Squirrel Flower is a singer-songwriter with fierce intensity and a great sense of humour. We meet her for this week's Internet Crush.

There’s an understated power in the music of Ella Williams aka Squirrel Flower. A singer-songwriter in the vein of Angel Olsen and Mitski, on paper her music is all strung out chords and brooding vocals but in practice, it’s so much more. Loaded with tension, every song Williams releases feels like it could explode at any moment, like her slow drawl could grow into a roar and her fuzzy guitars would shatter your eardrums if you so much as looked at it wrong. They never do. Instead, she lets their tension grow, relieving it only in the subtlest changes of tone.

 

The result is a sound that keeps the listener on the edge of their seat, compelled to listen closely to even the distorted fuzz of the background for any clues about when the intensity will break. Earlier this she self-released her second EP Contact Sports and she’s already supported the likes of Moses Sumney, Frankie Cosmos and Big Thief on tour, so we thought we’d get to know a little more about her for this week’s Internet Crush.

Do you remember your dreams? Tell us about a recent dream you’ve had.

I remember most of my dreams vividly. Often my dreams are so vivid I get them confused for real memories, which can be challenging… One time I had a dream my younger brother ate his best friend’s pancreas.

Have you ever committed a crime? 

I went 90mph in a 65 zone in the new Honda Civic model that looks like a Maserati (I call it the Hondarazzi).

What is the closest you’ve ever come to death?

Going into anaphylactic shock on the highway 20 minutes from the nearest hospital.

Describe your sound in three words…

Light, slow, burn.

What’s your star sign?

Leo sun (Cancer Moon, Scorpio Rising, Cancer Venus, Cancer mars) I’m mad into astrology. I’m dating a Cancer. All my signs fit me perfectly. Happy Leo season!!

When was the first time you had your heart broken? 

At my 7th grade dance. A cute boy asked me to slow dance. We were gazing into each others’ eyes. He leaned in and whispered softly to me, “your Dad is the man.”

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Robert Plant. My first ever CD was a Led Zeppelin compilation. I was 8 years old, I remember crying during the Jimmy Page solo on “Good Times Bad Times” and kissing all the pictures of Robert Plant in the CD booklet.

What was the first song you ever wrote?

I pretty much have been writing songs from day 1. There are poems of mine all around my parents’ house that I wrote as a 5-year-old and would turn into songs. Most of them were about peace and love (lol).

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? 

Breathe (cheesy but true, you gotta).

How was high school?

High school was sick. I went to a progressive high school in the woods outside of Boston. Played a lot of music, made a lot of art, read and wrote an absurd amount, definitely smoked weed out of an apple-pipe during lunch a couple times.

Is sex important to you?

“Sex” can be galaxies of different things.

What’s the biggest problem facing humans as a species? 

Water, neo-apartheid.

Describe your own personal idea of hell.

Fake nacho cheese sauce dripping down an escalator in a massive mall, 100 huge centipedes follow suit.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Crunching numbers on a Good Will Hunting level. I love math.

When was the last time you cried and why? 

Last night, out of happiness.

Where/What will you be doing at the end of the world? 

Drinking grapefruit juice and tequila and boogying with my loved ones.