Some of the best songs of all time are considered so due to the artist’s emotional vulnerability. Not that every song has to be filled with emotional turmoil to be great, there are a million examples that prove this sentiment wrong. The songs that are created from a place of emotional openness carry the weight of the artist’s truths, no easy task for a few chords and a melody. When the stars align and an artist is able to drench their arrangements with complete vulnerability, it itches a certain part of your brain like nothing else. In terms of Ella Williams, the mastermind behind the melancholic indie rock of Squirrel Flower, not only has she found a formula to take her honesty to the next level, she’s damn-near perfected it. You can hear the echoes of her past releases and her creative ambition collide on Tomorrow’s Fire, the latest Squirrel Flower LP.
Williams’ moving poetry glides over the crunchy textures of Tomorrow’s Fire. Her arrangements are noticeably more full and lively while still keeping the dreary minimalism that made her past releases so intriguing. She was able to find a way to take her spare, folksy sound and elevate it without losing the intimacy. The arrangements on this album take on a slow-burning grunge aesthetic while Williams’s moving poetry feels as palpable as ever, creating a sonic juxtaposition you can’t look away from. Tomorrow’s Fire is a short yet potent display of Willams’ limitless potential while still sounding immediate, switching between stadium-size guitar riffs to gentle weeping.
The emotionally charged, vague poetry that Willams penned for this album receives the perfect amount of edge via the soaring arrangements. The album kicks off with the stirring “I Don’t Use A Trash Can”, a deeply relatable song that showcases Willams’ gorgeous vocals via complex harmonies. These lush textures are quickly switched to chugging, distorted guitars like on the highlights “Stick” and “Canyon”. This sonic back-and-forth is at the core of Tomorrow’s Fire, keeping things fresh throughout the 30-minute runtime while finding constituency through its lyrical content.
The words of the album seemingly do an interpretive dance to these varying tones, breathing new life and humanizing the otherworldly textures. While some of the arrangements may come off as hectic or sparse, Williams’ ever-evolving writing anchors everything down to earth. “When a plant is dying, throws down seeds to grow. I’m not saying I’m dying but I’m throwing seeds for growing” croons the vocalist on “When A Plant is Dying”, an incredibly moving piece that also displays the artist’s writing prowess. Her ability to write such stunning sentiments and deliver them with just the right emotions is a clinic on the use of tone and allows her music to come off as a dark yet unforgettable novella.
If you’re going to listen to one new release this week, make it Squirrel Flower’s Tomorrow’s Fire. Ella Willams crafted a meaningful album that showcases her limitless potential without disregarding the nuances of her artistry that make Squirrel Flower so unique and powerful. The album is brimming with moments of rage that dissolve into fireside confessionals for the perfect balance of hard rock distortion and ambient intimacy.
