Further Listening:

5. It’s Never Too Soon For A Small Shake

Small Shake is the pseudonym of LA-via-Seattle artist Aarin Wright. While Small Shake have just two singles to their name, Aarin is something of an old-head at this music game, having previously done almost every job in the music industry other than fronting a band. When the pandemic brought all her many day jobs to a halt, Aarin finally took the plunge, swapped the classical and jazz piano of her youth for a guitar, and named Small Shake in honour of her favourite order at diners and ice cream parlours across the land. With a debut EP, Platonics, in the pipeline, this week Small Shake shared their latest single, Still Too Soon.

According to Aarin, Still Too Soon is walking, “a tightrope on the treacherous line between platonic and romantic“, as it explores ideas of heartache and more so wanting to go back to how things were, even if that’s impossible in the here and now. Musically, the track is a simmering slow build, as the initial percussive flutter is joined by wiry electric guitar and pulsing bass, accompanying the layer of Aarin’s easy vocal that brings to mind the likes of Jenny Lewis or Courtney Marie Andrews. Particularly wonderful is the arresting turn two minutes in, when the mood suddenly shifts, the vocals drop and the wailing of fuzzy guitars takes the melodic lead before Aarin re-enters for one final reminder that despite her desires, “it’s still too soon”. A musician who admits, “I’ve been in awe of musicians my entire life”, Aarin Wright’s moment in the spotlight has been many years in the pipeline, and thankfully on this evidence has been well worth the wait.

Platonics is out August 22nd. For more information on Small Shake visit https://linktr.ee/smallshake

4. Press Play On Fortitude Valleys’ Video Video

The brainchild of Laura Kovic, formerly of Tigercats and a heap of other projects, Fortitude Valley arrived back in 2021 with their self-titled debut. The record was both an explosion of infectious indie-rock and a winning blend of hope and terror regarding the world into which it was born. Three years on the band are set to return, with a new lineup and a new album, Part Of The Problem, Baby, which Laura suggests is the same base sound, “but the dials have all just been turned up a bit”. With the record set to arrive via Specialist Subject at the start of August, this week Fortitude Valley shared their latest single, Video (Right There With You).

Described by Laura as a song, “about trying to get inside the head of someone you love“, Video (Right There With You) taps into one of the album’s key themes, “feeling distant from people you care about, both literally and figuratively“. Featuring Laura’s, “first guitar solo”, Video (Right There With You) is a brilliant distillation of everything that was so enticing about Fortitude Valley’s previous work, with its clattering drum rhythms, bright power-pop influenced guitar chords, and chiming indie-pop vocals, that fans of The Beths or Alvvays are going to fall head-over-hells for. Fittingly for the song’s title, there’s also an excellent video featuring comedian Celya AB, well worthy of your attention. A songwriter who has always sung about being torn between two worlds, with Part Of The Problem, Baby, Laura seems fittingly to have landed exactly where she belongs, making perfect pop songs that will find a place in people’s hearts the whole world over.

Part Of The Problem, Baby is out August 1st via Specialist Subject. For more information on Fortitude Valley visit https://fortitudevalley.co.uk/.

3. Lila Tristram Shares The Mother Of All Singles

Back in 2023, Lila Tristram appeared with one of the year’s best EPs, Home, released via the ever-excellent Where It’s At Is Where You Are label. Since then Lila has left East London behind for the relatively quieter climes of a rural studio in Wiltshire, where she has been working on a new record and drip-feeding the world a string of excellent singles. With the record in the pipeline, this week Lila shared the latest snippet of where her music is headed next in the shape of the beautiful Hey, Mother.

A tribute to familial bonds and, “the strength and power that runs through a matriarchal line”, Hey, Mother explores, “a relationship like no other”, shared between a single mother and her daughter. The track marks something of a departure from Lila’s recently expansive offerings, here pulling things back to a single live take of voice and piano, every detail from, “the grain of the vocal” to, “the air in room”, left exactly as it was at the time it was recorded. Despite the minimal instrumental choices, the track doesn’t feel sparse, there’s a richness to the reverberating bassy chords and higher-end flourishes of her piano playing, like stumbling into a vast hall and finding Lila alone at her instrument laying out her emotions to the world. The vocals too seem to be at once hushed yet resonant, Lila’s unfurnished delivery serving to add to her tale of enduring intergenerational love, passed down from her foremothers, tied back to the maternal line. With the promise of more music in the pipeline, here Lila shows a different side, one that seems to really suit her as a songwriter who only seems to be going from strength to strength.

Hey, Mother is out now. For more information on Lila Tristram visit https://www.lilatristram.co.uk/

2. Emily Hines Is Taking Flight

Raised on a small farm, “where the Midwest meets the South”, in rural Ohio, Emily Hines is the latest name to join the stable of the acclaimed Texan record label, Keeled Scales. Writing songs since the age of seven, when she and her brother penned a “welcome home” present for their sick mother, Emily’s debut release for Keeled Scales will be the album These Days, nine songs recorded to a four-track cassette in a tiny house in South Nashville. With the album set to arrive at the start of August, this week Emily shared the latest single from it, UFO.

Described by Emily as, “a satirical worship song“, UFO finds Emily looking back on the person she used to be, “poking fun at a past version of myself who was always waiting to be whisked away instead of just planting roots“. Musically UFO is one of those tracks that has both a beautiful simplicity and also a depth of sound, the shuffling guitar rhythm adorned with down-pitched harps and, “a chorus effect in the introduction of the song to give the impression of an alien invasion“. While these playful touches add a wonderful profundity, what makes the track leap is the quality of Emily’s songwriting. Like Karima Walker or Friendship, she seems to know how to ring every ounce out of a song’s potential and when to let it breathe. In the lyrics too, Emily seems to play on contrasts, seeing both the power of hope and the absurdity in thinking it’s coming, “maybe you’re right it’s a broken boat, maybe somehow we’ll stay afloat, Jesus will come riding in on a UFO, Jesus will come crashing in with his alien buddies”. Discussing the creation of These Days, Emily cited the desire to make a record, “that feels human and present” and despite its interstellar themes, UFO does exactly that, it’s a warm cocoon of a song, an invite in to spend a little time with Emily and find just enough reasons to keep seeing the best, as she sings so memorably here, “I don’t know about you, but I’m holding out hope”.

These Days is out August 1st via Keeled Scales. For more information on Emily Hines visit https://www.emilyhines.com/.

1. Wednesday Are So Good It Must Be A Wind Up

When I first heard Wednesday, prior to the Orindal Records release of their 2020 album I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone, I knew they were great, but I didn’t realise that quite so many other people would agree. Their grimy blend of noisy shoegaze seemed like it would be something of a niche interest, but with their subsequent signing to Dead Oceans and the frenzied response to 2023’s Rat Saw God, I was proven entirely wrong. The record appeared in a host of year-end lists, drew near-universal acclaim and crucially didn’t seem to see the band compromise their more ragged edges along the way. After the well-received country-licked single Elderberry Wine, this week the band announced their new album, Bleeds, and shared the second track from it, Wound Up Here (By Holdin On).

The influences here are classic Wednesday, with Karly Hartzman citing both creative endeavours, “a line from my friend Evan Gray’s poetry book: Thickets Swamped in a Fence-Coated Briars”, and life’s darker edges courtesy of, “a story my friend told me, from when he had to pull a body out of a creek in West Virginia”. If the messaging is classic Wednesday, the music feels streamlined, the band citing their increased time in the studio and on the road with their route to, “the quintessential ‘Wednesday Creek Rock’ album”. Here they lean into the scuzz, as twin guitars fizz atop the swampy propulsion of the rhythm section, and swirling lap steal, amid it all Karly’s vocals have never sounded better. Lyrically, it’s the usual juxtaposition of dirt and beauty, a world of dead college football stars, grimy hunting trophies and Karly letting life go with the flow, “I wound up here by holdin’ on, you reappear before I noticed you were gone”. A world of possibilities seems to have opened up in front of Wednesday’s eyes in recent years, and they’re just growing into every opportunity, getting better and bigger with every release and showing no signs of taking their foot off the gas.

Bleeds is out September 19th via Dead Oceans. For more information on Wednesday visit https://www.wednesday.band/

Header photo is Wednesday by Graham Tolbert