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…
DJ KHALED & DRAKE - "POPSTAR" & "GREECE"
Longtime collaborators DJ Khaled and Drake are back with two new songs, one that finds Drake in chest-puffed rap mode ("POPSTAR") and one that finds him delivering cooed R&B ("GREECE").
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OPEN MIKE EAGLE - "NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTION SPELL (LANA DEL BIDEN NEM)"
The consistently great, eccentric rapper Open Mike Eagle is back with another captivating new track. "When I wrote this song the world was not on fire yet," he says. "I had felt subtle attacks on blackness from Joe Biden and other public figures. Notions that were harmful about authenticity. Notions that called our behavioral and consumption choices into question without any reference to the historical context that they are couched in. I made this song as a spell to ward off subtle social attacks at blackness. I put a lot in it to make sure it works."
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KOFFEE - "LOCKDOWN"
Koffee takes on these weird times with "Lockdown," another great example of her ability to fuse classic reggae and modern hip hop in exciting ways.
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SUPERSUCKERS, EDDIE VEDDER & BLIND MARKY FELCHTONE - "I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES" (RAMONES COVER)
Back in 2014, Eddie Vedder and Zeke's Blind Marky Felchtone joined the Supersuckers on stage for a faithful cover of the Ramones' 1989 classic "I Believe In Miracles" (the same song Vedder and Zeke recorded for 2003's We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones), and now six years later, they've officially released the recording of that live cover as a single.
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CRICKETS (JD SAMSON, RODDY BOTTUM) - CRICKETS
Crickets, the newish band featuring JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN), Roddy Bottum (Faith No More, Imperial Teen) and Michael O'Neil (MEN), just released their self-titled debut album. “The simplicity and the bare bones with which we afforded ourselves in the process of writing and recording were key to the overall project,” Bottum says. “We went out of our way to limit ourselves to the bare necessities of tools and voices, and then stripped it down even further to achieve a barren and isolated effect. The music is addressing a need in the three of us to simplify and creatively explore the option of making music without the excess of presence of a masculine toxicity in expression and in the studio.”
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GILLIAN WELCH - “STRANGE ISABELLA” AND “MIGHTY GOOD BOOK”
Gillian Welch will release Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs on July 31 via Acony Records. As the title suggests, it's unreleased songs "unearthed from a cache of home demos and reel-to-reel recordings," and is the second release of archival music from the vault of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. “We stashed these recordings away years ago," says Welch. "Their shortcomings, real or imagined, technical or compositional, no longer seem bothersome today. Hearing them now is like seeing snapshots that captured moments the more formal portraits missed. So here we are hurrying them for release before the next tornado blows the whole shoebox away.” Get an early taste with these two songs.
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ANNIE - "THE BOMB"
Annie has shared a second song from Dark Hearts, her upcoming first album in over a decade. “We wanted to do a song that was not a straight-up pop song but had a bit of melodrama,” Annie tells The Line of Best Fit. “I guess it’s a combination of the world we live in at the moment. ou read the news…and it’s all a bit too much. It makes you wonder if you’ll wake up and realise if it was all a dream!”
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MAITA - "COMING UP ROSES" (ELLIOTT SMITH COVER)
Portland's MAITA released their debut album, Best Wishes, back in May via Kill Rock Stars. They've also released a cover in conjunction with the 25th anniversary reissue of Elliott Smith's 1995 self-titled album. It's a rendition of "Coming Up Roses," and about it, they write, "We chose to cover "Coming Up Roses," because of the tension of how it's almost a pop song, but the chords just fuck you up in a way that doesn't let that happen, turning inwards on themselves, and somehow, managing to resolve. Similarly, the lyrics oscillate between the sugary sweet hook and much darker, complex imagery. We wanted to honor the nuanced, yet straight-forward production of the self titled album--doubled vocals and rhythm guitars with no reverb and to the point guitar solos, but we wanted to do it in a louder way, with a bit of a nod to Heatmiser (we're both suckers for that version of Christian Brothers)."
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WELL WISHER - "WALK AWAY" & "HAPPIER NOW"
Asbury Park, NJ's Well Wisher released their debut LP, This Is Fine, via 6131 Records in 2018, and now they've shared the two singles from a collection of acoustic quarantine songs singer and guitarist Natalie Newbold has been working on with Erik Kase Romero. "They are the most personal and stripped down songs I’ve ever released and I’m so happy to be sharing them as singles over the next couple of months while the band works on LP2," Natalie writes.
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SYLVAN ESSO - "WHAT IF"
Back in April, Sylvan Esso released a concert album and film of their 2019 WITH tour, which saw the duo playing with a lineup ten musicians strong. Now it looks like they may be teasing something new. They've shared a short new single, "What If," with a video showing Amelia Meath in the middle of the ocean.
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LA PRIEST - WHAT MOVES (SOULWAX REMIX)
Soulwax, who just released an entire album made with the vintage EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer, have remixed this track from LA Priest's new album. The Dewaeles have sprinkled it with their patented Belgian pixie dust.
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NIGHT SHOP - "THE CAFE OF ETERNAL YOUTH" FT. HAND HABITS & MORE
Justin Sullivan, who used to play in Kevin Morby's band, now makes musis as Night Shop. This single, which if you like Morby you'll like this, benefits St. Elmo Village and features Hand Habits, Anna St. Louis, and Woods' Jarvis Taveniere.
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SHE KEEPS BEES FT. TIM CARR - "STAR STONE SKIN"
Future Gods curated a new collaborative series, Future Unknown, as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the goal of giving artists "a platform for communal expression during worldwide shutdowns." The first volume features She Keeps Bees and Tim Carr, and all proceeds will go to Black Lives Matter LA. "The title was inspired by a line from a children's book that I hope to read to my daughter one day," Jess Larrabee says. "'Child and serpent, star and stone - all one.' The song expands on the themes from our last album Kinship. To love disharmony back into accord and harmony. Nature's guiding intelligence is always speaking with us. A connection to this source helps open the flow of thinking, dreaming, and intuition. This conversation with nature invites guidance to our inner selves if we are open to it. We all exist in a beautiful web."
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IHSAHN - "SPECTRE AT THE FEAST"
Earlier this year, Emperor frontman Ihsahn released the Telemark EP, the most straight-up black metal record he'd put out in a long time, and he had told Prog ahead of Telemark's release that "the plan is to then follow up this EP with its aesthetic and musical counterpart, wherein I can distil all those more progressive, experimental and mellow elements of my music. Ultimately, it’s all a means for me to get some of those ideas out of my system, giving myself space before I delve into the next album!" Now he has announced that "more progressive, experimental and mellow" EP, Pharos, which is due September 11 via Candlelight, and released its lead single "Spectre at the Feast." The EP also includes a Portishead cover and a song featuring Einar Solberg of Leprous. More info here.
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GONE IS GONE - "EVERYTHING IS WONDERFALL"
Alt-rock supergroup Gone Is Gone -- Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive In drummer Tony Hajjar, and guitarist Mike Zarin -- followed their December 2019 single "No One Ever Walked On Water" with this new one that finds the band nearing industrial metal territory.
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TINASHE - "RASCAL (SUPERSTAR)
Fresh off appearing on THEY.'s new song, Tinashe is back with her own new single, and it's a great dose of airy, moody R&B.
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SADA BABY - "KOURTSIDE" (ft. LIL YACHTY)
Prolific Detroit rapper Sada Baby will release his new mixtape Bartier Bounty 2 on July 24, and it'll include this ominous new song featuring Lil Yachty.
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TYLA YAWEH - "STUNTIN' ON YOU" (ft. DABABY)
Fresh off a new song with Post Malone, Tyla Yaweh has dropped the bright, catchy "Stuntin' On You" featuring a motormouthed guest verse from DaBaby.
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ONYX COLLECTIVE - "BABY"
Onyx Collective have followed their recent Manhattan Special: Onyx Collective Plays Rodgers & Hart / Rodgers & Hammerstein with this stunning new single that blends fiery jazz and modern R&B.
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14 TRAPDOORS - "I DID IT ALL" (FT. BENNY THE BUTCHER, RICK HYDE & CAMOFLAUGE MONK)
Buffalo rap trio 14 trapdoors have announced a new album, Eileen, due "later on this summer," which was entirely produced by Camoflauge Monk and features Benny the Butcher, Royce Da 5'9, Boldy James, Smoke DZA, Che Noir, Skyzoo, Qari, and others. Along with the announcement comes this gripping new song featuring Benny and his BSF groupmate Rick Hyde.
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MERCY MUSIC - "LIVING WITH A GHOST"
Las Vegas' Mercy Music make melodic punk that sounds straight out of 2002 and they make it feel fresh and inspired. (They're also not afraid to throw in shredding hard rock solos.) They're releasing their new album Nothing In the Dark on September 18 via Wiretap Records, and it features this catchy ripper.
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ROD WAVE - "THROUGH THE WIRE"
Sing-rapper Rod Wave continues to rise and remain prolific, and today he's back with another good one.
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JOEY BADA$$ - "THE LIGHT," "NO EXPLANATION" (ft. PUSHA T) & "SHINE"
Joey Bada$$ has followed 2017's great All-Amerikkkan Badass with his first new music in three years, The Light Pack, which features "The Light" (which also has a video directed by Kerby Jean-Raymond & Levi Turner), "No Explanation" (featuring a pretty great Pusha T verse), and "Shine." The long gap without music hasn't done anything to taint Joey's sound; just the opposite. He sounds energized and more crisp than ever, and these songs find him exploring some new territory too. Glad to have him back.
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MATT BERNINGER - "DISTANT AXIS"
The National's Matt Berninger has released the gorgeous second single off his upcoming debut solo album, and you can read more about it here.
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THE FALL OF TROY - "WE ARE THE FUTURE"
Tech-y post-hardcore vets The Fall of Troy have released their first new song in four years and announced a new album, which you can read more about here.
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SWERVEDRIVER - PETROLEUM SPIRIT DAZE EP
Shoegaze greats Swervedriver released Son of a Mustang Ford, their debut EP, on July 16, 1990 and to celebrate its 30th anniversary, they've shared this previously unreleased version of the EP they're calling Petroleum Spirit Daze.
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YO LA TENGO - "IRA SEARCHES FOR THE SLIDE, SORT OF (FRIDAY)"
On Monday, Yo La Tengo finally joined Bandcamp and began sharing recordings from recent freeform jams done in their practice space. They've released one every day this week, and today's is a nine-minute piece of gorgeous ambience titled "Ira searches for the slide, sort of (Friday)." All five tracks are being compiled onto a new vinyl record.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.