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.
BLU - "LET IT SHINE" (ft. SIDEWAALK KAL & CASHUS KING)
Underground LA rap fave Blu will release a new EP, made entirely with producer Sirplus (a protégé of frequent Blu collaborator Exile), For Sale, this Friday (6/11). It'll feature new single "Let It Shine," which finds the consistently-great Blu in as fine a form as ever.
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MOURNING [A] BLKSTAR - "OPEN SPACES (FOR FRED MOTEN)"
Mourning [A] BLKstar are a self-described "multi-generational, gender and genre non-conforming amalgam of Black Culture dedicated to servicing the stories and songs of the apocalyptic diaspora" and their new Don Giovanni-released single is a seven-minute jazz/soul/electronic/psychedelic odyssey dedicated to Fred Moten. "Our band is inspired by Moten's process and wanted to give flowers to Fred's weaving in and out of genre, creating discipline as a maker and learner, and constantly evolving in process and collaboration," the band says.
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HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE - "A FULLNESS OF LIGHT IN YOUR SOUL" FT. PERFUME GENIUS
The second edition of the Jag Quarterly series, celebrating Jagjaguwar's 25th anniversary, is a reimagining of Richard Youngs' 1998 album Sapphie by The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, with vocals from Moses Sumney, Sharon Van Etten, and Perfume Genius. "A Fullness of Light in Your Soul" features Perfume Genius, who says, "I recorded this cover while deep in quarantine. Working on it brought a really welcome energy, I went fully into songworld and put reality on hold for a moment. It's a big song too, so I got to stay there for a while. Both the original and the arrangement by the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble have a truly hypnotic and almost mystical quality, while singing it I tried to stay hyper-present and thought of it like we were all casting one long spell."
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SKRILLEX - "SUPERSONIC (MY EXISTENCE)" (ft. NOISIA, JOSH PAN & 100 GECS' DYLAN BRADY)
Skrillex has released his third single of 2021, and it's an appealing dose of glitchy, sputtering electronic pop.
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JENN CHAMPION + OYSTER KIDS - "LOVE NOBODY"
Jenn Champion (Carissa's Wierd, S) and Oyster Kids, the project of Los Angeles artist Andrew Eapen, are releasing a new EP, Love Nobody, due out June 29 via Hardly Art. They bonded over their love of sad pop songs, and the first song, "Love Nobody," certainly fits the bill. Jenn says, "'Love Nobody' is about the fear of falling so hard for someone when you know it’s destined to crash and burn. Those crushes where it feels like your heart is cannibalizing your brain. We’ve all been there when you look into someone’s eyes and know they will destroy you, and yet, nothing can pull you away. You are all in. You hate it and have never wanted anything more."
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ADIA VICTORIA - "ON AND ON" (ERYKAH BADU COVER)
The latest edition of Sounds of Saving's "Song That Found Me At The Right Time" series, a partnership with National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, features Adia Victoria, who covers Erykah Badu's "On and On." "Music was the one shot that made it over the wall that told me that even if you don't speak your truth, you can sing it," Adia says. "I know that music has saved my life again, again and again and again, throughout the years. A song is oftentimes is more pure than the world around me. I also find that a lot of my favorite artists pick me up whatever room I'm in and build entire worlds for me. That's what I hope to do for my listeners as well."
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DELTA SLEEP - "THE DETAIL"
Delta Sleep will release their new album Spring Island on September 10 via the band's own Sofa Boy Records, and you can hear the mathy, poppy lead single "The Detail" now. Fans of Minus The Bear, Maps & Atlases, etc, take note.
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MBG - "GO O.U.T."
Toronto one-woman indie-punk band MBG (aka Leena Rodriguez) has released a crunchy, catchy new song that'll take you right back to '90s radio rock in a very good way.
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MASTIFF - "ENDLESS"
UK band Mastiff will release their new album Leave Me The Ashes of the Earth on September 10 via eOne, and new single "Endless" is an intense, furious dose of grindy, blackened metalcore.
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LIP TALK - "BARGAIN DAY"
Sarah K. Pedinotti released a new single as Lip Talk, "More," and now she's followed it with another, "Bargain Day." The song "depicts a world in which ‘living on the outside’ is unachievable and the fantasy of counterculture life is instantly subverted, and woven back into the matrix” Sarah says. “'Bargain Day' is about the façade of equity and the ways in which inequality, exploitation and illusion are built into the core of American capitalism. When every day is bargain day, the bargains become vampires, sucking our attention, feeding off our longings with promises of happiness. It’s a satirical song. And I love Josh Karpeh’s (of Cautious Clay) sax solo.”
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LOS LOBOS - "MISERY"
Los Lobos' new album Native Sons is a "love letter to Los Angeles" and its music. They've just shared another song from it, "Misery," which was originally recorded by Barrett Strong. “This is probably one of my favorite songs on the album," says David Hidalgo. "Barrett moved to L.A. when Motown did.”
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SMALL ISLES (MODEST MOUSE/GRANDADDY) - "LIFE AT ONE"
Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy / Modest Mouse / All Smiles) and songwriter/composer Jacob Snider have formed new project Small Isles and will release their debut album, The Valley, The Mountains, The Sea, later this year. The first single is the spare, gentle "Life at One, " which Fairchild says is "the spiritual center for the album," adding, "I wrote the central musical themes and once Jacob's voice entered the picture, providing the autumnal glow, the song became what it was supposed to, and pointed the way to so much more music.”
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TARA JANE O'NEIL - "A SUNDAY 2020"
Tara Jane O'Neil will release Dispatches from the Drift, an album of home-recorded synthesizer improvisations, on July 23 via Orindal Records. "“Typically I use voice memos or computer programs to catch ideas and work out the really sticky ones. These pieces were recorded on iPhone or the computer program I use to monitor when I had the presence to press record. They were promptly forgotten. These are not sketches of ideas that may be revisited, these sounds were not looking for a form or seeking to be known. These are complete, traveling pieces that resolve or simply end. At the end of the dismal and seismic year called 2020, I found these improvisations on my phone or my hard drive while looking for those typical fragments of inspiration I could use to make into something else through the ordinary alchemical process of making songs." This is the opening track.
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LORDE - "SOLAR POWER"
After revealing the artwork, Lorde has finally released her first new music since her great 2017 sophomore album Melodrama. "Solar Power" was made with frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, and it also features backing vocals by Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo and drums by the very prolific session drummer (and former Pearl Jam member) Matt Chamberlain. It starts out a little earthier and folkier than Lorde usually sounds, but still with her unmistakable voice in the driver's seat, and eventually it brings in some Primal Scream-y (or George Michael-y) drums.
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GEORGE HARRISON - "RUN OF THE MILL (TAKE 36)"
George Harrison's All Things Must Pass is getting a Super Deluxe Edition with 42 unreleased demo recordings, studio outtakes and session jams. You can listen to “Run Of The Mill (Take 36)“ now.
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KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - 'BUTTERFLY 3000'
Prolific Aussies King Gizzard make their most surprising left turn yet -- pop music.
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ARAB STRAP - "FABLE OF THE URBAN FOX (CHECK/FAULT MIX)"
One of the standouts on Arab Strap's great As Days Get Dark (their first album in 15 years) is "Fable of the Urban Fox," a song that shines a light on the racist treatment of immigrants against a backing that somehow successfully splits the difference between celtic folk and funky disco. The band have made a new version of the song to release as a single, as well as a chilling music video.
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WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM - "MOUNTAIN MAGICK"
Post-black metal greats Wolves In The Throne Room have announced their Relapse debut (pre-order our exclusive splatter vinyl variant) and released this furious lead single, which you can read more about here.
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STARFLYER 59 - "LIFE IN BED"
Long-running indie rock/shoegaze/etc band Starflyer 59 will release a new album Vanity at some point, and it'll include new single "Life In Bed," which you can read more about here.
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UNDER ATTACK - "DIE ALREADY"
Under Attack -- the hardcore band with members of Municipal Waste, Suppression, Limp Wrist, and more -- will release a new EP on Three One G in August and you can read more about lead single "Die Already" here.
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DECLAIME & MADLIB - "ALL OVER THE WORLD" (ft. MED)
Declaime and Madlib are releasing an album of lost '90s collaborations, and here's a track from that, which you can read more about here.
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PAGEANTS - "JUST TELL ME"
California indie/dream pop duo Pageants' sophomore album Sun and Settled Days comes out in July and here's the third single, which you can read more about here.
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FILTH IS ETERNAL - "ON THE RAKE"
Filth Is Eternal (fka Fucked and Bound) announced their new album Love is a Lie, Filth is Eternal, and here's the ripping lead single. Read more about it here.
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REHASHER (ROGER LIMA OF LESS THAN JAKE) - "AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING" (THE BEATLES COVER)
Less Than Jake bassist/co-frontman Roger Lima's punk band Rehasher will release a covers album, Tasty Single Slices Vol. 1, in August via SBAM/Smartpunk Records, and you can read more about the just-released Beatles cover here.
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ILLUMINATI HOTTIES - "POOL HOPPING"
illuminati hotties announced a new album, Let Me Do One More, due out October 1 via their own Snack Shack Tracks, and shared a new single, "Pool Hopping," which screams summer.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.