So many artists, so many songs, so little time. Each week we review a handful of new albums (of all genres), round up even more new music that we’d call “indie,” and talk about what metal is coming out. We post music news, track premieres, and more all day. We update a playlist weekly of some of our current favorite tracks. Here’s a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place.
RANDOM HAND – “THE CYCLE”
UK ska-punk vets Random Hand have shared the second taste of their their first album in eight years, which is self-titled, and it’s another ripper. “Lyrically, ‘The Cycle’ is inspired by the instability of the world we live in,” says singer Robin Leitch. “There seems to be something of an epidemic in recent years in regard to how secure we feel our environment is. One minute everyone seems to be getting on, and the idea of empathy is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, and then at the drop of the hat we revert to dog eat dog, just like that.”
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THE SLEEPING – “HALCYON”
Long Island emo vets The Sleeping will release their first album in 13 years, I Feel Like I’m Becoming A Ghost, this Friday (8/18). Ahead of its release, here’s new single “Halcyon.” They were also added as an opener to some of Sunny Day Real Estate’s upcoming shows, and they play a headlining NYC show on Thursday (8/17) at Bowery Ballroom. More info here.
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GLEN HANSARD – “SURE AS THE RAIN”
“Sure As The Rain” is a swaying, spare waltz from Glen Hansard’s new album All That Was East Is West Of Me Now, featuring Via Mardot on theremin. “It’s a song about finally being happy in the place you’re in, despite the wild instincts and longings to run to the next bright and shining thing,” he says. “A declaration of each other, as independent spirits who’ve chosen to conjoin and bring new life into our world. In short, it’s a love song. A song that recognizes the natural in each other, the love that’s growing wild and the pram in the hallway as a symbol of that grand adventure.”
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CHERRY GLAZERR – “READY FOR YOU”
“‘Ready For You’ is about being so ashamed of yourself that you can’t look people in the eye, and it’s also about pushing people away because of being scared of hurting them with your own bullshit,” Cherry Glazerr’s Clementine Creevy says. “Sometimes I feel scared about infecting people with my own troubles, and I just want to hide because then I can save them from myself. This song helps me move through it and confront those feelings of inadequacy, I hope it does that for other people too.” It’s from her new album I Don’t Want You Anymore.
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MAURA WEAVER – “SUNSHINE”
Maura Weaver (of Mixtapes, Ogikubo Station, The Homeless Gospel Choir, and Direct Hit!) has shared another taste of her upcoming solo debut I Was Due For A Heartbreak. This one’s a very gentle acoustic song, and it’s great.
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MAPLE GLIDER – “YOU’RE GONNA BE A DADDY” & “YOU AT THE TOP OF THE DRIVEWAY”
“I wrote these songs together as part one and two when I found out I was going to be an aunty for the first time,” Maple Glider says of the two tender folk songs that are the latest singles off her new album I Get Into Trouble. “I experienced an urgent feeling of wanting to be near her, and I imagined all the things we’d be able to do together, in the same places where my brother and I grew up. I was having all sorts of considerations about my place in the world and what I am doing here, and I was searching for the things / people that hold importance to me.”
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MOUNTAIN CALLER – “THE ARCHIVIST”
Mountain Caller make instrumental metal that’s kind of in the vein of Pelican, and their latest single is the towering track “The Archivist.”
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SVALBARD – “HOW TO SWIM DOWN”
The latest single from Svalbard’s new album The Weight Of The Mask has a melancholy beauty with vocalist and guitarist Serena Cherry’s clean-sung vocals over a building palette of heavy post-rock. “Musically, ‘How To Swim Down’ saw us dive into unchartered waters with Liam adding many layers of mournful violin parts onto the track,” Serena says. “Finally, violins – for the first time in Svalbard history! It feels so exciting to have new instruments on a song. Another first is that ‘How To Swim Down’ features only clean vocals, no screams. I wanted the vocal delivery of these lyrics to feel as though I’m whispering a secret to someone whilst they’re sleeping. My vocals here represent that lonely type of communication, singing to yourself in an empty house. It’s a private, selfless love song, where only the listener knows of my heartache.”
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CORINNE BAILEY RAE – “PEACH VELVET SKY”
“‘Peach Velvet Sky’ is about the fragments of sunset Harriet Jacobs saw, through the tiny loophole she made, and its ultimate width and wonder when she finally found freedom,” says singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae. This is from her first album in seven years, Black Rainbows, that’s out on September 15 via Thirty Tigers.
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YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES – “SYNCHRONIZE YR WATCHES” (THE BARGE SESSION)
Pittsburgh emo band Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes released their debut album Not Once, Not Never in 2016 via Broken World, and went on hiatus not long after, but they’ve remained influential–Home Is Where recently named a song after them. This year, they released their first album in seven years, Supertinyinfinitedans, on Really Rad Records, and now they’ve shared an acoustic performance video for one of its songs.
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PROPER. – “POTENTIAL”
Brooklyn’s Proper. have announced a new EP, Part-Timer, due September 8 via Father/Daughter. The first single is the climactic indie-punk of “Potential.”
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BAD HISTORY MONTH – “GOD IS LUCK”
Bad History Month will release new album God Is Luck on September 29 via Exploding In Sound, and they’ve shared the soaring, psychedelic title track.
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OPTIC SINK – “MODELESQUE”
Memphis band Optic Sink, which includes members of NOTS, will release their new album Glass Blocks on September 8 via Feel It Records, the label that released both Sweeping Promises albums. Opening cut “Modelesque” is appealingtly detached synthpop, not too far from Chicks on Speed.
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DIVINE HORSEMEN (CHRIS D) – “BITTER END”
Divine Horsemen, Chris D’s post-Flesheaters band with Julie Christensen and Peter Andrus, have announced new album Bitter End of a Sweet Night that will be out October 22 and features X drummer DJ Bonebreak and Green On Red and Dream Syndicate keyboardist Chris Cacavas. “Bitter End” is an alluring slice of Americana gothic.
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BONNACONS OF DOOM – “FACING”
UK prog synth-rock collective Bonnacons of Doom will release new album Signs on October 27 via Rocket Recordings (home of Sweden’s Goat). First single “Facing” is ominous stuff, with bandleader Kate Smith saying it’s “about having to fight for everything. Standing when there are multiple obstacles in the way.”
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RUSSELL LOUDER – “GOING UNDER”
Montreal’s Russell Louder will release new album Fair-weather on September 29 via Lisbon Lux. Russell says the album explores “the many conditions that comprise patience, support, and compassion when circumstances take a downturn, looking inward to examine the universal and all-too-familiar realization of desiring what’s deserved but that isn’t offered, and surrendering in order to rebuild.” Listen to the moody, atmospheric “Going Under.”
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AXIS: SOVA – “PERSUASION”
“Persuasion” is a little different than the other songs off of Axis:Sova’s upcoming Blinded By Oblivion. Brett Sova says the song began as ab “instrumental passage relying on it’s 7/8 time signature and repetition to build tension with no resolve,” adding they “eventually developed an austere verse/chorus to offset the riff, putting emphasis on vocal harmony to play with the song’s natural tension. When Josh (Johannpeter) joined the band soon after, he built percussive scaffolding around the simple drum machine pattern to help push and sustain its tension through to the end, where we tried to create an epic call and response between vocals and guitar, taking musical cues from our memory of records like Low and The Idiot. The wired instrumental passages influenced the song’s lyrical themes, which explore the art of manipulation and how it’s practiced by people and on platforms that frequently escape culpability, a complicated game that can easily subvert one’s perception of reality.” Blinded by Oblivion is out October 6 via Ty Segall’s God? imprint on Drag City.
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BETH GIBBONS (PORTISHEAD) & THE MIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS – “ATMOSPHERE/HEROES” (JOY DIVISION & BOWIE COVER)
Portishead‘s Beth Gibbons has teamed up with Afghanistan’s the Miraculous Love Kids to cover Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” and David Bowie’s “Heroes.” They meld the two songs into one another for an original take on both which was made to “mark two years since the Taliban took the reigns of power in Afghanistan on August 15 2021.” Learn more here.
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UPCHUCK – “FREAKY”
Atlanta punks Upchuck have announced a new album, Bite the Hand That Feeds, which will be out October 13 via Famous Class. The album was recorded and produced by Ty Segall at his Harmonizer Studio. The video for “Freaky” pays homage to Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.
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HEATMISER (ELLIOTT SMITH) – “LOWLIFE”
Rare and previously unreleased recordings from Heatmiser — Elliott Smith‘s ’90s band with Neil Gust, Tony Lash, and Brandt Peterson — have been collected for a new compilation, The Music of Heatmiser, that will be out October 6 via Third Man. It features the six songs from their 1992 self-released The Music of Heatmiser cassette, their 1993 Stray 7″, plus demos, live cuts, radio sessions, alternate versions and never-before-released tracks.
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MARGARET GLASPY – “GET BACK”
“The process of writing ‘Get Back’ helped lift me out of a dark time in life,” Margaret Glaspy says of this song. “Now, when I play it live, it seems to re-enact some kind of deep compassion and joy that I’m so grateful for. It is the most fun I’ve ever had on stage.” This is from her new album Echo the Diamond that’s out this week.
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FIEVEL IS GLAUQUE – “I’M SCANNING THINGS I CAN’T SEE” / “DARK DANCING”
Avant-garde international group Fievel Is Glaque, who you may have seen open for Stereolab last year, have signed to Fat Possum and released double single “I’m Scanning Things I Can’t See” / “Dark Dancing” today, marking their label debut.
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AWAKEBUTSTILLINBED – “AIRPORT” & “REDLIGHT”
San Jose emo band awakebutstillinbed have finally announced their sophomore album, which will be their first LP in nearly six years, and they’ve shared two songs from it. Read about them here.
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SUBSONIC EYE – “J-O-B”
Singapore’s Subsonic Eye are gearing up to release their first full-length for Topshelf (and fourth overall), and you can read about new single “J-O-B” here.
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SUN JUNE – “GET ENOUGH”
The dreamy, kaledioscope “Get Enough” is the lead single off Sun June’s new album Bad Dream Jaguar. Read more about it here.
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THE MENZINGERS – “HOPE IS A DANGEROUS LITTLE THING”
The Menzingers have announced a new album, Some Of It Was True, and they’ve shared new single “Hope Is A Dangerous Little Thing.” Read about it here.
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JENN CHAMPION – “FAMOUS”
The onetime Carissa’s Wierd member announced a new solo album, The Last Night of Sadness, and shared “Famous,” the first single, which you can read more about here.
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PURE BATHING CULTURE – “THE MEMENTO”
Pure Bathing Culture announced a new album, Chalice, and shared the lead single, which you can read more about here.
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FUTURE ISLANDS – “DEEP IN THE NIGHT”
Samuel T. Herring’s voice shines on Future Island’s new standalone single “Deep In The Night,” the band’s first release of the year. Read more about it here.
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KOYO – “DO YOU STILL HATE ME?” (JAWBREAKER COVER), THE CHISEL – “SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT (FOR FIGHTING)” (ELTON JOHN COVER), & PRINCE DADDY & THE HYENA – “YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE” (NEW RADICALS COVER)
Three more songs are out from Pure Noise Records and Pabst Blue Ribbon’s upcoming covers comp, and you can read about them here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.
