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.
SNÕÕPER – “POWERBALL”
“‘Powerball’ was written after a scratch-off winning streak,” says Snõõper’s Blair Tramel. “My mom called me to let us know that the Powerball jackpot was the highest it had been in years. It’s a funny thing to feel like you are going to win something so arbitrary – to feel like you are going to be the one in a billion winner. When our numbers were not announced, we decided to buy some scratch-offs and, to my surprise, I won $50 on a $2 scratch off. I kept buying scratch-offs from different gas stations around town and kept winning. It was a comical sort of high I hadn’t felt before and even when I started losing money I wanted to keep going.” Snõõper’s new album Super Snõõper is out July 14 via Third Man.
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POWER ALONE – “LEADER SEEKERS”
California hardcore band Power Alone will release new EP Nothingness on June 30 and here’s the bone-crushing lead single.
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OGBERT THE NERD – “BIKE COPS”
NJ’s Ogbert the Nerd do a ton of justice to scrappy, ’90s-style Midwest emo, and this new single is no exception.
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ACTIVITY – “DEPARTMENT OF BLOOD”
Here’s another creep-fest from Brooklyn’s Activity. “The song is loosely about a lot of things, but one of them is the feeling of knowing you’re being manipulated by something way more powerful than you and also knowing you can do absolutely nothing about it,” says frontman Travis Johnson. “Just that resignation. It seemed to work.” Spirit In The Room is out August 4 via on Western Vinyl.
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SHORT FICTIONS – “WASTING”
Short Fictions’ new single “Wasting” is a dose of punky, ’90s-style indie rock.
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SO HIDEOUS – “BRIGHT BLACK BEACH”
Post-metal/post-rock band So Hideous have shared this towering new song.
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JOHN OATES – “MANEATER (REGGAE VERSION)” FT QUESTLOVE
Have you always wished their was a reggae version of Hall and Oates’ hit “Maneater”? Well, John Oates has. Talking about it on Questlove’s podcast the two vowed to make it happen and traveled to Jamaica to record it with a band that included musicians who played on records by Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Desmond Dekker and more. “I tried to approach the reggae version of ‘Maneater’ as if I was a new artist, as if I was not associated with Hall & Oates in any way,” Oates says. “I wanted to see if I could reimagine it in a way that would make it fresh again and really work with the vibe of the players who were in that were in the studio in Jamaica.”
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SHAPEDNOISE – “KNOW YOURSELF” (ft. BRODINSKI & ZELOOPERZ)
Italian producer Shapednoise’s new album Absurd Matter comes out July 14 via Weight Looming, and its latest single has guest lead vocals by experimental rapper Zelooperz.
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OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW – “MILES AWAY”
Old Crow Medicine Show will release new LP Jubilee on August 25 via ATO, prefaced by lead single “Miles Away.”
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STEPHEN STEINBRINK – “CRUISER” (FEAT. BOY SCOUTS)
“‘Cruiser’ was an experiment in writing from the perspective of a character living in the conservative defoliated suburban environments where me and a lot of folks I know grew up,” says Stephen Steinbrink of this new song. “This character feels he has to hide what he loves, hyper-vigilant for opportunities to mold himself into a shape that will be accepted by the people around him, independent because no one is paying attention. There are parts of myself in the character, but it’s mostly an amalgamation of friends I grew up with in the punk/DIY scene in Phoenix in the late 2000s before we all moved away. My longtime creative partner and collaborator Taylor Vick sings with me on this song, and also stars in the video we shot together in the suburbs outside of Modesto, where she gave a hilarious and stellar performance as a weird hybrid version of teenage Taylor and teenage Stephen. We went to the mall, snuck into a christian megachurch, and loitered at a cement plant, and tried to embody as much awkward ennui as we could. The video also features short performances by Reid Urban, an artist I met while living in Olympia in the early twenty-teens. ‘Cruiser’ appears twice on Disappearing Coin in two vastly different arrangements, and is a central diptych that the rest of the album is structured around.” Stephen’s new album Disappearing Coin is out August 18 via Western Vinyl.
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COLD HART – “CANDLELIGHT PT. 2”
Long Beach emo-rapper Cold Hart drops off this new track produced by Andrew Dawson and YAWNS.
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BIG FREEDIA – “EL NIÑO” FT. LIL WAYNE & BOYFRIEND
Big Freedia’s new album Central City is out this Friday (6/23), but before that she’s shared one final advance single, the boisterous “El Niño,” which features Lil Wayne and Boyfriend. “El Niño is about going hard in any storms that come in your life and conquering them!,” Freedia says. “It’s one of my favorite songs on this record, it features my longtime collaborator Boyfriend, and it’s also my first collab with Lil Wayne, who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. We put it down for our city, and this song is gonna have everyone blowin down!”
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ALIENATOR – “SENSELESS VIOLENCE”
Convulse Records just signed Portland hardcore band Alienator, whose 2022 demo was in “heavy rotation” at the label’s headquarters. The band’s new EP comes out July 7 via their new label home and here’s the rippin’ lead single.
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KVELERTAK – “SKOGGANGR”
Kvelertak have shared another taste of Endling. Get the LP on white vinyl.
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ISLET – “EUPHORIA”
Welsh group Islet will release new album Soft Fascination on September 29 via Fire. The first single is “Euphoria” which singer/bassist Daman Thomas says is “about repetition and volume and feeling subsumed by sound. The coming together of bodies, the merging and separation of consciousness.”
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MOSES SUMNEY – “GET IT B4”
Moses Sumney is back with his first new music since 2020’s excellent græ. “Get It B4” appeared in an episode of The Weeknd’s HBO series The Idol, which Sumney appears on as Izaak, and he produced it with Roman GianArthur and Sensei Bueno, with additional co-production from Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNBQFYpaWc
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M. WARD – “TOO YOUNG TO DIE” FT. FIRST AID KIT
First Aid Kit and M. Ward sound gorgeous dueting and harmonizing on “Too Young To Die,” the last advance single from his new album Supernatural Thing, out this Friday. “First Aid Kit are sisters from Stockholm, and when they open their mouths, something amazing happens,” Ward says. “It was a great thrill to go to Stockholm and record a few songs there. The sound from blood-related harmony singers is impossible to get any other way – The Everly Brothers, The Delmores, The Louvins, The Carters, The Söderbergs – all have the same kind of feeling in their vocals.”
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A BEACON SCHOOL – “POTION” & “JON”
NYC’s synthy A Beacon School have announced yoyo, their first album in five years, which will be out October 13 via Grind Select. Two songs have been shared from it today. Says main member Patrick J. Smith: “‘Potion’ was written in one sitting back in 2019 and has been a live staple since then. It’s about feeling a burst of excitement about something new but also the fear that accompanies it…On the other end of the spectrum, ‘Jon’ is a song that took on many forms before its final iteration. Originally a straightforward guitar song, it ended up in its current state of electronic drone after years of tinkering with it. Although there aren’t any lyrics, to me the song has always evoked New York at night and that’s what we tried to convey with the accompanying visualizer.”
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CLAUD – “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU”
“‘It’s Not About You’ is a song I wrote about people taking the things you’re going through personally,” Claud says. “I experienced this heavily when I was first coming out and receiving reactions that solely centered on the other person focusing on how my identity was going to affect their life. It’s frustrating and isolating, so this song goes out to those who are experiencing backlash at times when they really need support.” It’s from their new album Supermodels.
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JOHN R. MILLER – “NOBODY HAS TO KNOW YOUR MIND”
West Virginia born, Nashville-based singer songwriter John R. Miller will release Heat Comes Down on October 6 via Rounder Records. “Whenever I’ve got a lot of thoughts bouncing around my head, alchemizing that energy into something creative helps take the gravity out of them and quiets them down for a while,” says Miller. “For me this album is largely about anxiety in many forms: the things that cause it, what it causes in turn, and the moments of clarity in between. Listening back to it now, most of the songs seem like they’re trying to answer the questions I’ve been asking myself.” Check out opening song “Nobody Has To Know Your Mind.”
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SPRAIN – “MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES”
Sprain have announced sophomore album The Lamb As Effigy or Three Hundred And Fifty XOXOXOS For A Spark Union With My Darling Divine which will be out September 1 via The Flenser. “Man Proposes, God Disposes” is the opening salvo, mixing orchestral elements and pure noise.
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BOYGENIUS – “STAY DOWN, MAN” (DAN REEDER COVER)
boygenius’ recent live session for SiriusXM includes a gorgeous acoustic cover of outsider folk artist Dan Reeder’s 2020 track “Stay Down, Man.”
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YUSSEF DAYES – “RUST”
Yussef Dayes has shared this animated video for “Rush” from his upcoming album Black Classical Music. “It felt really special to work with Yussef and Tom again to make the third installment of our animation saga and extra special to do it for Yussef’s incredible debut album,” says director Jack Brown. “I wanted to expand the world of ‘Nightrider’ and ‘Tidal Wave’ [from their previous collaborations] by bringing it into a 3D space while maintaining the classic 2D feel. This was made possible by the big brain, super talented Richard Noble, who built these landscapes from my silly sketches.”
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SLOWDIVE – “KISSES”
We’ve been waiting for this one for a while and “kisses” does not disappoint. Slowdive’s fifth album Everything is Alive is out in September.
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RÓISÍN MURPHY – “FADER”
Róisín Murphy directed the video for her new single “Fader,” and shot it in her hometown of Arklow, Ireland, with 150 residents as featured performers. New album Hit Parade is out in September.
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GUIDED BY VOICES – “MEET THE STAR”
Guided by Voices will release ‘Welshpool Frillies‘, their second album of 2023, on July 21. Here’s the new single.
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ANNIE HART – “STOP LOOKING AT YOU”
“This song was inspired by a very charismatic friend of mine who was addicted to looking at how many likes they had on Instagram,” Annie says. “I had fallen under their otherwise charming spell and was along for the ride of their friendship and fun adventures. One night, I saw them surrounded by fawning half-fans and saw them basking in the glow of this empty affection, and all lit up by being worshiped, and I just saw the sad emptiness of that kind of existence and knew there was nothing I could do for this person, that they had became the prisoner of their own misery. This song is about not judging your self worth on other people’s half-attention and finding your true value in yourself and your real relationships.”
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INFANT ISLAND – “AURORA” / THIRDFACE – “TRAP REVEALED” / NØ MAN – “CAN’T KILL US ALL”
Three more tracks are out from Touché Amoré vocalist Jeremy Bolm’s upcoming 31-band screamo comp. Read about them here.
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ANNA TIVEL – “THE BELL (ACOUSTIC)”
Anna Tivel announced a live album, Outsiders (Live in a Living Room), with the release of an acoustic rendition of closer “The Bell.” “This one is a hopeful song about watching someone you love claw their way out of a dark place, about being there and reflecting the best things you know to be true about them as they do the hard work of making a change,” Anna says.
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MONTANA & THE RANCH HANDS (JARVIS COCKER, SEU JORGE) – “DEAR ALIEN (WHO ART IN HEAVEN)”
Wes Anderson’s new film ‘Asteroid City‘ features a cowboy band named Montana & The Ranch Hands whose members include Jarvis Cocker and Seu Jorge, both of whom have memorably worked with the director before. ‘Asteroid City’ and its soundtrack are out Friday but you can listen to “Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven),” which Jarvis co-wrote with Richard Hawley and Wes, now
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FAYE WEBSTER – “BUT NOT KISS”
“I think it could be a really romantic song or a really anti-romantic song,” Faye Webster says of new track “But Not Kiss.” “It’s something I’ve looked for but struggled to find in other love songs, for them to describe this conflict or contradiction.” Read more about it here.
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THE SMILE – “BENDING HECTIC”
The Smile released a new single and you can read about it here.
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LADYTRON – “DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH (SPACE MOTION REMIX)”
Ladytron have shared the Space Motion remix of “Destroy Everything You Touch.” It’s loud and bouncy, a dark and clubby rendition of their 2005 track. The remix comes with the announcement of a North American tour.
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HOLLIE COOK – “KUSH DUB”
Hollie Cook will release Happy Hour in Dub on August 11 via Merge. This is Hollie’s second dub album, and features spacey reworks of last year’s fantastic Happy Hour, with new vocal contributions from Josh Skints and Kiko Bun.
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JAIMIE BRANCH – “TAKE OVER THE WORLD”
“Take Over The World” is the first single off the newly-announced posthumous jaimie branch LP Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)). The song is a high-intensity, radically environmentalist anthem with pops of rap and psychedelia.
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BARONESS – “LAST WORD”
Baroness have announced new album Stone and you can read about lead single “Last Word” here.
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WOODS – “BETWEEN THE PAST” & “WHITE WINTER MELODY”
Woods announced a new album, Perennial, sharing the stirring double single “Between The Past” b/w “White Winter Melody.” Read more about them here.
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LEWSBERG – “WITHOUT A DOUBT” & “COMMUNION”
Dutch band Lewsberg have announced their fourth album, Out & About, that will be out September 15 via 12XU in North America and self-released in Europe. With the news comes a new double-A-side single: the poppier “Without a Doubt” and “Communion,” which is more typically Lewsberg creation with spoken word vocals over jangly backing.
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PAIN OF TRUTH – “ACTIN’ UP” (ft. STEVE BUHL of 200 STAB WOUNDS)
Long Island metallic hardcore band Pain of Truth have announced their first full-length album, which features guest vocalists on every song (except the one instrumental track), including members of Madball, Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Mindforce, Incendiary, The Movielife, Title Fight, Vein.fm, and more. The lead single features Steve Buhl of 200 Stab Wounds. Read more here and pick up our color vinyl variant.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.