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.
GRUFF RHYS - "CAN'T CARRY ON"
Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys has shared a second single from his upcoming album Seeking New Gods. "Can't Carry On" is about "when reality catches up with delusion and the search for a guiding hand out of a heavy situation." The video features some furry, wooly mammoths, mountainclimbing, explosions and more. Seeking New Gods is out May 21 via Rough Trade.
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LAST DAYS OF APRIL - "RUN RUN RUN"
Long-running Swedish indiepop band The Last Days of April are back with Even the Good Days Are Bad, their 10th album and first in six years. Frontman and songwriter Karl Larsson has not lost his touch as you can hear on "Run Run Run." The album's out May 7 via Tapete.
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ROSIE TUCKER - "BARBARA ANN"
"The song is about the midwest, how corn and soy monoculture relate both to wider industrial food systems and to farmers trying to make a living," Rosie Tucker says. "It’s about my grandmother, a working class woman who spent every second working, not just the work of mucking the chicken house and raising children but of imbuing a hard life with sweetness for herself and her daughters, the work of reminding them that survival means laughing a lot and refusing to yield to the will of any man, be it boss or husband." It's another sharp indie rock track with memorable lyrics from their new album, Sucker Supreme.
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AXIS:SOVA - "(DON'T WANNA HAVE) THAT DREAM"
Chicago's Asix: Sova will release the Fractal EP on May 7 via Ty Segall's God? Records imprint through Drag City. Get an acidic first taste via "(Don't Wanna Have) That Dream," that's full of white noise and weird electronics. Cool.
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UV-TV - "BACK TO NOWHERE"
NYC indie rock band UV-TV are back with a very catchy "Back to Nowhere," a chiming earworm that's an early preview of their upcoming album Always Something that will be out May 28 via Paper Cup.
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CAKE POP - "SATIN BEDSHEETS"
Cake Pop, the project of 100 gecs' Dylan Brady and a group of collaborators, release their new album, Cake Pop 2, next month via Mad Decent. The latest single is "Satin Bedsheets," another piece of slick, auto-tuned hyperpop.
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JAMES - "BEAUTIFUL BEACHES"
Veteran UK band James are gearing up to release new album All the Colours of You on June 4 and the've just shared this new ecologically minded single from it. “We love how this song is so uplifting, focusing on new beginnings,” frontman Tim Booth says. “I like the idea that many might not know the backstory and hear it as a post Covid holiday song! Praying that the lyrics don’t turn out prophetic."
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MIDWIFE - "CHRISTINA'S WORLD" (ft. HAVE A NICE LIFE'S DAN BARRETT)
Midwife (aka Madeline Johnston) releases her new album Luminol on July 16 via The Flenser, and lead single "Christina's World" is a gorgeous dose of minimal, Grouper-esque ambient pop with backing harmonies from Have A Nice Life's Dan Barrett.
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AJJ - "MOTOR AWAY" (GUIDED BY VOICES COVER) & "I WANNA BE YOUR DOG 2" (ft. THOR HARRIS)
AJJ have celebrated 4/20 with a rippin', fuzz-drenched cover of Guided by Voices' classic "Motor Away" and an original song called "I Wanna Be Your Dog 2," which features contributions from Thor Harris (Swans, Xiu Xiu, Shearwater, etc).
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YAUTJA - "THE SPECTACLE"
Metal shapeshifters Yautja have shared the second single off their anticipated new album The Lurch (due 5/21 via Relapse). Throughout its four-minute running time, they touch on lumbering sludge, proggy weirdness, grindy fury, and more, and the whole thing is a heavy, irresistible mindfuck.
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KHANDRA - "ALL OCCUPIED BY SOLE DEATH"
Belarusian black metallers Khandra have shared the title track off All Occupied by Sole Death (due 5/28 via Season of Mist Underground Activists) and it's the perfect balance of melody, atmosphere, and ferocity.
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CHRIS DEMAKES (LESS THAN JAKE) - "NEVER SURRENDER"
Less Than Jake co-frontman Chris DeMakes will release a two-song solo 7" on June 9 via Smartpunk, and one of those songs is out now. It's a pop punk banger in the most timeless, anthemic way possible.
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TOGETHER PANGEA - "MARIJUANA"
If you're reading this little blurb for a song titled "Marijuana," you probably know what today is. Together Pangea certainly know what day it is.
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RETT SMITH & JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD - "THE HOOK"
Rett Smith will release What The Walls Cannot See in June and he's just shared this new single featuring Jessica Lea Mayfield. "'The Hook' is a song about taking ownership within loss," says Rett. "An acknowledgment of one’s truth within the current landscape, and of no longer being able to distract and escape within societal norms. A song about what happens when turning the mirror on one’s past and recognizing all the work left to be done within, and to possibly come out of the other side a better person. Having Jessica lend her voice really brought the song to a beautiful place that I can't wait to share.”
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PICTUREPLANE - "AVALANCHE"
Here's another single from Pictureplane's upcoming album Dopamine. "Avalanche" has a bit of a dark, gothy vibe while also sounding a bit like "Steal My Sunshine" hitmakers LEN. The album's out July 9 via 100% Electronica.
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EAGLE JOHNSON & CLEAN MACHINE - "ALL MY FRIENDS" (MIXED BY LEE SCRATCH PERRY)
Here's another 420 special, this one from Nashville's Eagle Johnson & Clean Machine. "All My Friends" is not reggae but somehow they got spliff expert and dub icon Lee 'Scratch' Perry to mix the song.
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JESSE BLOCKTON - "WHY AM I STILL SINGLE?"
Former Vitamen frontman Jesse Blockton has been releasing a steady stream of witty, catchy lockdown singles and here's the latest and shortest - another look in the mirror. They video drops him into a '70s gameshow which is pretty clever.
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HIGHWAY SNIPER - GREATEST HITS 2: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL EP
Highway Sniper -- the political hardcore punk trio of Skylar Sarkis of Taking Meds and Growing Stone, Eric Egan of Heart Attack Man, and George Lucarelli of Falls Apart -- formed last year and today they've released their sophomore EP. As the recently released lead single hinted, Highway Sniper sound even heavier and more pissed-off on this EP than they did on the last one. It might technically be a "side project," but it's not tossed-off or anything. It rips as hard as just about anything coming out of this genre right now.
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TOTALLY SLOW - "FOUND FACTIONS"
North Carolina punks Totally Slow announced their third album, Casual Drag, due 6/4 via Refresh Records, and you can read more about this new ripper here.
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EASY BEACH - "SELENA GOMEZ (TOOK THE NAME OF THIS SONG)" & "BLURRY"
Detroit emo-punks Easy Beach have released a new two-song single, and you can read about it here.
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DEAD HEAT - "2 CENTS"
Nardcore/crossover thrash maniacs Dead Heat have announced a new album for Triple B Records, and you can read more about this lead single here.
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MATT BACHMANN (MEGA BOG, HAND HABITS) - "APPLE PIE"
In addition to playing in Hand Habits and Mega Bog, Matt Bachmann also releases music as Pachanga, Big Eater, and under his own name. Today he announced his new solo album, Dream Logic, and you can read more about lead single "Apple Pie" here.
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BLOOD LEMON - "ONE MORE TIME"
Blood Lemon (who are fronted by Melanie Radford, who's also in the current Built to Spill lineup) will release their self-titled debut LP this Friday, and you can read more about this new song and its video here.
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HOT MULLIGAN - "POP SHUVIT (HALL OF MEAT, DUH)"
Michigan emo-pop band Hot Mulligan announced a new EP, and you can read more about this lead single here.
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SNAG - "HEIRLOOM"
Milwaukee screamo/hardcore band Snag announced their sophomore album Death Doula and shared this excellent lead single, which you can read more about here.
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KAONASHI - "AN EVENING OF MOVING PICTURES WITH SCOOTER CORKLE"
Pennsylvania self-proclaimed "emo mathcore" band Kaonashi announced a new album, Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year, due 5/21 via Equal Vision/Unbeaten Records, and they sound even more chaotic than usual (and incorporate more clean vocals) on this lead single. Read more about it here.
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THE HIRS COLLECTIVE - "LOVE"
Philly queer DIY punk collective The HIRS Collective have announced a new double album and shared this rager of a new song, which you can read more about here.
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THE SCIENTISTS - "OUTSIDER"
Australian punk and proto-grunge cult heroes The Scientists, who formed back in 1981, have just announced Negativity, their first album in 35 years. The first single is "Outsider," a terrific garage punk ripper with heaps of attitude.
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FIELD MUSIC - "WHEN YOU LAST HEARD FROM LINDA"
Field Music release their terrific new album Flat White Moon this Friday and they've just shared one last song before the whole album is out. "When You Last Heard From Linda" is a little different from anything else on the album, folky and powered by striking cello.
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A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS - "END OF THE NIGHT"
A Place to Bury Strangers have announced the Hologram EP, their first new record in three years. First single is "End of the Night," which is a little bit of a new sound for the band. There are still plenty of noisy guitars but the ratatat, funky drumbeat and production is uncharted territory.
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FLYING LOTUS - "BLACK GOLD" (FT. THUNDERCAT) & "BETWEEN MEMORIES" (FT. NIKI RANDA)
Flying Lotus shared two new singles, the opening theme and closing credits of new Netflix anime series Yasuke.
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WOLF ALICE - "SMILE"
The latest single from Wolf Alice's new album, Blue Weekend (pre-order on limited transparent green vinyl) is an empowering anthem with a razor-sharp edge and bite to match.
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ANGEL OLSEN - "ALIVE AND DYING (WAVING, SMILING)"
This orchestral rework of Whole New Mess track "Waving, Smiling" features an 11-piece orchestra performing strings arranged by Jherek Bischoff. It's off Angel's new box set, Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories.
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POM POM SQUAD - "HEAD CHEERLEADER"
Brooklyn band Pom Pom Squad announced their debut LP, Death of a Cheerleader, for City Slang, and shared a new single, which features backing vocals from Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.