Last month Indonesia-born, Toronto-based songwriter Dwi Riana released their new EP, Jambu Tree, a bilingual release which draws on everything from folk to hip hop to realise its distinctive exploration of the immigrant experience. Single ‘WTFAI’ is a perfect introduction, a love-hate ode to their new home which does for Toronto what The Weakerthans’ ‘One Great City!’ did for Winnipeg. “My first winter in Toronto, it got down to minus forty degrees,” Dwi Riana explains. “People told me that it was the worst winter they’ve had in twenty five years. The next winter, it was the worst in twenty six years, and so on… I thought to myself ‘Where the fuck am I?'”

Jambu Tree is out now and available from the usual places.

ghost orchard – Sweet Song

Last month we wrote about ghost orchard, the project of Sam Hall from Grand Rapids, Michigan, describing single ‘rest’ as “a picture of calm and patience amid loss, where the quiet stillness holds the latent warmth of things now gone.” The song was the opener from the debut ghost orchard LP, rainbow music, which came out last week via Winspear. The album is a meditation on themes of home and change and the tangible echoes that remain when people move on, preaching patience and acceptance in a world that seems determined to rush by. This atmosphere is captured nicely on penultimate track ‘Sweet Song’, a bittersweet bedroom pop song that holds much tenderness and feeling in its sub two minute runtime.

g. spinn – We Might

Based in Tucson, AZ, g. spinn is a recording project unafraid to push the boundaries of genre. Since its formation in 2018, he has released music across the spectrum, from meditative ambient album summer’s long gone to singles more at home in hip hop, pop and indie rock brackets. New EP Nostalgia Melancholy draws from various points of this oeuvre, with single ‘We Might’ showing off the hybrid ambient-folk style. Wistful field recordings and warm acoustic guitar paint a mood fitting for the EP’s title, and the track’s pivot to lush ambient tones in its middle section only further cements the sound’s reflective quality.

Joan Kelsey – Survivor

“In a time of tremendous difficulty I tried to make something life-affirming: grieving songs which look toward joy.” So explains Seattle songwriter Joan Kelsey of new album Standing Out On The Grass, out later this week on Dear Life Records. A collection of songs written in the aftermath of loss, the days and months when grief arrives fresh with each moment, a thing at once personal and universal and impossible to ever quite overcome. But as single ‘Survivor’ shows, Kelsey does not try to conquer this sadness but instead place it within a wider context. Layer death into a larger, interconnected picture where the cruel linearity of time and space is upended, and nothing is ever really gone. Watch the video by John Desousa below:

Standing Out On The Grass is out on the 11th November via Dear Life Records and you can pre-order it now.

Mui Zyu – Ghost with a Peach Skin

Next February sees the release of Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, a brand new album from London‘s Mui Zyu (AKA Eva Liu of Dama Scout) on Father/Daughter Records, and lead single ‘Ghost with a Peach Skin’ gives a hint as to what to expect. “This song is about leaving your former self and entering your new peach skin,” as Mui Zyu explains. “Peaches are considered a symbol of longevity and even immortality in Chinese culture. The protagonist has overcome enemies and has bruises to prove the damage.” The track achieves the effect sonically, the sound itself bruised by distortion even as Zyu’s vocals progress with a calm confidence, the voice of a protagonist who is stepping out from the past and into something new. Check out the video directed and edited by CLUMP Collective below:

Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century is out via Father/Daughter Records on the 24th February and you can pre-order it now.

Philippa Zawe – Would You Lean

Ahead of upcoming EP Shudder Pt. I, Philippa Zawe has shared brand new single, ‘Would You Lean.’  Writing of previous release Road of Hope, we described Zawe’s work as a combination of “folk and soul… built around her versatile voice,” the delivery “switching from casual conversational comments to strikingly effecting croons to produce something that ebbs and flows with human warmth.” The new track is no less impressive in this regard, though builds on previous releases with an increasingly rich arrangement of instruments. A sound capable of exploring themes of loss, friendship and faith with a decidedly compassionate tone.

Sassyhiya – I had a thought

Rising from the ashes of cult LGBTQ punks Barry, Sassyhiya is the project of London-based partners Kathy Wright and Helen Skinner. Recorded during lockdown, their debut EP gum demos introduced the irreverent charm of their punky, poppy sound. But now with the addition of Pablo Paganotto of Punching Swans (drums) and Neiloy Mookherjee (guitar), Sissyhiya are now a full fledged live band. New EP Live at Paper Dress Vintage captures this newly charged form in all its idiosyncratic fun. Opener ‘I had a thought’ is as good an introduction as any, adding scrappy attitude to the original, taking the angles of post-punk and bending them into off-kilter shapes, leading to something somehow both laidback and volatile.

Thavoron – Twin Sized Bed

Back in April, Seattle-based songwriter Thavoron shared single ’18’ on Trailing Twelve Records, a tender and intimate track which explored the queer experience with dreamlike warmth. The song was relatively stripped back with its careful arrangement of flute, saxophone and guitar, but latest single ‘Twin Sized Bed’ leans more fully into the minimalist folk style. Built on stark guitar and gently emotive vocals, it’s a song concerning the often difficult process of coming to understand and accept yourself brought to life with all the stark solitude of such an experience.

‘Twin Sized Bed’ is out now via Trailing Twelve Records.

The post Weekly Listening: November 2022 #2 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

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

Lazy Legs – Bed Head

We’ve featured Lazy Legs previously, describing the Chicago (soon to be Portland) outfit’s sound as “a heavy mix of shoegaze and noise pop, a million miles from the sugary sweet jangle at the other end of the genre’s spectrum”. The band are readying their sophomore album, Crawler, and have released the first track ‘Bed Head’ in anticipation. Wrapped in a blanket of fuzz, the track ruminates on reasons to leave your bed in depressive, run-down vocal melodies. It’s shoegaze repurposed for an age of ennui, and has certainly whet my appetite for the album.

You can get ‘Bed Head’ on a name-your-price basis from the Lazy Legs Bandcamp page.

Windbury Street – Skinny Jeans and Sweaters

‘Skinny Jeans and Sweaters’ is the new single from “one man indie rock project” Windbury Street, based in Virginia. Part slacker rock mumble, part heart-on-sleeve emo, the song fronts up to a sense of creeping disaffection and growing older, all run through an appealing college-radio filter.

If you like what your hear, head over to the Windbury Street Bandcamp page and check out their debut album which was released on a name-your-price basis last month.

Ian Terry – Cut

Short, sharp and sad, Ian Terry’s new single ‘Cut’ is a take on so-called ‘call-out culture’, a digital age plea that’s as heartfelt and poignant as any traditional folk track. The Delaware songwriter uses simple acoustic guitar to back his wistful vocals, falling somewhere between the bedroom pop artists and the indie folk revival, and creating a succinct and satisfying number.

You can grab the track and a handful of other releases via the Ian Terry Bandcamp page.

all-caps LADD – Computer Kids

Taken from their upcoming The Whole EP, ‘Computer Kids’ finds New York’s all-caps LADD practising a dark, foreboding energy that conjures both post-punk and indie rock. With the downbeat vocals threading between frantic guitars and drums, and eventually rising is squally yelps, the whole thing has a claustrophobic, overwhelmed feel, as though some great force is passing all around us. And this makes sense, considering the themes of the song. As the band explain: “‘Computer Kids’ grapples with future shock, the feeling of being left behind by accelerating technological change, from the point of view of kids raised in the dial-up era of the internet.”

Find all-caps LADD on Bandcamp and Facebook.

Philippa Zawe – Time

Based in Birmingham, Philippa Zawe combines folk and soul to create organic music built around her versatile voice. This September sees the release of her debut EP, Road of Hope, and the first single, ‘Time’, acts as a great introduction. A considered, slow-paced track, the single utilises the entire vocal range, switching from casual conversational comments to strikingly effecting croons to produce something that ebbs and flows with human warmth.

Road of Hope is set for release on the 8th September and you get get it from the Philippa Zawe Bandcamp page.

Miseryslims – Onto Elm Street

Taken from the recently released second EP from Manitoba band Miseryslims, ‘Onto Elm Street’ is a jangly slice of indie rock, the drums and vocals driving though the fuzz with resolute energy. With surfy vibes lapping at the edges too, the song emerges as the perfect candidates to soundtrack your final days of summer, upbeat and bright with just a little melancholy peeking through.

The appropriately named EP Two is out now and available from Bandcamp.

Big Baby – Not That

Virginia three piece Big Baby, consisting of Ali Mislowsky, Chris Smith and Brian Dove, make an upbeat lo-fi jangle pop to rival the main players in the field. This July saw them release Sour Patch, a four-song record on EggHunt Records.  With Mislowsky’s emotional vocals surfing the bright summertime instrumentation, ‘Not That’ encapsulates the EP. However the bouncy nature of the song hides a sadness rooted deep within the creative process. “Sour Patch is about the worst year I had after graduating college. I couldn’t catch a break and it felt like everything was crumbling from every direction.” How better to shake loose of the blues that with some cathartic indie pop?

Sour Patch is out now via EggHunt Records, and you can get in from Bandcamp.

Happy Abandon – Severed Seams

Happy Abandon are putting out a new album, Facepaint, this month via Schoolkids Records, and single ‘Severed Seams’ sets the tone. Orchestral indie pop, the track is an emotive slow-burner dealing with loneliness and loss, the spacious atmosphere of the track punctuated with small details, moments of beauty forming is the cracks and gaps.

Facepaint is to be released on the 25th August via Schoolkids Records.

Steakhouse – National

The music of San Francisco outfit Steakhouse is a curious thing to pigeonhole, drawing on electronic, art rock and post-punk to conjure images of a wide, strange America. Following up their 2014 self-titled full-length, the band have unveiled a new track, ‘National’, complete with appropriately atmospheric video. Progressing with hypnotic rhythm, the track has a dreamily detached feel that brings to mind unspoken violence, and slightly removed from its own descriptions by shock or awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_wHg6Bauzw

Keep an eye on the Steakhouse Bandcamp and Facebook pages for more news.

Francis – Swing

Formed in 2006, Sweden band Francis have experienced a number of changes in their lifetime, both stylistically and in terms of line-up. However, retaining the same personnel as on 2016’s Marathon, the outfit are back with a new single, ‘Swing’, a dreamy retro summer song that meanders with a wistful edge, focused on the passing of time. As lead Petra Mases says: “This is what ‘Swing’ is about, the wave that comes with all the memories. There is no valuation, nothing to change, just memories from what once was. Suddenly ten, twenty, thirty years has passed. What happened there?”

‘Swing’ is out now on Strangers Candy and you can get it from Bandcamp.

pastel – Silhouette

pastel is the recording project of Gabriel Brenner, a visual artist and musician based in Los Angeles. His new EP, absent, just dust, is coming out on the 25th of August, and the lead single ‘Silhouette’ has left us intrigued. Brenner, who has maternal Pima and paternal Cherokee heritage, wrote the EP as an attempt to confront the lasting violence and trauma of colonialism and its impact on contemporary Native identities. While we hope to get a fuller review up soon, for now you should listen to ‘Silhouette’ echo and flicker as though distorted by time.

Pre-order absent, just dust now from the pastel Bandcamp page.

Check out the previous editions of Bright Sparks to find a whole host of great music, and if you prefer something a little more in-depth then head to our Reviews section.

The post Bright Sparks: Vol. 4 appeared first on Various Small Flames.