Squirrel Flower Confronts Artistic Pressure on ‘I’ll Go Running’

Ella Williams, a.k.a. Squirrel Flower, has revealed “I’ll Go Running,” the opening track to her upcoming album Planet (i).

Williams opens the single with delicate vocals and subtle instrumentation, but it slowly builds to a climax as she announces, “I’ll be newer than before/I’ll be something that you’ve never seen.”

“’I’ll Go Running’ is about the darker side of being an artist — the pressure to make things brand new, shocking, to give everything away and open yourself completely without always getting intentional listening and consumption in return,” Williams said in a statement. “To be vulnerable to a knife. To be fresh, new, to give it all away. But it’s powerful to offer yourself and your art without fear, which is what I try to do with this album. That’s why this is the opening track.”

“I’ll Go Running” follows the lead single “Hurt a Fly,” released last month. Planet (i), Williams’ second record, arrives on June 25th via Polyvinyl Records. Her 2020 debut, I Was Born Swimming, earned her a spot as a Rolling Stone Artist You Need to Know.

Williams will hit the road this fall opening for Soccer Mommy. The trek kicks off in Atlanta, Georgia in September — with stops along the East Coast — before wrapping up in Nashville, Tennessee on October 1st. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Squirrel Flower Tour Dates

9/15 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
9/16 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
9/17 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
9/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
9/19 – DC @ 9:30 Club
9/21 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
9/22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
9/23 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
9/25 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre
9/26 – Toronto, ONT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
9/28 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
9/29 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/1 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom