“With… tender and confessional vocals, the track paints a vulnerable, open-hearted mood which longs for certainty within the painful fervour of love.” So we described ‘Enough‘, the previous single by San Francisco‘s Bad Tiger. Latest single ‘Obedience’ follows the same mood, but whereas its predecessor bloomed into something brighter, the track fails to break from its atmosphere of understated melancholy. A song somehow both intimate and spacious, as though tapping into the heart of relationship and finding the internal landscape windswept and barren.

All I wanted was a little more time
Before I thought it died
Paranoia, unable to decide
If what we’re holding is alive

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

Con Davison – Look At Me That Way

There’s long been a bittersweet quality to the music of Con Davison, with tracks like ‘Sofa Bed‘ and ‘Postcard‘ marked by the way they use languid pop warmth to explore personal difficulties. Latest single ‘Look At Me That Way’ is no different, its laidback brightness belying the loneliness at its heart. The track “is about my struggle to connect and understand my closest loved ones when life gets hard,” Davison explains. “It’s so easy to isolate and not make an effort when you’re going through some shit. It’s childish and I think LAMTW is my reminder to give it a go at trying to understand and empathize with people, and allow them to understand and empathize with me.”

 Luce Rushton – Night Drive Through

Having risen to prominence under the moniker TV Room, Luce Rushton has now adopted her own name, and single ‘Night Drive Through’ serves as our first impression of what this change might mean. Released via Sad Club Records, the song offers a picture of early-relationship suspicion, as if unable to believe good things might happen, or perhaps anticipating their eventual end right from the beginning. “Being gay, I never thought I would ever find love and so when I did I was convinced at first it was someone playing a prank on me,” as Rushton explains. “Although a love song, I wanted this song to show how every event was clouded by fear.” Watch the video by Amy Ryder and edited by Olly Ryder below:

‘Night Drive Through’ is out now via Sad Club Records and available via the Luce Rushton Bandcamp page.

Middle Priest – Fingernail

Back in July we wrote about Middle Priest, the songwriting project of Raleigh-born, LA-based Colson Dorafshar, describing single ‘Act Your Age’ as “a bright and emotionally charged sound that lands somewhere between the rich, country-inflected rock of the likes of The Wooden Sky and probing resonance of someone like Sinai Vessel.” With EP I thought that I was far away coming soon, Dorafshar has unveiled latest single ‘Fingernail’. Driven by another pressing momentum, the track embraces this style, though within the certainty of its rhythm lies a far more conflicted picture. As though the motion might not be that of impetus but rather the anxious thrashing of a directionless life.

I thought that I was far away is coming soon. Find Middle Priest on Spotify.

Nathan Graham – Somebody Else

With debut album Saint of Second Chances due in October on Pravda Records, Chicago‘s Nathan Graham has released a new single ‘Somebody Else’. It’s a showcase of his signature style, which combines the Blues of Chicago’s South Side with Nashville’s guitar-based Americana to form something both sincere in emotion and smooth in its delivery. Latest single ‘Somebody Else’ is the perfect place to start for the uninitiated, exuding an earnest, soulful confidence despite the uncertainty of its themes. “‘Somebody Else’ is not a relationship song,” as Graham explains. “Well, not in the traditional way. I wrote this to personify the relationship between a person and their art… It’s that pull to keep going and one day you will catch up with your dreams.”

‘Somebody Else’ is out now and is available from the Nathan Graham Bandcamp page.

smol fish – Sweet Taste

A self-described “band of best friends” from Borloo/Perth, smol fish make indie pop that’s at once playful and wryly cutting. They’ve just released their sophomore EP, Crocodile Tears, what they call “a meditation on the themes of childhood nostalgia, showing up for your friends and the anxiety that surrounds both new and old love.” The opening track seems like as good a place as any to start, and ‘Sweet Taste’ delivers right up front. Many a song has taken on the bittersweet nature of life, but smol fish invert the classic view, not finding sadness within the everyday but rather homing in on the good. “Even sour has a sweet taste,” as the song’s refrain states, embracing sensitivity not as some flaw or vulnerability but rather the key to appreciating every day.

I think it’s beautiful the way
that hair turns grey
That nervous feet sway
That eyes full of dust still stare at the day
Still happy in the rain

Teenage Halloween – Getting Bitter

Following on from their self-titled debut, New Jersey punks Teenage Halloween are preparing to release their new full-length, Till You Return on Don Giovanni Records. The act have established themselves as key figures in the contemporary emo/pop punk scene, and latest single ‘Getting Bitter’ shows the new album promises to amp up the emotion and melodies. Bassist Tricia Marshall takes on vocal duties, channelling the love and angst of the Teenage Halloween sound into a picture of addiction in all of its tangled complications. Where a desire to help a loved one struggling with such issues is counterbalanced by an unavoidable frustration. “You grow somewhat resentful of this person who takes family and sobriety for granted,” as Marshall explains, “when in reality it’s not entirely their fault, so you’re left in an uncomfortable crossroad.” Watch the video by Preston Spurlock below:

Till You Return is out on the 20th October via Don Giovanni Records and you can pre-order it now.

There Will Be Fireworks – Classic Movies

“Will this shadow ever leave me? / Does my heart again deceive me?” So asks Nicholas McManus near the beginning of ‘Classic Movies’, the lead single from Summer Moon, There Will Be Fireworks’ first album in a decade. The lines are distillation of the record’s mood. The sense of something starting again, or perhaps the voicing of something which never ceased. There Will Be Fireworks emerged within the noughties golden age of Scottish indie rock, more than holding their own with their characteristically atmospheric and impassioned sound, and the new album is both a continuation of this style and something of an evolution. A collection of songs subject to the elastic nature of time, where the weight of years is always matched by a kind of disbelief that barely a minute could have gone by.

Summer Moon is out on the 3rd November and you can pre-order it now.

Quinn Tsan – Once I had a picture of us

Writing of single ‘Roses‘ back in April, we described how the music of Quinn Tsan has undergone something of a transformation, with the smoky barroom style of her previous work moving towards a more reserved, intimate sound. Latest track ‘Once I had a picture of us’ continues in this new vein, a reflective ode to a relationship fading in time if not the mind. But more than a slice of pure nostalgia, the song matches the wistful reminiscence with a resistant thread too, as though the rose-tinted images are not always welcome, but rather pictures which have slipped through the various defence mechanisms built up in self-protection.

‘Once I had a picture of us’ is out now and available from the usual places.

the world famous – Everyday Fear

The first single from the upcoming the world famous album, totally famous, on Lauren Records, ‘Hollywood Pawn’ “treat[ed] the Californian metropolis with a mixture of derision and delight, both ridiculing its oddities and excesses and riding the crest of its sunny, palm-lined feel-good factor.” The mood is typical for a record which moves through the hardships of modern living—be they emotional, financial or spiritual—with a kind of carefree propulsion. As though maybe refusing to stop will prevent the realities of life weighing you down too heavily. “Afraid, I’m afraid, every single day,” Will Harris exclaims in new single ‘Everyday Fear’, though armed with a pressing momentum he aims to shake off the feeling, or else move fast enough to lift its weight.

The post Weekly Listening: September 2023 #1 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Based in LA, Aaron Weits is a self-described “musical explorer”. He uses guitars, computers, and modular synthesizers to craft an earnest, uncluttered style of pop music which explores themes of grief, joy and spiritual development. Latest single ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ is the ideal entry point for those unfamiliar with his work, the clarity of the sound not only reflecting on the loss of his mother as a child but making a space for her to persist alongside him within the present. “The lyrics embody a Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven moment for me,” as Weits explains, “what I might say to her if I could get a message to heaven.”

Abby Johnson – Wonder Why

Nashville-based songwriter Abby Johnson is also known for her film and photography work, and an attention to concision and detail carries through to her music. With a self-titled album coming this September via Earth Libraries, Johnson has shared ‘Wonder Why’, a track which encapsulates her ability to weave narratives with single snapshots. “Sometimes I pretend that I’m your moon / But still the daylight beats me to you,” go the opening lines, carrying the full weight of an emotional history. “I wonder why / I even try.” With band Ornament in tow, the record is full of such poetic clarity, positioning Johnson as a contemporary continuation of a seventies style birthed by the likes of Linda Ronstadt.

Field of Fear – Cold

The recording project of Oakland-based artist Drew Zercoe, Field of Fear is both a meditation on and escape mechanism from chronic depression, looking to chart the depths of the experience with a combination of ambient, industrial, metal and noise sensibilities. With a new album coming soon via Whited Sepulchre Records, Zercoe has released ‘Cold’, a new single which is every bit as evocative as this suggests. A song which is perhaps not as harsh or outright frightening as some of the previous Field of Fear releases, but instead offers a patient atmosphere, as though descending into the depths of gloom with a willingness to sit within it for however long it takes.

Magana – Afraid of Everybody

We first covered LA-based songwriter Jeni Magana, AKA straight Magana, back in 2016 with the Golden Tongue EP, praising the charged pop sound and its ability to evoke the nuances of relationships with yourself and others. A number of releases have built upon the sound, not least 2020 full-length you are not a morning person, and Magana’s latest single ‘Afraid of Everybody’ uses a careful hand and lush synths to weave one of her most searching songs to date. A subdued sound which rises intermittently to capture an introspective topography, coming to capture both vulnerability and strength as Magana shares her innermost fears. Or, as she herself puts it: “Sometimes you just don’t want to go to the party.”

Nora Kelly Band – Horse Girl

Recent singles ‘Roswell‘ and ‘Lay Down Girl‘ introduced the spirit of Rodeo Clown, Nora Kelly Band‘s forthcoming LP on Mint Records. An album which sees lead Nora Kelly ditching the grunge of previous project DIPSHIT in favour of an alt-country aesthetic. Described as a possible theme song for the band, latest track ‘Horse Girl’ is something of an origin tale for this transformation, with Kelly facing up to the difficulties of being a horse girl in stuck in a city with all of the heart and playfulness we’ve come to expect from her work, and ultimately choosing to own the persona. “I’m no ‘Okie from Muskogee’ or ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’, as she puts it, “but I’m not the first city slicker to love playing ‘cowboy’ either.”

I always tip my waiter but I’ve never tipped a cow
I can rob a Dollarama
Never worked a plough
I like Hank Williams
And I like Townes
I could ride the range
But I don’t know how

Check out the video by director/editor Sasha Khalimonova and cinematographer Evangelos James below

Rodeo Clown is out on the 25th August via Mint Records and you can pre-order it now.

Patio – Sixpence

Back in June, we featured the single ‘En Plein Air’ by Patio, the post-punk band’s first new music since 2019. Details were scant at the time, but the Queens trio—Loren DiBlasi (bass, vocals), Lindsey-Paige “LP” McCloy (guitar, vocals) and Alice Suh (drums)—have since announced their long-awaited sophomore record, Collection, which comes out in September via Fire Talk Records. To celebrate, they have released a second single, ‘Sixpence’. “[The song] was conceived within an early seventies daydream of decadence, glamour, and self-indulgence,” the band explain. “It’s about false identities—how money helps us create illusions that affect how others perceive us, and how we perceive ourselves. Inspired by Roxy Music, David Bowie, and the lethargic boredom that remains when ambition is thwarted by apathy.” Watch the video directed by Ambar Navarro below:

Collection will be released on the 22nd September via Fire Talk Records. Pre-order it now on all sort of formats via the Patio Bandcamp page.

Sargasso – Balancing Act

With their second album, Further Away, coming out later this month on Dead Definition Records, New York indie pop band Sargasso have released a new single titled ‘Balancing Act’. What the band describe as a song about “traveling young and making plans, achieving confidence in spite of uncertainty,” it’s acoustic guitar and gentle vocals build an atmosphere that combines quiet melancholy with a sense of hope and boundless possibility. All this comes together with a raw energy and sense of immediacy. As the band put it: “It sounds more like our band in a room in real life than almost all our other songs do.”

Life is short so go wherever you please
Life is hard so hold your love tightly
It’s a balancing act
When to go, when to come back

Taylah Carroll – Monogamy

Naarm/Melbourne-based songwriter Taylah Carroll is preparing to release her latest EP The After Party in the coming weeks, and latest single ‘Monogamy’ offers an indication of what to expect. A soulful, languid track which nevertheless possesses a building tautness through its heart, a tension which ratchets up as the song progresses to reveal the wounded anger beneath the polished sound. “I’ve been blaming the whole thing on myself,” Carroll sings in the opening verse, “But I know you ain’t no good for my health,” and the rest plays as an extended version of this realisation, hurt crystallising into something sharp-edged and brilliant.

Weave me a tale so I’ll stomach your pride,
Say a limp in your gate need not break your stride,
I learned it all fast, the guise of my past,
Selflessness is not self-sacrifice,
And feeling bad is not trying hard

Watch the video directed by Nick Mckk and Carroll herself below:

‘Monogamy’ is out now and available via the Taylah Carroll Bandcamp page.

the world famous – Hollywood Pawn

“It’s nice enough beneath the palm trees, it’s where I go to make ends meet.” So opens ‘Hollywood Pawn’, the new single by power pop band the world famous. It’s a line that captures something about the LA five-piece, mostly transplants from the East Coast—a kind of love-hate relationship with their new home. The track, lead single from the band’s forthcoming debut full-length totally famous, is based around the lead Will Harris’s experience of pawning and then buying back his guitar. It treats the Californian metropolis with a mixture of derision and delight, both ridiculing its oddities and excesses and riding the crest of its sunny, palm-lined feel-good factor.

totally famous will be released via Lauren Records on the 13th October and you can pre-order it now.

The post Weekly Listening: August 2023 #1 appeared first on Various Small Flames.