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	<title>W. Y. Huang Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: July 2026 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/24/weekly-listening-july-2026-2-2/</link>
					<comments>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/24/weekly-listening-july-2026-2-2/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:41:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[(T-T)b]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anything Bagel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bud Tapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dublin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gar Hole Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Klons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[henry o henry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josaleigh Pollett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jude Brothers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[King’s Evil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legit Smitty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oh hooray]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orindal Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perfume Genuis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Promiseland BBQ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Puppy Problems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Salt Lake City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sand Duney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sera Cahoone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sub Pop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sub pop records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tory Silver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Worry Bead Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=48880</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Great Klons &#8211; Hidden Signage Back in June we introduced Recurring Common Dream, the forthcoming EP from Great Klons, describing how the release ups the ante on its rather chaotic predecessor. Written and recorded amid a time of turmoil both personal and political, the EP sees Scott Klon and co. expand their already inventive, genre-bending sound to match the uncertainty of the moment. After lead single &#8216;More Beauty in the Rain&#8216;, Great Klons are now back with follow-up &#8216;Hidden Signage&#8217;. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/24/weekly-listening-july-2026-2-2/">Weekly Listening: July 2026 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Great Klons &#8211; Hidden Signage</h3>
<p>Back in June <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/22/weekly-listening-june-2026-3/">we introduced</a> <em>Recurring Common Dream</em>, the forthcoming EP from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/great-klons/">Great Klons</a>, describing how the release ups the ante on its rather chaotic predecessor. Written and recorded amid a time of turmoil both personal and political, the EP sees Scott Klon and co. expand their already inventive, genre-bending sound to match the uncertainty of the moment. After lead single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/22/weekly-listening-june-2026-3/">More Beauty in the Rain</a>&#8216;, Great Klons are now back with follow-up &#8216;Hidden Signage&#8217;. A vivid slice of indie pop rooted in both driving percussion and fresh guitar which uses vocal harmonies and electric violin to further amp up the emotional resonance. And emotional the track is, proceeding with a decidedly wistful air, reflecting on imperfect times with the inevitable fondness we hold for the past.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/soundcloud%253Atracks%253A2341613006&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></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Great Klons" href="https://soundcloud.com/scott-klon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Klons</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="04 Hidden Signage" href="https://soundcloud.com/scott-klon/04-hidden-signage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">04 Hidden Signage</a></div>
<p>&#8216;Hidden Signage&#8217; is out now on streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">henry o henry &#8211; The Fool</h3>
<p>Born in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dublin">Dublin</a> but now &#8220;thirty years a US immigrant,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/henry-o-henry">henry o henry</a> makes music that observes the US from the perspective of an adopted son. He has spent years &#8220;absorbing the country&#8217;s mythologies&#8221; while working various trades across the country (an image that evokes Whitman&#8217;s <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46480/i-hear-america-singing"><em>I Hear America Singing</em></a>), but he has retained ties with his roots too. &#8220;Ireland is the DNA of the thing,&#8221; as he puts it, &#8220;the thing before every other thing.&#8221; In September, he will release an album <em>Apocrypha</em> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl">Western Vinyl</a>. It brings together a collection songs in the lineage of Cale and Drake and Cohen, which function as dispatches from his personal vantage point, or as the press release puts it &#8220;the specific weight of being somewhere for a long time without quite being from there.&#8221; Lead single &#8216;The Fool&#8217; is the ideal entry point, a song worn and wistful and weathered but with a glint in its eye, moving with a sincerity and easy grace that comes with experience.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2640677939/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://henryohenry.bandcamp.com/album/apocrypha">Apocrypha by henry o henry</a></iframe></center><em>Apocrypha</em> will be released on 18th September via Western Vinyl. Order a copy now from <a href="https://henryohenry.bandcamp.com/album/apocrypha">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Josaleigh Pollett &#8211; Cherry</h3>
<p>We&#8217;ve written about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/josaleigh-pollett/">Josaleigh Pollett</a>&#8216;s new full-length <em>If I Let It Quiet</em> plenty in recent months, with singles like ‘<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/10/29/josaleigh-pollett-radio-player/">Radio Player</a>‘, ‘<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/10/29/josaleigh-pollett-radio-player/">The Witness</a>‘, ‘<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/30/weekly-listening-june-2026-4/">Like a River</a>‘ and &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/17/josaleigh-pollett-bed-of-quiet/">Bed of Quiet</a>&#8216; all suggesting the album will be a fitting follow-up to its predecessor <em><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/05/05/josaleigh-pollett-the-nothing-answered-back/">In the Garden, By The Weeds</a>. </em>With the record out now via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/audio-antihero/">Audio Antihero</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lavender-vinyl/">Lavender Vinyl</a>, the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/salt-lake-city">Salt Lake City</a>-based artist has shared final single &#8216;Cherry&#8217; in celebration, and the track is every bit as evocative as we&#8217;ve come to expect. Displaying Pollett&#8217;s uncanny ability to combine the resonant emotion of memory with the tactility of the present moment, the song emerges through dappled electronics and announces itself with forthright clarity.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>We break like belonging,<br />
We’re broken like bread,<br />
When you look you don’t see it,<br />
Don’t know where we’ve been,<br />
From two of us brothers<br />
To both of us dead,<br />
Laid to rest in the 90’s<br />
in the back seat of a van</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2339122261/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1242422918/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://josaleighpollett.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-let-it-quiet">If I Let It Quiet by Josaleigh Pollett</a></iframe></center><em>If I Let It Quiet </em>is out now via Audio Antihero and Lavender Vinyl and available from <a href="https://josaleighpollett.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-let-it-quiet">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jude Brothers &#8211; Desire &amp; Devotion</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jude-brothers">Jude Brothers</a> describes herself as an &#8220;Arkansas-forged and New Mexico-moulded folksy leaning singer songwriter with a penchant for whimsy and tender heartedness,&#8221; which is just about the perfect introduction. Later this year, she will release <em>Dogwood Maiden Voyage</em>, a collection of timeless folk songs built on the foundations of harp and voice, which she says &#8220;reckons with the costs of surrendering wholly to love.&#8221; Latest single &#8216;Desire &amp; Devotion&#8217; does just that, a hymn-like timeless folk song that is suffused with all the doomed romance of a Brontë novel. &#8220;How can you doubt me now?&#8221; Brothers asks in the line that gives the track its title, &#8220;My love ain’t no solemn vow! It is a churning sea.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 560px; height: 435px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/VideoEmbed?track=643669506&amp;bgcol=ffffff&amp;linkcol=0687f5" seamless="" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><em>Dogwood Maiden Voyage </em>is due for release on 25th September via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/gar-hole-records">Gar Hole Records</a>. Pre-orders are available now on <a href="https://judebrothersmusic.bandcamp.com/album/dogwood-maiden-voyage">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">King&#8217;s Evil &#8211; S/T</h3>
<p>Stemming from a discussion at a tiki bar back in early 2020, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/kings-evil/">King&#8217;s Evil</a> is a new project between Sami Martasian of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/puppy-problems">Puppy Problems</a> and JM Dussault of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/t-tb/">(T-T)b</a>. The pair, already established as some of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/boston">Boston</a>&#8216;s most interesting songwriters, imagined a new vehicle for songwriting where the stakes were slightly lower and the scope for invention expanded. A place where they might take risks otherwise avoided in their usual work. The eventual result, a self-titled EP coming via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Worry-Bead-Records">Worry Bead Records</a>, is a testament to the power of such a spirit of working, one which eschews the usual desire to plan and demo songs in order to fully lean into the moment, not to mention that of collaboration. &#8220;To hear them say it,&#8221; as the label states, &#8220;King’s Evil is a project explicitly about the community and solidarity you build in proximity to other artists you admire. Finding energy and freedom in allowing someone else you admire to figuratively root around in your brain.&#8221; Listen to the title track now:</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=17692068/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=4180697473/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://kings-evil.bandcamp.com/album/kings-evil">King&#8217;s Evil by King&#8217;s Evil</a></iframe></center><em>King&#8217;s Evil</em> will be released on 8th September via Worry Bead Records and you can <a href="https://kings-evil.bandcamp.com/album/kings-evil">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Legit Smitty &#8211; Picture In My Wallet</h3>
<p>Jake Smith, aka <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/legit-smitty">Legit Smitty</a>, wrote his forthcoming new record <em>This Living Ain’t That Hard</em> following a serious car accident while on family vacation in Hawaii. Such a near-death event understandably brought a newfound perspective, and the album is an expression of that. As Smith puts it, he is more determined than ever to &#8220;continue to share his heart in order that others might feel more at home in their own skin.&#8221; Latest single &#8216;Picture In My Wallet&#8217; is a good introduction, a downbeat but still hopeful song which Smith says &#8220;details how his love will remain unchanging, as will his faults.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Picture In My Wallet" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f3nyeNg8lnM?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>&#8216;Picture In My Wallet&#8217; is available now on streaming services. Stay tuned for news on <em>This Living Ain’t That Hard.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">oh, hooray &#8211; MY BROTHER&#8217;S NEW BLACK EYE</h3>
<p>A few weeks ago we featured a couple of tracks from <em>the city has teeth i think i saw them once</em>, the new record from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/houston/">Houston</a>&#8216;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/oh-hooray/">oh, hooray</a>. We <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/22/weekly-listening-june-2026-3/">described</a> those songs as &#8220;fatalistic, furious and at least halfway triumphant,&#8221; calling them &#8220;dispatches from the American present, a time we might label ‘late capitalism’ if only the late didn’t seem such an overly optimistic diagnosis.&#8221; That description holds up across the record, but some songs are more personal in scope than others. A good example is &#8216;MY BROTHER&#8217;S NEW BLACK EYE&#8217;, which details an exasperating relationship with the title&#8217;s mercurial sibling. &#8220;&#8216;MY BROTHER&#8217;S NEW BLACK EYE&#8217; is about my brother,&#8221; describes lead Jamie McDonald. &#8220;I love him, I hate him, I am confused by him, I support him, I resent him. No matter how much he has alienated myself or my family, he will always be just that. My Brother.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="MY BROTHER&amp;apos;S NEW BLACK EYE (Official Audio) l oh, hooray" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AFng7nyNXFg?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>the city has teeth i think i saw them once </em>is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Promiseland BBQ x Tory Silver &#8211; Where&#8217;d All the Firemen Go?</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/promiseland-bbq/">Promiseland BBQ</a> is the recording project of Ross Weidman, originally from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/west-virgina/">West Virginia</a> and now based in Pasadena. We last featured his music back in 2023, writing about the album <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/12/05/bbq-promiseland-murder-friendly-city/"><em>Murder In The Friendly City</em></a>, which explored his parents hometown in blue collar Appalachia following the death of his mother. He released another EP, <a href="https://promiselandbbq.bandcamp.com/album/promiseland-bbq-airways"><em>Promiseland BBQ Airways</em></a>, last year, and is now back with a new standalone single, &#8216;Where Did All the Firemen Go?&#8217; Altogether more lighthearted than the last album, Wediman says the song, a full band arrangement including <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tory-silver/">Tory Silver</a> on vocals, &#8220;imagine[s] a world where everyone got the job they wanted,&#8221; a laidback and swaying country rock jam that sees a cast of characters swap professions and bemoans the loss of a certain brand of smalltown hero.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4072625112/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://promiselandbbq.bandcamp.com/track/whered-all-the-firemen-go">Where&#8217;d All the Firemen Go? by Promiseland BBQ</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="WHERE&amp;apos;D ALL THE FIREMEN GO?" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mJIMlt9hA6g?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>You can download &#8216;Where Did All the Firemen Go?&#8217; now from the Promiseland BBQ <a href="https://promiselandbbq.bandcamp.com/track/whered-all-the-firemen-go">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sand Duney – Saw You In the Roses</h3>
<p>September will see the release of <em>Plant Material</em>, the debut full-length from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sand-duney/">Sand Duney</a> (<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portland/">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/oregon/">Oregon</a> songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jess Jones), via the triple threat of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/orindal-records/">Orindal Records</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/anything-bagel/">Anything Bagel</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/bud-tapes/">Bud Tapes</a>. As per the press release, the record “explores a deepening of selfhood, love, and understanding the natural world,” while searching for “hope and a daily rhythm in a world that’s changing in massive and indecipherable ways.” Our first glimpse is &#8216;Saw You In the Roses&#8217; a giddy, ambling psych pop song that continues the signature Sand Duney style, what we have <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/01/18/songs-we-missed-in-2021/">described in the past</a> as &#8220;equal parts meditative and energetic.&#8221; Jones plays every instrument, from guitar and bass to pedal steel, organ and drums, layers which reel and swim around her relaxed and composed vocals. Check out the video, directed and edited by Dawn Riddle, below:</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2807566131/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://sandduney.bandcamp.com/album/plant-material">Plant Material by Sand Duney</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Sand Duney - Saw You In The Roses" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oaFvrfUMN48?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>Plant Material</em> will be released on 4<sup>th</sup> September and is available to pre-order from the Sand Duney <a href="https://sandduney.bandcamp.com/album/plant-material">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sera Cahoone &#8211; Not How I Hoped</h3>
<p>Alongside drumming for acts such Carissa&#8217;s Wierd and Band of Horses, Seattle&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sera-cahoone/">Sera Cahoone</a> has developed rich oeuvre of solo work, starting with the dusky, melancholic self-titled album back in 2006. Twenty Years on, Cahoone is preparing to release her fifth full-length <em>I&#8217;ve Missed You All These Years</em> via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sub-pop-records/">Sub Pop</a>, and it seems time has only deepened her warm and aching sound. As its title suggests, latest single &#8216;Not How I Hoped&#8217; confronts disappointment and regret with unerring candour, the clarity of Cahoone&#8217;s voice supported by a vivid arrangement featuring violin, pedal steel, piano and Hammond organ. &#8220;This song flew out of my broken heart many moons ago,&#8221; Cahoone explains. &#8220;It was the first song I wrote for this record. It’s quite sad, but writing it really helped me work through those hard feelings.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3556304112/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3139183842/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://seracahoone.bandcamp.com/album/ive-missed-you-all-these-years">I&#8217;ve Missed You All These Years by Sera Cahoone</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video below, made by Cahoone herself along with Adam Evarts and Arriba Media LLC:</p>
<p><iframe title="Sera Cahoone - Not How I Hoped (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pp-cw1LDVCs?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>I’ve Missed You All These Years</em> will be released on the 28th August via Sub Pop and you can <a href="https://seracahoone.bandcamp.com/album/ive-missed-you-all-these-years">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Running Into Walls</h3>
<p>Last month, we introduced <em>On Stranger Hills</em>, the forthcoming new record from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Singapore">Singapore</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>-based singer-songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/w-y-huang/">W. Y. Huang</a>. Lead single <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/15/weekly-listening-june-2026-2/">&#8216;Born to Lose&#8217;</a> &#8220;owe[d] a debut to both Daniel Johnston and Adrienne Lenker and drawing on [Huang&#8217;s] own immigrant experience,&#8221; and now W.Y. Huang has unveiled a second track to further generate anticipation. Titled &#8216;Running Into Walls&#8217;, it&#8217;s an introspective indie folk song that the press release says &#8220;stages a tender reckoning with inherited trauma and the unbearable weight of survival.&#8221; It&#8217;s set during a late-night train ride, and captures perfectly the sense of solitude and emotional clarity that such journeys often evoke, mimicking the brain&#8217;s tendency to ruminate as the carriage falls silent and dark landscapes fly past the window.</p>
<p><iframe title="Running Into Walls" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4o3KehDqk58?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>&#8216;Running Into Walls&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://wyhuang.ffm.to/runningintowalls">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/24/weekly-listening-july-2026-2-2/">Weekly Listening: July 2026 #2</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">48880</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: June 2026 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/15/weekly-listening-june-2026-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:52:09 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Box of Stars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alden Hellmuth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cheekface]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dog Shaped]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First City Artists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gar Hole Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jacob Brodovsky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kate Prascher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Make My Day Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MEGGO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[montreal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Two Runner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Winnipeg]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=48561</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>A Box of Stars &#8211; Remain Back in 2023 we wrote about Somethinghood by A Box of Stars, an album which saw &#8220;the Burlington outfit weave what is best described as a sense of complete attention,&#8221; as we put it, &#8220;a focus which elevates what might seem ordinary situations into something almost sublime.&#8221; Now Macaulay Lerman and co. are back with Walnut Street, a brand new record which doubles down on the style to capture both the beauty of life&#8217;s smallest [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/15/weekly-listening-june-2026-2/">Weekly Listening: June 2026 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">A Box of Stars &#8211; Remain</h3>
<p>Back in 2023 <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/04/a-box-of-stars-somethinghood/">we wrote</a> about <em>Somethinghood</em> by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/a-box-of-stars/">A Box of Stars</a>, an album which saw &#8220;the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/burlington/">Burlington</a> outfit weave what is best described as a sense of complete attention,&#8221; as we put it, &#8220;a focus which elevates what might seem ordinary situations into something almost sublime.&#8221; Now Macaulay Lerman and co. are back with <em>Walnut Street</em>, a brand new record which doubles down on the style to capture both the beauty of life&#8217;s smallest details and the implicit sadness which stems from the knowledge that everything will one day fade away. Single &#8216;Remain&#8217; is the ideal place to jump in, a typically lo-fi and authentic track which carries a flame of love despite the looming threat of loss around.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1868649961/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3577758218/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://aboxofstars.bandcamp.com/album/walnut-street">Walnut Street by A Box of Stars</a></iframe></center><em>Walnut Street</em> is out now and available from <a href="https://aboxofstars.bandcamp.com/album/walnut-street">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Alden Hellmuth &#8211; Microfictions</h3>
<p>&#8220;<em>Tether</em> is a fitting name for the release,&#8221; <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/05/05/weekly-listening-may-2026-1/">we wrote</a> of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/alden-hellmuth">Alden Hellmuth</a>&#8216;s new album on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/LEITER">LEITER</a> back in May, &#8220;speaking to both the connection between Hellmuth and her supporting cast—bassists Logan Kane and Miller Wrenn and drummer Justin Brown (Thundercat, Aja Monet)—and how group, and indeed the audience, act something like a leash within the spontaneity of improvisation. The musicians might play themselves out into unexpected territory, but there’s always a line to bring them back into the heart of the group.&#8221; After single &#8216;Face the Wall&#8217; kicked things off, Hellmuth has now shared latest track &#8216;Microfictions&#8217;. The opening number on the album, &#8216;Microfictions&#8217; wastes no time in pitching the audience into the depths of her adventurous approach, drawing on Anthony Braxton’s <em>Ghost Trance Music</em> to create a style of improvisation centring on melody. Scurrying percussion adds a sense of urgency, while Hellmuth&#8217;s trademark sax skates over the surface with virtuosic personality.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1605081647/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3314751194/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://aldenhellmuth.bandcamp.com/album/tether">Tether by Alden Hellmuth</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="Alden Hellmuth - Microfictions (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hqqXGTFeTFM?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>Tether</em> will be released on the 26th June via LEITER and you can <a href="https://aldenhellmuth.bandcamp.com/track/face-the-wall">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Cheekface &#8211; I Don&#8217;t Work Here</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/los-angeles/">LA</a> trio <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cheekface/">Cheekface</a> have made a name in recent years with mischievous brand of indie rock. Their music combines post punk angles and playful pop bounce with a droll talk-singing style of vocal delivery to create something sometimes caustic, often irreverent and always dialled into the ridiculous age we call the present. For anyone left uninitiated, latest single &#8216;I Don&#8217;t Work Here&#8217; bundles up the Cheekface aesthetic into a tidy three minutes, railing against everything from the surveillance state to the steady creep of the corporate into civic life with equal parts swagger and seethe. A world where everyone is watched yet perpetually lonely, and unrealistic demands come from bosses and customers alike.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=54055922/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://cheekface.bandcamp.com/track/i-dont-work-here">I Don&#8217;t Work Here by Cheekface</a></iframe></center>&#8216;I Don&#8217;t Work Here&#8217; us out now and available from <a href="https://cheekface.bandcamp.com/track/i-dont-work-here">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dog Shaped &#8211; Please Hold</h3>
<p>In part rising from the ashes of former band Sue Your Landlord, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dog-shaped/">Dog Shaped</a> is songwriter Emily Cabarle alongside Nicholas Djukic Cocks (lead guitar), Michael McCanna (lap steel), Matt Shuham (drums), Angelo Ross (keys, backing vocals) and Freddy Haug (bass). With an EP slated for release next month, Cabarle and co. have shared single &#8216;Please Hold&#8217; to introduce their sound. A song described by the band as &#8220;a power ballad about wanting to be close and connect with friends/lovers but being scared of what happens when you&#8217;re vulnerable,&#8221; it confronts the needling doubt of fearing you are too much for those around you while pining for acceptance and connection. Watch the video produced and directed by Mars Alba below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Dog Shaped - Please Hold" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r7sNIjqV47I?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>&#8216;Please Hold&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jacob Brodovsky &#8211; Kids</h3>
<p>Back in April <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/30/jacob-brodovsky-past-mistakes-colorado-low/">we introduced</a> <em>Tell The Kids We Tried</em>, the forthcoming full-length from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/winnipeg/">Winnipeg</a> songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jacob-brodovsky/">Jacob Brodovsky</a>, describing how the album &#8220;meditate[s] on themes of community, connection and family within the tumult that is the present moment,&#8221; with a set of characters &#8220;attempting to build a life within a world where the future seems unwilling or unable to materialise.&#8221; Latest single &#8216;Kids&#8217; addresses this style more directly than anything on the record, written while Brodovsky was wrestling with what it meant to have a young child and another on the way while the future of civilisation seems so bleak. &#8220;For me, having children has been a massive source of both optimism and dread,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;Being around children and watching them discover themselves is such an incredible gift to behold, while also terrifying to realize all the ways they could hurt themselves and the limits of my own abilities to protect them.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Kids - Official Music Video" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4KcsRw3tIYk?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><em>Tell The Kids We Tried</em> will be released on the 10th July via Make My Day Records and you can pre-order it from <a href="https://jacobbrodovsky.bandcamp.com/album/tell-the-kids-we-tried">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Kate Prascher &#8211; Jubilee</h3>
<p>Later this summer, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/memphis/">Memphis</a>-born, Hudson Valley-based songwriter Kate Prascher will release new full-length <em>Sunday Afternoon</em>. The follow-up to 2024&#8217;s <em>Shake the Dust</em>, the record sees Prascher build upon her distinctively honest, unguarded style of folk. Lead single &#8216;Jubilee&#8217; embodies both the atmosphere and emotional clarity of the release, the sound with one foot in the past but always looking forward, allowing memories and hopes for the future to sit side by side. “I wrote it while walking on an old train trestle in Rosendale, New York, a town ringing with the eerie history of a stone quarry, carrying memories of my hometown across it,&#8221; Prascher explains. &#8220;By the time I climbed down from the track, the song was mostly written. It’s a lyrical exploration of the word ‘jubilee’ as both a signal of celebration and of forgiveness.”</p>
<p><iframe title="Kate Prascher - Jubilee (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1YtVxiRgToA?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>Sunday Afternoon</em> will be released on the 28th August via First City Artists.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">MEGGO &#8211; just my luck</h3>
<p>Following on from 2025 EP <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/11/27/meggo-brooklyn-pt-1/"><em>eavesdropper ;; death stories</em></a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/montreal/">Montreal</a>-based songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/meggo">MEGGO</a> is returning this summer with the next chapter of a trilogy of releases, with lead single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/27/weekly-listening-april-2026-4/">jaws of life</a>&#8216; giving a taste of what to expect earlier in the year. Now she is back with new track &#8216;just my luck&#8217;, a song which allows repressed anger to bubble the surface, not only as a form of simple catharsis but also to clear the ground in order for the process of healing to begin. “There’s a part of me that needs to yell and scream. I don’t call on her that often, but she’s in there!&#8221; MEGGO explains. &#8220;‘just my luck’ is what comes from that inevitable explosion. It’s about letting go of grudges and making room inside yourself for forgiveness. It acknowledges where there is pain, looks right at it, and lays it bare so that it no longer needs to be carried. What’s left is compassion and peace in its wake.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2277897621/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://meggo.bandcamp.com/track/just-my-luck">just my luck by MEGGO</a></iframe></center>&#8216;just my luck&#8217; is out now and available from Bandcamp.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Two Runner &#8211; Strawberry Rhinestone</h3>
<p>Described by label <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/gar-hole-records/">Gar Hole Records</a> as &#8220;a warm reassurance for anyone who’s gotten dressed up just to come home alone,&#8221; &#8216;Strawberry Rhinestone&#8217; is the lead single from Two Runner&#8217;s upcoming new album <em>Porchlight</em>. The Northern Californian duo, songwriter Paige Anderson and fiddler Emilie Rose, have lived a life steeped in folk music, growing up in the mountains and playing from a young age, and the experience shines through in the Two Runner sound. The single is a slice of lively barroom bluegrass, equal parts wistful and reassuring as it delivers a message both wise and world weary. &#8220;&#8221;Love is in your favor if you can outlast the bad ones.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Some lovers are like the mountains<br />
Some lovers are like the ocean<br />
Some of them stick like velcro<br />
And some leave in mysterious ways</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe title="Two Runner - Strawberry Rhinestone" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MDi5TGP72uE?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>&#8216;Strawberry Rhinestone&#8217; is out now via streaming services.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Born To Lose</h3>
<p>We last wrote about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Singapore">Singapore</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>-based singer-songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/w-y-huang/">W. Y. Huang</a> back in 2024 with the release of the EP <em>Knots</em>. The release possessed &#8220;a fluidity and ease suggestive of an artist who has spent time exploring their tastes and honing their craft,&#8221; we wrote. &#8220;One ready to share something intimate.&#8221; Fast forward a couple of years and W. Y Huang is preparing to release his debut full-length <em>On Stranger Hills</em>, and lead single &#8216;Born To Lose&#8217; suggests the album will be even more honest and personal. With a lo-fi sound which owes a debut to both Daniel Johnston and Adrienne Lenker and drawing on his own immigrant experience, Huang &#8220;explores the loneliness and anxiety of what it means to be invisible in a foreign land,&#8221; as the album notes explain, &#8220;tracing the edges of belonging, where memory and place begin to blur.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe title="Born To Lose" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g3bJInw-UNI?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>&#8216;Born to Lose&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://wyhuang.ffm.to/borntolose">the usual places</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/15/weekly-listening-june-2026-2/">Weekly Listening: June 2026 #2</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">48561</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>W. Y. Huang &#8211; Knots</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/07/16/w-y-huang-knots/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jul 2024 08:04:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[singapore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=41947</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Knots, the new EP from Singapore-born, New York-based singer-songwriter W. Y. Huang, is a release created in response to chronic pain. Serving not only &#8220;as an exploration of pain and healing,&#8221; as we wrote in a preview back in March, but &#8220;the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope.&#8221; Single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; invited New York rapper Granata to help introduce these themes with a reflective, languid slice of indie pop, while follow-up &#8216;Give It Time&#8217; [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/07/16/w-y-huang-knots/">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Knots</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Knots</em>, the new EP from <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Singapore">Singapore</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>-based singer-songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/w-y-huang/">W. Y. Huang</a>, is a release created in response to chronic pain. Serving not only &#8220;as an exploration of pain and healing,&#8221; as we wrote in a preview <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">back in March</a>, but &#8220;the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope.&#8221; Single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; invited New York rapper Granata to help introduce these themes with a reflective, languid slice of indie pop, while follow-up &#8216;Give It Time&#8217; saw Huang address himself, looking, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/16/w-y-huang-give-it-time/">as we put it</a>, &#8220;to extend the kind of patience and empathy we might offer others to oneself.&#8221;</p>
<p>Both tracks typified a collection created with a kind of determined patience, Huang working layer by layer whenever his health allowed across three years, displaying all the care and kindness required to persevere through such things. “When I started making this record it felt like I might not have it in me to make another one after this,” Huang says, “So I put all of myself in it. I think the process itself gave me strength. It gave me hope in life and music again.”</p>
<p>What emerges is a perhaps surprising subtle EP. One driven by the wisdom delivered in &#8216;Give it Time&#8217;, where impermanence becomes both a comfort and a motivation to create. W. Y. Huang has worked across a variety of genres in his musical career to date, starting with the folk rock of MONSTER CAT and leading through a variety of electronic and dance styles and even more traditional forms. <em>Knots</em> feels informed by every one of these past experiences. For even if they do not make themselves directly apparent within the sound, there&#8217;s a confidence present. A fluidity and ease suggestive of an artist who has spent time exploring their tastes and honing their craft. One ready to share something intimate.</p>
<p>The title track &#8216;Knots&#8217; is indicative of the result. Perhaps the simplest, most hushed on the release, though the one which sits at the heart of the collection and anchors everything else. It&#8217;s a song which feels completely intentional in every aspect. Something between a confession and a prayer as voiced in the quiet hours of the night. Pain can so often strip a life to a single, burning point, but &#8216;Knots&#8217; works against this notion. Reopening the full dimensions of Huang&#8217;s existence, unfurling a life beyond the present to include the full breadth of memory, history and hope for what is to come.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2144562096/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1086010502/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/album/knots">Knots by W. Y. Huang</a></iframe></p>
<p><em>Knots</em> is out now and available from the W. Y. Huang <a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/album/knots">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/07/16/w-y-huang-knots/">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Knots</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">41947</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>W. Y. Huang &#8211; Give It Time</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/16/w-y-huang-give-it-time/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2024 18:59:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indie folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40983</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Facing the sudden onset of chronic pain, Singapore-born, New York-based singer-songwriter [&#8230;] turned to music as an outlet,&#8221; we wrote of W. H. Huang back in March. &#8220;His new EP Knots, coming later this spring, serves as an exploration of pain and healing, as well as the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope.&#8221; Lead single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; saw New York rap artist Granata add vocals to a bright pop sound, typifying the vulnerability [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/16/w-y-huang-give-it-time/">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Give It Time</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Facing the sudden onset of chronic pain, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Singapore">Singapore</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>-based singer-songwriter [&#8230;] turned to music as an outlet,&#8221; we wrote of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/w-y-huang/">W. H. Huang</a> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">back in March</a>. &#8220;His new EP <em>Knots</em>, coming later this spring, serves as an exploration of pain and healing, as well as the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope.&#8221; Lead single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; saw New York rap artist Granata add vocals to a bright pop sound, typifying the vulnerability and sincerity of the EP as a whole.</p>
<p>With the record set for release next month, W. Y. Huang has returned with &#8216;Give It Time&#8217;, a brand new single which further introduces the release&#8217;s themes and tone. “If pain’s the only constant / then the variable is me,&#8221; Huang sings over a hushed folk arrangement, &#8220;still I multiply my failures / and subtract my victories.&#8221; The opening lines of a song addressed to its own performer, looking to extend the kind of patience and empathy we might offer others to oneself. “This was the first time I wrote a song to myself,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;There were things I needed to hear and feel to journey through this chapter in my life, and this was my attempt at giving that to myself. Perhaps it might help someone else coping with tough times as well.”</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Give it time,<br />
everything will be just fine<br />
everything that&#8217;s on your mind<br />
that&#8217;s inside out will turn around<br />
just give it time</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3052109809/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/give-it-time">Give It Time by W. Y. Huang</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Give It Time&#8217; is out now and available from the <a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/give-it-time">W. Y. Huang Bandcamp page</a>. <em>Knots</em> is out on the 28th May.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/04/16/w-y-huang-give-it-time/">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Give It Time</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">40983</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:49:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dark Mean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghost Mountain Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good Looks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Granata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hamilton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keeled Scales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lamplight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mansions and Millions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Margaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Massif Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meagre Martin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ontario]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Ouyang Rusli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40497</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard Hamilton, Ontario indie rock outfit Dark Mean have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hamilton/">Hamilton</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ontario/">Ontario</a> indie rock outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dark-mean/">Dark Mean</a> have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by work schedules and personal responsibilities. A song fired by the twin forces of frustration and passion and driven by the urgency of the ticking clock.  &#8220;I haven’t forgot your name / I’d give it to you if you ever came,&#8221; as one verse plays. &#8220;I’ve still got a lot to say / I’ll tell you about it someday.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2123605970/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://darkmean.com/track/working-hard">Working Hard by Dark Mean</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Working Hard&#8217; is out now and available from the Dark Mean <a href="https://darkmean.bandcamp.com/track/working-hard">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grocer &#8211; Caterpillar Pilled</h3>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Packrat&#8217; finds Grocer at their most collaborative, trusting in the bonds which have now developed between the members to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.&#8221; So we wrote of the first single from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philly</a> band&#8217;s new album <em>Bless Me</em>, coming later this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>, which promises to elevate Grocer&#8217;s trademark volatility to new heights. Latest single &#8216;Caterpillar Pilled&#8217; embodies this spirit, possessing both brash energy and off-the-wall charm. With constant changes of speed, the song is always on the verge of unravelling into chaos but manages to cling on by its fingertips, emerging all the more triumphant as a result. Watch the video by Nicholas Rahn below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grocer - Caterpillar Pilled (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kevlqN-k92I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Bless Me</em> is out on the 19th April via Grind Select and you can <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/bless-me">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">hemlock &#8211; Garbage Truck</h3>
<p><em>Back in 2022</em> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/">we mentioned</a> <em>talk soon</em> by Chicago&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a>, describing single &#8216;to carry&#8217; as &#8220;a song of hushed yet heartfelt vignettes which rises toward an impassioned finale, providing snapshots of love in its various guises.&#8221; The project has since gone on to put out several further releases, including the single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/">monarch</a>&#8216;, a month-long song-a-day challenge album and a live session, but now hemlock is teaming up with the good folks at Ghost Mountain Records to celebrate the second anniversary of the talk soon release with the album&#8217;s first ever vinyl run. To mark the occasion, hemlock has unveiled a video for the single &#8216;Garbage Truck&#8217; directed and edited by lead Carolina Chauffe and filmed along with Daniel Joseph and Reed Everette. Check it out below:</p>
<p><iframe title="hemlock - garbage truck (official music video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y0RkmX-vBHQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The <em>talk soon</em> vinyl is out on the 10th May via Ghost Mountain Records and you can <a href="https://store.ghostmountainrecords.com/products/779665-hemlock-talk-soon-pre-order">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lamplight &#8211; S/T</h3>
<p>Back in January <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/01/18/lamplight-house-rules-call-mom/">we previewed</a> the self-titled album Ian Hatcher-Williams&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lamplight/">Lamplight</a> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl/">Western Vinyl</a>, what we called &#8220;an exploration of how one’s sense of identity shifts and changes according to any number of present conditions, not least the place we call home at any given time.&#8221; With the record now out, Lamplight has shared the title track as a final single, which serves to not only underline the intentions behind the album but the Lamplight project as a whole. After experiencing a profound mixture of love and grief on contemplating the inevitable end of an intimate relationship, Hatcher-Williams found comfort in the concept of reincarnation, as well as a poem by Mark Strand titled &#8216;Love Silhouetted by Lamplight’ (from which Lamplight would come to take its name). &#8220;I&#8217;m too high<br />
the lamp light, you&#8217;ve / caught me crying,&#8221; as he sings:</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>now we&#8217;re laying here uncovered<br />
our legs braided around each other</h5>
<h5>i&#8217;m fixated on the future<br />
that one day we lose the other</h5>
<h5>come back to, for a moment<br />
that&#8217;s just long enough notice</h5>
<h5>we&#8217;re cosmically together<br />
a bond older than each other</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1111231400/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3206646194/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Lamplight by Lamplight</a></iframe></p>
<p>The song comes complete with a video which further develops these themes:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lamplight - &quot;Lamplight&quot; (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KhI_En3cGeI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Lamplight</em> is out on now via Western Vinyl and available from the Lamplight <a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Margaux &#8211; DNA</h3>
<p>Back in 2019 <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2019/10/18/margaux-palm/">we wrote about</a> <em>More Brilliant Is The Hand That Throws The Coin</em>, the debut EP by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/margaux/">Margaux</a> released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/massif-records/">Massif Records</a>, describing how the juxtaposition of bright energy and syrupy dreamscape on single &#8216;Palm&#8217; &#8220;serve[d] to bring to the life to duality of people too, as though beneath the outward face of our feelings lies depth more expansive and strange.&#8221; With a debut full-length on the way later this year, The <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a> singer-songwriter has now returned with &#8216;DNA&#8217;, another nuanced picture where longing and confrontation can occur simultaneously, and a floating drift can quickly escalate towards a cathartic climax. It&#8217;s apparently the first song from an album due later in the year, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more info.</p>
<p><iframe title="Margaux - &quot;DNA&quot; (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hq6-xlQ1CaQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The debut Margaux full-length will be released later this year via Massif Records.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">May Rio &#8211; Fun!</h3>
<p>Stretching the definition of a solo project, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>&#8216;s May Rio sometimes plays with a classic guitar/drums band, and others an arrangement of cello, piano and saxophone. The latter, what she calls the Elegant Ensemble, gives its name to the new May Rio album. A collection of rearrangements of previously released tracks, scrubbed clean of the gloss of studio production and presented anew as an assemblage of their essential parts. There is one brand new track too though. Titled &#8216;Fun!&#8217; it&#8217;s a song about a teenage car accident delivered with the idiosyncratic blend of playfulness and grace which runs through Rio&#8217;s work. &#8220;The day I got my driver&#8217;s permit, aged sixteen,&#8221; she describes, &#8220;I borrowed my mother&#8217;s forest-green Isuzu Trooper for a trip to a new movie showing at the mall,&#8221; only the adventure was cut short at a junction.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Sweet sixteen I get to take a spin<br />
Windows rolled down wind’s all on my skin<br />
T-boned by a speeding stoner hard<br />
Momma’s Trooper’s totaled but what’s worse<br />
Is it was fun</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2759883164/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://mayrio.bandcamp.com/track/fun">Fun! by May Rio</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed by Ben Gordon below:</p>
<p><iframe title="May Rio - &quot;Fun!&quot; (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7UUvR17LIyM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Elegant Ensemble</em> is out on the 3rd May.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Meagre Martin &#8211; Malcolm</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/meagre-martin/">Meagre Martin</a>&#8216;s <em>Gut Punch</em>, released last year on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mansions-and-millions/">Mansions and Millions</a> introduced the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/berlin/">Berlin</a>-based band&#8217;s ability to broach the most pressing social themes of the moment with both confidence, fire and relatability. &#8220;The gut punch of the title therefore refers not so much to the Meagre Martin sound but rather the subject matter they take on,&#8221; as <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/10/25/meagre-martin-big-death/">we put it in a preview</a>. &#8220;The world as a series of debilitating blows.&#8221; New single &#8216;Malcolm&#8217; continues this style to great effect, leaning into a more guitar-led sound to better evoke the track&#8217;s rebellious nature. An ode to <em>Malcolm in the Middle</em> at once fond and discordant, teasing out themes of precarity and generational trauma from within nostalgic memories of the show.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I’m human too,<br />
We break the rules<br />
That’s nothing new<br />
Why settle down<br />
You start to drown<br />
So pull me out</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1066848802/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Malcolm by meagre martin</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Malcolm&#8217; is out now and available from the Meagre Martin <a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Robert Ouyang Rusli &#8211; Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</h3>
<p>Brooklyn-based composer and artist Robert Ouyang Rusli took on their most ambitious project to date with the soundtrack for Julio Torres&#8217;s <em>Problemista</em>, a new film coming later this month via A24, starring Torres alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton. The artist, who also records under the moniker Ohyung, created over fifty songs for the score, looking to match the surreal world Torres has created with something just as agile and inventive. Single &#8216;Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail&#8217; serves as an enticing glimpse of the project&#8217;s full scope, the film bleeding into the soundtrack in the same manner the music pours into the film. Orchestral arrangements of synths and choral vocals are accentuated with sounds from the colourfully whimsical film-world, creating what the press release describes as &#8220;rhythmic backdrops for the bureaucratic nightmares of the American immigration system.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1555907740&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></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Robert Ouyang Rusli" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Ouyang Rusli</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Elizabeth's Voicemail" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli/elizabeths-voicemail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</a></div>
<p>The <em>Problemista </em>soundtrack will be released on the 15th March, and the film itself on the 22nd.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)</h3>
<p>Facing the sudden onset of chronic pain, Singapore-born, New York-based singer-songwriter W. Y. Huang turned to music as an outlet. His new EP <em>Knots</em>, coming later this spring, serves as an exploration of pain and healing, as well as the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope. First single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; introduces this with a bright and breezy indie pop style, welcoming New York rap artist Granata to further the track&#8217;s unguarded tone and capture the mood of the release as a whole. &#8220;This EP was a deeply personal endeavour, both in how the songs came together and the writing process,&#8221; as Huang explains. &#8220;It all blossomed from a very vulnerable place.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4025125211/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Life Just Lately (feat. Granata) by W. Y. Huang</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="W. Y. Huang - Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNPlhGTIgIk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; is out now and available from the W. Y. Huang <a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Bandcamp page</a>. <em>Knots</em> will be released in May.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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