Live at Top Note Theatre, by Squirrel Flower

Live at Top Note Theatre

by Squirrel Flower

supported by

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.

$10 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Live at Top Note Theatre via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$12 USD or more
Subscription

Subscribe now to receive all the new music Polyvinyl Records releases, including 10 back-catalog items, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more.

Subscribe Now $10 USD/month or more
limited edition cassette
Cassette + Digital Album
limited edition cassette tape

Includes unlimited streaming of Live at Top Note Theatre via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.

Sold Out

1.	I’ll Go Now (Live) 04:01	buy track
2.	Train (Live) 02:32	buy track
3.	Full Time Job (Live) 02:29	buy track
4.	Not Me feat. Hurray for the Riff Raff (live) 02:44	buy track
5.	Finally Rain (Live) 04:31	buy track
6.	Desert Wildflowers (Live) 03:50	buy track
7.	Deluge in the South (Live) 03:08	buy track
8.	I’ll Go Running (Live) 04:44	buy track
9.	Doors Open feat. Free Range (live) 02:58	buy track
10.	Conditions (Live) 03:10	buy track
11.	Belly Of The City (Live) 04:02	buy track
12.	I Don’t Use a Trash Can (Live) 06:05	buy track

about

Celebrating 10 years of Squirrel Flower, Ella Williams marked the anniversary by revisiting the project's origins with two solo performances in Chicago in February 2025.

Live at Top Note Theatre, released May 23, 2025, is the document of these bewitching performances.

This 12-track live album, recorded in the haunted attic of Chicago's iconic Metro, highlights songs from Squirrel Flower's entire discography, including two previously unreleased songs, and features guest appearances from Hurray For The Riff Raff and Free Range. Showcasing Williams' signature use of space and looped vocal arrangements, these hypnotizing recordings offer a unique look at another side of her music - one that perfectly captures the vastness of the endless prairies and midwestern skies where Squirrel Flower was first formed.

'There is a stillness that falls over a room right before something is about to shift. A flame bends. A train track rumbles. When it comes to Ella Williams’ music, stillness is never a sign of absence. It’s where everything begins. It’s what allows for a thread to be pulled, only so someone else can unravel it. A decade into the world of Squirrel Flower, the 12 tracks on Live at Top Note mark a milestone without quite naming it–but that doesn’t stop it from being felt. Recorded across two sets in the attic of Chicago’s iconic Metro, Ella’s voice drifted up into the rafters, where it settled—soft but certain—waiting for the wind to blow through again. In these songs, there’s never a rush to shed a few layers, or chase a resolution. Instead, Ella allows the same words to ring out again and again—until they rupture, or turn into smoke.

The record isn’t a retrospective or about putting something down. It’s about moving forward with the residue. The kind that sticks to fabric, to skin, to the back of your throat. Melodies have a way of entering carefully, then fully enveloping. Like a storm; like reaching the summit. When Ella sings, her voice doesn’t just fill the space—it rearranges it, finding a way to land in every lap. Looped and layered, tapering at the edges, it slips through dimensions and traces the outline of something holding its breath. The guitar hums beneath like a hand at work—steady, minimal, mending. Here, the door is left open so visitors don’t need to introduce themselves, or say goodbye. They can slip out the back; they can bring company along the next time, and everyone will move closer together to offer them a seat. During these lamp-lit performances, Ella invites friends of the project, Hurray for the Riff Raff and Free Range, to emerge from the shadows and join her on two previously unreleased songs. One by one, they make their way to the stage from the crowd, the floor creaking beneath their feet. As if answering something that has already been calling.

The thing that’s understood when listening to Squirrel Flower is this: We will always make room for what comes up. We will always be asked to surrender to nature. It doesn’t matter how much dust your heart has collected. It doesn’t matter how small you try to make yourself. Presence does not require proof, it requires attention. We’re all swimming in everything that echoes through the room. Not only what the light is catching now, but the hazy memories that start to move out from the corners when they hear us climbing the stairs. Suddenly, just when you thought something was only allowed to show up in your dreams, it finds a way to walk through and sit beside you—not to haunt, but to whisper in your ear: You are newer than before. Because newness doesn’t come from scrubbing, but from letting something be. And what’s heard here—held with quiet reverence—is just the foundation, sturdy enough to hold all that’s to come.'
-Laura Brown

credits

released May 23, 2025

Recorded by Evan Riley
Mixed by Alex Farrar
Mastered by Mike Nolte
Paintings by Clay Frankel
Photos by Ash Dye
Layout by Eli Schimtt

license

subtotal
taxes calculated at checkout

about

Squirrel Flower Chicago, Illinois

ella a.k.a. squirrel flower
witch rock

management: info@lookoutkid.com

north america booking: wilson@highroadtouring.com

uk/eu booking: bas@blackricebooking.com

photo by daniel topete ... more

shows

Sep 23

Grog Shop

Cleveland Heights, OH
Sep 23

Pop Montreal Festival

Montreal, QC
Sep 24

Toronto's West End

Toronto, ON
Sep 25

La Sotterenea

Montreal, QC
Sep 26

Crystal Ballroom, Somerville Theatre

Somerville, MA
Sep 27

The Iron Horse

Northampton, MA
Sep 29

The Rooftop, Elsewhere

Brooklyn, NY
Sep 30

Johnny Brenda's

Philadelphia, PA
Oct 1

Union Stage

Washington, DC
Oct 2

Richmond Music Hall

Richmond, VA
Oct 3

Stanczyk's

Durham, NC
Oct 6

Revival

Asheville, NC
Oct 7

The Earl

East Atlanta, GA
Oct 8

Blue Room, Third Man Records

Nashville, TN
Oct 9

ZANZA BAR

Louisville, KY
Oct 10

Turntable

Indianapolis, IN
Oct 23

Off Broadway

St Louis, MO
Oct 24

White Schoolhouse

Lawrence, KS
Oct 25

George's Majestic Lounge

Fayetteville, AR
Oct 27

Ruins

Dallas, TX
Oct 28

Paper Tiger

San Antonio, TX
Oct 29

White Oak Music Hall

Houston, TX
Oct 30

29th Street Ballroom

Austin, TX
Nov 1

Valley Bar

Phoenix, AZ
Nov 3

Sid The Cat Auditorium

South Pasadena, CA
Nov 4

Ojai Deer Lodge

Ojai, CA
Nov 5

The Chapel

San Francisco, CA
Nov 7

Tractor Tavern

Seattle, WA
Nov 8

The WISE Hall

Vancouver, BC
Nov 9

Wild Child

Olympia, WA
Nov 11

Aladdin Theater

Portland, OR
Nov 12

Neurolux

Boise, ID
Nov 13

Urban Lounge

Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 15

Globe Hall

Denver, CO
Nov 17

Reverb Lounge

Omaha, NE
Nov 18

Fine Line

Minneapolis, MN
Nov 19

Cactus Club

Milwaukee, WI
Nov 20

Thalia Hall

Chicago, IL

contact / help

Contact Squirrel Flower

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Squirrel Flower, you may also like:

Good Guy (feat. Faye Webster)
by Julia Jacklin

supported by 50 fans who also own “Live at Top Note Theatre”
go to album
Everybody Works
by Jay Som

supported by 48 fans who also own “Live at Top Note Theatre”

Trains and trams are superior but hooray for any song about public transport really. Josh Sharp
go to album
Show Me How You Disappear
by IAN SWEET

supported by 46 fans who also own “Live at Top Note Theatre”

Most underrated artist ever, such a well crafted album with amazing vocals and lyrics. I love her work with all my heart :) ross_fan_acc
go to album
Lowcountry
by Prathloons

The Chicago-based art-rock band returns with a record blending the wistful melancholy of slowcore with cathartic emo anthems. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 6, 2026
go to album
Lived Here For A While
by Good Looks

Folky jangle pop on the latest from this Austin group recalls the highest peaks of ’80s college radio. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 17, 2024
go to album
Echo Dancing
by Alejandro Escovedo

The legendary Alejandro Escovedo returns with another country-rock scorcher. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2024
go to album
Live at First Congregational Church
by Palehound

supported by 44 fans who also own “Live at Top Note Theatre”

This album sounds so good and is worth buying for these renditions of already impeccably-crafted songs. Ethan Long
go to album