Since releasing her debut album, I Was Born Swimming, in 2019, Squirrel Flower’s creative force, Ella Williams, has been on an unwavering upward trajectory, perfecting her craft of creating songs rooted in emotional devastation and exhilarating command. She’s been featured as an “Artist to Watch” on Rolling Stone, included on Stereogum’s “40 Best New Bands of 2020” list, and has been covered in countless outlets such as Pitchfork, The Guardian, FADER, and others. On her sophomore album, Planet (i), Williams was buoyed by her steadfast vision and propelled by her burning comet of a voice - the record is a love letter to disaster in every form imaginable.
On self-produced Planet EP, Williams’ hauntingly beautiful voice remains at the forefront, with instrumentation that’s both layered and minimal - acoustic guitar, twinkling piano, synth, and the ambient sounds of the city overheard in the background while Williams was recording. On her cover of Björk’s Homogenic standout, “unravel,” Williams highlights the iconic vocal melody in a blanket of reverb and fuzz, while “ruby at dawn” (originally recorded during the Planet (i) sessions) features a steady organ progression that eventually opens up with a sparse drum beat intertwined with glimmering effects that compliment the lyrics. This 7-song EP is an intimate look at what makes Williams one of the strongest and most prolific songwriters of the new decade.
