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	<title>Sacred Bones Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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<site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">88787050</site>	<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: July 2025 #1</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/07/01/weekly-listening-july-2025-1/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:19:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alexei Shishkin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Cry Country]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Copenhagen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denmark]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Felte Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joseph Shabason]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[K Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labrador Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lathe of Heaven]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicholas Krgovich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[perennialdeath]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[portugal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pôt-pot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rue Defense]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sacred Bones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shabason Krgovich Tenniscoats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheffield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simple Shapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Studio Electrophonique]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tan Cologne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tenniscoats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valley of Eyes Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=45717</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Alexei Shishkin &#8211; Disco Elysium Brooklyn&#8217;s Alexei Shishkin might describe himself as a “DIY nobody of the internet void,” but that hasn&#8217;t stopped his prolific run of releases, with three in 2024 alone. That trio, dagger, Open Door Policy and Greenwich Mean EP showed the wildly varied style of Shiskin&#8217;s work, veering from rock to bedroom pop to jazz and back. Fast forward almost a year, a relative age in Shishkin-time, and he&#8217;s back with a brand new full-length, Good [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/07/01/weekly-listening-july-2025-1/">Weekly Listening: July 2025 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Alexei Shishkin &#8211; Disco Elysium</h3>
<p>Brooklyn&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/alexei-shishkin/">Alexei Shishkin</a> might describe himself as a “DIY nobody of the internet void,” but that hasn&#8217;t stopped his prolific run of releases, with three in 2024 alone. That trio, dagger, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/06/06/alexei-shishkin-rose-gold/"><em>Open Door Policy</em></a> and <em>Greenwich Mean</em> EP showed the wildly varied style of Shiskin&#8217;s work, veering from rock to bedroom pop to jazz and back. Fast forward almost a year, a relative age in Shishkin-time, and he&#8217;s back with a brand new full-length, <em>Good Times</em>. To be released this September on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ray-defense">Rue Defense</a>, the album takes the level of invention to a new level, as demonstrated by lead single &#8216;Disco Elysium&#8217;. It&#8217;s inspired by the eponymous video game, Shishkin even incorporating sounds from the game into the track itself. &#8220;You’re a degenerate, amnesiac detective coming off a crazy bender, and you’re trying to solve a murder that happened in a small post-revolution town,&#8221; Shiskin explains of his inspiration. &#8220;The game covers everything from psychology to politics to lost love to life, death, and introspection. It’s honestly one of the most well-written, exciting things I’ve ever experienced.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3394912818/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=840810469/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/good-times">Good Times by Alexei Shishkin</a></iframe></center><em>Good Times</em> will be released on the 5th September via Rue Defense and you can <a href="https://alexeishishkin.bandcamp.com/album/good-times">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Josie &#8211; My Boy and I</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Josie">Josie</a> are a group from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Copenhagen">Copenhagen</a> who make scrappy, jangly and impossibly catchy indie pop songs. Their debut album, <em>A Life On Sweets Alone</em>, comes out in September via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/perennialdeath">perennialdeath</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/k-records">K Records</a>, and the latter in particular should give you an idea of what to expect. Think sugary hooks, raw punky energy and lyrics and vocals that continue the long lineage of K Records-associated twee pop. Lead single ‘My Boy and I’ is our first taste of what to expect, barrelling headlong into two and a half minutes of indie pop as endearing as it is infectious.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=727063799/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://josieband.bandcamp.com/album/a-life-on-sweets-alone">A Life On Sweets Alone by Josie</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video, directed and shot by Little Richard Perusi, below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Josie &quot;My Boy And I&quot; (official video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cacs55mlUZg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>A Life On Sweets Alone</em> will be released on 26<sup>th</sup> September and is available to pre-order from the Josie <a href="https://josieband.bandcamp.com/album/a-life-on-sweets-alone">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lathe of Heaven &#8211; Aurora</h3>
<p><em>Aurora</em>, the second album from Brooklyn&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lathe-of-heaven/">Lathe of Heaven</a> coming later this summer on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sacred-bones/">Sacred Bones</a>, promises to function like a collection of sci-fi short stories. It takes inspiration from the work of authors like Ursula K. le Guin, Octavia Butler, Greg Egan, and Peter Watts to explore worldly themes in bold, imaginative ways. Loosely inspired by Arthur C. Clarke&#8217;s short story &#8216;If I Forget Thee, O Earth&#8230;&#8217;, the title track introduces one such tale, combining New Wave colour and post-punk cool into something not only transportive but almost devotional. &#8220;In the story a man and his son take a trip from their colony on the moon to a lookout point where Earth (long abandoned due to nuclear war) can be seen rising across the vast gulf of space,&#8221; the band explain. &#8220;Playing with this concept, I took a more personal and romantic approach, exploring similar themes of loss, love, and devotion at the end of the world.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=262765476/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=681738301/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://latheofheaven.bandcamp.com/album/aurora">Aurora by Lathe of Heaven</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed by Devan Davies below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lathe of Heaven - Aurora (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JcRCTdQrZWA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Aurora</em> will be released on the 29th August via Sacred Bones Records and you can <a href="https://latheofheaven.bandcamp.com/album/aurora">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Michael Nau &#8211; Smokeflowers</h3>
<p>His first new music since 2023 album <em>Accompany</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Michael-Nau">Michael Nau</a> has returned with a double single, <em>Smokeflowers / Sing To</em> via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Karma-Chief-Records">Karma Chief Records</a>. Something of a departure from the previous record’s full-band arrangements, both songs were recorded at home alone, written and recorded without a new record in mind. “I was testing out a new tape machine that I had, and then I sold it,” Nau explains. “They’re single songs that just kind of happened without other songs around.” The result is something unhurried and almost devotional and its soft and shimmering atmosphere. ‘Smokeflowers’ in particular is oddly powerful in it’s understated majesty, Nau’s opaquely poetic lyrics unfurling in a syrupy, waltzy melody.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4200235100/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3855531951/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://michaelnau.bandcamp.com/album/smokeflowers-sing-to">Smokeflowers / Sing To by Michael Nau</a></iframe></center><em>Smokeflowers / Sing To</em> is out now and available from the Michael Nau <a href="https://michaelnau.bandcamp.com/album/smokeflowers-sing-to">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">pôt-pot &#8211; WRSW</h3>
<p>In September, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ireland">Irish</a>/<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portuguese">Portuguese</a> quintet <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pot-pot/">pôt-pot</a> will release a new record, <em>Warsaw 480km</em>, on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/felte-records">Felte Records</a>. The band, led by vocalist/guitarist Mark Waldron-Hyden, deal in a raw and hypnotic blend of psych, krautrock and post punk, a sound rich and multi-layered, but somehow delivered with taut economy. Many of the songs were penned during a period of grief and personal upheaval, and lead single &#8216;WRSW&#8217; is the prime example. Waldron-Hyden explains the song is based on his experience of &#8220;being driven in a very nice car to collect and deliver my father’s ashes,&#8221; and captures feelings both of grim forward motion and numb unreality perfectly. This journey is also where the record gets its title. &#8220;At one point the driver told me about a journey he’d taken from Ireland to Poland,&#8221; Waldron-Hyden continues, &#8220;where after days of driving, in the dead of night, a single road sign appeared, reading WARSAW 480 KM. I identified with that image of blackness punctuated suddenly by some faraway but tangible relief.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2069125878/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2932146429/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://potpot.bandcamp.com/album/warsaw-480km">Warsaw 480km by pôt-pot</a></iframe></center><em>Warsaw 480km</em> will be released via Felte Records on 19th September. Pre-order it now from the pôt-pot <a href="https://potpot.bandcamp.com/album/warsaw-480km">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats &#8211; Our Detour</h3>
<p>When touring Japan together in 2024, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/joseph-shabason/">Joseph Shabason</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nicholas-krgovich/">Nicholas Krgovich</a> met Saya and Takashi Ueno of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tenniscoats/">Tenniscoats</a>, who played as a backing band. The four had little time to rehearse but quickly discovered they did not need it, the subsequent shows fluid, unpredictable and spontaneous, successful in the way only genuine artistic connection could allow. So successful, in fact, the quartet took the opportunity to further the collaboration, spending two days at the Guggenheim House in Kobe with nothing prepared and only their mutual curiosity for direction. The result, released as Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl">Western Vinyl</a>, is full-length album <em>Wao</em>, and first single &#8216;Our Detour&#8217; is the first glimpse at this lightning-in-a-bottle creative process. A lesson in instinct and invention which reaches for inspiration from the everyday and returns it back to us as something bright and magic.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3899974553/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3313937600/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://josephshabason.bandcamp.com/album/wao">Wao by Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Shabason, Krgovich, Tenniscoats - &quot;Our Detour&quot; (Official Visualizer)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lLCKLr9BdZs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Wao</em> will be released on the 29th August via Western Vinyl and you can <a href="https://josephshabason.bandcamp.com/album/wao">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Simple Shapes &#8211; Mallard</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portland">Portland</a> indie rockers <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Simple-shapes">Simple Shapes</a> have just announced their debut LP <em>Sundial</em>, which is slated for release later this summer. Their first new music since 2022&#8217;s <em>Soundtrack EP</em>, the record promises to build on the foundations of previous releases (think late 90s alt rock meets contemporary indie pop) and expand the Simple Shapes sound in new directions. Lead single &#8216;Mallard&#8217; is a great start, introducing the band&#8217;s sonic range and loud-quiet dynamics. It opens with a spry and sunny energy before erupting into yelled vocals and blasts of noisy emotion, effortlessly moving between the two until a final cathartic denouement.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4HwtlCYU70ikgNko6Ob1oF?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><em>Sundial</em> will be released later this year with Rue Defense.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Studio Electrophonique &#8211; David and Jayne</h3>
<p>The solo project of singer-songwriter James Leesley, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/studio-electrophonique">Studio Electrophonique</a> has made a splash in its local <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sheffield">Sheffield</a> and beyond, releasing two EPs which use a warm, nostalgic brand of indie pop to mine the mundane everyday of its inherent emotional resonance. With his self-titled debut full-length coming this September via Paris-based label <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/valley-of-eyes-records">Valley of Eyes Records</a>, Leesley has unveiled bittersweet new single &#8216;David and Jayne&#8217;. The first song he wrote for the album and the one which paved the way for the rest. &#8220;It felt like the opening scene to a film; the words came to me more as dialogue, or script, than lyrics,&#8221; Leesley explains, &#8220;and that opened up a new and very appealing writing perspective—I was almost tempted to pretend to be Alain Resnais directing an imaginary film at the British seaside.&#8221; Watch the video directed by Leesley himself below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Studio Electrophonique - David and Jayne" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6L9YxNnbaWA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Studio Electrophonique</em> will be released on the 26th September via Valley of Eyes Records.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Tan Cologne &#8211; In Resin</h3>
<p>&#8220;Represents both a continuation of [their previous] style and a broadening of its horizons,&#8221; was how we described <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tan-cologne/">Tan Cologne</a>&#8216;s new album <em>Unknown Beyond</em> with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/06/20/tan-cologne-cool-star/">back in June</a>. &#8220;Almost literally, in fact, with [Lauren] Green and [Marissa] Macias turning their attention skyward with the same curiosity, openness and longing which has always underpinned their work.&#8221; Lead single &#8216;Cool Star&#8217; showed how central grief is to the record, possessing what we called &#8220;a vibe again ambivalent in its meaning, sounding at once like an otherworldly escape from our terrestrial suffering and some mournful elegy delivered in its aftermath,&#8221; and new single &#8216;In Resin&#8217; is no less nuanced and dramatic. What the band describe as an encapsulation of the past few years, which uses its gauzy layers to present the various lives we live simultaneously, a series of selves superimposed.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1384355009/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2053242232/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://tancologne.bandcamp.com/album/unknown-beyond">Unknown Beyond by Tan Cologne</a></iframe></center><em>Unknown Beyond</em> is out soon via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/labrador-records">Labrador Records</a> and you can pre-order it now from the Tan Cologne <a href="https://tancologne.bandcamp.com/album/unknown-beyond">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/07/01/weekly-listening-july-2025-1/">Weekly Listening: July 2025 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">45717</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: August 2022 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/08/15/weekly-listening-august-2022-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2022 18:32:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aotearoa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bergen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bo Milli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Buggs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christchurch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dean Hurley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deniz Cuylan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[don giovanni records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gloria de Oliveira]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hush Hush Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LAB Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[london]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mim Jensen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sacred Bones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sad Club Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sister Gemini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swamp Dogg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tommy Lefroy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Why Dogs Why]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winegum Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=29363</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Bo Milli &#8211; How it is Bo Milli is the recording project of Emilie Østebø, who is based in the Norwegian city of Bergen. Her debut single &#8216;At The Wheel&#8217; caught the attention of the management firm who also look after Sigrid and AURORA and sent her on a trajectory toward indie rock stardom. New single &#8216;How is it&#8217; makes good on the first&#8217;s promise, a &#8220;power-chordy&#8221; number that&#8217;s a very youthful mix of apathy, anxiety and self-confidence. Think Soccer [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/08/15/weekly-listening-august-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: August 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Bo Milli &#8211; How it is</h3>
<p>Bo Milli is the recording project of Emilie Østebø, who is based in the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Norway">Norwegian</a> city of Bergen. Her debut single &#8216;At The Wheel&#8217; caught the attention of the management firm who also look after Sigrid and AURORA and sent her on a trajectory toward indie rock stardom. New single &#8216;How is it&#8217; makes good on the first&#8217;s promise, a &#8220;power-chordy&#8221; number that&#8217;s a very youthful mix of apathy, anxiety and self-confidence. Think Soccer Mommy meets The Beths, telling tales of hungover bus rides, dancing to The Strokes and a lingering unease that persists despite everything. &#8220;It was the second day in a row on the verge of crying,&#8221; Østebø sings. &#8220;And I had no idea as to why.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=522789414/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://bomilli.bandcamp.com/track/how-it-is">How it is by Bo Milli</a></iframe></center>&#8216;How is it&#8217; is out now and available from the Bo Milli <a href="https://bomilli.bandcamp.com/track/how-it-is">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Buggs &#8211; Mother</h3>
<p>Following on from the success of previous single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/10/26/buggs-flaws/">Flaws</a>&#8216;, a track which landed on <em>Killing Eve</em> no less, London-based outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/buggs/">Buggs</a> are back with a brand new song on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sad-club-records/">Sad Club Records</a>. With its volatile tempo and nods to Greek myth, &#8216;Mother&#8217; is full of the idiosyncratic personality of the previous releases. An examination of motherhood and femininity which doubles as both ode and urgent question. &#8220;It’s a cry out to my mother/women of the world,&#8221; lead Alice Western explains, &#8220;asking &#8216;how do we do this! How do you do this? How do we get through it!'&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2016935344/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://buggs-band.bandcamp.com/track/mother">Mother by Buggs</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Mother&#8217; is out now via Sad Club Records and you can get it from <a href="https://buggs-band.bandcamp.com/track/mother">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Deniz Cuylan &#8211; Hidden Language Of Four</h3>
<p>Back in 2021, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Turkey">Turkey</a>-born, LA-based guitarist and composer Deniz Cuylan released <em>No Such Thing as Free Will </em>with <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hush-hush-records">Hush Hush Records</a>, an album of which fused classic guitar, jazz and minimalist ambient styles into something playful and unique. Never one to settle, follow-up album <em>Rings of Juniper </em>sees Cuylan build this foundation, aiming for a more direct approach which allows his guitar and compositional work to test the line between natural spontaneity and an almost automated efficiency. The result, as shown by single &#8216;Hidden Language of Four&#8217;, is both of those things, possessing an organic sense of order akin to the inner workings of biology.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=988913050/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rings-of-juniper">Rings Of Juniper by Deniz Cuylan</a></iframe></center><em>Rings Of Juniper</em> is out on 14th October via Hush Hush Records and you can <a href="https://hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rings-of-juniper">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Gloria de Oliveira &amp; Dean Hurley &#8211; Something to Behold</h3>
<p>Next month sees the release of <em>Oceans of Time</em>, a collaboration between Gloria de Oliveira and Dean Hurley on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sacred-bones/">Sacred Bones Records</a>. Those familiar with Hurley&#8217;s work will recognise the ethereal, suggestive quality of the atmosphere, dreamscapes across which de Oliveira&#8217;s vocals play, though amid the intangible shimmer lies something more direct too. An understanding of the elastic strangeness of time, an appreciation of deep emotional truths. Single &#8216;Something to Behold&#8217; sets the tone, its immersive, Lynchian blend of alluring and eerie all the more impressive for having been crafted between two people who have never met or spoken.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=384203393/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3006403187/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://deanhurley.bandcamp.com/album/oceans-of-time">Oceans of Time by Gloria de Oliveira and Dean Hurley</a></iframe></center><em>Oceans of Time </em>is out on 16th September via Sacred Bones and you can <a href="https://deanhurley.bandcamp.com/album/oceans-of-time">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Mim Jensen &#8211; Germaphobe</h3>
<p>Based in Ōtautahi (<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Christchurch">Christchurch</a>), Mim Jensen makes soaring indie rock that rides the highs and braves the lows of love and loss. A prolific member of the local scene for a number of years, Jensen has just released her debut single, &#8216;Germaphobe&#8217;. It&#8217;s a song about that difficult point in a relationship when it becomes clear things are not working out. “Germaphobe was the result of some uncomfortable emotions and self-reflection,&#8221; Jensen explains. &#8220;It’s about navigating an incredibly hard time in your life but ultimately learning how to stand in your own power.&#8221; But despite its awkward subject matter, the song is delivered with gusto, growing from a quietly turbulent opening into a rock song full of energy and emotion.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3463576573/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://mimjensen.bandcamp.com/track/germaphobe">Germaphobe by Mim Jensen</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Germaphobe&#8217; is out now via Winegum Records and you can get it now from the Mim Jensen <a href="https://mimjensen.bandcamp.com/releases">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sister Gemini &#8211; Scooter Song</h3>
<p>Sister Gemini is the indie pop project of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Los-angeles">Los Angeles</a>-based songwriter Remy Gassman. A vehicle for songs both sharp and sweet, turning toward the rosy past in an effort to flee a difficult present. Latest single &#8216;Scooter Song&#8217; deals with the process head on, presenting a series of images and events from childhood, remembering them fondly while mourning the inability to return. &#8220;Now that I&#8217;m older I still see things the same,&#8221; Gassman sings, &#8220;look back and wonder if you&#8217;ve grown into your face / and I&#8217;d give everything to go back to that place.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1271584852&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center>&#8216;Scooter Song&#8217; is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Swamp Dogg &#8211; Soul To Blessed Soul</h3>
<p>Back in February, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/don-giovanni-records/">Don Giovanni Records</a> released <em>I Need A Job​.​.​.​So I Can Buy More Auto​-​Tune</em> by legendary soul/R&amp;B artist Swamp Dogg (the musical alter ego of Jerry Williams). The album felt like a celebration of a long career, and proved that there is plenty life in the old Dogg yet, bursting at the seams with his characteristic risqué humour and irreverent persona. Fresh from celebrating his eightieth birthday with a sold out show in LA and a festival appearance in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/don-giovanni-records/">Berlin</a>, Swamp Dogg has recently released a new video for the track &#8216;Soul To Blessed Soul&#8217;, the album&#8217;s swaying slow-burner that&#8217;s a genuine heartfelt love song beneath the smooth, suggestive surface. Take a look at the typically eccentric video, directed by MoogStar Clemon below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Swamp Dogg - &quot;Soul To Blessed Soul&quot; | Music Video" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3knvDYCYu2I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>I Need A Job​.​.​.​So I Can Buy More Auto​-​Tune</em> is out now via Don Giovanni Records and you can get it from the Swamp Dogg <a href="https://swampdogg.bandcamp.com/album/i-need-a-job-so-i-can-buy-more-auto-tune">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Tommy Lefroy &#8211; Dog Eat Dog</h3>
<p>Based between <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/london/">London</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles/">LA</a>, Tommy Lefroy is the project of Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis, who make literate and pop-tinged indie rock in the vein of Phoebe Bridgers or Lucy Dacus. Latest single &#8216;Dog Eat Dog&#8217; is a song that takes aim at the patriarchy from a position of dogged strength, full of the tenacious determination to live on one&#8217;s own terms. Check out the music video, which sees Bethel and Mouzourakis channel Joan of Arc and don literal armour in preparation for this fight, below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Dog Eat Dog - Tommy Lefroy" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fStXitPjSYk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Dog Eat Dog&#8217; is out now via LAB Records and available via <a href="https://labrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dog-eat-dog">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Why Dogs Why &#8211; List of Fears</h3>
<p>The music of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/why-dogs-why/">Why Dogs Why</a> has caught our eye in the past with what we&#8217;ve called its &#8220;tongue-in-cheek humour and razor sharp commentary on the banality of contemporary life.&#8221; Yet none of the previous releases have been quite as sharp as new single &#8216;List of Fears&#8217;, a blink-and-you&#8217;ll-miss-it slice of hyperactive panic delivered without even a pause for breath. Dying alone, answering phones, spinal injury, tall stacks of loans&#8230; all your worries are catered for, but they&#8217;ve never sounded like so much fun.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4291372555/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://whydogswhy.bandcamp.com/track/list-of-fears">List Of Fears by Why Dogs Why</a></iframe></center>&#8216;List of Fears&#8217; is out now and available from the Why Dogs Why <a href="https://whydogswhy.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/08/15/weekly-listening-august-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: August 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">29363</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: July 2022 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/18/weekly-listening-july-2022-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jul 2022 18:04:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alicia Blue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Angel Saint Queen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aotearoa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dedstrange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eliza Niemi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Rodeo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forged Artifacts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GOON]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hidden Shoal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigo Sparke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jack Keyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kramies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lee Baggett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magnetic Moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nashville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Zealand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nwando Ebizie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pittsburgh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sacred Bones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sun Kin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Pleasure Majenta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tin Angel Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vain Mina Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vireo]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=28921</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Alicia Blue &#8211; DTMTS (Don&#8217;t Tell Me To Smile) LA-born, Nashville-based songwriter Alicia Blue has just released her most recent EP Inner Child Work via Magnetic Moon, and opening track &#8216;DTMTS (Don&#8217;t Tell Me To Smile)&#8217; serves as the perfect introduction to her work. A song which seizes upon the pressure to present yourself a certain way, even when the world is overwhelming and smiling is the last thing on your mind. &#8220;I&#8217;m a real thing,&#8221; Blue sings, &#8220;If you [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/18/weekly-listening-july-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: July 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Alicia Blue &#8211; DTMTS (Don&#8217;t Tell Me To Smile)</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles/">LA</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Nashville">Nashville</a>-based songwriter Alicia Blue has just released her most recent EP <em>Inner Child Work </em>via Magnetic Moon, and opening track &#8216;DTMTS (Don&#8217;t Tell Me To Smile)&#8217; serves as the perfect introduction to her work. A song which seizes upon the pressure to present yourself a certain way, even when the world is overwhelming and smiling is the last thing on your mind. &#8220;I&#8217;m a real thing,&#8221; Blue sings, &#8220;If you want to be with me / know that sometimes the sun&#8217;s not going to shine.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Alicia Blue - &quot;DTMTS - (Don&#039;t Tell Me To Smile)&quot; (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JcQ6M1xqiU4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Inner Child Work</em> is out now via Magnetic Moon and available at the <a href="https://hypeddit.com/aliciablue/innerchildworkep1">usual places</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Angel Saint Queen &#8211; Diablo Lake</h3>
<p>The product of a months-long road trip, Angel Saint Queen&#8217;s &#8216;Diablo Lake&#8217; takes in the range of the American landscape, be it wide-sky deserts of Utah to the rainy mountains of the Pacific Northwest. A track which highlights the duo&#8217;s bittersweet tone, capturing a sadness for leaving and excitement for what comes next. A little wistful, a little upbeat, ready to roll the windows down and ride on through to whatever place should pop up next.</p>
<p><iframe title="ANGEL SAINT QUEEN - Diablo Lake [Official Music Video]" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WdioD-Ztnds?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Diablo Lake&#8217; is out now and available via streaming services.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">First Rodeo &#8211; Didn&#8217;t It Rain Last Night</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s a certain old-time charm to <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Portland/">Portland</a>&#8216;s First Rodeo. A collaborative project between Nathan Tucker and Tim Howe, their sound has more than one foot in classic country rock. But there&#8217;s a contemporary freshness to the sound too, meaning wherever their boots are planted, there&#8217;s no question they are facing out over fresh ground. Lead single &#8216;Didn&#8217;t It Rain Last Night&#8217; is the perfect introduction, a song contemplative and sometimes melancholic, its Americana roots accentuated by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/post-moves/">Sam Wenc</a>&#8216;s bowed banjo, though infused with a confident rhythm which rubs off on everything.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4021379517/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2414555269/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://firstrodeo.bandcamp.com/album/first-rodeo">First Rodeo by First Rodeo</a></iframe></center><em>First Rodeo</em> releases on 5th August via Forged Artifacts and you can <a href="https://firstrodeo.bandcamp.com/releases">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Goon &#8211; Emily Says</h3>
<p>Fresh from releasing album <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/01/28/goon-garden-of-our-neighbor/"><em>Paint By Numbers, Volume 1</em></a> back in February, LA&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/goon/">Goon</a> are already back with brand new record, <em>Hour of Green Evening</em>. Described as the band&#8217;s &#8220;most complete statement,&#8221; the album sees Goon combine everything which came before to realise their most polished and detailed sound yet. Single &#8216;Emily Says&#8217; shows off just how evocative this can be. A love song dedicated to frontman Kenny Becker&#8217;s wife Emily Elkin which celebrates the transformational power of forming a bond while acknowledging it cannot alleviate all external ills.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>it hinges here in the air<br />
a garden in wait<br />
blanket of sunshine<br />
and i&#8217;m like &#8220;i wanna be there&#8221;<br />
and emily says &#8220;hope still appears&#8221;<br />
and though i know in my heart it&#8217;s right<br />
feeling like hurting myself tonight<br />
nobody&#8217;s candle is burning bright<br />
the wind inside the blades of grass will unbind it</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="Goon - Emily Says (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P4GbhEMJo10?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Hour of Green Evening</em> is out now and you get it from the Goon <a href="https://gooon.bandcamp.com/album/hour-of-green-evening">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Indigo Sparke &#8211; Pressure in My Chest</h3>
<p>This October sees <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/australia/">Australian</a> songwriter Indigo Sparke return with their second full-length album, <em>Hysteria</em>, on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sacred-bones/">Sacred Bones</a>. With focus on themes of love, loss, history and reconciliation, the record is a raw yet far-reaching collection of songs, pushing beyond the relative minimalism of debut <em>echo</em> yet retaining the intimacy at its core. Lead single &#8216;Pressure in My Chest&#8217; pitches the listener straight into the deep and honest sound, building with the slow intensity suggested by the title until its cathartic conclusion.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=217118396/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1214436580/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://indigosparke.bandcamp.com/album/hysteria">Hysteria by Indigo Sparke</a></iframe></center><em>Hysteria</em> comes out in October on Sacred Bones Records. Pre-order it now from the Indigo Sparke <a href="https://indigosparke.bandcamp.com/album/hysteria">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jack Keyes &#8211; The Moon is Too High</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/louisville/">Louisville</a> songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jack-keyes/">Jack Keyes</a> released his second record <em>Dissolving in Dusk</em> this month, an album we&#8217;ve <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/10/15/jack-keyes-nowhere/">described previously</a> as &#8220;wrapped in an easy-going sincerity that holds both melancholy and fondness.&#8221; After &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/03/28/weekly-listening-march-2022-4/">Grey Balloons</a>&#8216; offered a conflicted picture of a relationship slipping away, final single &#8216;The Moon is Too High&#8217; searches for a way in which to appreciate the present moment, however difficult and fleeting it might seem, with an endearingly lo-fi and intimate sound.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3313299756/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1195901732/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://jackkeyes.bandcamp.com/album/dissolving-in-dusk">Dissolving in Dusk by Jack Keyes</a></iframe></center><em>Dissolving in Dusk </em>is out now and available via the Jack Keyes <a href="https://jackkeyes.bandcamp.com/album/dissolving-in-dusk">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Kramies &#8211; Hotel in LA</h3>
<p>With a brand of folk-inflected dream pop willing to combine history with folklore and myth, Kramies has made a name across several acclaimed EPs, but this September sees the release of a self-titled debut full-length on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hidden-shoal/">Hidden Shoal</a>. Featuring Todd Tobias (Guided By Voices), Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) and Tyler Ramsey (Band of Horses), the record offers a layered, ethereal sound which challenges the distinction between real and dreams when contemplating the past. Which is something single &#8216;Hotel in LA&#8217; captures perfectly. &#8220;It kind of follows that timeline of my life where there was a beautiful blur between the lines of what was real and what was nostalgia in the making,&#8221; he explains. A space in which experiences are processed into memories, and all the emotional significance attached. Check out the video by Derek Lee LaJoie below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Kramies - Hotel In LA" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GbcTnj8san4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Kramies</em> is out on the 9th September via <a href="https://www.hiddenshoal.com/project/kramies/">Hidden Shoal</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lee Baggett &#8211; Fruit Dog</h3>
<p>Born in the Philippines, Lee Baggett moved to Sanger, California as a kid, going on to form a band in high school and becoming part of the San Luis Obispo music scene through the eighties and nineties in bands like Unknown Origin and Fever Tree. Work with Kyle Field&#8217;s Little Wings and the Be Gulls followed, as well as a solo career which stretches right through to the present with <em>Anyway</em>, a new record coming soon on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/perpetual-doom/">Perpetual Doom</a>. Single &#8216;Fruit Dog&#8217; taps into this history, like a long-lost seventies summer jam complete with a surreal slacker spirit which captures that easy-going West Coast swagger.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=264373121/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/track/fruit-dog">Fruit Dog by Lee Baggett</a></iframe></center><em>Anyway</em> is out via Perpetual Doom on the 30th September and you can <a href="https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/album/anyway">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"> Nwando Ebizie &#8211; Myrrha</h3>
<p>Nwando Ebizie is a multidisciplinary Afrofuturist artist gearing up to release debut album <em>The Swan </em>this month on Accidental Records. A lesson in speculative world building, the release conjures an fictional matriarchal society which feels both timeless and utopian, Ebizie&#8217;s use of found sound and footage bending the lines between the historical past and imagined futures. An enthography of what was and what could be. Described as &#8220;a lament,&#8221; single &#8216;Myrrha&#8217; confronts the intricate relationship between pain and change, finding space to mourn and celebrate those who have suffered through a process of transformation.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=438648961/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2230731335/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://nwandoebizie.bandcamp.com/album/the-swan">The Swan by Nwando Ebizie</a></iframe></center><em>The Swan</em> is out via Accidental Records on the 22nd July and you can <a href="https://nwandoebizie.bandcamp.com/album/the-swan">pre-order it from Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Pleasure Majenta &#8211; Gardens</h3>
<p>Hailing from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-zealand/">New Zealand</a> and now based in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/berlin/">Berlin</a>, The Pleasure Majenta craft a deliciously dark sound which draws upon goth and noise influences with a cowboy twang too. Their latest record <em>Looming, the Spindle</em> came out recently on Dedstrange, and final single &#8216;Gardens&#8217; serves as a great introduction for the uninitiated. Opening with a palpable foreboding, the track coalesces around itself with shadowy grace, the mood decidedly Lynchian as it unfurls, beckoning the listener further into its slowly sashaying heart. Check out the video filmed, directed and edited by Anna Winslow below:</p>
<p><iframe title="The Pleasure Majenta - Gardens (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AyTBRSFW7q4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Looming, the Spindle</em> is out now via Dedstrange and you can grab it from The Pleasure Majenta <a href="https://thepleasuremajenta.bandcamp.com/album/looming-the-spindle">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sun Kin &#8211; I Wanna Believe</h3>
<p>Following on from ambient EP <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/04/07/sun-kin-painting-whales-part-1/"><em>Painting Whales, Part 1</em></a> earlier this year, Kabir Kumar has turned <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sun-kin/">Sun Kin</a> back toward a more indie pop direction with new single, &#8216;I Wanna Believe&#8217;. A bright, smooth track packed with upbeat energy and heartfelt emotion, its tone never quite erring on the side of irony or sincerity but instead embracing a duality within its retro glitz. On the one hand there&#8217;s a playful side (&#8220;I wanna believe in love / I&#8217;m eating a chocolate bar named for loneliness&#8221;) but there&#8217;s a more earnest thread to the track too. What Kumar describes as about &#8220;gaining love by treating it as a spiritual foundation.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2855267078/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://sunraykin.bandcamp.com/track/i-wanna-believe">I Wanna Believe by Sun Kin</a></iframe></center>&#8216;I Wanna Believe&#8217; is out now and available from the Sun Kin <a href="https://sunraykin.bandcamp.com/track/i-wanna-believe">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">vireo &#8211; Coyote</h3>
<p>Following on from 2019&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2019/11/18/vireo-leaf-heap/"><em>leaf heap</em></a>, an album we described as &#8220;slow and patient and peaceful as the late autumn dusk,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pittsburgh/">Pittsburgh</a>&#8216;s vireo are set to return with brand new record, <em>Moss Longing</em>. Lead single &#8216;Coyote&#8217; introduces a collection of songs centring around &#8220;climate anxiety, folklore, wanderlust and children&#8217;s books,&#8221; its careful folk pop sound blossoming gradually into something bright and affirming, the vocals of lead Chris Beaulieu shaded by a sense of sadness but not beholden to it.</p>
<p><iframe title="vireo - Coyote (Official Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/icIy8oiDF_I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Moss Longing</em> is due to be released on 18th August. Pre-save on <a href="https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/vireo/moss-longing?utm_source=SendGrid&amp;utm_medium=Email+&amp;utm_campaign=website">Spotify</a>, or keep on eye on the vireo <a href="https://vireo.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a> for pre-order info.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/07/18/weekly-listening-july-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: July 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: April 2022 #1</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/04/04/weekly-listening-april-2022-1/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2022 18:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alexia avina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crass Lip Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Danny Spiteri]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Lynch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dawning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dead Nettle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denitia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Itch Princess]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lost Map Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marissa nadler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pacing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sacred Bones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Bins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[This Frontier Needs Heroes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[topshelf records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=28063</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Alexia Avina &#8211; I Am Opening Following 2020 album Unearth on Topshelf Records, Brooklyn-based artist Alexia Avina is set to return with a brand new LP, A Little Older. Released via Lost Map Records, the album began on a borrowed guitar and a friend&#8217;s floor, slowly blossoming into a deep and searching meditation on the existential functions of love and art. &#8220;What does it mean to feel small, to feel nothing, to feel everything?&#8221; asks the album notes, &#8220;to skirt [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/04/04/weekly-listening-april-2022-1/">Weekly Listening: April 2022 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Alexia Avina &#8211; I Am Opening</h3>
<p>Following 2020 album <em>Unearth</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/topshelf-records/">Topshelf Records</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a>-based artist Alexia Avina is set to return with a brand new LP, <em>A Little Older</em>. Released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lost-map-records/">Lost Map Records</a>, the album began on a borrowed guitar and a friend&#8217;s floor, slowly blossoming into a deep and searching meditation on the existential functions of love and art. &#8220;What does it mean to feel small, to feel nothing, to feel everything?&#8221; asks the album notes, &#8220;to skirt around the edge of true vulnerability unknowingly and yet somehow so consistently?&#8221; Clocking in at over eight minutes, slow-burning single &#8216;I Am Opening&#8217; shows that while Avina might not have an answer, her rich and evocative compositions create spaces in which to contemplate such questions.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3660366605/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=547032531/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://alexiaavina.bandcamp.com/album/a-little-older">A Little Older by Alexia Avina</a></iframe></center><em>A Little Older</em> is out on the 29th April and you can get it from the Alexia Avina <a href="https://alexiaavina.bandcamp.com/album/a-little-older">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Bins &#8211; Santa Cruz Mountains (Remix by Danny Spiteri)</h3>
<p>Last summer, The Bins released the album <em>Happiness Complete</em>, a stellar collection of songs which showed off Clark Barclay&#8217;s joyous plunderphonic style. But as if his own endlessly inventive cut and paste experiments weren&#8217;t ambitious enough, Barclay then turned over his sonic mosaics to other artists and asked they rework them into new forms. The result is <em>Happiness Completely Remixed</em>, an entire album of these reimaginings. Danny Spiteri&#8217;s take on &#8216;Santa Cruz Mountains&#8217; is emblematic of the power of such processes, rendering the originally buoyant track into something reflective and subdued. A meditation on place which excavates not just the sunny present but the ghosts of the past too.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3618294973/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3647518541/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://thebins.bandcamp.com/album/happiness-completely-remixed-2">Happiness Completely Remixed by The Bins</a></iframe></center><em>Happiness Completely Remixed</em> is out now and available from The Bins <a href="https://thebins.bandcamp.com/album/happiness-completely-remixed-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dawning &#8211; Demo Tape</h3>
<p>After fronting post-folk Apricot Blush, South Carolina&#8217;s Jackson Wise has emerged from a musical hiatus with brand new project, Dawning. A collaboration with artist and musician Matt Massara, the outfit work between brooding punk and gauzy slowcore, the tracks united by the texture of their style. Soundscapes that drift over you, invite you to lose yourself inside. The debut release <em>Demo Tape</em> shows off this aesthetic, from the frustrated yells of &#8216;We All Went Swimming&#8217; and the searing energy of &#8216;Kreuzberg&#8217; to the searching melancholy of &#8216;Sediment&#8217;. Each of the six songs feels like a door through which the Dawning project might head, and <em>Demo Tape</em> has more than enough to suggest you would be advised to follow whichever they choose.</p>
<p><iframe title="Sediment" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fedfwkjfo8U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Demo Tape</em> is out now.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dead Nettle &#8211; Undertow</h3>
<p>The recording project of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nashville/">Nashville</a>/<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/california/">California</a> artist Lindsey Wall, Dead Nettle is set to release album <em>How I Thought</em> later this year. With its slow burning intensity, single &#8216;Undertow&#8217; introduces the engaging and poetic style the record promises to bring. Opening with acoustic strums and smoky vocals, it builds from wistful warmth to fierce conflagration, finding a sound which engages with emotional turmoil yet finds buoyant energy within the roil. As though the updrafts of the burn lift Wall high above the situation, floating high and free if only for a moment.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/5oajnxfEw9hNkca8tPAwoD?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center>&#8216;Undertow&#8217; is out now.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Denitia &#8211; Highways</h3>
<p>Raised in Houston and currently living in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>’s Hudson Valley after time spent in Nashville and Brooklyn, Denitia is an artist often on the move. New song &#8216;Highways&#8217; embraces this nomadic spirit while recognising the value of connection too. An ode to the road which is nevertheless unwilling to leave home behind. &#8220;&#8216;Highways&#8221; is a song about looking forward but taking the past along with you,&#8221; Denitia explains. &#8220;I’ve had many friends and loved ones in my life and as time passes and I move from place to place, phase to phase, I hope to always take those connections with me wherever I go. I want to take home with me everywhere I go.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1228594399&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center>&#8216;Highways&#8217; is out now.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Itch Princess &#8211; To Be Your Fool</h3>
<p>The recording project of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york">New York</a>&#8216;s Katelyn Farstad, Itch Princess make self-described psycho-existential-dredge ballads which wrestle with the various torments of human living. Latest record <em>POP CALLS PASSES</em>, out now via Crass Lips Records, was written at the end of an eighteen-year struggle with substance abuse, and directs all of its ambition and energy to communicating the move beyond suffering into a more creative space. Single &#8216;To Be Your Fool&#8217; is the perfect introduction to the record&#8217;s off-kilter vibe, capturing its embrace of left-field oddness symbolic of a wider acceptance of life and its unpredictable motion.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1406787950/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3561935017/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://itchprincess.bandcamp.com/album/pop-call-passes-3">POP CALL PASSES by Itch Princess</a></iframe></center><em>POP CALLS PASSES</em> is out now via Crass Lip Records and available from the Itch Princess <a href="https://itchprincess.bandcamp.com/album/pop-call-passes-3">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Marissa Nadler &#8211; Cold Wind Blowin&#8217;</h3>
<p>This spring sees the release of <em>Todo Muere SBXV</em>, a compilation celebrating fifteen years of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sacred-bones/">Sacred Bones</a> which asks artists from across their roster to cover one another&#8217;s songs. With songs from Anika, The Hunt, Dean Hurley, Black Marble, Hillary Woods and others, the result is a testament to the diverse and ambitious line-up the label has built over a decade and a half. A group linked not by clear style or genre but something more oblique. A shared commitment to artistic vision, whatever shape that might take. A great example is <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/marissa-nadler/">Marissa Nadler</a>&#8216;s take on &#8216;Cold Wind Blowin&#8217; from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/david-lynch/">David Lynch</a>&#8216;s <em>The Big Dream</em>, a version which understands the twin forces of familiarity and strangeness which underpin Lynch&#8217;s work and treats each with the reverence they deserve.</p>
<p><iframe title="Marissa Nadler - &quot;Cold Wind Blowin&#039;&quot; (David Lynch)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mwLhWcXnbGs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Todo Muere SBXV</em> is out via Sacred Bones on the 27th May and you can pre-order it from <a href="https://sacredbonesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/todo-muere-sbxv">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Pacing &#8211; Sunny &lt;3</h3>
<p>Combining the twin forces of anxiety and sarcasm, Katie McTigue uses Pacing to explore the busy and oftentimes ridiculous period we find ourselves inhabiting. Ahead of new mixtape <em>hatemail</em> later this spring, McTigue has unveiled lead single &#8216;Sunny &lt;3&#8217; to get us acquainted with her distinctively sardonic style. Because do not be fooled by the title, or at least be sure to excavate its wry connotations, as this FOMO anthem does not find joy or self-actualisation at the end of a productively jammed day. Just creeping panic as the pressure to be better and better coils like a spring. &#8220;I&#8217;m gonna be good,&#8221; goes the tongue-in-cheek refrain. &#8220;I&#8217;m gonna be so good.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Pacing - Sunny &#x2764; (Official Visual)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0L9gUEWAmK4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>hatemail</em> is out on the 13th may and you can pre-order it from the Pacing <a href="https://pacingmusic.bandcamp.com/album/hatemail-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">This Frontier Needs Heroes &#8211; Not Gonna Write a Song</h3>
<p>Following on from 2021&#8217;s <em>Go With the Flow</em>, the fifth album from David Bradley Lauretti&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/this-frontier-needs-heroes">This Frontier Needs Heroes</a>, this spring sees the project return with a new song series titled <em>Every Song is a Singl</em>e. The first taste of this new material comes with the ironically titled &#8216;Not Gonna Write a Song&#8217;, a wry take on a break-up number which sees Lauretti break his own promise in real time. A song about resisting the urge to write. But despite this playful humour, the sound itself commits to a subdued warmth. Earnest and reflective, caught between looking back and moving on. Lauretti is gonna continue to write songs, and the world is all the better for it.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Take what you have to take<br />
And I’ll break what I have to break<br />
I know that it’s not a mistake<br />
So I’m not gonna write a song for you</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1824060172/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://thisfrontierneedsheroes.bandcamp.com/track/not-gonna-write-a-song">Not Gonna Write a Song by This Frontier Needs Heroes</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Not Gonna Write a Song&#8217; is out now and available from the This Frontier Needs Heroes <a href="https://thisfrontierneedsheroes.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/04/04/weekly-listening-april-2022-1/">Weekly Listening: April 2022 #1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">28063</post-id>	</item>
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