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.
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS – “BALLAD OF THE LAST PAYPHONE”
Earlier this year, The New Pornographers released a 7″ via AC Newman’s Substack. “This song was inspired by a Raymond Carver story called ‘Fat,” Newman says, “and tells the story of a person visiting the last payphone in NYC where it currently sits, in the Museum of the City of New York. The narrator doesn’t know why they are so fascinated by it, but to us it should be obvious. Obvious to me, at least.” The dreamy song has now been shared to streaming services.
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CAR SEAT HEADREST – “CCF (I’M GONNA STAY WITH YOU)”
Car Seat Headrest are gearing up to release a double-LP rock opera and if 11-minute first single “Gethsemane” was too long for you, here’s the second which is only eight minutes.
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OBONGJAYAR – “SWEET DANGER”
Nigerian-raised, UK-based artist Obongjayar has announced a new album, Paradise Now, due May 30 via September Recordings. New single “Sweet Danger” finds him sounding as powerful and genre-defying as ever.
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COMMON HOLLY – “AEGEAN BLUE”
Montreal singer-songwriter Common Holly is back with her first new album since 2019’s When I say to you Black Lightning. Anything glass is due out on June 13 via Paper Bag/Keeled Scales, and the first single is the lovely “Aegean blue.” She calls it “a reckoning in meaninglessness and unending pursuit,” adding, “The words came in a moment of change and of reevaluating. This song sits squarely in the album’s theme of orienting toward what matters most, doing things differently when they aren’t feeling right.”
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RODEO BOYS – “SAM’S SONG”
Having just appeared in our list of the best punk songs of March, Rodeo Boys share another grungy punk anthem off their upcoming LP Junior.
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MIDNIGHT – “CLEVELAND METAL”
When you think of Cleveland Metal, there’s a good chance you think of blackened speed metallers Midnight, whose new single is called “Cleveland Metal.” It’s the first single from Midnight’s upcoming album Steel, Rust, and Disgust, due May 23 via Metal Blade.
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DAZY – “PAY NO MIND (TO THE SIGNS)”
Dazy is back with more ’90s rock revival on the baggy/Madchester-leaning “Pay No Mind (To the Signs).”
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REBA MEYERS (CODE ORANGE) – “GOT YOUR HOLD ON ME”
Code Orange’s Reba Meyers has a solo album in the works, and while you wait for concrete details on that, here’s a gothy, brooding new single.
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THE CHAIN – “USELESS”
Australian hardcore band The Chain’s new LP Blind The World arrives May 9 via Triple B/Last Ride Records, and lead single/opening track “Useless” is some real ignorant, body-slamming shit.
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RACHEL BOBBITT – “FURTHEST LIMB”
Rachel Bobbitt calls her new single “song centered around miscommunications- how when you’re forging a connection with someone it can be easy to assume they view the relationship similarly to how you do, when in reality people can be independently building entire narratives that you aren’t aware of. I wanted the song to feel like the vocal was the steady center in an instrumental that swirls and moves around it; and Chris (Coady, producer) ran with the idea. The opening choral arrangement leads into plucky acoustic guitars which give way to fuzzy synth lines- all the while the main vocal is unwavering in its plea for connection and need for reassurance.”
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ELLE BARBARA – “HITLER, SATAN & ASSOCIATES LLP”
Montreal artist Elle Barbara (fka Jef Barbara) has announced new album Word On The Street which will be out June 27 via Celluloid Lunch, K Records / Perennial / K and Elle’s own House of Barbara label. As to this first single, Elle says, “”Hitler, Satan & Associates LLP is a psychedelic avant-pop number with elements of free jazz. The lyrics are about as absurd as the economic times we live in.”
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WILLIAM TYLER – “ANIMA HOTEL”
Here’s another song from Time Indefinite, William Tyler’s first album in six years. “Anima Hotel” is atmospheric and beautiful.
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THOR & FRIENDS – “ANNE SEXTON’S MONOCLE”
Thor Harris (Shearwater, Swans) is back with a new Thor & Friends album, Heathen Spirituals, which will be out May 16 via Joyful Noise. “Anne Sexton’s actual glasses are housed in a museum on the UT campus next to the auditorium where we recorded this album,” Thor says of the album’s opening song. “This monstrous piece is a 10-note percussion exercise over a pentatonic scale. I play in odd meters because I am a child of prog rock. I apologize.”
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GIRL AND GIRL – “OKAY”
Aussie indie rockers Girl and Girl are on tour with Naked Giants and to promote that they’ve shared this catchy new single. “You give yourself enough time, things will be okay, sometimes not great, or even good, but more often than not, things, at the very least, end up okay,” says the band’s Kai James. “And that’s okay, it’s okay to just be okay. That’s what the song’s about.”
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ALLO DARLIN’ – “TRICKY QUESTIONS”
A day where UK indiepop greats Allo Darlin’ release their first new song in nine years can’t be all bad.
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SPARKS – “DROWNED IN A SEA OF TEARS”
It’s the third single from Sparks’ new album MAD! that’s out May 23.
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S.G. GOODMAN – “FIRE SIGN”
S.G. Goodman announce the follow to her great 2022 album Teeth Marks, and you can read more about it here.
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FRÀNÇOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS – “LE FIL” (ft. CASSANDRA JENKINS)
Paris’ Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains recently released their new album Âge Fleuve, and now they’ve released a new version of its song “Le fil” that features guest vocals by Cassandra Jenkins (singing in French!). Read more here.
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AESOP ROCK – “CHECKERS”
Underground rap lifer Aesop Rock announced a new album, Black Hole Superette, and the first taste is the trippy “Checkers.” Read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.