“The bright arrangements and gentle vocals are a positively overflowing with early sunlight, full of the hope that a new day brings, a sense of confidence and optimism and renewal.”

In that piece we promised an EP called Yannina at some point in the future. Well, after shedding the Suntrapp moniker in favour of his own name, Houlsby is finally releasing the EP to the world. If the title track is anything to go by, with its downtempo guitar and harmonised vocals concerning returning home and finding conviction through all the doubt, Houlsby feels empowered in his new skin. Have a listen below:

The Yannina EP will be release on the 8th June. The artwork is by Amy Dover

The post Jake Houlsby – Yannina appeared first on Various Small Flames.

If you are new around here, then we also have round-up mixes from January, February and March.

April Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post April 2014 Roundup – A Mixtape appeared first on Various Small Flames.

This might be incredibly lazy, but ‘New Morning’ sounds like a… well… new morning. The bright arrangements and gentle vocals are a positively overflowing with early sunlight, full of the hope that a new day brings, a sense of confidence and optimism and renewal. Seeing as Suntrapp started as a way for vocalist Jake Houlsby’s to respond to/fight against the melancholic ‘greyness’ of his previous musical output, I think it’s fair to say he has achieved his goals.

‘Silhouettes’ is no less uplifting, although that’s not to say this is a twee happy-clappy release. ’As I’ve aged I’ve watched my dreams age too / Some are now too faded to pursue’ croons Houlsby, before going into the triumphant refrain:

’No more will I curtain call,
No more will I pray,
Every love I’ve known before,
Came as silently as day (dawns).’*

*(I think, did this by ear)

Silhouettes will be released on the 2nd June. If you find yourself up north at the end of May, there is a release show in Newcastle on the 31st, and there are a few other dates planned too:

Single Launch Party on 31st May 2014
London Folkfest on 8th June 2014
Whickham Fake Festival on 21st June 2014
NARC Magazine’s Boiler Shop Steamer on 7th July 2014

The forthcoming debut EP, Yannina, is a ‘peacefully blooming record imbued with love and vitality, inspired by Neil Young’s emotive narratives and The Beach Boys’ carefree pop but most importantly, the overlooked simplicities of day-to-day life.’ The release date has not been decided as of yet, but we will keep you posted.

The post Suntrapp – New Morning/Silhouettes appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Huck Notari

Earlier this year Portland’s Huck Notari completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for his third album, Huck Notari and the River. Now released, the LP does not disappoint with Notari’s trademark wistful strumming and stirring lyrics. If you are new to the artist, check out ’Wall Around Your Heart’, one of my favourite songs.

Tiny Ruins

Haunts is the latest EP from Auckland’s Hollie Fullbrook, AKA Tiny Ruins. This is organic music, with simpe instrumentation supporting the main attraction – Fullbrook’s incredible vocals. It feels like she is singing in an empty room for you alone, her voice filling the space and bringing to life the tales she is telling.

Old Haunt

An offshoot of The Gertrudes, Old Haunt is a haunting blend of traditional folk and more experimental genres like electronic and drone. Herohill’s write-up states that front man Lucas Huang described the project as ‘Tim Hecker unearthing a box of Townes van Zandt demos’, which makes us very excited for the full album coming this November.

<a href=“http://oldhaunt.bandcamp.com/track/ghost-town” data-mce-href=“http://oldhaunt.bandcamp.com/track/ghost-town”>Ghost Town by Old Haunt</a>

Jason Isbell

Southeasten, the new album from the former Drive-By Truckers man, is an exceptional collection of songs. Listen to a few of them here thanks to Garden and Gun (kudos to Songsfortheday for the find).

Suntrapp

The press release accompanying the first single by Newcastle’s Suntrapp states that it intends to capture the human conditions, being ’impulsive, celebratory and cathartic in equal measure’. I think this is a perfect summation of what indie-folk-rock (or whatever) should be all about.

Glass Cake

Glass Cake aren’t particularly folky but the idea behind this series was to let us post about more good music, not constrict ourselves with rules. Lunar Caustic is like a Sharon van Etten x Twin Sister x Scout Niblett hybrid playing a raucous garage rock. It’s great.

Ben De La Cour

Ben De La Cour is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville. He has recently released his third album, Ghost Light, a really nice collection of acoustic folk songs and some country rockers. I’ve seen comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Townes van Zandt and I think these are fair. He certainly has the pedigree to be considered an oldtime-style wandering man, having travelled the world as an amateur boxer, a bartender, a janitor and farm worker. You can download the album for however much you like over at Ben’s bandcamp page.

Wes Tirey

We have featured Wes a few times recently, with a review of his EP I Stood Among Trees, and last week’s interview about his music and writing, and he has a new 3-song EP out now. False Idols is another collection of superbly written earthy songs from some old vision of America and is available for as little as $1. All funds will go towards Wes’ Indiegogo campaign to get him to Italy.

We’ll be seeing you next month.

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