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.
ENVY - "FOOTSTEPS IN THE DISTANCE" (LIVE)
Japanese screamo greats Envy are releasing LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo -- a live album of the only show they were able to play in 2020 before lockdown ensued -- on November 11 via Temporary Residence Ltd. "The performance itself is a bit rough and we could probably have performed better, but we wanted to send our fresh feelings to our fans by means of this performance, while they can't see Envy live," the band says, but going by this first single, it sounds pretty damn tight to us!
--
ULTRAISTA - "ORDINARY BOY" (FLOATING POINTS REMIX)
Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, and Laura Bettinson released the very good second Ultraísta album earlier this year, and now Floating Points has put his spin on "Ordinary Boy." The remix is nearly double the length of the original, and it starts out as an atmospheric slow-burner before turning into pounding dance music.
--
JIMMY EDGAR - "METAL" (ft. SOPHIE) & "GET UP" (ft. DANNY BROWN)
Detroit electronic musician Jimmy Edgar has released a new two-song single featuring the zany SOPHIE collaboration "METAL" and the subwoofer-rattling "GET UP," led by some perfectly matched rapping by Danny Brown.
--
ANI DIFRANCO - "DO OR DIE"
"Nothing will stem the tide of suffering from COVID-19, economic crisis, police brutality, mass incarceration, endemic poverty, entrenched white supremacy and misogyny, deportation and detainment, gun violence, fire, flood, disease, pollution, irradiation, exploitation, forced reproduction, gender and sexuality-based violence and oppression, dis-information, propaganda, corruption, and greed... short of a functioning democracy!" Ani DiFranco says of her jazzy new track. "Let’s harness our outrage and vote. We can do this, if we try, if we do this like it’s do or die."
--
TIGA & HUDSON MOHAWKE - "VSOD (VELVET SKY OF DREAMS)" (ft. ABRA)
Tiga and Hudson Mohawke have followed "Love Minus Zero" with their second collaborative single of 2020, and this one's a thumping track featuring the vocals of avant-R&B singer Abra.
--
HUNDREDTH - "SLACK"
Post-hardcore turned synthpop band Hundredth swing for the fences on this M83-ish anthem off their upcoming album Somewhere Nowhere.
--
HOLY SONS (OM, GRAILS) - "HELD THE HAND" (DANIEL JOHNSTON COVER)
Holy Sons, the project led by Emil Amos (also of Om, Grails and Lilacs & Champagne), will release new double album Raw & Disfigured on October 30. Amos made it primarily at Sonic Youth’s studio Echo Canyon West with SY drummer Steve Shelley playing on a few songs. The album includes this soulful cover of Daniel Johnston's "Held a Hand" that takes the song even further into spiritual territory.
--
JENNIFER CASTLE - "MONARCH SEASON"
"I remember writing 'Monarch Season' last year this time," says Jennifer Castle of the title track to her new album. "The monarchs were out in the sky, on the trees and in the meadows. Of course they are so inspiring. And yet the words I remember resonating with me the most are 'I can’t help myself from flying away with them.' Something about that line felt so self-compassionate, the medicine of it worked first on me, and the rest came fast and easy. It gave me the permission to be the type of person that, at 43, still gets profoundly overwhelmed by nature and her cycles, and needs to stop what I’m doing to suddenly write a song about butterflies. Are you like that? Me too." Monarch Season is out October 16 via Paradise of Bachelors.
--
GIRL TALK & BAS - "FALLIN'"
Though probably best known as a mash-up artist, Girl Talk is also a pretty great rap producer and he's now got a new song out with Dreamville's Bas.
--
CHUCK STRANGERS - "REGULAR SEASON"
Chuck Strangers is back with a grainy, crackling new single, and he promises "much more to come."
--
LIAM BAILEY - "CHAMPION" (REMIX ft. BLACK THOUGHT)
UK artist Liam Bailey, who's of half-Jamaican, half-English descent, blends reggae, soul, and more on his upcoming album Ekundayo (due November 13 via Big Crown), and its song "Champion" also has a remix featuring a verse by The Roots' Black Thought.
--
NO THANK YOU - "LETTER WRITING CONTEST"
No Thank You have shared the second single off their upcoming album Embroidered Foliage (due 10/23 via Lame-O), and like the previous single, it's a huge-sounding, anthemic song that brings back memories of '90s alt-rock.
--
ARI LENNOX - "CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE"
Dreamville's Ari Lennox is back with a dose of atmospheric, syrupy-smooth R&B.
--
QUATTRACENTA - "IT GAVE WAY"
Quattracenta's J Robbins-produced sophomore album Quattracenta II comes out 10/16 via Pavement/Silver Jews member Bob Nastanovich's Brokers Tip label, and this new single is a very cool offering of hypnotic, brooding indie rock.
--
TEEN CREEPS - "SEEING SHAPES"
Belgian trio Teen Creeps, who definitely own some '90s indie rock (Superchunk, Superdrag), will release new album Forever on January 22 via [PIAS] Recordings. First single "Seeing Shapes" and the video was actually shot using old-school VHS cameras, not some iPhone app.
--
EMMY THE GREAT - "CHANG-E"
“It begins with this," says Emmy the Great of her new single. "Chang-E, the wife of the tyrant Hou Yi, drinks the elixir of immortality to save China from his eternal reign. She ascends to the moon, and lives there with the Jade Rabbit, its original inhabitant. In Mid-Autumn, we celebrate Chang-E’s sacrifice with a festival of lanterns and lights. Many centuries later, NASA tells the moon-bound Apollo 11 astronauts to look out for the Chinese queen and her rabbit. Michael Collins replies, ‘We’ll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.’” Emmy's new album, April /月音, is out next week on Bella Union.
--
PSYMON SPINE (MEMBERS OF BARRIE) - "MODMED"
New York psych/dance group Psymon Spine, which includes members of Barrie, just released this new electro jam, "Modmed," that's got a pretty cool early-'80s vibe to it, with a strutting rhythm section and swoony, woozy strings.
--
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - "THE NEW OK"
The Drive-by Trucker have announced they'll release a new album this Friday, October 2. It's titled The New OK and is their second album of 2020, following The Unravelling back in January. Like that one, and 2016's American Band, it is fueled by outrage, and born out of “this endless summer of protests, riots, political shenanigans and pandemic horrors.” Here's the title track.
--
LAVENDER DIAMOND - "THIS IS HOW WE RISE"
Lavender Diamond will release Now Is The Time, their first album in eight years, on December 4 via Petaluma Records. "Right before our current storm of catastrophe these songs came pouring in to us. These songs of healing for a world in crisis," says Becky Stark.
--
THE SPITS - "UP ALL NIGHT" AND "BREAKDOWN"
Garage punk greats The Spits are back with, VI, which is their first album in nine years. Here are two tracks.
--
JONSI - "SALT LICORICE" (ft. ROBYN)
Just two days ahead of Jonsi's new solo album comes the Robyn collab, which you can read more about here.
--
TOUCHE AMORE - "REMINDERS"
Touche Amore have released one last single from their anticipated new album Lament, and you can read more about it here.
--
HOSTBLOD - "WINTER" (TORI AMOS COVER)
Swedish folk-black metallers Höstblod contributed a Tori Amos cover to the new compilation benefitting Markov Soroka's (of Aureole, Drown, Krukh, Tchornobog, and more) father's medical bills, and you can read more about that here.
--
LISA/LIZA - "FROM THIS SHELTER"
Portland, Maine's Lisa/Liza will release her new album Shelter of a Song on November 20 via Orindal Records, and you can read more about the gorgeous, delicate folk of "From This Shelter" here.
--
MIKE PARK & AUGUSTA KOCH - "COOL PLACES"
Mike Park (Asian Man Records, Bruce Lee Band, Chinkees, etc) & Augusta Koch (Cayetana, Gladie, etc) team up for a Sparks cover with a very fun green screen video, and you can read more about it here.
--
Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.