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.
SEXYY RED – “NO PANTIES”
Sexyy Red has shared a characteristically boisterous song from the soundtrack to the second season of Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t.
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PACKS – “HONEY”
Doing two albums within a year is not just for Robert Pollard and King Gizzard anymore. Here’s Toronto’s PACKS who will release Melt the Honey on January 19 via Fire Talk, which is just 10 months after this year’s Crispy Crunchy Nothing. “I wrote this song while I was living in a tiny beach town in Chile, nestled between two hills,” says the band’s Madeline Link of the album’s first single. “They don’t have maple syrup down there so we’d have honey instead. To keep the honey from burning you have to melt it a special way! As this developed into a habit, I think I was struck by how cute it was.”
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DANESHEVSKAYA – “CHALLENGER DEEP”
After releasing her debut single, “Somewhere In The Middle,” in June on Winspear, Daneshevskaya has announced her debut EP, Long is The Tunnel, due out on November 10 via Winspear. The latest single is the gentle, intimate “Challenger Deep.” “There’s a story I read to the kids that I work with about how, when you say goodbye to someone, there’s an invisible string that connects you,” she says. “My version of that is seeing someone at the end. Even if it is pretend, it’s a nice idea.”
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LA FORCE – “XO SKELETON”
Ariel Engle returns with new La Force album, XO Skeleton, this week and as a teaser here’s the dark, brooding title track. “’xo skeleton,’ the song – is the overarching theme of the record,” says Engle. “It’s an image I’d love as protection. A carapace that keeps the goo inside. This protection is in love, kisses, and hugs. It’s what bolsters us in life. The love is an invisible shroud that we adorn others in and are adorned in. It’s a reminder that within us are skeletons. Symbols of death and yet the architecture that animated us while we are alive. It’s a song about the inevitability of death as both a motivator to love fully and at times disincentivizing Force – why bother if I’m going to die versus I must do so much while I’m still alive.”
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L’RAIN – “R(EMOTE)”
L’Rain has given us a third early taste of her new album I Killed Your Dog with “r(EMOTE).” “I’m wondering how long it takes to forget someone you’re close to,” she says. “This theme is present throughout the album as I reflect on living through moments of heartbreak, not just romantic, but the dissolution of friendships and other close relationships. As always in the world of L’Rain, the specifics are hidden from public view but I leave listeners with a lot of big feelings and an invitation to examine their own life experiences through my particular lens.”
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HELENA DELAND – “STRAWBERRY MOON”
Helena Deland says “Strawberry Moon” was written “during an annual vacation at a beloved friend’s cottage by the lake, where strawberries are known as ‘heart berries’ in the Anishinaabe tradition, ‘Strawberry Moon’ is sleepless and peaceful,” adding, “I was clear minded, able to welcome both the eagerness and weariness brought forth by the love story unfolding at a distance. These sentiments infuse ordinary nights with the colors of fate. Every year of our lives has taken us to where we are. We’re not just witnesses to this moment; we’re an integral part of a world where strawberries bloom every year. New album Goodnight Summerland is out October 13.
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MALI VELASQUEZ – “MEDICINE”
Mali Velasquez’s debut album “I’m Green” is out in October, and she’s given us another early taste with “Medicine,” a grungy, emotive folk track. “Medicine was an extremely cathartic song to write,” she says. “It’s about overextending myself without regarding any consequences of smothering or overwhelming the person and feeling guilty for doing it. It’s also about a lot of imbalances in relationships that are everywhere and ingrained in us socially.”
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JOE JACKSON – “HEALTH & SAFETY”
Joe Jackson’s new album What A Racket! is a tribute to early 20th-century English Music Hall artist Max Champion, with the “Steppin’ Out” singer reworking 11 of his songs.
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DEBBY FRIDAY – “LET U IN”
After winning the 2023 Polaris Music Prize for this year’s GOOD LUCK, DEBBY FRIDAY has shared an airy new single, “let u in,” which she co-produced with Darcy Baylis.
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CUPID & PSYCHE (EX ABE VIGODA) – “SPIRIT”
Cupid & Psyche, the new band featuring former Abe Vigoda members Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez, will release their excellent debut, Romantic Music, in a couple weeks. Here’s the third single and its video which gets into the spirit. “The video was inspired by my grandmother’s nativity set- a miniature village with various religious and pastoral scenes,” says Vidal. “I used some of those same figurines to stage dioramas that portray innocence, terror, and the mystical aspects of Catholicism.”
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KC RAE – “PARKING LOT”
KC Dalager of Now, Now announced her debut solo album as KC Rae, Think I’m Gonna Die, due out on November 10. About new single “Parking Lot,” she says it’s “about the feeling of being held captive by someone else’s rage. Then the song concludes with the realization that I can take my power back. I’m becoming cognizant of a greater process in motion, that we are always going to land where we were meant to land, and for me, that tends to be back where I started, but with a new and deeper awareness.”
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DYING WISH – “PATH TO YOUR GRAVE”
Melodic metalcore band Dying Wish have shared another great taste of their anticipated LP Symptoms of Survival.
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RAIA WAS – “PLAYING GOD AGAIN”
“A song about staying outside your own life for the sake of control,” Raia Was says of the latest single off her sophomore album Captain Obvious. “Hypervigilance and outsized conviction in ritual, superstition, in the face of the unknown. The pandemic wrought in me a particular sickness for ‘playing god,’ believing I knew what could keep me and my loved ones safe. When really all it did was narrow my experience of life to tunnel vision, devoid of joy and pleasure of living. I built this track off the grid and as a result the tempo pushes and pulls and, to me, creates a kind of disruption of order and control before the beat finally drops, unveiling the long final chorus and refrain ‘here I go playing god again’ churning with the repetitive euphoria and catharsis of a club remix.”
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AMOR MUERE – “LA”
Experimental, Mexico City-based collective Amor Muere (Mabe Fratti, Gibrana Cervantes, Concepción Huerta, and Camille Mandoki) have shared the second taste of their upcoming album A time to love, a time to die.
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PARANNOUL – “YOUR PLACE”
Having released the excellent After the Magic on Topshelf earlier this year, mysterious Korean artist Parannoul has now shared the gorgeous “Your Place,” which was previously only available as a vinyl-only bonus track.
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TEENAGE HALLOWEEN – “ARMAGEDDON NOW”
NJ melodic punks Teenage Halloween sound as explosive as ever on the latest taste of their anticipated sophomore album Till You Return.
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MALICE K – “PHD”
Brooklyn-based musician and songwriter Malice K signed to Jagjaguwar and shared his first single for the lable, the grungy “PHD,” which was co-produced by Strange Ranger’s Issac Eiger.
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TAKING BACK SUNDAY – “AMPHETAMINE SMILES”
Taking Back Sunday employ acoustic guitars and strings for the power ballad “Amphetamine Smiles,” and they headed to Montauk for its video, which picks up where the storyline of the other 152 videos left off. Pick up the album on exclusive splatter vinyl.
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TRIPPER – “PRESSED”
Baltimore hardcore band Tripper will release their debut EP People Die Every Day on November 3, and first single “Pressed” is some pretty rippin’, impassioned stuff.
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MONALEO – “CRYING ON YOUR BIRTHDAY”
Houston rapper Monaleo shows off a slower, more ominous side on “Crying On Your Birthday.”
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SUM 41 – “LANDMINES”
Sum 41’s new single induces nostalgia for their classic early 2000s pop punk era, with a few modern twists.
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SWEET PILL – “STARCHILD”
Sweet Pill have just signed to Hopeless Records and they’ve released “Starchild,” the new song they’ve been playing on tour with The Wonder Years. Read more about it here.
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ANXIOUS – “DOWN, DOWN”
Anxious have also been playing a new song on tour with The Wonder Years, and that’s out today too. Read about it here.
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HONESTY – “U&I” AND “TUNE IN TUNE OUT”
Leeds collective Honesty have signed to Partisan and released their first music for the label with these two songs that are atmospheric, jazzy, compelling, and just out of reach.
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MARIA BC – “STILL”
“I wrote the piano part for this track when I was 16 and never forgot it,” says Maria BC. “The original song I wrote then was awful, but in the years since, I’ve wanted to resuscitate the piano riff for something, to write a new melody on top of it. I thought it might be healing in some way, since I struggle to feel compassion for my past self/selves and in fact often find myself wishing I could mindwipe anybody who ever knew me – a clean slate! Would if I could, but I can’t. So, how to move on? A lot of trial and error, then I found the melody for “Still” and these lyrics came out that seemed to describe the process of writing the music, these lyrics addressed to my childhood self, like, “I haven’t forgotten you. You’re still with me.” New album Spike Field is out October 20 via Sacred Bones.
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LALA LALA – “HIT ME WHERE IT HURTS”
Lillie West is back with this new Lala Lala single that she says is “about destruction and impatience. I wanted the song to sound blown out and desperate.”
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RUSTBELT (JUICEBOXXX) – “YOU GOT NOWHERE TO GO BUT YOU’RE GOING THERE TONIGHT”
Juiceboxxx’s John Chiaverina will release his new EP, You Got Nowhere To Go But You’re Going There Tonight, on January 19 via Dangerbird. Here’s the title track. “With Rustbelt, I’m trying to give myself room to move outside of my narrative a tiny bit,” Chiaverina says. “These songs are like alternate timelines for myself.”
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AVA MIRZADEGAN – “BOOK SONG”
Philly singer-songwriter Ava Mirzadegan will release debut album Dark Dark Blue on November 3 via Team Love. The delicate “Book Song” is the first single. “The original concept for ‘Book Song’ came during the early weeks of lockdown,” says Ava. “My friend Michael Cormier-O’Leary had suggested that we start a project taking inspiration from the band Powerdove, with me writing the songs and us building them out virtually. I began writing about the book staring back at me from my bedside table as an attempt to write something objective and non-personal enough to share with a collaborator. It was only after that I realized I was writing about the desire to end a romantic relationship. I was still carrying it around with me until we were both ready to move on with as little hurt as possible. It’s both a realization and an apology wrapped into one.”
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SPIRITUAL CRAMP – “HERBERTS ON HOLIDAY”
San Francisco band Spiritual Cramp will release their self-titled debut album on November 3 and they’ve just offered up a new single. “Herberts on Holiday” is very 2003, sounding a bit like a Interpol / Strokes mashup.
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RACETRAITOR – “EID”
Racetraitor have announced a new album, Creation and the Timeless Order of Things, and shared lead single “Eid.” Read more here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive
