So many artists, so many songs, 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.
FLEE LORD & MEPHUX - "OUT THE MUD"
Flee Lord and producer Mephux will release a new project, Pray For The Evil III, on May 6 via LordMobb. It boasts appearances from Conway the Machine, Roc Marciano, Trae Tha Truth, Cormega, Fat Joe, and more, and Flee's distinct voice sounds great over Mephux's smooth, post-boom bap production.
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DEVIL MASTER - "SHRINES IN CINDER"
Devil Master's new LP Ecstasies of Never Ending Night arrives next week via Relapse, and here's another single, which finds their trademark blackened punk in fine form.
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MARIA BC - "BETELGEUSE"
Hyaline, the debut LP from ambient folk artist Maria BC, is out next month, and they've shared another track from it, the haunting "Betelgeuse." "'Betelgeuse' is about coming to terms with one’s role as a victim, bystander, and perpetrator," Maria says. "The narrator of this song recalls a traumatic moment from their childhood: the day a father figure abandoned them and their mother. Now they’re an adult and want to leave home, which means abandoning their mother. They feel cruel for leaving home, but ultimately they follow the path of the man they despise, the ghost of him, their guiding star. In seventh grade, an astronomer visited my science class and said that Betelgeuse is our only hope for seeing a star explode within our lifetimes. Then in late 2019 early 2020, Betelgeuse dimmed slightly, and people speculated that it was about to burst. That turned out not to be the case (a cloud passed over it, or it farted or something, I don't remember). It was a let down. And likewise it's disappointing, when you experience loss, that the world doesn't stop to admire some new hole that's been ripped into the universe. There's no great explosion. The title 'Betelgeuse' has something to do with how grief can bring on this desire for a meteorological or astronomical alignment with your experience. But no, the world doesn't stop. It makes you want to throw a wrench in the gears, blow something up, get people to notice."
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DAN MANGAN - "IN YOUR CORNER (FOR SCOTT HUTCHISON)"
Dan Mangan pays tribute to late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison on his new single. "We’d only met once but Scott’s passing eviscerated me," Dan says. "He was my age and very close with several dear friends of mine. Either he couldn't see how deeply he was loved by the world, or he didn’t feel worthy of it. How come he could bring joy to so many people but not to himself? I remember weeping as I poured cereal for my boys that morning. This song came very quickly in the days that followed."
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LOU PHELPS - "OH REALLY?" (ft. GUAPDAD 4000 & JOYCE WRICE)
Canadian rapper Lou Phelps snags a funk-infused beat from AgaJon and a soulful hook from Joyce Wrice for this appealing new song.
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HANS GRUBER AND THE DIE HARDS - "MY FRIEND CHUCK"
Austin ska-punks Hans Gruber and the Die Hards have shared the third single from their upcoming album With A Vengeance, and this one finds them going from snotty, circle-pit-inducing punk to a shreddy death metal breakdown in a matter of 80 seconds, sounding like a cross between Voodoo Glow Skulls and Between the Buried and Me. Speaking to Bearded Gentlemen Music about the song's protagonist, vocalist Kurt Armstrong said, "Chuck was an older Nuevomexicano at this bar Rosey and I used to drink at in Gallup, NM. He was mostly harmless, had tons of interesting stories, but every once in a while he’d say some things that were off color or downright offensive. But, as you spoke to him, you could tell he was really trying to work on a lot of stuff, especially in a world moving on with or without him. I tried my best to paint an honest picture of this man who will forever live in my memory."
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SAY SUE ME - "TO DREAM"
"I dreamed that everyone was alive, and I came to think that there might be no end,” Say Sue Me's Sumi Choi says of their new single, "To Dream." “One day everyone will come back and meet somewhere." It's from their new album, The Last Thing Left, due out May 13 via Damnably.
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SQUINT - "GHOST" & "MANTRA"
Squint is a new St. Louis band with members of Time and Pressure, New Lives, Soul Craft and Choir Vandals, and they owe as much to melodic hardcore as they do to classic indie rock. They cite Rites of Spring, Turning Point, Seaweed, and Sugar as influences, and they fuse those things in thrilling ways on these two tracks off their upcoming debut EP Feel It, due April 29 via Sunday Drive Records.
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HOLLIE COOK - "KUSH KWEEN" FT JAH9
Hollie Cook's new album Happy Hour includes a few guest features, including "Kush Kween" with Jah9. "Jah9 has graced the song Kush Kween' with an amazing verse," Hollie notes. "I knew I wanted to attempt more collaborations with other artists; it’s something I haven’t done with my own material so much. I wanted to keep 'Kush Kween' very feminine and fertile, and I love Jah9’s rich, powerful vocal energy, so I reached out to her on Instagram to see if she would like to join me on the track. We had met briefly before and the energy was right in person, and it’s magic on this track." Happy Hour is out June 24.
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HELADO NEGRO - "YA NO ESTOY AQUÍ"
'Ya No Estoy Aquí' is a song about loneliness and alienation," Roberto Carlos Lange says of this lovely new single. "It’s about being lost within yourself and not knowing who you are. Making this song was catharsis; it was a way to get this all out and feel the texture of new perspectives."
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YVES JARVIS - "AT THE WHIMS"
Yves Jarvis' new song "At the Whims" does not lack scope. “'At The Whims' depicts the arc of civilization,” Jarvis explains. “From our Genesis to our self-realization, humanity’s insatiable conquest resulting in our 'Rise,' the fervid leap from 0 to 1 that sets society’s wheels into motion and 'the fall of an empire' that looms across all epochs.” It's also a very catchy song.
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MY IDEA - "LILY'S PHONE"
Cry Mfer, the debut album from My Idea (aka Palberta's Lily Konigsberg and Water From Your Eyes' Nate Amos) is out this Friday, and the final advance single they're sharing is "Lily's Phone." Lily says the song "was created in layers. I had made a voicemail with my friends announcing that this was, in fact, my phone, and that you should call me back. Nate heard this and made a track loosely based on the melody of the voicemail, except now the phone belonged to our friend’s dog who was trying to sell Nate drugs (I believe this is an actual dream Nate had). The final version of the song is literally about how I enjoy talking on the phone, which most people my age would not agree with. The rest of the song is made up of abstract facts about me and things going on around me, which is how I was writing at that time. It’s made up of catchy phrasing, swirls of words, and quickly changing topics because that’s where my brain was at at that time."
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JANE INC - "HUMAN BEING"
Carlyn Bezic will release Faster Than I Can Take, her second album as Jane Inc, this Friday and here's a little taste before she shares the whole thing. "Human Being" is slinky and funky like a mid-'80s Prince production.
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ZOLA JESUS - "DESIRE"
Zola Jesus' anticipated new album Arkhon is out next month, and from it she's shared the minimal, moving "Desire." "'Desire' was written in one sitting at my piano at home," Nika Roza Danilova says. "The song was an exorcism for my pain and lack of closure around heartbreak. Sometimes songs are written simply for the cathartic effect of playing them. This is one of those songs. Performing it feels like the most tangible way to experience that closure for myself. Some days I would sit at home playing this song over and over on my piano, just to provide myself that sense of control over what I was feeling. I recorded the song at the studio in one take, and also got video while I was there to document the memory of the performance. The footage of that day is the core of the video for 'Desire.'"
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MOREISH IDOLS - "SPEEDBOAT"
London five-piece Moreish Idols make skronky post-punk, danceable and just a little mathy, which makes them a good fit for the Speedy Wunderground who are releasing this single that was produced by label head Dan Carey.
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MADISON CUNNINGHAM - "ANYWHERE"
Madison Cunningham, who was recently up for a Grammy for Best Folk Album is back with a brand new song. “Anywhere’ is a song about the inner dialogue you have with a person when they’re not there, saying all the things you would say if you could,” Cunningham says. “And the combusting madness that comes with letting people's opinion of you hold too much weight.”
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JO SCHORNIKOW - "PLASTER"
Jo Schornikow's new album Altar is out next month and here's another preview via this hazy, twangy, pretty new song.
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SOUND OF CERES - "SUNRAY VENUS"
Sound of Ceres' new album Emerald Sea is due out June 17 via Joyful Noise Recordings, and they've shared the whimsical, cinematic new single "Sunray Venus," and its accompanying video,, directed by Matthew Maddox. "A song of nascent mind's curiosity," the project's Ryan Hover says. "Venus Caelestis, the morning star, has left the cradle of the void to climb sea-crags and delve in grottos for the flame spied from afar, a flicker beneath the waves, the deep wish of the unknown to be known."
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KING GIZZARD - "KEPLER-22B"
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's sprawling new double album Omnium Gatherum is out this Friday and is a smorgasbord of all the styles the band have tried on over the last 10 years. This is on the dancey side.
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FONTAINES DC - "ROMAN HOLIDAY"
Fontaines D.C.’s anticipated third album is out this week and here's one last early taste before the whole thing drops.
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RUTH RADELET (EX CHROMATICS) - "CRIMES"
“Is it easy to start over?“ Former Chromatics singer Ruth Radelet ponders the obvious question on her first solo single.
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HOT CHIP - "DOWN"
This is the terrific first single from Hot Chip's eighth album, Freakout:Release.
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CITIZEN - "BASH OUT"
Citizen have shared a driving, garagey punk ripper ahead of their upcoming tour with Turnstile, and you can read more about it here.
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GOLDEN APPLES - "LET ME DO MY THING"
Philly indie band (current and former members of Cherry, Kite Party, Spirit of the Beehive, Nona, and more) have shared a new single off their upcoming self-titled LP for Lame-O Records. Read more about it, and read singer Russell Edling's list of things that influenced the new album, here.
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RAVYN LENAE - "M.I.A."
R&B/soul singer Ravyn Lenae has finally announced her first full-length album, and you can read more about new single "M.I.A." here.
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MOMMA - "SPEEDING 72"
Brooklyn's Momma announced their first album for Polyvinyl, Household Name, and shared new single "Speeding 72," which you can read more about here.
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ANDREW BIRD - "UNDERLANDS"
Andrew Bird shared the opening track of his new album, Inside Problems, which you can read more about here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.