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. 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.
YOUR OLD DROOG - "YURI"
Your Old Droog has a new album on the way, and its first official single is "Yuri," which finds Droog spitting over fiery psych-rock guitars, produced by Nicholas Craven.
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QUEEN OF JEANS - "TEENAGE DIRTBAG" FT. GLADIE
Queen of Jeans have a new EP of covers on the way, and the first track from it is this delightful take on Wheatus' 2000 hit, featuring a cameo from Queen of Jeans' fellow Philly artist Augusta Koch.
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COMEBACK KID - "HEAVY STEPS"
Melodic hardcore vets Comeback Kid have announced a new album, Heavy Steps, due January 21 via Nuclear Blast/New Damage. It includes recent single "No Easy Way Out," as well as the just-released "Heavy Steps," which finds them sounding as vicious and anthemic as ever.
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M. WARD - "BIRTHDAY" (SUGARCUBES COVER)
“I learned this old song a long time ago but never performed or recorded it until I made this a month ago in Portland," M Ward says of his cover of "Birthday" by Bjork's old band The Sugarcubes. "The lyrics have always seemed timeless and southern gothic, like Flannery O’Connor to me. When I shifted the music down a few steps to an open tuning I discovered in the key of B as in 'birthday.'” His version is folkier but no less ethereal than the original.
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LANTERNS ON THE LAKE - "DON'T HAVE NIGHTMARES"
Lanterns on the Lake have written the theme song for Danny Robins' new BBC podcast Uncanny which is about real-life encounters with the supernatural. The track is called "Don't Have Nightmares" and is appropriately eerie.
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SIR BABYGIRL - GOLDEN BDAY: THE MIXTAPE
Sir Babygirl follows her 2019 debut Crush on Me with a new mixtape, Golden Bday, featuring "previously unreleased tracks in celebration of still being alive and music being awesome" and covers of Fleetwood Mac, Alvvays, and Joni Mitchell.
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WEAKENED FRIENDS - "TUNNELS"
Weakened Friends' new album Quitter is due out later this month via Don Giovanni, and the latest single is the crunchy, hook-filled "Tunnels." The song "is a portrait of the paranoid spiral that follows when you’re hurt by someone you’ve let get close to you, complete with self-deprecation and closed off self-defense," vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Sonia Sturino says. "There is a self-awareness to the track, with an early verse requesting 'everything I said, chock it up to a broken heart,' and in the context of that broken heart it’s easy to understand lines like 'world’s a fucking mess, I’m obnoxious and I hate myself.' 'Tunnels' turns this visceral pain into haunting verses and anthemic choruses, even if it is 'just to get something out.'"
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JOHANNA SAMUELS & OHTIS - "VIA CHICAGO" (WILCO COVER)
"We'd been working on a series of cover song collaborations, and we asked Johanna if she'd like to do a song.” Ohtis’ Sam Swinson says. “I picked Johanna up in Highland Park and we stopped by a garage sale. I found a clear blue Las Vegas visor and Johanna found a sparkly motorcycle helmet and we came back to EaHo to jam. She said she wanted to cover 'Via Chicago' and it felt alright to me. We ran it a few times, and got both vocals and guitar in one take with a handheld. Wilco is one of a few holdouts of bands I liked in high school. Jeff Tweedy and me were born at the same hospital in Belleville, Illinois." It's a lovely, subdued take on the song from Johanna Samuels and Ohtis, ahead of their November co-headlining shows together.
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ECCENTRONIC RESEARCH COUNCIL FT MAXINE PEAKE - "WHERE HAVE ALL THE WAYWARD POP ART ECCENTRICS GONE"
Sheffield duo Eccentronic Research Council -- aka Dean Honer (all seeing I/I monster) and Adrian Flanagan (The Moonlandingz/International Teachers of Pop) have curated a new compilation, Wayward Freaks From A Synthetic Street Volume 1, featuring fellow eccentric electronic pop artists to collaborate and answer the question "Where have all the Pop art eccentrics gone?" The ERC open the comp, teaming with old friend and actress Maxine Peake, posing that question in musical form.
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JOELL ORTIZ - "IN MY FEELINGS"
Joell Ortiz tells his bluntly honest tale of signing with Dr. Dre over a Heatmakerz beat for the latest single from Autograph.
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FLO MILLI - "ICE BABY"
Flo Milli kicked the year off with her excellent single "Roaring 20s," and now, 11 months later, she's finally put out her second proper single of 2021, "Ice Baby." It's a subtle, tough song, and it's keeping us excited for her next move.
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FVNERAL - "GOD DAMN LEDS"
I don't know for sure if Australia's FVNERAL are named after the Arcade Fire album, but they definitely make the kind of triumphant, widescreen indie rock that that band helped pioneer, as you can hear on their catchy new song "God Damn LEDs."
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PORCUPINE TREE - "HARRIDAN"
Prog veterans Porcupine Tree have announced their first album in 13 years, CLOSURE / CONTINUATION, and shared the shapeshifting, eight-minute lead single "Harridan." Read more about it here.
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CURTIS HARDING - "EXPLORE"
Curtis Harding's new album If Words Were Flowers is out Friday, and here's one final early taste before the whole thing drops. Sprinkled with spacey synths, "Explore" is a groovy psychedelic soul love song.
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RADIOHEAD - "FOLLOW ME AROUND"
Radiohead's Kid A Mnesia, the combined deluxe reissue of Kid A and Amnesiac, is out this Friday and just ahead of its release they've shared one of their most sought-after unreleased tracks, "Follow Me Around." The song dates back to O.K. Computer and the band frequently performed it at soundchecks but never released a recording of it, apart from using it in a montage in tour documentary Meeting People is Easy. It's a holy grail for fans and the studio version comes with a video starring Guy Pearce (Memento, Mare of Easttown).
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JOHN DWYER, RYAN SAWYER, GREG COATES, WILDER ZOBY & ANDRES RENTERIA - "GONG SPLAT"
OSEES leader John Dwyer has already released two collaborative, improvisational albums with a rotating cast of players during the pandemic. He's back with a third, titled Gong Splat, that has him working with drummer Ryan Sawyer, bassist Greg Coates, keyboardist Wilder Zoby and percussionist Andres Renteria. Here's the title track.
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CAT POWER - "PA PA POWER" (DEAD MAN'S BONES COVER)
Cat Power's new covers album is out January 14 via Domino, and she's just shared "Pa Pa Power," which was originally by Dead Man's Bones, the late-'00s band led by Ryan Gosling and Zach Hill.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.