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 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.
SABA - "ZIPLOCK" / "RICH DON'T STOP"
After releasing two double-singles in 2020, Chicago rapper Saba is back with another two-pack, his first of 2021. Both find him toeing the line between melodic/soulful and eloquent rap, and both are great.
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BONE CUTTER - "MY DEAD WIFE IS A CAT (MEOW)"
Heavy Heavy Low Low offshoot Bone Cutter's self-titled debut EP is on the way, and here's its second single. Compared to the ridiculously heavy "Sea of Broken Needs," this new song is more in the sass/post-hardcore realm, and it's yet another ripper.
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JAE5 - "DIMENSION" (ft. SKEPTA & REMA)
Having worked with J Hus, Burna Boy, and others, rising producer Jae5 has just as firm a grasp on UK rap as he does on Afrobeats, so it's a perfect fit that his new single features both Skepta and Rema.
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HOLIDAY GHOSTS – “OFF GRID”
UK group Holiday Ghosts will release North Street Air on May 21 via FatCat. They've just shared a second single off the album -- a jangly, infectious number titled "Off Grid." Guitarist Sam Stacpoole says, "The song is made up of snap shots of city life, and of being alone with summer moods and feelings that makes it hard to go back to regular life. The music shares that same kind of excitement and fast paced feeling and flits between real every-day routines and imagined reactions to them."
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ÆGIR - "FORGETTING THAT IT COULD KILL ME"
Ægir has been a part of Iceland's fertile music scene since the mid-'00s, drumming for everything from hardcore groups (World Narcosis and Dead Herring) to indie pop (Laura Secord). Gearing up for his second solo record, Ægir has released this track which trips between ambient and hard techno. "The foundation here, the main loop, was made from a 2-second vocal sample; a mic pop, a hum, an exhale," he says. "Mix in some (a lot) reverb, some fucked up delays, some multi-band mangling. add time-stretched snares and warped, distorted strings. Everything is in the flow, each element inspired by the ones that came before - accentuating or filling in the blanks."
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TICKLEY FEATHER - 1, 2, 3 (PROD AVEY TARE & DEAKIN)
Tickley Feather, aka Annie Sachs, released two albums on Paw Tracks in the late '00s, and this album dates from 2010 ,with Animal Collective's Avey Tare and Deakin producing. "Tickley Feather's 4-track cassette recordings as the foundation, Avey worked out new arrangements for all of the songs playing everything from synthesizers to autoharp to electric guitar, to percussion, field recordings and a very thumpy table. Together with Deakin who sat behind the controls they used the unique ambience of the old church to shape a sonic world for Tickley Feather's songs."
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THE PARROTS - "MALDITO" (FEAT. C. TANGANA)
Madrid duo The Parrots are back with this new single featuring Spanish rapper C. Tangana. “For a long time, we had the idea of writing a song with C. Tangana," say The Parrots. "We played him some demos and he loved them, so we spent some days in the studio to record the song.” It's the first single from their upcoming second album -- details of which are still TBA.
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ALWAYS YOU (DEPRECIATION GUILD/ABLEBODY) - "HOLD OUT"
Christoph & Anton Hochheim, who've made music as Ablebody and The Depreciation Guild over the years, are currently smoothng out the edges as Always You. Fans of pre-techno Everything But the Girl and '00-era duo The Aluminum Group take note. Of the video, Christoph says, "Jess Krichelle and I filmed this a few years ago in Barcelona when we flew out a couple days before the start of a Pains of Being Pure at Heart tour. It’s surreal watching this back through the lens of the last year, remembering the great lengths we went to make the city feel desolate and abandoned, not knowing how real this would become just a few years later."
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PAUPIÈRE - "SADE SATI"
Montreal's Paupière will release their second album, Sade Sati, on May 7 via Lisbon Lux Reords. Since we last heard from them, they've compacted slightly from a trio to a duo, comprised of visual artist Julia Daigle and Pierre-Luc Bégin (Polipe, We Are Wolves), and their sound has mutated a little too into more of a pure synthpop style.
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MARISA ANDERSON & WILLIAM TYLER - "LOST FUTURES"
Guitarists Marisa Anderson and William Tyler will release a collaborative album, Lost Futures, on August 27 via Thrill Jockey.
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JON CHARLES DWYER - "GOOD FOLKS" (ft. JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD)
Alt-country singer Jon Charles Dwyer recently released his album Junebug, and he's now got a video out for the gorgeously twangy "Good Folks," which features the great Jessica Lea Mayfield.
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ANTONIONI - "SHIVER"
Seattle indie rockers Antonioni's self-titled album arrives on Lauren Records next week, and here's another single: the dreamy, jangly, Sundays-esque "Shiver."
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YOUNG DOLPH & KEY GLOCK - "SLEEP WITH THE ROACHES"
We're one week away from Young Dolph & Key Glock's Dum and Dummer 2, and here's another instantly-satisfying, subwoofer-rattling taste.
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GHOSTING - "MINI SODA" & "CUDDLEBUG"
California's Ghosting sound like a cross between mathy '90s Midwest emo and sugary early 2000s pop punk, and if you like those things, you'll probably like these two very catchy songs.
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BRUTUS VIII - "LEAVE YOUR HOMETOWN"
Jackson Katz, who has played drums in Surf Curse, Current Joys and Slow Hollows, is releasing his own album, Beyond, under the name Brutus VIII on May 5. “This record is about escape,” says Katz. “The goal is to have the listener escape into this other world that I created, just as I was able to escape myself while recording it. It’s an honest and vulnerable world that paralleled my personal experiences.” New single "Leave Your Hometown" mixes synthpop, goth and other styles into a spicy salsa.
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WRISTMEETRAZOR - "LAST TANGO IN PARIS" (ft. KNOCKED LOOSE'S ISAAC HALE)
Virginia metalcore maniacs Wristmeetrazor have announced a new album produced by Knocked Loose's Isaac Hale, and Isaac also features on the lead single, which you can read more about here.
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THE JULIANA THEORY - "WE'RE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD" (REIMAGINED)
Emo-pop vets The Juliana Theory have released a new version of "We're At The Top of the World," and it comes with a video (starring The Number Twelve Looks Like You frontman Jesse Korman and featuring a cameo by The Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman) which throws the idea of a "guilty pleasure" out the window. You can read much more about the concept behind it here.
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LUCINDA WILLIAMS - "SAVE YOURSELF" (SHARON VAN ETTEN COVER)
Here's the latest single off Sharon Van Etten's album of people covering songs from her 2010 album epic. You can read more about it (including what Sharon herself had to say) here.
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FOXING - "SPEAK WITH THE DEAD"
After sort of releasing it a few weeks ago, Foxing have officially released their first single since Nearer My God. You can read our track review here.
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RISE AGAINST - "NOWHERE GENERATION"
Rise Against have announced a new album, Nowhere Generation, and the title track is classic Rise Against; it owes as much to singer/songwriter heartland rock as it does to punk, and it's soaring and anthemic without sacrificing any of the band's grit. Read more about it here.
You can also pre-order the album on limited, BrooklynVegan-exclusive black/clear vinyl in our shop.
Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.