This month sees the band return with The Real Giving Up, a brand new album which sees Spelling Reform continue this mission. “It’s late-30-somethings making a big record because there’s no reason not to,” as the album notes describe. Like so many of the current crop of records, the release was born amid the confusion and loneliness of the opening wave of the pandemic, though Wisniewski and co. look to burn through such emotions, be it with acoustic tenderness or a newfound volume and heft.

The duality is captured by two of the early singles. ‘Wasn’t Everything Great?’ offers brightly infectious sound (“You’re still showered in light / At least something is right” as Wisniewski sings), while ‘Just Like Me’ opens altogether darker, with a brooding intensity. But true to the Spelling Reform aesthetic, the song ratchets up the energy to shake free from under this weight to realise a big cathartic finale.

The Real Giving Up is out on the 20th October and you can pre-order it now.

The post Spelling Reform – The Real Giving Up appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Swim Camp – Pretty Bird
Black Belt Eagle Scout – Indian Never Die
Pedro The Lion – Quietest Friend
Cat Clyde – Anymore
She Keeps Bees – Coyote
Cartwheel – Nothing
Tempertwig – Comfort Blanket
Downhaul – Wires / Enough
Witching Waves – Eye 2 Eye
LISA – Primitive Us
Yamachan – Rose Gold Blue
Spelling Reform – The Second Coming
Faith & Majesty – Summer Fling
Caroline Lazar – Georgia
Jeffrey Silverstein – Easy Rider
Ronnie Rogers – Leaning On
Nanami Ozone – Alone Too
Fresh – Willa
Perfume V – Perfume Homes Movies
Hand Habits – Can’t Calm Down
MUNYA – Benjamin
LUNCH – Forget Everything
Control Top – Chain Reaction
Prudence – Euphoria
Cult Film – Bored to Death
Walking Bicycles – Fat Cat
Lost Dog – DFT
Sharkmuffin – Serpentina
Bandy – Trying to Reach You
Gold Connections – Like a Shadow
AllegrA – Spoon or Fork
Parkway & Columbia – Wondering and Wandering
la loye – to live underwater
Kitchen – Claws
Spectator – Waves
Sailor Boyfriend – The Battle of Sugarhill
Ladada – My Van
The Exbats – 2027
Adir L.C. – Reacting
minihorse – Drink You Dry
Trevor Stott – Halfway in the Night
Tyler Burkhart – Waiting For You
Or Sobre Blau – Mártires

Like what you hear? Catch up with the rest of our Monthly Mixes!

The post March 2019 Roundup Mix appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Spelling Reform are back with Stay Inside, a brand new record that signals something of a change of direction for the band. Gone are the breakneck tempos and snappy sounds of previous releases, replaced by what the band call “introspective, mature and quiet-loud missives and character studies.” Ironically, the influence of John K. Samson still hovers over the sound, though this time it’s less to do with the racing energy and more the intelligent and inventive lyrical style. The slow-burning nature the songs allows a far more considered approach in terms of lyrics and themes, as highlighted by the sprawling single ‘The Chicago Board of Trade‘, where Wisniewski stretches out into the newfound space with an idiosyncratic eye for detail.

Today, we’re happy to share ‘The Second Coming,’ a brand new single ahead of the release of the record next week. Opening with a paschal warmth worthy of the title, the song sets up an earnest tone before the vocals skew the mood with a cynical irony. Though far from being a lesson in spiky scepticism, it’s the song’s quirkiness that truly stands out, because the brightness of the introduction not only remains present, it is grown through call-and-response refrains and a playful guitar solo. If the sincerity in Wisniewski’s vocals by the final chorus doesn’t quite find salvation, then it is at least enough to push the needle back to agnostic doubt, where nothing is ever set in stone, and the possibility of wonder remains.

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