There is a repeated line, a single word refrain, in ‘The Glow’, the new song from Aïda Mekonnen Caby, which you may have some trouble comprehending. Fjaðrárgljúfur is the name of a canyon in south east Iceland which Caby and her partner visited in the early days of their relationship, and the landmark’s cinematic majesty leaks into the song’s very DNA, transforming a gentle indie folk song into something rich with widescreen emotion. It also represents something of a new dawn. For one, it is the opening track of the debut Aïda Mekonnen Caby album, Mais Uma, which comes out at the end of August via Mtn Laurel Recording Co. But also because the trip that inspired it and the feelings it evokes marked a turning point in Caby’s life too, one which saw her move first to Portugal and then to France. Mais Uma promises to explore this period of personal change and all its associated heart swells and aches, illuminated throughout with that sense of wonder at newfound love.

Dead Tooth – Song of the Weak

Led by New York-based songwriter Zach Ellis, self-described ‘rodeo-core’ outfit Dead Tooth have made a name crafting an atmospheric and often slightly chaotic brand of post-punk, combining the brooding shadow of the genre with raw energy. With their self-titled debut out now via Trash Casual, Dead Tooth have shared single and opener ‘Song of the Weak’ to introduce their work to the uninitiated. A song full of volatility and bite, Ellis’s vocals spiking with frustration as though driven half-crazed by the constant motion beneath him, or else how it never seems to lead to anywhere new. “In so many words [the song is] about struggling with cyclical destructive decision making,” Ellis explains. “Choosing hedonism over looking in the mirror. I’ve spent many years in NY on what feels like a hamster wheel of trying to fill a void or chase some kind of unattainable self/other. A song written for the darker times that in retrospect I feel have eaten too many years of my life.”

Dead Tooth is out now via Trash Casual and available from Bandcamp.

Living Hour – Wheel

Winnipeg’s Living Hour have announced Internal Drone Infinity, their fourth record, which will release later this year. What the band themselves have coined “yearn-core”, their style combines slowcore, indie rock and dream pop into something shaded by the gauzy texture of memory. The record was in part inspired by lead Sam Sarty’s time as a cinema projectionist, and it exists in a similarly otherworldly setting, its dark backdrop illuminated by a wistful glow as the band express what they call “the quiet magic hidden in everyday life.” To celebrate the announcement, Living Hour have unveiled lead single ‘Wheel’, which shows off both the dreamy yearn and crunchy rock sides of their sound very nicely.

The track comes complete with a video by Leigh Lugosi and Brett Ticzon, which you can see below:

Internal Drone Infinity will be released on 17^th October via Keeled Scales, Paper Bag Records (Canada) and Beloved Records (Australia). Pre-order a copy now from the Living Hour Bandcamp page.

Malena Zavala – MELT

Born in Argentina and now living between London and Mexico City, Malena Zavala is a self-taught musician and producer who first caught attention with her 2018 debut, Aliso. Drawing inspiration from both Latin American music and the likes of Devendra Banhart, Beach House and Feist, Zavala’s music layers poetic lyrics over hypnotic and haunting instrumentation. Latest single ‘MELT’, the first single from an EP of the same name that comes out later this year on Zavala’s own new label Paraná Records, is a good example. A soft and cosy love song that Zavala says tries “to express the feeling of being wrapped up in bed,” it’s built on gentle acoustic guitar and her hushed and intimate vocals and accentuated by ethereal harmonies and subtle synths.

‘MELT’ is out now via streaming services

Oh, Rose – For Art

Almost a year on from their last full-length Dorothy, Olympia/Portland mainstays Oh, Rose return in September with For Art, a brand new EP released via the good folks as Antiquated Future Records. The EP finds the band’s members in the midst of some big personal events, like getting married and starting families, and perhaps understandably this has them ruminating on family and relationships. As the label put it, the EP focuses on “themes of long-term commitment and partnership—both in romantic and platonic relationships, as well as to artistic practice itself.” Oh, Rose have released the title track by way of introduction, an unhurried and heartfelt song that captures these themes perfectly. “At first I feel so nervous to be this vulnerable,” Rose sings with courageous clarity, “it’s true that I was thinking about you.”

Routine Caffeine – Green Glass

“A track which marries a taut central rhythm with a dreamy haze, and hints at a sharp bite too, all highlighting just how much control Katie O’Brien Kelley (vocals, guitar), Madison Elizabeth Case (bass, synth, background vocals) and Emma Treganowan (drums) have over the mood of their work.” So we wrote of Routine Caffeine‘s ‘Philodendron‘ back in 2024, a track taken from the Louisville-based trio’s Weeds Under Concrete Stones. Their first release since that EP, new single ‘Green Glass’ is no less evocative, again crafting an immersive atmosphere to explore themes of nostalgia, belonging and the passing of time. “This song has served as a way for me to reflect on my family’s old farm in Michigan, one of my most treasured places,” they explain. But more than a lesson in simple longing for home, the track also charts the changes to the beloved place which accumulate with every return, adding an extra layer melancholy as the familiar slowly shifts into something different, and the past only grows further away.

runo plum – Lemon Garland

Minnesota singer-songwriter runo plum has slowly amassed a following over recent years, her detailed, wistful style of bedroom folk winning plenty of attention online. Having now signed with the ever-impressive Winspear, plum has released new single ‘Lemon Garland’ to celebrate. The first taste of forthcoming debut album patching, the song embodies the fondness and compassion of the runo plum style, as well as the longing for connection which underpins it. “Give me company / barefoot and muddy,” as she sings, “give me pointing / at the birds we’ve never seen before / we’ll stop to pick some veggies / for the big feast at our friendly table.” The result is inherently bittersweet, a hopeful vision of the future shadowed by the suggestion such community remains just a dream, though the lasting feeling is one of affection. As though it wishing for something so simple and fulfilling, runo plum shows our desires need not be so far away.

Watch the video directed by Karlee Boon below:

patching will be released soon via Winspear.

Scree – TV Sometimes

Brooklyn experimental maestros Scree return next month with August, a brand new full-length on Ruination Record Co. The band—that’s primary trio guitarist/composer Ryan El-Solh, bassist Carmen Quill and drummer Jason Burger, plus lots of guests—are hard to pin down, smashing together everything from Romantic classical music, dusty lonesome Americana, improvisational jazz and weighty indie rock to create some of the most interesting and deep instrumental music around. Scree released the title track as the lead single a few weeks back, and have now returned with a second cut, the enigmatically titled ‘TV Sometimes’. The song has been part of the band’s live repertoire for years, and here it gets a richer arrangement with contributions from the cast of collaborators. “It’s something like a love song,” El-Solh describes. “I probably should’ve chosen a more generally intelligible title, but at the time there was really only one person I was trying to reach with this bit of code and she got the message so the title stuck.”

The post Weekly Listening: July 2025 #4 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Writing of Astra Forward back in 2022, we described how the London-based artist combines “classic folk stylings as well as a timeless ethereal atmosphere channeling a bond between human emotion and the natural world that feels somehow ancient.” New single ‘Ben’s Birds’ again possesses a link to nature, though this time the real focus is memory. Joe Taylor (drums/percussion), Callum McGuinness (production/bass/nylon strung guitar) and Laura Hussey (violin) help create a sound capable of conjuring thoughts of a past friendship in vivid detail, and thus breath new life into something precious. “With writing ‘Ben’s Birds’, I hoped to bring into colour ageing memories that felt like they were fading,” the artist explains. “The song seeks to reflect something of this gentle soul’s beauty and our connection, while expressing broader themes of memory, endurance and grief.”

Bennett Heidelberger – Eater of God/100usd

Having been around the Nashville music scene for a number of years, Bennett Heidelberger finally decided to release some songs of his own in 2024, starting with EP Wood Ducks. That record was a collection of small, tender tracks which centred on loss in various guises, from bereavement to the end of a romantic relationship. Now Heidelberger is back with new double single ‘Eater of God/100usd’, a pair of songs no less heartfelt in their execution yet showing a newfound sense of scale and weight. The former opens in a sincere hush before developing into something bigger and bolder, and ‘100usd’ follows suit with Heidelberger’s weightiest sound to date, the tone slightly more wry but lacking none of the emotion.

boyhood. – looking for you

Back in August we wrote about boyhood., a project which represents “an attempt […] to consider what has been gained and lost through the slow process of self-actualisation,” as we put it. “To save the parts worth saving, and potentially fill in the gaps.” Like previous single ‘wes anderson (your dog)’, new track ‘looking for you’ rises from restrained, downbeat beginnings into something richly affirming, as though the track’s confessional tone coaxes the sound to life. An exploration of love and grief most striking for its authenticity, delivered with the ambience of the moment left intact. “I recorded dozens of ‘clean’ vocal takes between October and now, and ended up just keeping the crude demo and bringing in friends to help me build around it,” boyhood. explains, “keeping the imperfections and clicks and bits of conversation to maintain the emotional space I wrote it in.”

‘looking for you’ is out now and available from the usual places.

Lavender Blue – Wishbone

Based in the mountains of Asheville, NC, Lavender Blue is the recording project of Kayla Zuskin. Following on from 2022 EP Slow Down, Lavender Blue is back with new singles on Ghost Mountain Records. The latest of which, ‘Wishbone’, takes inspiration from the image of a tree split in two yet continuing to grow, something moving in different directions but fundamentally united at the root. “[The song is] about the cognitive dissonance we all can experience when people or places inherently grow apart but alas remain connected,” as Zuskin puts it. Mary Steinbrecher (bass, vocals) and Jack Victor (drums) lend the talents to bring to life a sound that owes as much to emo as it does folk or dream pop, combining sharp and smooth textures to evoke the duality at the track’s heart.

Lofi Legs – Chain

With a new album on the way, San Francisco indie rockers Lofi Legs have returned with the single ‘Chain’. We previously wrote about how they melded “garage rock and bedroom pop with psych and surf sensibilities […] to capture the highs and lows of life,” and the new track builds upon the vibe to gloriously hazy results. Harking back to the buzz bands of the early 00s, ‘Chain’ delivers a brightly carefree spirit within a bundle of scrappy energy and fuzzed-out textures, leading to a sound that is entirely committed despite not taking itself too seriously. Watch the suitably surreal video below:

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

Matthew Squires – Song of a Cactus

‘Song of a Cactus’, the latest single from Matthew Squires, was penned during the pandemic, though its sense of lost direction was familiar before the virus, and has persisted to the present day. “I have that annoying songwriter habit of wanting to defer to the work itself rather than my explanation of it,” Squires says, “but I’d say it’s about finding some quiet sense of desperate hope in an apocalypse.” Fans of the Texas songwriter will recognise the idiosyncratic and heartfelt tone, with a newfound use of synths deepening the mood without sacrificing the raw immediacy so key to Squires’s work. The result feels like an urgent dispatch from within an uncertain present. As Squires concludes: “I wanted to make sure I released it before the election as my little quixotic attempt at creating a psychical place of refuge in anticipation of whatever direction the world might lurch.”

Routine Caffeine – Philodendron

We first wrote about Routine Caffeine at the beginning of the year, describing how single ‘In The End Now’ embodied the Louisville outfit’s “penchant for rich, bittersweet soundscapes” and introduced their EP, Weeds Under Concrete Stones. With the full release now out in the world, Routine Caffeine have shared new single and opener ‘Philodendron’. It’s a track which marries a taut central rhythm with a dreamy haze, and hints at a sharp bite too, all highlighting just how much control Katie O’Brien Kelley (vocals, guitar), Madison Elizabeth Case (bass, synth, background vocals) and Emma Treganowan (drums) have over the mood of their work.

Sarah Swire – Tight!

Recording under the moniker Sister Swire, Toronto songwriter and actor Sarah Swire has caught our attention with with a delightfully idiosyncratic brand of art rock, from the nuanced, ominous take on psychosis on ‘I Shot the President’ to the unapologetically malicious fun of ‘Pulleys and Gears‘. Released under her own name, new single ‘Tight!’ is every bit as inventive as its predecessors, and has no less force in its bite. Owing as much to the weird fiction of Joy Williams as it does Captain Beefhart or Nick Cave, the track is a monologue delivered in the manner of a wound spring, twisting tighter and tighter until it unravels in a moment of chaotic release. The video—directed by Swire and shot by Nicole Cecile Holland, with animations and editing by Eric Stephen Martin—only furthers the surreal intensity of the track, Swire’s movements charged and contorted by her words as if not so much speaking or singing as channelling a deeper energy.

‘Tight! is out now and available from the usual places.

Shady Baby – Held In

Released to celebrate a successful year including a performance on the main stage at Y Not Festival and shows with Malice K, Shady Baby‘s new single ‘Held In’ is a fitting way to cap off 2024. With the Brighton outfit leaning further than ever into the bittersweet drama of nineties alt rock, the song finds Sam Leaver and co. pairing weighty crescendos with emotional depth, leading to what might be their most assured, evocative sound to date. A sense of control binds the majority of the track, though the constant simmer of its energies pays off in the soaring conclusion. Watch the video filmed by Meg Sweeney and directed and edited by Leaver below:

‘Held In’ is out now and available from the usual places.

The post Weekly Listening: November 2024 #1 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Back in 2023, North Carolina post-punk/dream pop outfit Cor de Lux released Media, an album which channelled the uncertainty of the present and attempted to turn its energies into something more constructive. Single ‘Rumors’ came complete with an animated video created by Matt Smithson which further delved into these themes, matching the song’s story of losing a friend with a picture that captures the folly behind so many human interactions. “The video is a super abstract story of some amoeba/single cell things emerging, becoming sentient, trading ideas, fighting about their ideas,” the band explain, “until there is nothing left: no color, just rage until it all implodes at the end.”

Media is out now and available from Bandcamp.

Cordelia Gartside – December

Based in Hastings, Cordelia Gartside is a singer-songwriter who uses a mix of indie folk and rock sensibilities as a vehicle for delivering succinct and emotionally charged vignettes. Centring on  what she describes “spinning out in December when the light goes and time’s weird and it’s hard to know how you feel about anything,” latest single ‘December’ is the ideal introduction to her narrative-driven work. A track hushed in tone but winding taut with feeling, capturing the volatility of one’s internal weather when the outside world presses in a little too heavily.

Crying at commercials, I know
I should try to be discerning with
My emotions
Don’t know how I’m feeling
December it’s me again

Ground Loops – Get It Right

“The lasting impression is that of organic development,” we wrote of Ground Loops‘ self-titled debut release via Rue Defense back in 2020, “the various components reaching out in all directions and meshing with those around it, knitting together to form a dense and textured sound.” Follow-up EP When A Stoppable Force Meets A Movable Object sees TC Brownell (Wild Pink, Dead Painters) channel his new surroundings of the Pacific Northwest to offer a freshly verdant edge to the sound, as opener and single ‘Get It Right’ attests. A song which exists within the landscape’s foggy breath without sacrificing the level of detail Brownell’s precision and patience creates.

My Best Unbeaten Brother – Slayer on a Sunny Day

With Ben Fry joining Ben and Adam Parker, who you might now from Audio Antihero favourites Nosferatu D2, The Superman Revenge Squad Band and Tempertwig, My Best Unbeaten Brother is the latest project to rise out of Croydon swinging. This year will see the band unveil their debut EP, and for now we have the non-album track ‘Slayer on a Sunny Day’ by way of introduction. First appearing on Joyzine’s 20 Years of Joy compilation, the song channels the wry contradiction of its title, pairing a racing momentum with droll delivery in an attempt to look on the bright side and make the best of the present moment, no matter how difficult outside forces conspire to make such a mindset. As Parker sings: ‘The apocalypse can wait until tomorrow.”

‘Slayer on a Sunny Day’ is out now via Audio Antihero.

Routine Caffeine – In The End Now

Louisville, Kentucky‘s Routine Caffeine are prepping a new EP for release in 2024, and latest single ‘In The End Now’ offers a glimpse at the band’s penchant for rich, bittersweet soundscapes. Rising from careful beginnings, the song explores the benefits and pitfalls of holding your tongue within a relationship, and if the quiet tiptoeing of the opening suggests a certain hesitance to raise difficult topics, the track soon gathers conviction as the momentum builds and tips into a cathartic back half. Speaking the truth might cause things to unravel, but sometimes change requires a few things to be broken in order to precipitate.

SAVAK – Leash Biter

Brooklyn post-punk outfit SAVAK come from strong musical stock. Founded by Sohrab Habibion (Obits, Edsel) and Michael Jaworski (The Cops, Virgin Islands), the band features Matt Schulz (Holy Fuck, Enon) on drums and welcomes Jeff Gensterblum (Small Brown Bike, Her Heads On Fire) and Matt Hunter (New Radiant Storm King, Silver Jews) for live performances. New full-length Flavors Of Paradise utilises every inch of this collective experience to create a brand rock as politically-charged as it is catchy. Single ‘Leash Bitter’ shows off the brooding swagger and bite of the SAVAK sound, simmering around a taut rhythm and gradually coming to a boil.

Dogs on every corner
Biting at my heels
Teeth cut through like a razor
A scar that never heals

Secret Secret – She’s Tired!

Consisting of childhood friends Sadie Alan, Marika Stuurman, Maria Donjacour and Thomas Fendert, and cutting their teeth in the San Francisco underground scene, Secret Secret is a band centred around collaboration and trust. Their self-titled debut full-length introduced their brand of “lullaby punk” in 2020, and now the outfit are preparing to release a brand new EP. Single ‘She’s Tired!’ is the first taste, a song which explores ideas of exhaustion and burnout with a playful energy, capturing Secret Secret’s trademark balance between fun and emotion. “Are you tired? / Are you waking up with no desire?” as Alan asks. The song is also supported with a surreal video which pitches the band into their own dreams.

‘She’s Tired’ is out now via the Secret Secret Bandcamp page.

Tractor Beam – Set In Stone

The project of Toronto-born, New York-based songwriter Sasha Balazic, Tractor Beam is less a solo endeavour and more an outlet for collaboration and friendship. Following last year’s debut album Turtles All The Way on Kingfisher Bluez, Tractor Beam have returned with ‘Set In Stone’, a brand new single that sees them continue their signature style, what the label calls “an eloquent mix of freak folk and 2000’s indie rock.” Balazic’s earnest vocals are joined by gentle guitars and lapsteel, building from a soft and subdued beginning to something genuinely stirring, complete with propulsive percussion and joyous call and response lines. But it’s not all good vibes, melancholy and potential tragedy linger at the edges, something brought into relief with the use of audio samples from the 25th Challenger space mission towards the end.

‘Set In Stone’ is out now via streaming services.

wheel kid – shortcut through graveyard

wheel kid is a project based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that combines folk sensibilities with sound collage and noise styles to evoke both the New England landscape and the emotional terrain of those who inhabit it. The first in a series of small releases, burning sister taylor river might seem a modest offering with only three songs, but each provides into own miniature world into which the listener is invited. Take ‘shortcut through graveyard’, whose sparse lyricism is supported by a rich and patient sonic palette.

ester born in 17-5
21 years old when she died
buried in the yard on the highway side
see her grave from the kitchen window

captain alexander 1812
sailed to the far north in pursuit of the right whale
buried underneath the pool at the motel
where the kids do laps in the shallow end

Zoya Zafar – You Meant Nothing, Too

Back in October, we wrote about ‘Tunnel Vision’ by Orlando’s Zoya Zafar, the lead single from her forthcoming album Some Songs. With the record due for release this spring, Zafar has unveiled a second song to further whet appetites. Titled ‘You Meant Nothing, Too’, it’s a slow and solemn song built on droning piano, Zafar’s softly intimate vocals and strikingly poignant negative space. Acoustic guitar and subdued percussion eventually join too but things remain pared back to their essential elements. Zafar uses minimalism not as an austere stylistic choice but as a tool to hone her music’s emotional weight, suffusing it with warmth despite its direct and unfussy arrangement.

‘You Meant Nothing, Too’ is out now via streaming services.

The post Weekly Listening: January 2024 #1 appeared first on Various Small Flames.