Words: Sarah Milligan
The latest single from Scottish indie-folk group Òrain is a soulful, melancholic lullaby, reminiscent of long summers and lost time.
With soothing vocals and the occasional harmony layered over a steadily strummed rhythm, ‘Little Flea’ belongs on a 2008 Twilight soundtrack – its melodies weaving a beautifully tranquil story in ¾ time. Originally titled ‘Mialum’, the Gaelic translation of its name, the band were inspired by the “beautifully strange place names” on the island where it was written.
Their gentle use of both acoustic and electric guitar with the occasional flute melody, intertwined with delicate lyricism, creates phrases filled with subdued melancholia: “And it’s waiting/It’s waiting/It’s waiting for you to adore it/And you’ll try to wake up/But your eyes are tied shut/So you ignore it.”
The band are also contentedly vocal about their musical inspirations – in fact, they write that “[Little Flea] was born from a summer listening to Sylvie, Jessica Pratt, and Neil Young – but instead of Laurel Canyon, we were in the Hebrides”.
Those influences are unequivocally clear within the single; it belongs on the shelves beside Young’s Harvest, nestled somewhere between Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Bon Iver’s For Emma (an alphabetising nightmare for record stores across the country, but an apt comparison all the same).
Òrain have previously released two EPs, plus their most recent single release, ‘Tangerine’, but ‘Little Flea’ takes the folksy, restrained nature of these and transforms it into a reverberant, intricately soft ballad – perhaps their sweetest creation yet.
‘Little Flea’ is available now, and I would strongly suggest streaming – Òrain have truly captured the warm, faded feeling of watching a sunset from a rooftop, still damp from the sea and drying out slowly in the dimming light of the sun.
Rockstars HQ 
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