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.
CLOWNS – “BISEXUAL AWAKENING”
Australian punks Clowns have announced a new album, Endless, due October 20 via Fat Wreck Chords. New single “Bisexual Awakening” is an absolute ripper that singer Stevie Williams says is ” about my own journey as a kid who assumed my own straightness until I realised that straight people don’t experience same-sex attraction, like, at all.”
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MORGAN WADE – “80’S MOVIE”
Morgan Wade has shared the second single off her anticipated new album Psychopath, and it’s a feel-good Americana song that namedrops a bunch of ’80s movies and culminates in an instantly-singalongable hook.
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CHRIS FARREN – “FIRST PLACE”
Chris Farren has shared another taste of his Jay Som-producd album Doom Singer, and this one’s a sunny power pop jam with sax by Jeff Rosenstock.
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ALLEGRA KRIEGER – “LOW”
Allegra Krieger’s anticipated new album I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane is out later this month, and the latest single is the beautiful, understated “Low.” “‘Low’ is an ode to my apartment, my bartending job, keeping things organized, in boxes & lines,” she says. “Admiring beauty from afar. It’s about relieving oneself of emotional dependency from outward influences, which can be both empowering and extremely isolating. Being open to anything & expecting nothing.”
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ERICK THE ARCHITECT – “PARKOUR” (prod. JAMES BLAKE)
Flatbush Zombies’ Erick the Architect has teamed with James Blake for this thrilling fusion of electronic pop and rap.
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THE HIVES – “RIGOR MORTIS RADIO”
The Hives’ The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, their first album in 11 years, is out in August and here’s another tongue-in-cheek banger to hold you over till then.
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ALASKA REID – “FRENCH FRIES”
Alaska Reid’s debut album Disenchanter is out this Friday (7/14), and ahead of its release she’s shared a final single, “French Fries,” which she says is “a story song about the evolution of a friendship. I wanted it to feel like a movie where you are at once sitting with your friend in a diner laughing over cold french fries and dumb stuff, but at the same time there is an undercurrent of reality between you two; splintering paths, bad boyfriends, frustration, love and loss. In terms of production, A. G. had the brilliant vision of making the beginning feel like the start to one of my shows: super intimate, just guitar and vocals.”
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SPARKLEHORSE – “THE SCULL OF LUCIA” FT JASON LYTLE
“From the very first seconds of “The Scull of Lucia”, I was transported to a different time,” said producer Joel Hamilton who mixed lost posthumous Sparklehorse album, Bird Machine. “The recipe is unmistakably Sparklehorse: The pace, the sounds, the overall texture of the voice. Every sound seems to support the voice and the lyric, which was always at the core of Mark’s genius. The weight of the world, floated on a rickety raft, across a sea of melancholy.” Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle provides backing vocals.
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A GIANT DOG – “I BELIEVE”
Bite, the new concept album from A Giant Dog, is out next month, and they’ve shared the second single, the crunchy, propulsive “I Believe.”
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FOREST SWORDS – “BUTTERFLY EFFECT” FT NENEH CHERRY
Matthew Barnes is back with his first Forest Swords single in some time, featuring a previously unheard vocal sample from Neneh Cherry. “The track swirled around as a pure instrumental for a while, a beat I made in the cold factory space in Liverpool I was recording in, some kind of attempt to cope with the psychedelic amounts of pain I was in from a leg injury” says Barnes. “Neneh’s unreleased archive vocal turned out to be a perfect fit, like they were meant to be together somehow. As a fan that has always idolised her, it’s a true honour and life highlight to have her blessing to use the vocal on this track”.
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CLAIRE ROUSAY – “SIGH IN MY EAR” FT. HELENA DELAND
claire rousay has shared the first of two new singles for Saddle Creek Records’ Document series. “Sigh In My Ear” focuses on the interplay between claire’s distorted vocals with Helena Deland’s gentle harmonies.
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SONNY AND THE SUNSETS – “PINK CAKE”
“I was talking to a friend of mine that was going through a big sad sack phase and she was confused of whether her girlfriend gave any shits about her,” Sonny Smith says of this new song. “Then her mom got her a pink cake for her birthday but she wasn’t there to present it and my pal was in a hurry so the cake sat around for days at moms house. She kept saying, ‘I know I sound like a bummer but…’ and then would tell me all the things that were going wrong.” Sonny’s new album, Self Awareness Through Macrame, is out August 25 via Rocks In Your Head Records.
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SHAMIR – “OUR SONG”
“It took about three months to write this song, which is the longest it’s ever taken me to write a song,” Shamir says of “Our Song,” the latest single off his new album Homo Anxietatem. “The music video is a love letter to my band. Grant Pavol and Rhea Freed are the only reason I still play live. I wanted the video to focus on the three of us as a band.”
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ALAN PALOMO (NEON INDIAN) – MEUTRIÈRE (FEAT. FLORE BENGUIGUI)
“Though I tend to reference movies in my work, I’ve always wanted to write a song taking place on a film set that explores the friction often felt between actors and their directors. The trust. The reckless abandon,” says Alan Palomo (fka Neon Indian) about “MEUTRIÈRE” that features L’Imperatrice’s Fleure Benguigui. “A drama that precedes the onscreen drama. I was gleefully nonplussed when L’Imperatrice’s very own Fleure Benguigui agreed to duet this kooky French-Italo banger. From the jump, I knew I wanted to have the lyrics of Meutrière directly inform the video’s concept and attempt to adapt them as if they were a script. Born out of my love for Giallo flicks, this is a surreal smear of both the horrors in front and behind the camera on one particularly nightmarish Italian film set. Made with the closest of homies, this might be my favorite one yet!”
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PAINT – “DESOLATION DUB”
PAINT, the solo project of Allah-Las’ Pedrum Siadatian, will release new album Loss For Words on July 28 via Grape St. Inc. Get a taste via the creepy, groovy “Desolation Dub” and its video that features Mercedes Kilmer, Molly Lewis, and John Tottenham.
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NIGHT BEATS – “BLUE”
Soulful psych band Night Beats are sharing one more single from new album Rajan before the whole thing drops on Friday. “I struggle describing my process because most of it is just doing, or not doing,” says bandleader Danny Lee Blackwell. “For ‘Blue’ it came together when I added the bassline and west coast whistle sound, I wanted it to ride, and it took me along. Finding the words is a process of surrender, sometimes desperation, bliss or fear. I become the song, to tell it. I’ve lost and found my mind through gospel music, Ethiopiques, Lauryn Hill, Patsy Cline and Tony Allen drumming. I only know what works for me, and let rhythm and harmony be my guide.”
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RACHEL BOBBITT – “CLAY FEET”
“‘Clay Feet’ describes a love that is all consuming and desperate,” Rachel Bobbitt says of the latest single off her new EP The Half We Still Have. “While the song details the gentle and delicate moments within a relationship, it also alludes to a darker undercurrent of manipulation and control. Love can take you outside of yourself and make you do things you’d never expect- both good and bad.”
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MARGARET GLASPY – “MEMORIES”
“‘Memories’ was probably the most challenging song for me to track,” says Margaret Glaspy. “The take you hear is the only one I was able to get through completely,” she says. “It was a level of vulnerability I’d never gotten on record, and it holds a special place in my heart now. Even though it’s about a very specific loss for me, it seems to ricochet in different ways for anyone who hears it.” Glaspy’ s new album Echo The Diamond is out August 18 via ATO.
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DRAB MAJESTY – “THE SKIN AND THE GLOVE”
If you’re a fan of ’80s-era 4AD Records, Drab Majesty’s new song “The Skin and the Glove” recalls the intersection of shoegaze and dance music. New EP An Object in Motion is out August 25.
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LA FORCE – “OCTOBER”
“October is a time of harvest here [in Montreal],” says Broken Social Scene’s Ariel Engle, aka La Force. “It’s a time when we settle into darkness and leaves drop from the trees. It’s a time when we turn inward into our clothing and protective shells. It’s a song about the voices we internalize. People we can no longer see but whose voices and words live on inside us and shape us. It’s a song about the uncanny. A song about the cycles of nature, cycle of life. The song reminds us that despite our grand feelings we are just like animals and plants, destined to be born, to live and to die.” New album XO Skeleton is out September 29 via Secret City.
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KAMAAL WILLIAMS – “PKKNO”
Kamaal Williams will release his third solo album Stings on September 27 via his own Black Focus label. Lead single “PKKNO” is fueled by dark, ominous electronics and spoken word.
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STEVE MARINO – “SATISFY YOU”
Steve Marino (Bugg, Angel Du$t, Jacky Boy) has shared another bright, jangly pop song from his upcoming solo album for Pop Wig, Too Late To Start Again.
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ABACOT (COMMANDER SALAMANDER) – PROMO 2023
Abacot is the new project of Claudio Benedi, who fronted the now-defunct DC emo band Commander Salamander, and their new promo offers up three great tracks of punky, poppy emo.
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BEX BURCH – “DAWN BLESSINGS”
Experimental musician Bex Burch will release her new album There is only love and fear on October 20 via International Anthem, and the first single is the gentle opening track “Dawn blessings.”
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OLDSOUL – “LAVENDER CANE”
“Lavender Cane” is the lead single off Massachusetts duo Oldsoul’s newly-announced Education On Earth, a heavy, rocking track named after an off-brand candle.
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MAPLE GLIDER – “DINAH”
“For me, ‘Dinah’ is the scariest thing I’ve ever put out. It’s probably the most pop feeling song I’ve released, but it’s really quite an angry song. I have felt incredibly disturbed and frustrated and sad in the process of writing and putting it together,” Australian singer-songwriter Maple Glider says of her new single. “I wanted the video to be fast paced, colourful, and full of energy, the same kind of riled up energy I had when I wrote the song. But it also had to be silly, because I can’t help that.” Read more about it here.
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COURTNEY BARNETT – “START SOMEWHERE,” “LIFE BALANCE” & “FIRST SLOW”
Courtney Barnett shared instrumental improvisations “Start Somewhere,” “Life Balance,” and “First Slow” today, all of which feature Stella Mozgawa, to announce her upcoming LP End Of The Day (music from the film Anonymous Club).
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SPELLLING – “CHERRY” & “UNDER THE SUN”
SPELLLING announced her fourth LP, SPELLLING & The Mystery School with haunting, orchestral double single “Cherry” b/w “Under The Sun.”
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JESSY LANZA – “LIMBO”
“Limbo” is the newest single off Jessy Lanza’s upcoming LP Love Hallucination, an infectious synthpop track complete with cooing vocals and a hooky chorus. Read more about it here.
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UPON STONE – “ONYX THROUGH THE HEART”
San Fernando Valley melodic death metallers Upon Stone have signed to Century Media, and their first single for the label is “Onyx Through the Heart.” Read about it here.
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FILTER – “OBLITERATION”
Filter have detailed The Algorithm, the band’s first album in seven years, which will be out August 25 via Golden Robot Records. The new single from the album is “Obliteration,” a typically angsty and anthemic Filter anthem.
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FIDDLEHEAD – “SLEEPYHEAD”
Fiddlehead have shared the second single off their upcoming album Death Is Nothing To Us. Read about it here and pick up our exclusive pinwheel vinyl variant.
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FACE TO FACE – “I DON’T KNOW” (NAKED RAYGUN COVER)
We premiered Face To Face’s contribution to the upcoming Naked Raygun tribute LP today and you can read about that here.
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BLOOD RUNS COLD (KOYO, SANCTION) – “BRC”
In addition to fronting the Long Island emo band Koyo, Joey Chiarmonte also fronts the much heavier hardcore band Blood Runs Cold, whose lineup also includes members of Sanction, The Fight, Separated, and more. They announced their debut EP today, and you can read about new single “BRC” here.
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WOE – “SCAVENGER PROPHETS”
Queens black metallers Woe have announced their first album in six years, Legacies of Frailty, and they’ve shared lead single “Scavenger Prophets.” Read about it here.
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JAMILA WOODS – “TINY GARDEN” (ft. DUENDITA)
Jamila Woods has announced her new album Water Made Us and shared lead single “Tiny Garden.” Read about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.