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.
RIHANNA – “FRIEND OF MINE”
Rihanna has released her first song in three years, and it’s for the Smurfs soundtrack. It’s also a clubby, Afrobeats-laced track that finds her in great form.
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KESHA – “BOY CRAZY”
Kesha has shared the bubblegummy, dancefloor-ready “Boy Crazy,” the latest taste of her upcoming album (PERIOD).
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PORTRAITS OF PAST – “FOR WANT OF” (RITES OF SPRING COVER)
Screamo pioneers Portraits of Past are back for a reunion tour this year, and they also just released a cover of Rites of Spring’s classic “For Want Of” that they say they’ll be playing on tour. “Rites Of Spring inspired us as kids through till today, and it was quite an experience doing our rendition of this classic track,” the band wrote.
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US3 – “WHAT HAVE WE DONE?”
Us3, the jazzy British hip hop collective that gave us the early-’90s hit “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia),” are back after an 11-year abscence with new album Soundtrack that will be out in late summer. The first taste of this is instrumental “What Have We Done?” Says founding member Geoff Wilkinson, “I’ve always been something of an environmentalist—I have a degree in Geography—and I despair at how nature has so often been sacrificed to the forces of industrialization and post-industrialization. ‘What Have We Done?’ is about that. We’ve poisoned our world in the name of progress. Only time will tell how critical that damage is.”
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TRY & HARDER (KLAUS JOHANN GROBE) – “ENVELOPES”
Basel, Switzerland’s Try & Harder is the new duo of Sevi Landolt (Klaus Johann Grobe) and Nicolas Büttiker (Delorian Cloud Fire, Amuse Bouche) and if you’re familiar with their other groups you will probably not be surprised that they make dreamy and very groovy pop. Sevi brings the killer basslines, while Nicolas brings his vibraphone. They’ve just released their debut EP.
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DRAYTON FARLEY – “CARVING OF A DOVE”
Alt-country singer Drayton Farley has shared a second new single, “Carving of a Dove.”
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JADE BIRD – “AVALANCHE”
Jade Bird’s new album Who Wants to Talk About Love arrives in July, and about new single “Avalanche,” she says, “At my lowest, I wrote this song. It was about feeling so suffocated that you can’t see a way out or a light. In the bridge, I let that light in.”
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CHE NOIR – “WHO’S THE GREATEST?” (ft. ELZHI)
Buffalo boom bap revivalist Che Noir has announced a new album, The Color Chocolate 2, due June 20 via Perfect Time Music Group. Here’s new single “Who’s The Greatest?” ft. Elzhi.
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VANDOLIERS – “YOUR PICTURE”
The second single from Texas country-punks Vandoliers’ upcoming album Life Behind Bars is a sentimental, heart-wrenching ballad about “the longing for someone you love, the ache of wishing they were right there beside you.”
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JESSE DRAXLER & TRACE AMOUNT – “HIGH OFF THE GLASS”
Jesse Draxler and Trace Amount have teamed up for a noisy, caustic industrial track.
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HEDONIST – “EXECUTION WHEEL”
Canadian death metallers Hedonist will follow up their debut demo Sepulchral Lacerations with their first full-length album, Scapulimancy, on August 1 via Southern Lord. Here’s the brutal lead single.
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MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE – “HELENA” (LIVE FOR BBC RADIO 1’S “THE LOCK UP,” 2005)
My Chemical Romance have shared a 2005 BBC Radio 1 session live recording of “Helena” from the upcoming Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge deluxe reissue.
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BOLDY JAMES & YOUR BOY POSCA – “NANCY BOTWIN”
Detroit rapper Boldy James continues his ridiculously prolific year with a new EP produced by Your Boy posca, Magnolia Leflore, due next week (5/23) via Near Mint. Here’s a taste.
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PYGMY LUSH – “FEBRUARY SONG”
pg.99 offshoot Pygmy Lush have announced the release of Totem, a “lost” album recorded in 2016. Read more about the album and its lead single here.
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THE BLACK KEYS – “NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS”
Here’s the title track from The Black Keys’ 13th album and it’s pretty far away from the soulful garage rock beginnings.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.