Today marks the fifth anniversary of Fox Food Records, and to celebrate James Smith has gathered a large number of the label’s artists for a special compilation, Something’s There But You’re Not Sure What. Essentially a who’s who of the Fox Food roster, the release represents a celebration of what truly independent labels can offer—a diverse group of people from all over the world linked not by a specific sound and style but rather the spirit within.

Opening with an acoustic version of Oh Rose‘s ‘Prom’, Something’s There But You’re Not Sure What features a whole host of our favourites. Nice Legs stop by with another slice of delightfully warm fuzz pop, Spartan Jet-Plex provides an alternate take on single ‘Meant’ and Monarch Mtn returns with his characteristically intimate and melancholic whisper-folk.

Dana Gavanski joins Kaiya Cade on the haunting ‘Garden’, Fazed on a Pony serves up a dose of wonky nostalgia and Goodbye Max welcomes us back into his wistful warmth with the modest wonder of ‘Search Party.’ Then there’s the icy pop of Bloodhype, the whimsical momentum of Plant Food, not to mention the playful hush of Lewtrakimou and cool swagger of Saint Charles. Mixing things up, Henoheno and Fair Mothers offer different takes on patient, sprawling music—the ethereal gloom of the former matched in mood and scope by the foreboding creep of the latter.

Elsewhere, Unisex offer a carefree sway with ‘Let the Tide Take You’, Fairy Godmother a garage rock washed with dreamy haze and the likes of Ratbath, Hairpins, Suzy Jivotovski (of GRNDMS) and Deer Scout all provide stellar examples of intimate bedroom folk. Then, in a fitting finale, Smith’s own Good Good Blood teams up with Astral Social Club for mammoth closer ‘Heathen Astronaut’.

With ambient textures and electronic beeps and glimpses of sincere emotion peeking through the fog, the track acts as a kind of summary of the compilation and therefore the Fox Food Record’s mission as a whole. Heartfelt, experimental, bound not by expectation or convention but rather some gut-level intuition. Together, the elements coalesce into an intangible yet sustained sense of spirit, something far more powerful and lasting than anything done alone. This might not be something than can be adequately put into words, but that it exists is a testament to Smith’s judgement and effort. Because something is there, even if you’re not sure what.

The post Fox Food Records – Something’s There But You’re Not Sure What appeared first on Various Small Flames.

His latest EP, Motion | Sickness, is something of a collaborative effort, enlisting the talents of fellow Fox Food alumni Nancy Kells (whose latest album as Spartan Jet-Plex we loved) and Catherine DeGennaro and Suzy Jivotovski (AKA GRNDMS, who put out the excellent Capitol Mill last year). The result is possibly Good Good Blood’s most daring, nuanced release to date, utilising a variety of electronics to create soundscapes around the tracks, worlds in which they take root and grow. ‘Distant | Air’ begins opens with a remote ambient flutter, as delicate and removed as a far-flung snowfield, before opening into a warmer, more acoustic sound complete with Smith’s recognisable vocals. The dichotomy between the two parts is marked, bringing into relief the importance of the vertical bar in the song titles and thus prompting the listener to consider the links and differences between the opposing words and sounds.

A plaintive horn heralds the start of ‘We | Become’, a stretched, even tone which continues as various clicks and drums and vocals enter the fray. As such the track has a dawn quality, the drone rising and warming the earth below into life, before eventually fading out of focus as the song kicks into gentle life. As we’ve come to expect, Smith’s songwriting is a compelling blend of abstract and intimacy, mostly comprising of curt declarations or questions which cut to the heart of some unspoken matter, the wider context reduced to immediate feelings and emotion.

“When I lost my youth
I needed you
when I lost my way
you didn’t stay”

The pattern of difference continues on the epic ‘Dream | Devotion’, with ambience and plucked guitar forming out of silence like the sounds of some unmanned landscape before morphing into a more complete folk song. Again, as with all of Good Good Blood’s music, themes of memory and love and loss haunt the track, internal thoughts cut free from reality and allowed to bloom into beauty.

‘Motion | Sickness’ begins with frenetic strumming which, coupled with wordless voices and near sci-fi synths, forms an almost overwhelming noise worthy of the track’s title. However this passes to a glassy calm, an aftermath which leaves Smith asking a series of questions, be it aloud or within his head, or perhaps his heart and chest:

Will I hold you in my arms?
Will I understand what it is to be loved?
What it is to be had?

Can I hold you in my arms for the last time?
Will you cower and die?
Or will you come alive?

The post Album Premiere: Good Good Blood – Motion | Sickness appeared first on Various Small Flames.