triumphant meditation on nocturnal life. The closeness of the group is clearly apparent, with the songs having an air of one-take spontaneity only possible with trust and intuition.

In preparation for the record, Night Shop has unveiled the title track by way of introduction. With its infectious, self-perpetuating rhythm, the song acts as a kind of thesis for the album. A statement held aloft to ward off the darker corners encountered along the way. “‘Forever Night’ is a song about feeling grateful and inspired by the pace and lessons of the city and the pace and lessons of getting to experience a life spent playing music,” Sullivan explains. “It is a statement of purpose of sorts for this project.”

I want to go where the music is loud.
That’s where I belong.
I want to lose myself in a crowd.
And inside a song.

I don’t want to learn to stop trying.
I don’t want to stop trying to learn.
Oh, let me burn

Check out the video directed by Jeff Davenport and Cooper Kenward below:

Forever Night is out on the 1st December, and you can pre-order it from the Night Shop Bandcamp page.

The post Night Shop – Forever Night appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Powered by an upbeat rhythm, the song has an infectious tone, a kind of wry, lopsided spirit that’s equal parts playful and heartfelt. Sullivan conjures a spooling cadence, his vocals unfurling with a languid fluidity, rising and falling in conviction like those of a man compelled by his beliefs yet burned cynical once too often. “Everybody’s fighting off irrelevance,” he sings, “as if we won’t all become irrelevant. / As if your prominence was permanently earned. And when I listened to you there was nothing to be learned.” With Allison Crutchfield (of Swearin’) lending harmonies, the song builds up a real head of steam, coming off as a celebration of our existential foibles in spite of everything.

“But me, I got a dream, I’m gonna go real far. Gonna be the singer in a dimly lit bar.
And every night I’m gonna sit and wonder where you are.
Roaming around through the city at night, I’m just looking for the bookstore and the cafe lights.

Hello, take me anywhere.
If you’re right as rain or you’re wrong and strange, I do not care.
If it’s all in my mind, then let me stay here.

Check out a video directed by Sullivan himself, with guest appearances by Crutchfield and Tiffanie Lanmon:

‘Hello Take Me Anywhere’ is out now via Dangerbird and you can grab it from the Night Shop Bandcamp page.

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