Not merely a repatriation but a complete reversal, taking that which has been desiccated for preservation & rehydrating it so that it might once again exist in its natural form Mali Obomsawin introduces new album Automatic, out via @ooyhrecords.bsky.social varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/13/m...

Mali Obomsawin - Automatic

Various Small Flames preview Automatic, the new album from Abenaki Nation, Odanak musician Mali Obomsawin coming via Out Of Your Head Records

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"Manages to evoke both the intimacy of personal experience & something far larger, bringing in the melancholy of the archtypal wanderer in search of meaning" Jonathan Something shares 'Gasoline' ahead of LP One More Lonesome Cowboy Song, via High Shelter varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/13/j...

Jonathan Something - Gasoline

Various Small Flames preview One More Lonesome Cowboy Song, the latest album from Jonathan Something via High Shelter.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"At once buoyant and bruising... seems to want to both dance with you and slap you around that face" @perennialtheband.bsky.social's share single 'Ready! Steady! Go!' ahead of LP Modernism on @ejrc.bsky.social & @safesuburban.bsky.social varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/12/p...

Perennial - Ready! Steady! Go!

A preview of Ready! Steady! Go! by Connecticut band Perennial, ahead of album Modernism on Ernest Jenning Record Co and Safe Suburban Homes.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Our second Weekly Listening of August 2026 feat. Applied Communications (@barnonerecords.bsky.social), Black Duck & Elena Setién @thrilljockey.bsky.social), Burley, @hockitay.bsky.social (@futuregods.bsky.social), Jordan Sand (@hallowground.bsky.social), June McDoom (@jagjaguwar.bsky.social) cont.⬇️

"More than a voicing of frustration, ‘Open Mic’ pushes deeper to meditate on the emotions underlying ambition & disappointment, & how we might show up for one another to better navigate the bumpy road" Sweetbreads share a new single ahead of LP, Punisher varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/07/s...

Sweetbreads - Open Mic

Various Small Flames preview Punisher, the forthcoming album from Melody Stolpp's Sweetbreads, with latest single, 'Open Mic'.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Bristol-based outfit The Cindys share new single 'Glass Shattered' via Breakfast Records ahead of a string of festival appeareances including @greenmanfest.bsky.social, @endoftheroadfestival.com & @boiafestival.bsky.social. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/06/t...

The Cindys - Glass Shattered

Various Small Flames preview 'Glass Shattered', the brand new single from Bristol indie pop outfit The Cindys on Breakfast Records.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"Crafted from Euclidean sequencing and pitch-shifted guitar tones to again create a sound full of dualism—be that between shadow and light or detail and space." 'Clerestory Windows V' by Jules Reidy, from LP Clerestory coming via @thrilljockey.bsky.social varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/08/05/j...

Jules Reidy - Clerestory Windows V

Various Small Flames preview Clerestory, the new full-length LP from Jules Reidy on Thrill Jockey, with latest single 'Clerestory Windows V'

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Our first Weekly Listening of 2026 features Brody Price (@GarHoleRecords ), Charlotte Greve (New Amsterdam), Jason Calhoun (Dear Life Records), Kate Prascher, Matthew Squires & Sunk Coast...

"Held together by a sense of cohesion yet willing to push the boundaries of the Dog Shaped sound" Check out our review of Reason, a new EP from Dog Shaped. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/31/d...

Dog Shaped - Reason

Various Small Flames review Reason, the new EP from indie folk-rock project, led by Emily Cabarle and the former band Sue Your Landlord.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"Draw[s] the audience into a cinematic representation of love, loneliness & longing" @daydreamingwinter.bsky.social shares a new version of 'without you' ft. Soccer Mommy. New EP Romantix Mixtape out soon via @w1nspear.bsky.social varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/30/w...

Winter - without you (feat. Soccer Mommy)

Various Small Flames preview Romantix Mixtape, the new EP from Winter on Winspear, with single 'without you' featuring guest Soccer Mommy.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"Just as a geothermal spring is both contained by the land and capable of shaping it, the music of Duffy and Uhlmann seems at once controlled by its creators and somehow controlling them" Duffy x Ulhmann unveil new EP, Hot Creek, via @orindal.bsky.social. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/29/d...

Duffy x Uhlmann - Hot Creek

Various Small Flames preview Hot Creek, the new album by Duffy x Uhlmann (Megan Duffy and Gregory Uhlmann), coming soon via Orindal Records

varioussmallflames.co.uk

"What might be the band’s most propulsive single to date, the song grapples with the long tail of a break-up, attempting to break free from the spell of a relationship that won’t quite let you go" @vanchamberlainnyc.bsky.social share new track 'Fantasy TBD' varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/27/v...

Van Chamberlain - Fantasy TBD

Various Small Flames preview As Far As The Eye Can See, the forthcoming album from New York's Van Chamberlain, with new single 'Fantasy TBD'

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Our latest Weekly Listening ft. Great Klons, henry o henry (@westernvinyl.bsky.social), @brosaleigh.bsky.social, (@audioantihero.bandcamp.com, Jude Brothers, King's Evil, Legit Smitty, Oh, Hooray, Promiseland BBQ + @torysilver.bsky.social...

"The tracks are recorded via Tascam 424 Portstudio & are stronger for it, the woozy tones and matte finish again evoking a landscape in which the real & surreal merge into something as tactile as it is strange" Stone Eating Animals EP by Richard Tripps varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/22/r...

Richard Tripps - Stone Eating Animals EP

Various Small Flames review Stone Eating Animals, the new EP from Oakland, California-based songwriter Richard Tripps.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Can always trust @varioussmallflames.bsky.social to write about the good stuff. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/06/16/d... @darrenhayman.bsky.social

Darren Hayman - The Violence

Various Small Flames review The Violence (Expanded Edition) by Darren Hayman & The Long Parliment, including single 'We Are Not Equal'

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Have you heard David James Allen's new single "Dukes Up (Since You've Been Gone)"? Inspired by the classic Memphis Hi Records sound, it will be on DJA's album Jubilation Potpourri this fall! #CanadianMusic Check it out at @varioussmallflames.bsky.social: varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/09/d...

David James Allen - Dukes Up (Since You've Been Gone)

A review of Dukes Up (Since You've Been Gone) by David James Allen, from the album Jubilation Potpurri on Littleknown Records.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

A wonderful single review and album preview for @brosaleigh.bsky.social from @varioussmallflames.bsky.social! 'If I Let It Quiet' is out in 7 days! varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/07/17/j...

Josaleigh Pollett - Bed of Quiet

A preview of the single Bed of Quiet by Josaleigh Pollett, from the album If I Let It Quiet on Audio Antihero and Lavender Vinyl.

varioussmallflames.co.uk

~ Music curated for humans, by humans ~ Presenting BURN THE ALGORITHM, a limited edition VSF shirt. everpress.com/burn-the-alg...

"The sound of an individual reaching out beyond their confines in order to share their energy. Songs are awake when you sing them. Between the performer and the performee flows an electricity." Alive People by Ruth Garbus, out via Orindal Records. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/31/r...

"Again that strange sensation suggests itself—rock music as a kind of immortality" We preview Country Life in America, the upcoming LP by Charlie Kaplan, with latest single 'Gas Station Bathroom'. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/23/c...

"The songs of What’s the Use? come to answer the titular question. To externalise that which has grown stale within you, moult the accumulated weight to emerge anew" We wrote a (belated) review of the latest Shady Bug release on Exploding in Sound. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/22/s...

Shady Bug - What's the Use?

Various Small Flames review What's the Use by St Louis indie rock band Shady Bug, out on Exploding in Sound Records and available via Bandcamp

varioussmallflames.co.uk

Some new music for the week ahead. varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/08/21/w...