The Moth & The Flame Release New Single ONLY JUST BEGUN

The Moth & The Flame are proud to share their new single "Only Just Begun", from the forthcoming album Ruthless, out February 1st via Robot Farming/Thirty Tigers. Released today, the song is featured on Spotify's "New Music Friday", "New Noise", and "All New Rock" playlists, and Ones To Watch calls the single "an entrancing explosion of alternative rock", replete with "eerie electronics and demanding percussion, which are drawn together by infectious melodies and pleasant harmonies." The band performs next week at Hi, How Are You Day on January 22nd alongside The Flaming Lips, Doug Martsch, and Yo La Tengo, a benefit to support the Hi, How Are You Day Project to end the stigma around mental health conversations. Then, The Moth & The Flame will celebrate the release of their new album with a home town show at Velour in Provo, UT on February 2nd.

Listen to "Only Just Begun" here

Watch the music video for "The New Great Depression" on YouTube
(Written and directed by Will Kindrick)

Listen to "Beautiful Couch" via YouTube

Pre-Order Ruthless https://ffm.to/ruthless.ODL

Produced by Grammy award winner Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Middle Kids) and Grammy nominated Producer Nate Pyfer (Kaskade), Ruthless follows the Los Angeles by way of Provo, UT band's 2016 release Young & Unafraid, of which NPR Music wrote that in "channeling a pop sound, the group shows its resilience" while maintaining "a wonderful moodiness to the music that always lands right in the sweet spot."

Hailed by The Guardian for achieving "moments of transcendence and transplendence," The Moth & The Flame was poised for the next level, earning acclaim and a swiftly increasing audience with their distinctive approach towards skyscraping, emotive alternative rock. But when a friend's life was in danger, the Provo, UT-by-way-of-Los Angeles-based band put everything to one side and helped resolve a potential tragedy. Now, with their long-awaited new LP, Ruthless, The Moth & The Flame deliver on their promise with a song cycle that casts a sonic light on depression and anxiety with their own distinctive, defiantly humanist sound.

Brandon Robbins (vocals, guitar), Mark Garbett (keyboards/vocals), and Andrew Tolman (drums) came together as The Moth & The Flame in 2011 and quickly earned a fervent fan following and worldwide applause for their heady brand of lush, atmospheric indie. 2016's YOUNG & UNAFRAID followed a series of increasingly well-received EPs and indeed proved their breakthrough, spawning a top 40 Alternative hit single in the LP's title track.

Though the band's future burned bright, Ruthless almost never came to be. A series of unimaginable events proved a crucible for The Moth & The Flame, an experience that saw Robbins make a decision that would change his life - and the band's - forever. In 2016, Corey Fox, founder of Provo's influential all-ages venue, Velour, was told by doctors that the kidney disease he had been diagnosed with as a teen was progressing rapidly and that he should make a public plea for a living donor. Robbins visited medical facilities while touring with The Moth & The Flame and found he was a perfect match. So, on December 20, 2016, Fox and Robbins underwent kidney transplant surgery. The surgery was a success.

Close to two years later, both friends are feeling at the top of their game. The transplant surgery led to a number of drastic changes in Robbins' life, both internally - becoming more aware of his health and diet - and externally, connecting him with Fox and the transplant community.

Needless to say, Robbins' surgery also presented massive consequences for The Moth & The Flame. The band was wrapping up its biggest tour to date, poised to begin work on their next recording, when Robbins made his decision to do the transplant. "It completely transformed every aspect of the band," Robbins says. "I have a huge and profound respect for Mark and Andrew, for their patience and essentially their willingness to let me do this knowing it would lead to such a long break for the band."

When The Moth & The Flame resumed songwriting sessions, they revisited notes and ideas accumulated over the past year and a half, moving forward whenever they found a joint connection. They then headed to producer Peter Katis' residential Tarquin Studio in Bridgeport, CT where they crafted a detailed sound world that fit the scale and scope of the stories they hoped to tell, melding electronics with live instruments, to give it breath and a distinct, defiant human touch.

"It's very basic, really," Robbins says. Piano and acoustic - it's hard to get more basic than that. We started from there and then added in what we felt was needed, like bass guitar and analog synths, to get these very rich, dark, brooding movie sounds that matched with the soundscape we were trying to build." Songs like "Red Rising" and "Beautiful Couch" see Robbins using his craft to examine the effects of depression and anxiety, issues he himself has grappled with. "What we wanted to show people was the journey through anxiety and depression," he says, "not just the lows but the highs as well."

Stronger, and full of renewed inspiration, The Moth & The Flame are back and ready to continue their journey as a band. "Having a friend come so close to losing his life made me realize that life is short and you need to be honest with people," Brandon Robbins says. "And from that, I gained this confidence in myself - no one is perfect but I'm going to at least be comfortable talking about my issues because I know that other people are struggling and the connection that you build with people when you struggle together is unbelievable."

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