Squirrel Flower‘s debut album I Was Born Swimming was one of the most underrated records of 2020, but she’s out to set the record straight with the follow-up, Planet (i), which arrives on June 25 via Polyvinyl / Full Time Hobby. She’s today shared barbed lead single “Hurt A Fly”, saying:
“‘Hurt A Fly’ is me embodying a persona of gaslighting, narcissistic soft-boy type shit. 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.”
The unfriendly persona that Squirrel Flower is portraying is brilliantly bolstered by a gnarlier and more knotted version of the indie-folk styling we heard from her on the debut record. “Hurt A Fly” is not an amenable song – although it makes out to be, with an approachable melody and buoyant rhythm that accentuate Squirrel Flower’s sweet but hollow excuses and apologies; “Took it too far again / Thought that you were my friend? / I just got the wrong idea in the morning.” The true character comes out through Squirrel Flower’s sneering delivery, as well as blasts that hit like exploding mines and wiry guitar like slashes to the face. It’s a cutting song that shows new dimensions to her songwriting, which we’re excited to hear more of on Planet (i).
“Hurt A Fly” also has a video, about which the singer says:
“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.”
Watch the video below or listen to the song on streaming platforms.
Squirrel Flower’s new album Planet (i) arrives on June 25 via Polyvinyl (US) and Full Time Hobby (UK) – pre-order/save. You can find her on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
