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.
SLOWDIVE – “ALIFE”
Here’s one last preview of Slowdive’s new album everything is alive that’s out this week. “‘alife’ is one of the first tunes we finished for the record,” says the band’s Neil Halstead. “Shawn Everett did a really nice job with the mix. We tried so many times to figure out a good mix by ourselves and couldn’t do it . . . it sort of had us beaten until Shawn stepped in. We decided if he could handle that one he could probably do the whole record. Our friend Jake Nelson did a really nice animation for this song; it takes some of the imagery from the artwork and digs a little deeper into that.”
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WOODS – “LITTLE BLACK FLOWERS” & “DAY MOVING ON”
Woods new album Perennial is out just a couple weeks and they’ve just shared two more songs from it.
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JORJA SMITH – “FALLING OR FLYING”
Jorja Smith has shared the tracklist for her anticipated sophomore album falling or flying, revealing that it features UK rapper J Hus and Jamaican reggae singer Lila Iké, and she also shared the title track. It’s a soulful song and its clattering percussion keeps you on your toes.
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DYING WISH – “LOST IN THE FALL”
While Dying Wish vocalist Emma Boster recovers from a freak accident involving a hotel shower door, Dying Wish have just shared another beastly offering of melodic metalcore from their upcoming album Symptoms of Survival.
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LIL LOTUS – “MILLIONAIRE” (ft. KENNEDYXOXO)
Lil Lotus drops off a blink-182-infused emo-rap anthem about “people being big fucking crybabies and not being grateful for what they have.”
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AÏSHA DEVI – “IMMORTELLE”
Swiss producer Aïsha Devi has announced a new album, Death Is Home, due November 10 via Houndstooth. The first single is the murky, gothy, electronic pop of “Immortelle.”
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JLIN – “PARADIGM”
Jlin will release Perspective, a mini-album which grew out of her collaboration with Third Coast Percussion, on September 29 via Planet Mu. Two songs are out now, including the just-released “Paradigm.”
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THE CASPER FIGHT SCENE – “WRECK LANES” & “DISCOMFORT INN”
Michigan emo band The Casper Fight Scene have signed to No Sleep, and their new EP Haymaker will come out on September 15 via their new label home. They’ve got a knack for gravelly, Title Fight-esque vocals and mathy, twinkly, Midwest emo riffs, and they do a wonderful job of combining those things on these two new singles.
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JASON HAWK HARRIS – “JORDAN AND THE NILE”
Jason Hawk Harris will release new album Thin Places on October 6 via Bloodshot Records. Of new single “Jordan and the Nile,” Jason says, “The chorus of ‘Jordan and the Nile’ came to me in a random burst of writing in about 10 seconds. The rest of the song took four years, three recording sessions and 12 musicians to complete. During the process, we were interrupted by natural disasters, life-threatening medical emergencies and the first pandemic in 100 years. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud of something I’ve written. I hope it’s not too much. I’m just glad to finally have it out there, and I’m excited for the life it takes on.”
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MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND – “BLACK SHEEP”
Ahead of her tour supporting Wilco, My Brightest Diamond shared a new single, the theatrical “Black Sheep,” and its accompanying video, directed by Derrick Belcham.
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CONNIE LOVATT – “GULL”
Connie Lovatt has been making music for more than 30 years as part of Containe, The Pacific Ocean, Smog and more but Coconut Mirror is her first solo album. “Gull” features Yo La Tengo’s James McNew and Dirty Three drummer Jim White.
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LAEL NEALE – “I’LL BE YOUR STAR”
Lael Neale has followed this year’s great Star Eaters Delight with “I’ll Be Your Star,” which was recorded during the same sessions as the album. She self-directed the video, and says, “Getting to make this video at my beloved elementary school felt like coming full circle. I had my first and only film class there in which I learned the spontaneous and primitive approach to making things that I’m still committed to.”
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DANIEL AVERY – “WALL OF SLEEP” HARVEY MCKAY REMIX
“I’ve been playing Harvey McKay’s music in every single DJ set for a long time – the man has an uncanny ability to shake the walls of any club – so it was a rush to get a message from the man himself saying he’d made a bootleg of ‘Wall of Sleep’,” says Daniel Avery of this remix. “What he turned in is pretty much what you hear today: an incredible club weapon somehow crafted out of a single mp3. This has been a big record for me this summer and I particularly love how it has given a new life to HAAi’s already beautiful vocals. Enjoy x.”
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SUSANNA HOFFS – “I DON’T KNOW WHY” (SHAWN COLVIN COVER)
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles will be releasing a series of “lost” singles, and the first is her cover of Shawn Colvin’s “I Don’t Know Why,” which she recorded in 1999. “When I first heard ‘I Don’t Know Why,’ it moved me deeply,” she says. “I’ve always been drawn to themes of aloneness and the craving for connection as humans. I’d just had my second baby and was experiencing a mix of emotions; intense joy and wonder but also exhaustion and a sense of isolation. At the same time I was reflecting on my life; how did I get here given the madness of the 80s…the constant touring, the anonymous hotel rooms, one after another, flying from city to city—and then suddenly home, with our new baby. I was reflecting on the things that mattered most in life: love and connection, which were so tangible and beautifully rendered in Shawn’s song. And that feeling fueled a desire to record my own version of ‘I Don’t Know Why.’ So I did. Not long after recording this, the Bangles reformed, and the song languished in a box, a lost recording…until now.”
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CUPID & PSYCHE (EX ABE VIGODA) – “SERENITY”
Cupid & Psyche, aka former Abe Vigoda members Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez, have shared a second song from their upcoming debut album. “Serenity” is dark and propulsive before turning into a Vini Reilly-style sun-dappled guitar tapestry.
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GEORGIA GETS BY – “OH LANA”
Georgia Nott of BROODS is releasing her debut EP as Georgie Gets By, Fish Bird Baby Boy, on October 6 via Luminelle Recordings, and the latest single is “Oh Lana,” a dreamy bedroom pop track. “‘Oh Lana’ is about my first queer crush,” Georgia says. “I was probably about eleven and I got into a fight with another kid to defend her honor. I wasn’t sure how to fully express that back then, so this song has, in a way, been my love letter to that little gay version of me.”
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P.E. – “SPLASHH!”
Brooklyn experimentalists P.E. (featuring members of Pill and Eaters) will release NOPE Tapes Vol. 3 on October 6 via Wharf Cat. Sub-bass meets skronky sax on the album’s first single.
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PRODUCTS BAND – “SHELL TEXT”
Minneapolis’ Products Band make the kind of jangly guitar music they called “college rock” in the ’80s and “indie rock” in the ’90s. Their second album, Some Sudden Weather, is out October 20 via Solid Brass Records.
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THE KILLS – “103”
The Kills’ sixth album and first in seven years and will be out October 27 via Domino. This is the feverish new single.
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HELENA DELAND – “BRIGHT GREEN VIBRANT GRAY”
This is the gorgeous new single from Helena Deland’s forthcoming second album.
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PALE SAINTS – “KINKY LOVE” (DEMO)
While the original 1991 studio version of Pale Saints cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Kinky Love” featured Meriel Barham on lead vocals, this demo is sung by band founder Ian Masters. It’s one of the bonus tracks on the upcoming 30th anniversary reissue of In Ribbons.
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JOHN DWYER, KIP MALONE ETC – “MEMORY MIRROR OVERFLOWETH”
OSEES frontman John Dwyer is back with a new improvisational album titled RITUAL/HABIT/CEREMONY that he made with fellow OSEES member Tom Dolas (synths) and TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone (synths), along with Heather Lockie (strings), Brad Caulins (sax), and Andres Renteria (hand drums), and Archis Carey (bassoon). This one is a little different than Bent Arcana and the other improv albums in that there are also vocalists: YoshimiO (Boredoms, OOIOO), Albert Wolski (EXEK), Gracie Jackson (GracieHorse), Ciriza (Artist Extraordinaire), Kyp Malone, former Oh Sees singer Brigid Dawson, and AZITA (Scissor Girls, Bride of NONO).
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AFTERBIRTH – “HOVERING HUMAN HEAD DRONES”
Death metal vets Afterbirth’s new album In But Not Of comes out October 20 via Willowtip, and you can read about its new single here.
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SKAM – “NO NAME”
Skam were a short-lived, early ’80s punk band from just outside of DC in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, and they broke up before ever releasing the recordings that make up No Name, which is finally coming out–40-ish years after it was recorded–on September 29 via Drag City. Two songs are out now, including the just-released title track.
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DURAN DURAN – “DANSE MACABRE”
Duran Duran have a Halloween-inspired new album on the way, and they’ve shared the title track, which you can read more about here.
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TAKING BACK SUNDAY – “S’OLD”
Taking Back Sunday have announced their eighth album and first in seven years, 152, and they shared new single “S’old” with a video filmed at the Long Island backyard house party they played earlier this month. Read more here and pick up our exclusive splatter vinyl variant.
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BEIRUT – “SO MANY PLANS”
Beirut announced a new album, Hadsel, and shared the lead single, which you can read more about here.
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EQUIPMENT – “LO/FO” & “USERNAME”
Ohio emo band Equipment have announced a new album, Alt. Account, and they shared two songs from it. Read about them here.
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MARNIE STERN – “PLAIN SPEAK”
Marnie Stern is back with her first album in a decade, and she’s shared the first single, which you can read more about here.
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SNAG – “ON THE HUMAN CONDITION”
Screamo bands Snag and Coma Regalia are releasing a full-length split LP on 10/6 via Middle-Man Records, and you can read about this contribution from Snag here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.
