So many artists, 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. In these concertless times, that includes daily livestreams and live concert videos we love. We publish a monthly playlist of some of our favorite tracks. Here's a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place.
DAVIDO - "SO CRAZY" (ft. LIL BABY)
Afropop star Davido follows last year's much-loved A Good Time with his new album A Better Time this Friday (11/13) via Davido Worldwide Entertainment/Sony Music U.K./RCA, and today brings this new single featuring Atlanta trap-popster Lil Baby. "I’ve known Lil Baby for quite a while, and I think it’s important that I point this out: when you are collaborating on a record, you need to make sure that the relationship is good outside of music," Davido says. "I feel like that is when you make the best music."
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FRENCH MONTANA - "WAVE BLUES" (ft. BENNY THE BUTCHER)
French Montana returns with a new song based around a pitched-up version of Michael Kiwanuka's "I'll Never Love," and featuring a show-stealing verse from the unstoppable Benny the Butcher.
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THE BEST OF THE WORST - "ILLUSION OF CHOICE"
Just as the election count was underway, NJ ska/post-hardcore band The Best of the Worst released their song "Illusion of Choice" from the Ska Against Racism compilation (which is still available for $1 or more and benefits racial justice orgs). The song is a ripper and very worth checking out if you haven't already, and it comes with a message that's very timely right now. "How can we find comfort/When prisons are for profit?... How can we pick between/Two sides of the same old rusty coin... Short term gains backed by greed/We don’t want your grandpa running this whole country."
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GRADE 2 - "ONLY ONES I TRUST"
UK punks Grade 2 have shared an outtake from their 2019 album Graveyard Island, which was co-written and produced by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. It's an anthemic fist-pumper and the band say they hope the song will "unify those who have seen struggles this year, because together in this game we are damned and we are all the same. We aim to have you singing your heart out, for now just in your living room but hopefully at a show soon!"
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CHILLY GONZALEZ - "SILENT NIGHT"
Chilly Gonzales releases a very chilly christmas this week, which has him offering up minor key renditions of holiday classics with help from Feist and Jarvis Cocker. Neither appear on his take on "Silent Night," but you do get a feel for the album's downtempo, melancholic vibe.
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MAPS - "SLEEP TODAY"
MAPS, aka composer and producer James Chapman, will release a new four-song EP in December. The songs were recorded during the sessions for his recent album Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. and feature ensemble Echo Collective and vocalist Rachel Kennedy. "Music has always been a therapy for me, and I definitely have an escapist mentality when creating and listening to songs," says Chapman of the EP's first single. "‘Sleep Today’ is a song that always lifts my spirits when I listen to it, and that is the feeling I was trying to evoke when writing and recording the track.”
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QUAKERS - "RADIOLA"
Production collective Quakers -- aka Katalyst (Ashley Anderson), Fuzzface (Geoff Barrow of Portishead & Beak>), and 7-Stu-7 (Invada Studios engineer Stuart Matthews) -- came out of eight-year hibernation this summer, dropping a 50-track beat tape via Stones Throw and then announcing their second proper studio album, The Next Wave, which will be out this week. Here's the final pre-release single, a chilled-out track featuring Radioactivists' Toony Toon and Capt. Dan.
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AIDAN NOELL (NATION OF LANGUAGE) - "PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE"
One third of Nation of Language, Aidan Noell has just shared her first solo single, a bloopy bit of very catchy synthpop.
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VESSEL - "PASSION - MOVEMENT III (IF THE TELEPHONE RINGS I'LL BE SAVED)"
Bristol producer Vessel will release the Passion EP next week. It consists of three movements and the third of those has been turned into an eerie short film straight out of a David Lynch nightmare. All proceeds from the EP go to the Mind organization. “Given the nature of the piece and what it draws from, it felt right to offer something back to people that are there for others when things turn bad. Mind have helped me a lot in the past. We live in difficult times, and services like theirs need support.”
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SOMERSET THROWER - "TOO RICH TO DIE"
Long Island's Somerset Thrower are releasing their new album Paint My Memory on Dead Broke Rekerds and Triple B Records this week, and opening track "Too Rich To Die" kinda sounds like a shoegazy Jawbreaker/Samiam. Read more here.
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BLAKKAMOORE - "MEK IT PLAY"
Guyana-born, Brooklyn-raised reggae/hip hop fusionist Jahdan Blakkamoore releases an expanded edition of his 2020 album Upward Spiral this Friday, and you can read more about this new bonus track here.
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DRAKEO THE RULER - "FIGHTS DON'T MATTER"
LA rapper Drakeo The Ruler was released from prison on Wednesday (11/4) after striking a plea deal, and now he has released his first new song and video since his release. You can read more about it here.
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FOO FIGHTERS - "SHAME SHAME"
After debuting this song on SNL, Foo Fighters released the studio version and announced their new album. Read more about it here.
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YG - "FDT" (ft. NIPSEY HUSSLE)
FDT’s streaming numbers have been rising ever since the election, and we thought, why not give it even more of a push?!
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.