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.
BIG JOANIE - "CONFIDENT MAN"
Big Joanie have shared a new song off their upcoming album Back Home, "Confident Man." Singer/guitarist Stephanie Philips says, "The song was inspired by Jia Tolentino’s book Trick Mirror and an essay in it about scam culture and how everyone’s obsessed with con men and their stories. As the impact of capitalist culture becomes harder to avoid, it feels like many people would rather give in and admire those who work within the system and become the epitome of privileged, confident, white male arrogance. When you’re in that mindset, no one considers rebelling against that and tearing down everything the confident white male represents."
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DANIEL AVERY FT HAAI - "WALL OF SLEEP"
Daniel Avery has shared another track off his upcoming album Ultra Truth. "Wall of Sleep" features HAAi and like most of what we've heard off the record so far, it combines shoegaze elements into his techno style. “In many ways ‘Wall of Sleep’ defines the aesthetic of the whole album," says Daniel. "A cave in which to get lost, drawn towards a burning light, hopeful steps forward, flanked by your favourite people - in my case here Manni Dee and the returning, soaring voice of HAAi. The Ultra Truth draws ever nearer.”
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HAGOP TCHAPARIAN - "RIGHT TO RIOT"
Hagop Thaparian will release his debut album, Bolts, in October via Four Tet's Tex Records and here's another banger from it. "Banger" taken literally in this case, as it sounds like a rave in a car factory.
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CONFIDENCE MAN - “LUVIN U IS EASY” (TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS REMIX)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs have put a '90s house spin on this Confidence Man track. “This is some classy stuff," ays Confidence man. "Not your average, run of the mill, car boot sale remix. This thing sounds expensive. TEED know how to bring the shine and shimmer. Another legend coming through with the goods.”
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ISOMONSTROSITY - "CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR" (ft. DANNY BROWN & 645AR)
isomonstrosity is a new project from Johan Lenox, Ellen Reid, and Yuga Cohler, and their self-titled debut album comes out November 18 via Brassland. This new single features Danny Brown and auto-tune-loving sing-rapper 645AR, and it's a very cool dose of out-there, psychedelic rap music.
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THRICE - "OPEN YOUR EYES AND DREAM"
Thrice have shared their first new single since last year's Horizons / East. It's an anthemic alt-rock/post-hardcore rager and singer Dustin Kensrue says, "It’s so very easy to believe that big systemic issues can’t change because we’ve lived with them our whole lives. But if you look back and zoom out a bit it’s easy to see that this feeling of permeance and inevitability is just an illusion. Most things seem impossible until they happen. This song is about opening our eyes to that reality, and being willing to dream something better into existence."
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POSTER PAINTS - "NOT SORRY"
Poster Paints, aka Carla J Easton and Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit), will release their full-length debut soon and have just shared this dreamy number from it. “This has quickly become a favourite to perform live and we are so pleased to release it," says Carla. "A sort of sleepy Mazzy Star sound to it. Driving big chorus with blistering guitar amidst whispered reflective laments.”
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MAMALARKY - "SHINING ARMOR"
Mamalarky's second album, Pocket Fantasy, is due out next week via Fire Talk and here's one more early taste before the whole thing is available. "Shining Armor" is full of contradictions: mellow but nervy, skronky and beautiful. There's a cool animated video too. "This song goes out to conveniently anonymous YouTube haters," says singer Livvy Bennett. "Shining Armor is an invitation for anyone who has shit to say about how I play guitar to go ahead and reveal themselves and play a little song for us! When I wrote this I was getting a bunch of comments about my gender and appearance and how that corresponds with how I play guitar. The only response was to covert that anger into something that's genuinely so fun to play."
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CALEXICO - "RAMBLER"
Calexico have shared this spare, stripped down track that was from the same sessions as new album El Mirador. The band's Joey Burns says the music was inspired by the Northwest landscapes. "Throughout these travels I kept seeing ghosts looking for someone to sing their stories,” Burns says. “When John [Covertino] and I met up to record, the music came together in a flash, and you can feel that spark of spontaneity between the acoustic guitar and drums when you listen. Later on we added some slide guitar (Connor Gallaher) and backing vocals (Luke Ydstie) to build splashes of color and character.”
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SLUG - "CASUAL CRUELTY"
Ian Black, who has played bass in Field Music, records his own angular pop as SLUG and will release new album Thy Socialite! on January 20 via Daylight Saving Records, a new label started by Field Music's David and Peter Brewis. Says Black of this first single: "'Casual Cruelty' is a song about how we’re all implicit in acts of cruelty now and then, even when we think we’re the ‘goodie’. I started to think about what I could do to challenge my own listeners and what would be my angle without just releasing 40 minutes of generic, bad music.” Among the divisive albums he researched: Arctic Monkeys' Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino, Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies Man, and Lou Reed's Berlin. “My friend likened Lou’s Berlin to 'Andrew Lloyd Webber on a horrendous drug come down.' Andrew Lloyd Webber on a horrendous drug come down? That sounds amazing!”
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SHANNEN MOSER - "OH MY GOD"
The latest single from Shannen Moser's anticipated new album The Sun Still Seems to Move is "Oh My God," a beautifully ornamented folk track. "Right before writing ‘Oh My God,’ I had just moved back to Philly after spending the summer in Berks County," Shannen says. "I was working on farms and greenhouses that summer and spent a lot of my time outside. I had just ended an important relationship in my life. I was taking care of a sick parent. Everything felt unfamiliar and strange. I had spent the summer shape note singing, driving around and really exploring a natural world that I hadn’t been around in almost a decade,” explains Moser. ‘Oh My God’ is a song that recognizes the multiple truths surrounding change and the timeline of our lives. It’s overwhelming and painful, but there’s also a hilarity to it. Like throwing your hands up in the air to concede that no matter how we might try, as the world turns things will change in an endless exchange of joy and sorrow."
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DISQ - "THE HARDEST PART"
Led with a driving, flinty bassline, Disq's "The Hardest Part" is instantly appealing indie rock. It's from new album Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet which is out soon on Saddle Creek.
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LANDE HEKT - "CUT MY HAIR"
Here's one more beguiling Lande Hekt track before her new album House Without a View drops on Friday.
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MAGDALENA BAY - "UNCONDITIONAL"
The new deluxe edition of Magdalena Bay's great 2021 debut, Mercurial World, is out Friday, and ahead of its release they've shared another new single, sparkling, disco-flecked pop track "Unconditional." "We think of ‘Unconditional’ as ‘Secrets’ weird little cousin," they say. "Just like ‘All You Do,’ we loved it when we made it but it didn’t quite fit the flow of Mercurial World." About the video, they add, “this video is our dream birthday party, and you’re all invited.”
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DANIEL BACHMAN - "FLOOD STAGE / INUNDATION (THE BLACKOUT)"
Daneil Bachman has announced a new album, Almanac Behind, due November 18 via Three Lobed, and the first taste is the six-minute drone of "Flood Stage / Inundation (The Blackout)."
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BILL NACE - "E:E"
Guitarist Bill Nace releases new album Through a Room on November 11 via Drag City. He really shoulda asked to get this one out a little earlier, as "E:E" is all creepy atmosphere, perfect for Halloween.
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JASON COLLETT - "EVERYDAY SUNFLOWER"
Broken Social Scene founding member Jason Collett is releasing a new solo album, Head Full of Wonder, on November 4 via Arts & Crafts, and the latest single is the sunny "Everyday Sunflower." "In absorbing the tumult of the times, there's a lot of shit to write through," Jason says. "I let go of some swagger and embraced intimacy and joy and wonder."
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THE HANGED MAN (MEMS DUNGEN, VIAGRA BOYS) - "BOUNDLESS AND INFINITE"
Stockholm's The Hanged Man features members of some of Sweden's best groups. Led by Rebecka Rolfart (Those Dancing Days), The Hanged Man also includes Mattias Gustavsson (Dungen), Elias Jungqvist (Viagra Boys) and Dennis Egberth (Saigon). New album Tear it All is out November 4 via PNK SLM and "Boundless and Infitine" weaves a groovy, cinematic spell.
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LESSER EVIL - "FICTION"
Montreal electronic duo Lesser Evil will release their trip-hop inspired debut album in October. Read more about it and this new single here.
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MARGO PRICE - "CHANGE OF HEART"
Margo's new album Strays is out January 13 and features Sharon Van Etten, Lucius, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. Check out this new single.
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WIKI & SUBJXCT5 - "MY LIFE"
New York rapper Wiki and New Jersey producer Subjxct5 have announced a new collaborative mixtape, Cold Cuts, and you can read more about the excellent lead single "My Life" here.
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CITY OF CATERPILLAR - "PARANORMALADIES"
Reunited screamo/post-hardcore legends City of Caterpillar have shared the third single off their first album in 20 years, and you can read more about it here.
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W.I.T.C.H. - "WAILE"
Zamrock legends W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend To Cause Havoc) released their first new song since 1984 today. "Waile" is a psych-rock jam, full of stirring guitars and driving percussion, which you can read more about here.
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MT. ORIANDER (EMPIRE! EMPIRE!) - "IF THIS IS SADNESS, I DON'T LIKE IT ONE BIT"
Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)'s Keith Latinen has announced his debut solo album as Mt. Oriander, and you can read more about the lead single here.
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JAMIE XX - "KILL DEM"
"Kill Dem" radiates constant energy, from its layered synths to its unrelenting vocals. It was inspired by Notting Hill Carnival in London, which Jamie xx attended as a teen and performed at this summer, and you can read more about it here.
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WHITE LUNG - "DATE NIGHT" & "TOMORROW"
Vancouver punks White Lung have been very quiet for the past five years, but now they're back... for one last record. Read more about the album and these first two singles here.
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THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - "BEGUILED"
The Smashing Pumpkins have announced a new album, ATUM: A Rock Opera In Three Acts, and you can read more about lead single "Beguiled" here.
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CINDERLBOCK (TERROR, SNAPCASE, EARTH CRISIS) - "SUNDIAL"
Cinderblock was a very short-lived early 1990s Buffalo hardcore band, and even if you aren't familiar with their music, you probably know some of members' later projects. Co-vocalist Scott Vogel went on to front Terror, Buried Alive, Despair, Slugfest, and more, co-vocalist Tim Redmond went on to drum in Snapcase (and Slugfest), and drummer Dennis Merrick went on to drum in Earth Crisis. (The lineup was rounded out by guitarists Karl Dutton and Phil Popieski, and bassist Clint Marriott.) The only music Cinderblock released in real time was a 1992 demo, but the band recently reconvened to give their old songs proper studio recordings, and the result is the Breathe the Fire EP, which drops 10/28 via WAR Records. Read more about the new recording of "Sundial" here and listen to the track at No Echo.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.