Last month we introduced Real Love, the forthcoming album by Beat Radio on Totally Real Records. An examination of personal turmoil against a wider context of intergenerational trauma which “prob[es] into some of the most tender areas in order to address the wound.” The first song Brian Sendrowitz wrote from the record, latest single ‘Radioactive’ not only sets the album’s fuzzed out tone but established the stakes too. “You were radioactive / And its taken its toll,” Sendrowitz sings, “But you’re learning to change / And to make yourself whole / It’s a fight for your soul.”

Real Love is out on 21st October via Totally Real Records and you can pre-order it now from Bandcamp.

Bollards – Crimestopping

Described as a “relentless rush of blood to the head”, ‘Crimestopping’ is the latest track from London outfit Bollards. The song is a blend of post-punk and art rock sensibilities which captures a decidedly urban milieu. Spacious atmospherics coupled with claustrophobic cul-de-sacs and an overarching instability hovering above. This semi-hysterical tone informs the lyrics too, where paranoia about surveillance is matched only by the incessant desire to surveil in turn. A world where you can trust no-one, and no-one trusts you. Check out the video co-directed by Mars Washington and Jonny Dickens:

‘Crimestopping’ is out now and is available from the Bollards Bandcamp page.

claire rousay – wouldn’t have to hurt

LA‘s claire rousay returns this month with wouldn’t have to hurt, a benefit album for the Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people, via Mended Dream Records. Woven from a fabric of field recordings, midi instruments, guitars and piano, as well as guest strings from Theodore Cale Schafer, the title track sees unguarded and forthright spoken word from nurse and Youtuber Madison Van Dine. A discussion of mental health stripped of any mawkish sentiment or quick-fire solutions, just working through things and facing up to every day. An encapsulation, that is, of rousay’s intentions with wouldn’t have to hurt. Still here and communicating to others, no matter how injured, frustrated or flat.

Crooks & Nannies – control

This month saw the return of Crooks & Nannies, AKA West Philadelphia duo Madel Rafter and Sam Huntington, with their first new music in a number of years. Released via Grand Jury Music, ‘control’ is a single which explores the knife-edge of mental health and the often unseen work which goes into maintaining the balance. The gentle progression slowly ramps as discordant noises punctuate the background, soon escalating into a chaotic rhythm. “I wanted to capture the feeling of walking through an art museum and holding all of your muscles tightly because if you don’t, you might give into some crazy impulse and do something really really bad,” Rafter explains, “like pull a painting off the wall and put your foot through it.” Check out the video with art by Sam Huntington and animation by Sarah Alvarez below:

‘control’ is out now via Grand Jury Music and you can get it from the Crooks & Nannies Bandcamp page.

daarling – Metamorphosis

Chicago-based indie rock band daarling are gearing up to release their debut full-length, and new single ‘Metamorphosis’ gives an insight into what to expect. A simmering, brooding number which dwells on the inevitability of change and the friction which results, with lead Erin Lyle riding the peaks and troughs of the instrumentation to find a tone both cutting and cathartic. “Metamorphosis is bullshit / I’ll cultivate my state either way,” she sings. “Your idleness affects no one / You confuse stability for stagnation.”

Kevin Dorff – Impossible Objects

Kevin Dorff is a songwriter and playwright originally from Des Moines, Iowa and now based in Brooklyn, who recently released his debut LP Silent Reply. A record which explores the lasting impact people have on our lives, even after their death, Silent Reply combines elements of folk and Nineties indie rock into a sound that shifts effortlessly from poignant to energetic. Dorff’s style is thanks at least in part to its influences—he cites the songwriting of David Berman and Craig Finn as big inspirations, but also the novels of Rachel Cusk and portraits of visual artist Alice Neel, which goes some way to explaining a tone that’s both sincere and wryly humourous. A standout is ‘Impossible Objects’, possibly the most touching track to ever name check M. Night Shyamalan and Toy Story 3.

Orchid Mantis – Lucid Dreams

The prolific Orchid Mantis is gearing up to release their seventh album via Spirit Goth Records, and first single ‘Lucid Dreams’ gives an indication of direction Thomas Howard is taking on the new tunes. After the newfound optimism of Visitations, an album we described as “an attempt to push beyond the past, keeping a clear-eyed focus on the present and what comes next,” the song finds itself inevitably turning back toward the past, even if just in the night-time visions suggested in the title. “Back out on my friend’s porch / or down by the church,” Howard sings, “feels like a lucid dream / like it was 10pm in 2016”

and nothing feels the same
but nothing really changed
i’m filling up my head
with memories that
i don’t ever want to resurrect
i wake up again

‘Lucid Dreams’ is out now and available from the Orchid Mantis Bandcamp page. How Long Will It Take is out via Spirit Goth Records on the 11th November.

Ross Jenkins – Plain as Day

Writing back in March, we described Free All Day by Vancouver’s Ross Jenkins as a record marked by “a sense of restraint and quiet grace,” which brought to mind “the solo records of Canadian songwriting heavyweights Bry Webb and John K. Samson.” Recorded during the same period as that album, latest single ‘Plain as Day’ embraces this style once more while also leaning into the seventies-era psych sensibilities which also reared their head. The gentle rhythm belies the strength underpinning its intentions, coming off as an assured statement and worthy addition to Jenkins’s catalogue.

Sweetbreads – Out of Range

Led by Melody Stolpp in collaboration with Nick Watt, and featuring a rotating cast of musicians, Brooklyn’s Sweetbreads make a hybrid of alt-country and pop which aims to get your toes tapping and hearts swelling in equal measure. Latest single ‘Out of Season’ follows protagonist June and her quest to resist the thankless treadmill of modern living, opting for an unproductive and entirely more positive way of life. Complete with a “muppet-inspired” background chorus with over forty voices, the song celebrates breaking conventions in the most joyous way possible, and ends up as the perfect antidote to the breakneck bluster of the world we call home.

The post Weekly Listening: September 2022 #3 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Only time will tell whether Free All Day is the full realisation of the Ross Jenkins sound, but the addition of Ryan Jewell (drums, percussion) and Barry Walker Jr. (pedal steel guitar) is a significant step. A way to combine the folk style of Green and the detailed craft shown within Transmissions without losing the intimacy and sincerity of the DIY aesthetic that made the former so arresting. Each song feels fully realised, with a sense of restraint and quiet grace that’s reminiscent of the solo records of Canadian songwriting heavyweights Bry Webb and John K. Samson Ultimately, as we described in the preview, these are Jenkins’s “richest, most considered songs to date.”

The subtlety of the instrumentation plays a big role. From opener ‘Unfinished Things’, it becomes clear that each element is played with a careful hand. Soft acoustic guitars, brushed drums, a languid patience teetering between relaxed and moody. A quasi-retro sound cast umber by the warmth of the room yet possessing some otherworldly essence too. Think Joni Mitchell at her mystical early seventies stage, or Damien Jurado and his modest cosmic hues, where every transportive flourish is nevertheless rooted in the genuine earnestness of the delivery. Something captured in the title track’s slow dawning ambience, the vocals spoken plain and honest and left suspended within this encompassing sound.

Free All Day is out now and you can get it from the Ross Jenkins Bandcamp page.

Cover art by Lily Snowden-Fine

The post Ross Jenkins – Free All Day appeared first on Various Small Flames.

A collaboration between long-time friends Katherine Dohan and David B. Greenberg, New Jersey‘s Ambrosia is a project based around spontaneity and sincerity. Their Tears EP draws on elements of bedroom pop, indie rock and psychedelia to realise this goal, their style as stirring as it is playful and full of affirming joy. With its upbeat rock rhythm, eponymous opener ‘Ambrosia’ shows the duo at their most energetic, while ‘I Saw Your Heart’ offers a more cryptic tone—an off-kilter pop sure to win over fans of acts like Dear Nora.

Billow – Swimming Pool

Based in Veselí Nad Moravou, Czechia, Billow is a lo-fi pop three piece led by Lenka Zborilova. Ahead of latest EP IV coming later this month on Z Tapes, they have unveiled a brand new single, ‘Swimming Pool’. Taking an altogether lighter tone from previous album III, the single is indicative of the intimate warmth of the new release, though its fond textures are shadowed by a pervasive melancholy too.

Crake – Winter’s Song

Exploring grief and cruelty through an evocatively cryptic style, Humans’ Worst Habits by Leeds-based outfit Crake take Nan Shepherd’s focus on the natural world and add the unsettling dark of Shirley Jackson. A collision of the organic and metaphysical which sees lead Rowan Sandle conjure a world both alien and very much our own. Such a paradox is just one of the complexities at work on the record, and is nicely captured by latest single, ‘Winter’s Song’. “That time I saw the moon rise / And I swore it was a sun set,” Sandle sings. An image remarkable or ominous, or perhaps both simultaneously.

Fontanarosa – OH ID

Are You There ?, the debut album of Lyon-based Fontanarosa, is coming next month on Howlin’ Banana Records and lead single ‘OH ID’ gives a glimpse into the excitable sound which awaits. Combining agitated post-rock angles with smooth pop energy, the band practices tight execution within an off-the-wall playfulness, leading to something of many moving parts that will get your parts moving too. Check out the video by Documavision below:

Are You There ? is out on the 18th March via Howlin’ Banana Records.

Frog Eyes – When You Turn on the Light

Despite supposedly splitting up four years ago and repurposing as Soft Plastics, Toronto-based indie rock stalwarts Frog Eyes are set to return this spring with a brand new record, The Bees. Lead single ‘When You Turn on the Light’ captures the idiosyncratic style lead Carey Mercer has made the Frog Eyes M.O. A song somehow both sprawling and understated, partially inspired by the time Mercer painted a fresco on the wall of his rented Vancouver apartment. “A hellish umber landscape” which poisoned the air with paint fumes and accelerated if not wholly caused Mercer’s subsequent eviction. Check out the video directed by Derek Janzen below:

The Bees is out via Paper Bag Records on the 29th April and you can pre-order it now.

Granny Smith – Out Of My Head

The recording project of Toronto‘s Jason Bhattacharya, Granny Smith is a one man band indebted to the classic pop of yesteryear. Latest track ‘Out of My Head’ is a bite-sized meditation on the dissociative episodes Bhattacharya faced after being put into a coma by a series of seizures. An unreal swirl of piano and dreamy vocals are underpinned by a variety of bass lines shooting off in different directions. “I wanted to express the feeling of having multiple narratives going on at once,” Bhattacharya explains, “trying to listen but your mind is telling you a thousand things.”

KMRU – shela

Under the moniker KMRU, Nairobi’s Joseph Kamaru has made a name crafting expansive yet intimate compositions through a layered variety of ambient, drone and field recording styles. A sound at once thoroughly immersive and thematically probing, examining the relationship between people and their surroundings, as well as change both spatial and temporal. Taken from latest release there was nothing in between, ‘shela’ exists within the slipstream of the present moment. An energetic bustle already haunted by its coming absence.

Melanie MacLaren – Deep Dark Sleep

Writing of single ‘Graveyard Shift‘ last summer, we described the music of Nashville-based songwriter Melanie MacLaren as “indebted to the past and the present without being beholden to either, managing to possess the timeless country spirit without sacrificing any sense of immediacy.” The final single from her EP Kill My Time, ‘Deep Dark Sleep’ continues this style. Its classic wistful tone rooted in the acoustic guitar, the sound made richer with washes of synths, all coalescing around the piercing clarity of MacLaren’s vocals.

Kill My Time is out now and you can find out more from the Melanie MacLaren webpage.

Ross Jenkins – Small House

Next month sees the release of Free All Day, the latest album Vancouver-based songwriter Ross Jenkins. Building upon the DIY style first shown on 2019’s Green EP, the records sees Jenkins joined by Ryan Jewell (drums) and Barry Walker Jr. (pedal steel) and making his richest, most considered songs to date. Spacious first single ‘Music is Sweet’ showed both the sharp writing and easy-going confidence which informs the new album, and latest track ‘Small Houses’ not only doubles down but opens up new avenues too with a subtle mysticism.

Sadurn – snake

Originally the solo project of Genevieve DeGroot, Philadelphia‘s Sadurn have evolved into a quartet and announced their debut album on Run For Cover Records. Recorded in a DIY studio the band created in an Airbnb in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains, Radiator sees everything that was good about the lo-fi early Sadurn recordings polished up, dusted off and matured into a folk-inflected style that draws as much genuine emotion from its melodies as it does its introspective lyrics. Lead single ‘snake’ is a good example and you can check it out below:

Sooner – Thursday

Ahead of the debut album Days and Nights on Good Eye Records, Brooklyn’s Sooner have unveiled a brand new single, ‘Thursday’. The track is an encapsulation of the band’s style. A melding of dream pop lightness with heavier alt/shoegaze elements, the vocals of lead Federica Tassano proving equally malleable in their ability to pivot from soft croon to urgent energy as they chart a toxic relationship. Juxtaposition lies at the heart of the Sooner sound, and ‘Thursday’ is the perfectly bittersweet introduction.

Days and Nights is out via Good Eye Records on the 25th March and you can pre-order it from the Sooner Bandcamp page.

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