MAC SABBATH has revealed details on their first book, Drive Thru Metal, but don’t expect a stereotypical biography from the fast food-themed parody kings. There’s plenty of “juice” inside, albeit in the form of burgers cooking in the kitchen as the four members of MAC SABBATH take fans on a journey through a dystopian fast-food world polluted by its own waste in an innovative hybrid pop-up book. Mysterious MAC SABBATH frontman Ronald Osbourne comments on the book, “What’s that? A pop-up book is not what you were expecting? Well SUFFER! ….and you’re welcome.”
Available via Poposition Press, Drive Thru Metal features illustrations by Gris Grimly, well-known for his darkly whimsical children’s books and the upcoming Netflix film adaptation of his Pinocchio book, and will be available in Regular and Special Editions. Both editions are available in limited quantities, so be sure to pre-order now to reserve a copy of this piece of Drive Thru Metal history! Pre-orders are available at https://macsabbath.bigcartel.com/.
Both editions of Drive Thru Metal include pop-up scenes highlighting “The Factory,” “The Ascension” and “Utopia” and include a special vinyl surprise with seven MAC SABBATH stories, including “Organic Funeral,” Sweet Beef” and “N.I.B.B.L.E.” The Special Edition is a super limited version complete with a foil stamped cover, a Gris Grimly art print and ketchup and mustard splattered vinyl surprise.
Mixing raucous comedy with borderline-horrific theatrics, the only thing more petrifying than impending health problems resulting from years of overeating is a MAC SABBATH show. MAC SABBATH puts on a theatrical, multimedia stage show – complete with a smoking grill, laser-eyed clowns, bouncing burgers and many more magical surprises… basically anything and everything an unwary show-goer could ever want in their wildest dreams. The band has been named by Buzzfeed as one of the “13 Metal Bands You Didn’t Know How to React To”, and as LA’s “Best Tribute Band” by LA Weekly.
Jealous are a powerhouse trio making adventurous, unhinged art-punk and Dedstrange is here to cram it down your throat.
“Lover/What’s Your Damage?” is the first Dedstrange release and the debut double EP from these freaks from Berlin. It’s a co-release with Jealous’ label Baby Satan Records, who will be issuing it on cassette. It’s got nine rippin’ tracks that twist glam, garage, cowpunk, and riot-grrl influences into a potent strain of DIY post-punk fury with enough energy to tear down the wall one more time. They’ve played across the pond with the likes of Viagra Boys,The Black Lips,Amyl And The Sniffers, and Surfbort—and they’re coming for you, world!
You might think you’re ready for “Lover/What’s Your Damage?” to hit the streets on August 13, 2021, but you’re not. These here songs are about what goes on inside a serial killer’s brain, the flaws inherent to human nature, and the softer side of drug comedowns.
Lead single “K-Hole II” is a soundtrack for the highs and lows of navigating an existential post-break-up trip. On “Blackeye,” pounding minimalist drums keep rhythm while a guitar part like a Vulcan mind meld between Mary Timony and Poison Ivy snakes its way across the mix until all hell breaks loose. “Fastcars” is a high-octane, in-the-red, just absolute bruiser of a cut, so try to keep up, alright?
Limited to 300 copies, “Lover/What’s Your Damage?” is the first official physical release from Jealous, and with all the buzz is sure to sell out quickly. Indie Berlin calls Jealous “rising stars within the alternative microcosm” with “a rather intriguing spectacle,” “mad pack energy,” and “an explosive sound.”
Keep your mind open.
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The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip will be available on April 20th, 2021. Today, hear and share the latest single, the maniacal 1969 rocker “1930” by White Lightning via YouTube and Bandcamp. Previously, “Mother Samwell” the 1969 rocker by The Waters was launched via YouTube. And, “Woman (Don’t You Go)” by Shane followed in March on YouTube. The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste MagazineHERE and LA WeeklyHERE. About The Twelfth Trip: The Waters start this Trip off right with swampy fuzz- and phaser-soaked dueling guitars oozing from the grooves of their 1969 single “Mother Samwell.” The Louisville, KY trio somehow failed to make much of a splash however, only issuing two 45s, one in ’68 and this rocker the following year, before eventually evaporating in ’72. The bassist went on to play in Hank Williams Jr.’s band for a couple of decades, so the band’s fortunes weren’t entirely sunken. Hamilton, Ontario launched the Village S.T.O.P.’s freak-out heavy psych marauding, but it was after frequent trips to NYC that the Canadian band really learned to let their freak flag fly. Sometimes the band played with their faces painted black & white, other times draped in fluorescent ink & blacklight, with strobe lights and the whole nine yards of theatrics… occasionally even adding a few extra inches of male nudity. Musically, their 1969 track “Vibration” is a bopping number nodding to Frank Zappa, Hendrix and some really brown acid doses. White Lightning’s blazing double-kick drum, sizzling melodic riffs and Jim Dandy howls on “1930” is a power metal rocker from 1969 that perfectly epitomizes the raison d’être of this series. The Minneapolis, MN band formed by guitarist Tom “Zippy” Caplan after he left garage psych heroes The Litter, later shortened its name to Lightning. The group only issued one proper album before disbanding in 1971. However, with the late 1990’s reissues and revival of The Litter, Lightning’s bevy of unreleased recordings also surfaced as a self-titled LP and Strikes Twice 1986-1969 CD compilation. The blues runs deep in the veins of “Woman (Don’t You Go)” by Bay Area rockers Shane. The biracial group may have borrowed its heavy syncopated groove and lead singer/organist aesthetic from locals Sly & The Family Stone, but their troglodyte fuzz riffs and beastly drums owe just as much to blazing proto-metal hellfire. Sadly, they only released this 1968 single before these men decided to go. Ace Song Service probably thought they were pretty clever with their risqué acronym name, but it’s their B-side “Persuasion” that really kicks A.S.S. Rollicking, relentless drums, walking bass, staggering guitars and shimmering Hammond organ shake the foundations while crooning blue-eyed soul vocals remind you that this is still the late-60s. The Dallas, TX band only issued this lone (star) 2-song single before crawling back up from whence they came. Opus Est’s strange 1974 headbanger “Bed” has a bit of “Hocus Pocus” by Focus style mania — and we mean that in the best lunacy inducing way. However, it’s the Belgian trio’s heavy panting and squealing vocals in the amorous breakdown that nods to a particular whole lotta nub that gives this song its, um, thrust. After just two singles, Opus Est came and went. The Mopptops’ heavy riff of “Our Lives” starts of sounding like Greg Ginn’s frantic guitar work on Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown, before wah-wah and high harmony vocals turn it into more of a Blues Magoos-meets-Iron Butterfly tune. This Hawaiian Islands based quartet took its inspiration more from the British Invasion than local traditions and were quite popular for their gritty long-hair R&B but remained isolated from the world at large. They did however release a handful of 45s between 1965 and the early 70s. This 1968 banger on Fantastic Records is, well, fantastic. Youngstown, OH artists Artist weren’t too creative with their band name, instead saving that energy to create meaty midwestern rock’n’roll like “Every Lady Does It.” Harmonized guitar leads and driving cowbell power their hook-filled lone 1977 single. Not much is known about the obscure band, other than singer/guitarist Al Tkach later fronted something he called Reality Rock. Rural hard rock bar band Stagefright hailed from Carthage, MO and their 1980 album D-Day is a highly collectible selection of landlocked rippers. Album opener “Comin’ Home” is a barnstorming romp led by vocalist/drummer Jim Mills who somehow smoothly sings while simultaneously playing wild Keith Moon style drum rolls. Dickens “Sho’ Need Love” / “Don’t Talk About My Music” 45 is one of those record collector’s Holy Grail type of releases. The 1971 single only exists as a demo, printed as a white label promo pressing for Scepter Records. Dickens were, essentially, a mockery of the era’s hard rock shenanigans, comprised of NRBQ’s road crew and some band members all playing instruments they didn’t know how to play. This recording happened essentially by accident when studio time became available after Gomer Pyle actor and balladeer Jim Nabors cancelled a session. The group quickly cut a few songs, which an enthusiastic A&R man had pressed up, before the label president nixed it and fired the VP for allowing such nonsense. It’s believed that only about 50 copies survived. It’s a shame, since this Flipper-before-Flipper dirge-metal freakout was way ahead of its time.
Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on April 20, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital (with immediate download of the firstsingle) at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records.
Keep your mind open.
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Los Angeles-based artist Rochelle Jordan releases a new single, “SOMETHING,” from her forthcoming album, Play With the Changes, out April 30th on Young Art Records. Following a string of singles – “NEXT 2 YOU,” “ALL ALONG,” and “GOT’ EM,” “SOMETHING” was produced by Machinedrum and continues to highlight not just Jordan’s own personal evolution, but a path to pushing her sound forward. “I took a bit of time in 2016 to reflect back on my previous project and realized I had been sitting in the more emotional side of myself and was speaking to being hurt a lot,” says Jordan. “‘Something’ was the start of me rebelling against my more vulnerable side and learning to let go of expectations. I wanted to learn to have an attitude of ‘What will be, will be’ and that opened up the direction of where my writing would go for this project, less emotional, more nonchalant, and straight-up taking control of myself and situations. Something is a reflection of that mindset for sure.”
Machinedrum adds: “Rochelle and I have been collaborating since 2015 and have built a very strong musical relationship and close friendship since then. She’s one of my favorite artists to work with as she’s forward-thinking, incredibly talented, and has a timeless voice. ‘Something’ was one of the first tracks Rochelle and I collaborated on. I loved that she resonated with this off-kilter beat I had made. I knew we were going to do great things together based on how beautifully she wrote to the beat. I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of her journey. It’s been an amazing experience working so closely with her and KLSH on this album, I’m super proud of what we’ve done together!” Listen to Rochelle Jordan’s “Something”
Produced by Jordan’s longtime collaborator KLSH, alongside Machinedrum, and Jimmy Edgar, Play With the Changes presents Jordan as a modern heir in a lineage of powerhouse vocalists with style and imagination. After a contemplative period marked by spiritual and artistic growth, Jordan returned with a slew of ethereal soul – collaborations with Jimmy Edgar, Machinedrum, JacquesGreene, and J-E-T-S, all leading up to the radiant breakthrough that is her new album, Play With the Changes.
Defying categorization to create a project full of slinky, dancefloor-packing burners that channel her U.K. roots, Play With the Changes is reminiscent of Jordan’s childhood nights spent listening to her brother’s 2-step hymns from the other side of the wall. These are songs of experience: grappling with depression, homesickness, and struggles with an industry that rarely has room for true originals – especially ones who write all their own music. But they are unmistakably songs of triumph. Pre-order / Pre-save Play With the Changes
Today, Angel Olsen announces Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories, a box set featuring All Mirrors and Whole New Mess, plus a bonus LP titled Far Memory, and a 40-page book collection, out May 7th on Jagjaguwar. In conjunction with the announcement, she presents “It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess).” Originally conceived as a double album, All Mirrors and Whole New Mess were distinct parts of a larger whole, twin stars that each expressed something bigger and bolder than Angel Olsen had ever made. Now, with Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories, these twin stars become a constellation with the full extent of the songs’ iterations: all the alternate takes, b-sides, remixes and reimaginings are here, together. Alongside, a 40-page book collection tells a similar story, not just through outtakes and unseen photos but through the smaller, evocative details: handwritten lyrics, a favorite necklace, a beaded chandelier. As if it could be more plainly stated (there’s nothing more), Angel adds one cover here: a loving, assertive rendition of Roxy Music’s “More Than This.”
“It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess)” was recorded during the All Mirrors session, and is an alternate version of “Whole New Mess.” It has an acoustic backbone, blooming with Olsen’s singular voice. As it continues, the song erupts with drums, electric bass, and Nate Walcott’s brass arrangement.
Released in 2019, All Mirrors is massive in scope and sound, tracing Olsen’s ascent into the unknown, to a place of true self-acceptance, no matter how dark, or difficult, or seemingly lonely. All Mirrors is colossal, moving, dramatic in an Old Hollywood manner. Recorded before All Mirrors but released after, Whole New Mess is the bones and beginnings of the songs that would rewrite Olsen’s story. This is Angel Olsen in her classic style: stark solo performances, echoes and open spaces, her voice both whispered and enormous. All Mirrors and Whole New Mess presented the two glorious extremes of an artist who, in these songs, became new by embracing herself entirely.
In first speaking about Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories, Olsen said, “It feels like part of my writing has come back from the past, and another part of it was waiting to exist.” What better way to articulate timelessness. If Whole New Mess holds the truths of Olsen’s enduring self, and All Mirrors documents her ascent toward a new future, Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories exists out of time, capturing the whole artist beyond this one sound, or that one recording, or any one idea. It is a definitive collection, not just of these songs, but of their revelations and their writer, from their simplest origins to their mightiest realizations.
Far Memory Bonus LP Tracklist: 1. All Mirrors (Johnny Jewel Remix) 2. New Love Cassette (Mark Ronson Remix) 3. More Than This 4. Smaller 5. It’s Every Season (Whole New Mess) 6. Alive and Dying (Waving, Smiling)
All Mirrors Tracklist: 1. Lark 2. All Mirrors 3. Too Easy 4. New Love Cassette 5. Spring 6. What It Is 7. Impasse 8. Tonight 9. Summer 10. Endgame 11. Chance
Whole New Mess Tracklist 1. Whole New Mess 2. Too Easy (Bigger Than Us) 3. (New Love) Cassette 4. (We Are All Mirrors) 5. (Summer Song) 6. Waving, Smiling 7. Tonight (Without You) 8. Lark Song 9. Impasse (Workin’ For The Name) 10. Chance (Forever Love) 11. What It Is (What It Is)
The Early Mornings are a 3-piece formed in Manchester in 2018, made up of Annie Leader – Guitar/Vocals, Danny Shannon – Bass, Rhys Davies – Drums. After recording a couple of home demos and gigging around the UK, they released their debut single ‘Artificial Flavour’ last year.
Today they share a gritty post-punk new track ‘Blank Sky’, that sits with the likes of Dry Cleaning, Mush, Cate Le Bon, and Porridge Radio, who have become inspiring names in the UK. It comes with a candidly shot video that shows the genuine streets and skies of Manchester, the perfect backdrop for the wiry guitars and deadpan vocals. They also announce their debut EP Unnecessary Creation which will be self released on Friday 18th June 2020.
Watch the self-directed video for ‘Blank Sky’ HERE
Within the band is a duality of love for both pop melodies and angular guitars. The lyrics begin as poetry which Annie then selects lines from, almost in the style of a Dadaist cut-up, to fit each song. What results is something entirely new, extricated from any previous context and devoid of preconception. If the listener wants meaning they will have to find it themselves amongst the fragmented observations, existing somewhere between nonsense and profundity, the personal is the political.
On the video, Annie said: “The colour palette, composition and lighting of the video all mix to create a dullness; a mundane reality which is interposed with artistic references, flashes of colour and surrealism. This is an idea which extends throughout our music as well.”
The Early Mornings’ debut EP Unnecessary Creation will be released 18th June 2021.
London-based musician Harriet Zoe Pittard aka Zoee has previously released singles through Ryan Hemworth’s ‘Secret Songs’ imprint and Vegyn’s label Plz Make It Ruins, as well as guesting as a vocalist on tracks with Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and with hyper-pop collective PC Music. Over the past two years Zoee has taken some time to nurture her voice and her sound. Her debut album ‘Flaw Flower’ is due on June 25th via Illegal Data.
The first single & video from the record “Microwave” is online now. Speaking about Microwave, Zoee said “it’s a many-sided song about familial dynamics, oppressive domestic settings and the joy found in self validation.”
‘Flaw Flower‘ is an honest and vulnerable glimpse into Zoee’s interior world, a world she creates through marrying her real-life phone notes with imagery taken from modern works of literature such as “The Flowering Corpse” by Djuna Barnes, Sylvia Plath’s “A Winter Ship” and Maggie Nelson’s “Bluets“. Through these 11 new songs, Zoee delves deep into her own emotional life, combining aspects of the everyday with the surreal in order to uncover the beauty found in being flawed.
The record nods to the avant pop of the 80s, an era that Zoee has always been drawn to thanks to the expressive and trailblazing music of women including Anne Clarke, Joan Armatrading, Cyndi Lauper, Rose McDowall and Anna Domino.
The album is characterised by a mix of hi-fi and lo-fi instrumentation. ‘The Loft’ features a free jazz solo from acclaimed experimental saxophonist Ben Vince alongside stock GarageBand synths. ‘Host’ combines home demo backing vocals with an elaborate baby grand piano solo. Zoee sources foley sounds from YouTube and pulls from her own domestic field recordings, such as a microwave buzzing in ‘Microwave’ and a shower running in ‘Evening Primrose’, often using these sounds as the starting point for the songs. Maintaining intimate bedroom elements whilst developing a more expansive band sound, felt integral to the project, since that’s where Zoee’s writing process often starts, sat on her bed with her laptop and midi keyboard.
Writing for the album began in October 2018 when Zoee started working closely again with friend and long-term musical collaborator Rowan Martin. As the material for the record began to take shape the writing and recording process also evolved with the addition of bassist Kyrone Oak and keys player Laura Norman, as well as contributions from Ben Vince and London pop artist Saint Torrente.
“I feel like the songs on this album took me deeper into myself, the sad song that I thought was about a boy is still about that but it’s also about loss, about self-determination, about not losing hope, about memory, about domesticity, about detachment, about my dad, about my mum, about change, about feeling incredibly alone, about growing up.”
‘Flaw Flower’ is set for release digitally and on cassette on June 25th via Illegal Data.
Today, Nashville-based songwriter Madi Diaz releases her new single/video, “New Person, Old Place.” Madi recently marked a full restart of her career with the evocative “Man In Me,” a first offering showing how she’s capable of distilling profound feelings with ease. While “Man In Me” took Madi through her first steps of a really hard time, “New Person, Old Place” presents her further down the road, after processing the pain and loss of a breakup. She uses specific diction to describe feelings that are typically hard to verbalize: “I used to stay up on the off chance that you might call me back // I used to go shopping for pain go through pictures it’s all I had // I’d sift through our memories and live there even when I wasn’t sad // I used to, I used to, but now I don’t do that.”
Madi elaborates: “This was a moment I realized I wanted to start to learn how to do it not better, not worse, but just different… and then something shifted. Something in my heart finally knocked loose and I was breathing deeper. It’s hard as hell, breaking patterns and unlearning all the old shit, trying to shut all the doors that I used to open to let all the same hurt happen over and over. I’m at least learning to find new doors. ‘New Person, Old Place’ is a mantra. A line that I’m casting into the future so that I have something to guide me forward. It’s something of a reminder that if my heart is the house that I carry with me wherever I go, I can take it somewhere new, or I can do the same old thing I always do but backwards or with a cartwheel, and I can repaint and I can rearrange the furniture. I can clean the mirrors so I see myself true and clear.”
The “New Person, Old Place” video was directed by $ECK and shot in Madi’s pickup truck throughout Nashville. The video follows Madi on a journey to the salvage yard, driving different versions of herself to face her history.
Throwing Snow, a.k.a. Ross Tones, will release his new album Dragons on June 25th via Houndstooth. Today he’s sharing the first single from the record, “Brujita“. Speaking about the track, Throwing Snow said “‘Brujita’ is about the breaking of aural tradition and the suppression of cunning women and men. It’s a eulogy to lost folk wisdom.”
Throwing Snow’s fourth album is the audiovisually-augmented Dragons, a work that occupies the space between science and ancestral wisdom. It links music back to its prehistoric capacity for transmitting knowledge to new technology that can untangle the complexity of the contemporary world. Dragons’ ten tracks of heavy primal rhythmic productions incorporate the physicality of acoustic sources, from ancient ritual instruments to modern drum kit, and each track is accompanied by visuals generated by a neural network.
Throwing Snow, aka Ross Tones, developed Dragons’ neural network with artist, designer and technologist Matt Woodham. The structures and changes in Tones’ music trigger corresponding changes in accompanying moving images, which combine life in three scales, from microscopic views of rocks to large scale maps. “Everything that happens musically triggers the algorithm to do something,” Tones explains. “This isn’t controlled or predictable, and the music becomes an instruction for the algorithm to make its own decisions about datasets, images, speed, movement and other manipulations.”
The tracks on Dragons match Tones’s ambitions for the album in weight but not complexity. They are intentionally dazzlingly simple in their means, for maximum effect, with repeating motifs, locked basslines, cosmic patterns and full-frequency mids. Often built from four or fewer elements, Tones allows sound to accumulate into his unique take on ritual music for the 21st century. Throbbing ritual dances contain half-remembered earworms revealing glittering night skies of synthesizer patterns – ‘Halos’ stabs and stutters like a dance atop a longbarrow; ‘Purr’ reverberates in silky vibrational motifs; the heavyweight ‘Brujita’ is nu-metal for a past-future ceremony of uncertain purpose.
Tones says he often uses his music as allegory and container for the concepts and theories he’s immersed in – he studied astrophysics, and is fascinated by crafts, archeoacoutics, history, evolution and psychology. In Dragons, he wanted to explore the purpose of music from the beginning of human history. “We have Palaeolithic minds but find ourselves in an increasingly complex and interconnected world,” Tones explains. “Music and art have always been ritualised as a tool for memory, knowledge and emotion, and humans make sense of existence by using tools. Songs were tools of understanding, passed down from our ancestors. Now, things are complex and interrelated, so we can’t use that ancestral knowledge, and need to invent new tools – that’s where machine learning comes into it.”
As is typical for Tones’ Throwing Snow project, the album contains a bold and eclectic mix of instruments, from a bodhrán and daf to cello, with their uses rooted in their inherent acoustic properties. Tones also essentially built his own sample pack for the percussion patterns, working with drummer Jack Baker (Bonobo, Kelis, Alice Russell, Planet Battagon) on an intensive two-day session.
Tones is a Houndstooth stalwart, and Dragons is his fourth full-length album on the label, along with a string of 12”s and EPs. His first album was Mosaic in 2014, followed by Embers in 2017, and Loma in 2018. Originally from the North Of England, for the last few years he has worked from The Castle, his studio an hour outside Bristol/Bath, where he can both forage his own food and find the headspace to make music and experiment with modern technology. He is currently recording a new album with his trio Snow Ghosts, and a soundtrack for a Netflix documentary.
Dragons is a new form of inter-disciplinary album, which is neither wholly electronic nor acoustic, sonic or visual, and pulls from an equally diverse range of inspirations, from texts such as Steven Mithin’s The Singing Neanderthals and Margo Neale and Lynn Kell’s Songlines to the 1982 animated film Flight of Dragons. “I’m into putting music back into history,” Tones explains. “I want to make you think about what music is, what its purpose has been. I’m asking about the scientific aspect to folklore and ancient knowledge, and looking at why it’s still useful. This album is a doorway – if you choose to listen like that.”
Squirrel Flower, the moniker of Ella Williams, announces her new album, Planet (i), out June 25th on Polyvinyl, and today offers its lead single and video, “Hurt A Fly.” Planet (i) is the follow-up to 2020’s I Was Born Swimming, which boasted “peaceful, almost-ambient songs as well as heavy, hook-laden rockers” (Rolling Stone). Planet(i) is a world entirely of Williams’ making. The title came first to her as a joke: it’s her made-up name for the new planet people will inevitably settle and destroy after leaving Earth, as well as the universe imagined within her music. The record is a love letter to disaster in every form imaginable – these songs fully embrace a planet in ruin. Buoyed by her steadfast vision and propelled by her burning comet of a voice, Planet (i) is at once a refuge, an act of self-healing, and a musical reflection of Squirrel Flower’s inner and outer worlds.
Williams wrote most of the songs on Planet (i) before the COVID-19 pandemic, but disaster looms large in its DNA. Susceptible to head injuries having played a lot of sports in her youth, Williams received three concussions from 2019-2020. Amidst the chaos of touring internationally during her own healing process, she began weaving threads between her physical and personal sense of ruin and her lifelong fear of the elements: of being swept up by storms, floods, and the deep ocean. “To overcome my fear of disasters,” Williams says, “I had to embody them, to stare them down.” This journey of decay and healing is the lifeblood of Planet (i).
Once quarantine set in, Williams began to produce demos in her room, amassing a collection of more than 30 recordings. Feeling a sense of artistic synchronicity over international phone calls with producer Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius), and with newfound covid antibodies, Williams flew to Bristol, UK in the fall of 2020 to record Planet (i) at Chant’s studio, The Playpen. “We had this shared creative language,” she recalls, “and the recording process was, like my demo process, very sculptural. Instead of recording live with a full band, we built this record layer by layer, experimenting, taking risks.” While Williams and Chant played most of the instruments on the record, Bristol drummer Matt Brown and Portishead’sAdrian Utley also joined their sessions. When Chant suggested the idea of backup vocals, Williams, whose voice had until now stood alone in her songs, enthusiastically enlisted friends and family to join her remotely with their voices and instruments; Tenci’s Jess Shoman, Tomberlin, Katy J. Pearson, Jemima Coulter, Brooke Bentham, and her brothers Nate and Jameson Williams, as well as her father Jesse.
The songs on Planet (i) are Squirrel Flower’s instruments for connection: with the people in her life, her collaborators, audiences, and ancestors; a lineage of artists whose spirits continue to inform her art. At the heart of this record is an insistence on connection and healing in the face of catastrophe. On the explosive lead single “Hurt A Fly,” Williams is a volatile, relentless presence. She takes the persona of a manipulative lover as she lurches from guilt to sorrow to renewed fury, backed by whirring, frenetic guitars. The accompanying video, directed by Ryan Schnackenberg, visualizes this energy, as Williams moves around inside a plastic bubble.
“‘Hurt A Fly’ is me embodying a persona of gaslighting, narcissistic soft-boy type shit,” says Williams. “The classic ‘sorry I acted violently, I’m not mad that you got upset at me, wanna hang out next week?’. I wanted to see what it was like to be a character trying to skirt around accountability. It’s an angry and unhinged song, and for the video I wanted to be inside a bubble writhing around and trying to get out. A stranger filmed me practicing choreography at a public park, submitted it to a meme page making fun of ‘influencers,’ and the video got 1,000,000 views, which in my mind is perfect thematically.” On Planet (i), Squirrel Flower reveals a bright and uncompromising vision, confident in her powers of self-healing and growth. No matter what the disaster ahead of or within her looks like, and no matter how she shape-shifts to meet it, Squirrel Flower will always be a world of her own, a space-rock flying down the road in flames and flat tires.
Planet (i) Tracklist 1. I’ll Go Running 2. Hurt A Fly 3. Deluge In the South 4. Big Beast 5. Roadkill 6. Iowa 146 7. Pass 8. Flames and Flat Tires 9. To Be Forgotten 10. Desert Wildflowers 11. Night 12. Starshine
