With album Catastrophe Darling out now, California trio Artemisia have unveiled new single ‘Spider’ as a window into their sound. Finding inspiration in everything from Appalachian mountain music to the vivid synths of eighties movie soundtracks, the band conjure songs somehow both organic and ethereal, and ‘Spider’ serves as the perfect example. Born upon seeing the titular creature weave a web over their harp, the track hones in on the intricate splendour of nature, emerging as something as delicate and dreamlike, transporting the listener into a space between the real and the spiritual, where nature takes on an exalted status and beauty and sorrow are one and the same.

Catastrophe Darling is out now and available from the Artemisia Bandcamp page.

Beryl – All Things

Consisting of Gabriela King and Alex Jasprizza, Sydney-based art folk duo Beryl are preparing to release album Dry Peel Crack in the coming months, and latest single ‘All Things’ introduces the central themes. It’s a picture of a relationship crumbling and a lesson in learning to accept the fact, something captured in everything from King’s compassionate croon to the album artwork itself. Blain Cunneen (Julia Jacklin) joins the pair on guitar, bass and drums, helping to bring to life a sound at once melancholic and fond.

Carlos Truly – Much 2 Much

Aside from being a founding member of Ava Luna and a collaborator with the likes of Frankie Cosmos and Princess Nokia, Brooklyn‘s Carlos Hernandez also records solo under the moniker Carlos Truly. Released via Bayonet Records, 2022’s Not Mine highlighted his sleek, ever-inventive brand of pop, and new single ‘Much 2 Much’ continues the play with new directions. Again on Bayonet, the track is the funkiest ode to life’s habit of overwhelming us you’re ever likely to hear. “Not to be too much of a bellyacher,” as Hernandez says, “but sometimes you just want to yell about it.” But loose-limbed and full of swagger, the song is anything but angry, playing like the soundtrack to a late 80s/early 90s city caper where a luckless protagonist can’t help but be the coolest guy around. Watch the video with cinematography by Stefanie Santana below:

‘Much 2 Much’ us out now via Bayonet Records.

Diners – Someday I’ll Go Surfing

Diners, the recording project of Blue Broderick, might have made a name with a dreamy sound straight out of the halcyon sixties, but new record DOMINO looks to skip ahead a decade and lean into unapologetic rock. The album is out via Bar/None Records later this month, and new single ‘Someday I’ll Go Surfing’ sees the shift towards newfound energy occurring in real time. A surf pop jam whipped up beyond the languid nostalgia of the genre, choosing instead to set its eyes on the horizon. “‘Someday I’ll Go Surfing’ isn’t exclusively about surfing,” as Broderick confirms, “but rather confronting the unknown and moving on to the next big thing.”

Eldridge Rodriguez – The Strange Things That Happen to People

We’ve followed the work of Eldridge Rodriguez for the past few years, describing recent work as “capturing the strange blend of panic, depression and monotony” with “a tone somewhere between fondness and weariness which builds its own urgent compassion.” With new album Atrophy coming next month, the band have shared single ‘The Strange Things That Happen to People’, continuing the evocative mood of the previous releases by facing up to the accumulated regrets of life. “You burn a lot of bridges when you’re young because you think you’re king shit,” explains lead Cameron Keiber. “You get older and self reflective and you want to repair a lot of the damage you’ve done. I suppose it’s a call to be aware of your surroundings throughout life, really. It’s hard but then you wouldn’t have to make amends later.”

Intac – Strange Soles

“Strange souls / Comin’ out the woodwork / Lookin’ for some good work / Before we go to town.” So goes ‘Strange Soles’, the latest single from Somerville, MA artist Intac. The self-described “Digital Americana / Cyber Folk” artist descends from the likes of kissed her little sister, laying a bed of easy-going pop beats upon which to build a world both slightly surreal and tangibly emotive. For within the languid summer swagger rises a mist of nostalgic longing, a sensation which hangs over things long after the track has faded off over the horizon.

jer – portland, ca

Having featured in a variety of bands across his home of Portland, Jeremy Murphy has become a familiar face in the local scene, though it is only now he’s stepping out into the limelight alone for a solo release under the moniker jer. Out via Bud Tapes, the self-titled album took shape over a number of years before Murphy travelled to Philadelphia to mix the accumulated songs with Nathan Tucker (Strange Ranger, Cool Original). The result, as shown by single ‘portland, ca’, offers a distinctively personal statement from an artist finally in total creative control. Where authentic sincerity is achieved by mixing lo-fi bedroom sensibilities with the polish of indie pop.

Large Brush Collection – Tell Me Again

With debut album Off Center scheduled for release in January 2024, Austin-based folk rock outfit Large Brush Collection have shared their first single, ‘Tell Me Again’. A picture of a child-parent relationship painted in all of its conflicted complexity, where failed expectations and the baggage of the past is counterbalanced by a persistent love, leading a cycle of friction exhausting for all involved. Lead Nora Predey approaches the subject with tender care, pulling no punches in their assessment of the situation while acknowledging the bonds that still remain. “[My mom has] been trapped in a cycle of conflict with me and with herself,” as Predey explains. “I feel a lot of frustration and pain from our relationship, but a lot of love towards her too.”

Ribs – Claws

Originating as a solo piano-led project of Boorloo/Perth-based musician Georgina Cramond, Ribs has now morphed into a full-fledged indie pop band ideally suited to Cramond’s searching, affirming style. With a focus on both dealing with and recovering from trauma, new track ‘Claws’ is an encapsulation of the Ribs aesthetic, its weighty sound offering a marbled image of vulnerability and strength to explore themes of intimate partner violence. “Growing claws is about learning what you will no longer accept,” Cramond explains of the song’s repeated refrain, “how anger can be a protective and productive force, and regaining control over the jagged parts of your history.”

‘Claws’ is out now and available from all the usual places.

The Sizzos – No Big Sky

Led by singer-songwriter George Zaninovich, Eugene-based outfit The Sizzos have just released their latest record Glitter in Gravel, and single ‘No Big Sky’ is the ideal point to jump in. An ethereal combination of indie folk, classic rock and new wave as wide as the desert heavens, though its themes are altogether more grounded. An attempt to find meaning and solace amid personal loss which evokes the album’s title in its search for brightness within an otherwise bleak milieu. “Like winter clouds under cement and steel / Today I’m grey but I keep moving,” as Zaninovich sings, casting the listener alongside the song’s burdened narrator. “And like a sinner vows to love and to heal / Today I pray but you do the choosing.”

yfjesse x Old Man of the Woods – Wednesdays

We’ve long celebrated the work of Seattle-based artist Old Man of the Woods, most recently with album Votives on Totally Real Records. A dream pop album which offered “a collision of reality and unreality, or rather a disintegration of the boundary between the two.” Miranda Elliott has now teamed up with Portland producer yfjesse for new track ‘Wednesdays’, a song which takes the Old Man of the Woods sound and blows it up into lush widescreen, the sound seductive in its languorous rhythms but full of elaborate detail too. A style fitting for a track which takes on the pleasures and pitfalls of a fickle summertime tryst.

‘Wednesdays’ is out now via Totally Real Records and available from the usual places.

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With the album slated for release early in 2023, Last Quokka have returned with another taster to further whet our appetites. ‘Eat the Rich’ shows the continuation of the band’s evolution. The outfit have added new blood to further enhance their sound, with Justin Zanetic joining as a second guitar and Carlota Rivera now lining up on drums. The result is a palpable weight, as though having established a solid foundation with their previous work, Last Quokka are now ready to turn that dial up.

And the new ferocity is certainly warranted. Described as a “commentary on the elitist private school boy wankers of Perth’s ‘golden triangle'” (and by extension elitist private school boy wankers the world over), ‘Eat the Rich’ is another searing dispatch from a slimy corner of the twenty-first century. A world of status and surfaces, where the men compete with one another for yachts and Gucci shoes while ignoring their medicated housewives and sociopathic kids. Men that is, worthy of both barrels of Rojahn’s fury.

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“I wrote ‘The Sea’ when I finally found the answers I needed from my younger self,” Hansen-Knarhoi explains of the single. “I had been deeply wounded by some experiences in my late teens, before I had even started to find my feet as a woman. Following some relationship fallout in my life, I started to discover this damage I had left unexamined, and began to understand the hurt I’d held inside for a long time.” This willingness to not only excavate past pain but sit with it with such attention and calm shapes every aspect of the track, resulting in a song charged with compassion for selves past and present which clears the ground for new life to grow through.

Though I left her long ago
I felt her presence grow
As I waded into the sea
She was staring back at me

She held my hand with grace
As our fingers interlaced
I will show her the ways of the world
And watch her hair unfurl

The song comes complete with a video with direction, cinematography and editing by Stephanie Senior and Hansen-Knarhoi alongside Izzy Leclezio.

‘The Sea’ is available from the usual places. Wildflowers is coming soon.

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With new EP Rooting For You out early in October, Philly-based songwriter Air Devi has returned with the single, ‘Ashrita’. Based on a bad personal experience with a musician, the track looks to the artists who persevered in an industry not always welcoming—Ashrita from Pinkshift, Lata Mangeshkar, Abi from Kulfi Girls, Noor Jahan—ultimately finding empowerment within stubborn perseverance.  “But Ashrita she’s got my back now / Oh Ashrita, Saraswati can rock out,” Devi Majeske sings. “And Lata Ji I know that she’d be proud / Oh Ashrita won’t let us feel left out.”

BAL – Hyperdrive

After introducing themselves with title track ‘Seafoam‘, BAL continue to lay the foundations for an upcoming album on Furious Hooves with latest single, ‘Hyperdrive’. A huge, swaggering song which shows both the attitude and playfulness of the band. Its sci-fi themes brought to life with pounding drums, bold guitars and ice cool vocals. Futuristic rock with more than one foot in the nineties. Check out the animated video by Brandon Hackler below:

Seafoam is coming soon via Furious Hooves.

Bambara – Tapetown Session

Earlier this year Brooklyn-based post-punk outfit Bambara released their latest album Love on My Mind via Wharf Cat Records, and recently the band called by Copenhagen‘s Grapehouse Studio for a Tapetown Session to perform a couple of the tracks. Despite the cinematic nature of its gothic style, Bambara’s work has always primarily hinged on a sense of impassioned momentum, the sound and Reid Bateh’s frantic delivery fuelling one another. These live takes harness this in its purest form, with performances of ‘Mythic Love’ and ‘Birds’ displaying both their fervent preacher ravings and stone cold cowboy cool.

Love on My Mind is out now via Wharf Cat Records and you can get it from Bandcamp.

Cache Mirrors – Collision; Losing The Work Horse

The project of LA‘s Cormac Shirer Brown, Cache Mirrors creates compositions at the intersection of ambient and drone. With new record History of a Closed Circuit about to be released on Repeating Cloud, Brown has unveiled the single ‘Collision; Losing The Work Horse’ to give a picture of his work’s careful depth. A slow-moving track which seems to possess an almost nostalgic remove, though as it progresses it inches closer to the listener until it’s nearby and all around, then fades out just as readily.

Katharina Nuttall – Inspired by John Keats

After a period spent scoring films, Katharina Nuttall is set to return to art rock spheres with her fourth full-length album, The Garden, on Novoton. Latest single ‘Inspired by John Keats’ highlights the idiosyncratic vision and depth of her work. A surreal dreamscape which keeps its true nature close to its chest, the strange and eerie march of the opening unfolding into something quietly transcendent, though returning to the original rhythm before any crescendo is reached. All the while Nuttall’s vocals barely more than a murmur, ambiguous until the end. Check out the video directed, filmed and edited by Jacob Frössén below:

‘Inspired by John Keats’ is out now via Novoton and available from the usual places.

Lore City – Animate

Following on from 2021 album Participation Mystique, Portland’s Lore City are gearing up for the release of brand new 7″, Under Way. The track expands upon the style developed on previous releases, merging widescreen and often ominous post-punk soundscapes with the ethereal textures of folk. Lead track ‘Animate’ pitches the listener into such a world, tactile with pounding rain and open space yet somehow uncoupled from the physical plane too, its percussion like some disembodied stalker. An entity with a message to share.

Matching Outfits – It Keeps Happening

The debut single of Berlin‘s Matching Outfits, ‘It Keeps Happening’ serves as an introduction to their forthcoming album Band Made Out Of Sand, out next month on Kitchen Leg Records. Pairing playful pop tones with droll conversational delivery, the song subverts its twee roots with deadpan glee, the vocals possessing a genuine fatigue with the self-centred drive of songwriting. And as the thought develops, so too does the tempo, the rhythms lifting as though a fire is lit beneath it, leading towards the final, furious catharsis.

I’m tired of me
I’m tired of talking about me
I’m tired of singing about me
But it keeps happening

Band Made Out Of Sand is out on the 21th September via Kitchen Leg Records and you can find Matching Outfits on Bandcamp.

Monolithe Noir – Askre

Back in July we previewed Rin, the forthcoming album from Monolithe Noir on Capitane Records and Humpty Dumpty Records with single ‘Barra Bouge‘. “Steady rhythmic drumming allow[s] the track to coil tight like a spring,” we wrote, “but the unerring purpose of its slow march is warped by some strange force […] a world of lightning and dense cloud always gathering toward its own thunderous end.” Latest track ‘Askre’ is no less evocative, another transportive vision built around a theme played on a home-crafted hurdy gurdy. A digi-medieval dream which unfolds with portentous weight.

Rin is out now on Capitane Records and Humpty Dumpty Records and you can grab it from Bandcamp.

Phoebe Go – Hey

The third solo release from Melbourne‘s Phoebe Go, latest single ‘Hey’ highlights the songwriter at her most poignant and open. A track written in the aftermath of a family tragedy, the stripped back sound exists within the strange quiet which follows traumatic events. Hushed and confessional and wearing its pain openly, probing not only the grief inherent in such a loss but the attempts to understand them too. And how personal emotions can come to cloud our ability to truly empathise. “Around the time I was writing it I was sort of fixated,” Phoebe Go explains, “trying so hard to understand him, you know, what he was thinking and feeling and living. I think my own perspective got so lost in his.”

Sister Wanzala – Top Drawer

Back in May, we shared the triumphant return of London‘s Sister Wanzala with single, ‘Perfume‘. The band had been away for a while, went the gist of the piece, but they were back and the dream was still alive. Whether or not that still stands true is up in the air, internecine conflict being part and parcel of any project made up of siblings, but they have managed to share new track ‘Top Drawer’ regardless of whether any ceasefire has been breached. “I’ve been dreaming of disaster more and more and more,” sings Patrick Wanzala-Ryan on the rich and drifting track. The dream isn’t over, but who ever said it was a pleasant one?

Sophia Hansen-Knarhoi – Disguise

The first glimpse of forthcoming EP, Wildflowers, ‘Disguise’ introduces the immersive detail and evident control which marks the work of Perth‘s Sophia Hansen-Knarhoi. A reflection on the past offered with slow-burning clarity, enticing the listener in with its ethereal grace but smouldering beneath the surface as it recalls the mistakes and betrayals which mark the strange gap between youth and adulthood. Ultimately recognising the period for what it was, and blossoming into the space left in its wake.

I’ll take my time again
To feel everything in full
Cuz I won’t settle for you
I’ll clean my act up wash you away
In a feat of triumph you’ve left no stain
I watch in fear and disdain

Spirit Ghost – No Future

Pandemic tracks aren’t exactly uncommon right now, but where most look for solace and soul-searching amid the trauma, the new single from Alex Whitelaw’s Spirit Ghost embraces pessimism wholehearted. ‘No Future’ is a track about just that. The inability to imagine good days ahead as the threats pile up, and how this neuters the dreams one has worked towards their whole lives. “Always there’s no future / I feel dumb and useless,” Whitelaw sings, “At least there’s no future / Just another loser.” A society built towards constant growth and progression cannot face the emergent trials. There can be no future for such a place.

Tenci – Two Cups

Following 2020’s My Heart Is An Open Field, Tenci returns this autumn with brand new record A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing on Keeled Scales. It’s an album which utilises the distance its predecessor lacked, allowing Jess Shoman to consider trauma and pain with a clearer perspective. As shown by single ‘Two Cups’, what results is new mood. Call it wisdom, call it understanding. A willingness to embrace of change as an opportunity to grow, no matter how difficult it might seem. Even a glass half empty can be filled again.

The post Weekly Listening: August 2022 #5 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

This spring sees the pair return with their third album, Constant Connection. A joint release between Night School and Fire Talk Records, the record represents a development of this style. Soundscapes as both landscapes and mindscapes, spaces through which Orchard’s vocals emerge with an almost incantatory logic.

Erasers have unveiled the title track as a preview of the record, and its intuitive and immersive sound captures the atmosphere perfectly. “The core of this song came together quickly over the course of a morning writing session,” the band explain. “As many good ideas do, this one seemed to gel in the space of a few minutes, the drum rhythm, bassline, and repeated synth melody sat well together immediately […] there’s something about this one that just sits really well with us, so it seems fitting to have named the album after it.”

The result is something of a paradox, evoking both the fragility and timeless majesty of the land. A force almost beyond comprehension that nevertheless requires care and fostering. “As usual, layers of synth and keys whirl around over the top of a classic Rupert drum loop,” the band continue. “Voice is used almost as another instrument, making melodies and repetitions on the delicate nature of existing in the world and the strength in connection.”

The track comes complete with a video directed and edited by Duncan Wright:

Constant Connection is out via Fire Talk and Night School Records on the 22nd April and you can pre-order it now from the Erasers Bandcamp page.

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