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.
NIICE. - "FREE EARL" & "SHLONKEY KONG"
Minneapolis trio niice. will release their new album Internet Friends on September 28 via Brace Cove Records and Chatterbot Records, and so far they're streaming two singles, "Shlonkey Kong" and "Free Earl." (Like many emo bands, they clearly like their inside joke and pop culture-referencing song titles.) Both songs find them blurring the lines between mathy Midwest emo, throat-shredding early 2000s post-hardcore, and today's DIY scene. They're familiar sounds, but niice. make it feel fresh.
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FUTURE ISLANDS - "MOONLIGHT"
"'Moonlight' is a song about love in a depressive state," Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands says. "It’s about recognizing the holes in ourselves and recognizing the circular whole of others. ‘Moonlight’ is about acceptance because that’s what love allows us all." It's the latest single off their upcoming album, As Long As You Are, due out October 9 via 4AD.
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MILITARIE GUN - MY LIFE IS OVER EP & "DISLOCATE ME" VIDEO
Militarie Gun is a new project led by Regional Justice Center's Ian Shelton that also features guitarists Nick Cogan (Drug Church) and William Acuña, drummer Vince Nguyen (Modern Color), and bassist Max Epstein, and they just released their debut EP and put out a video for the song "Dislocate Me." Compared to RJC's harsh powerviolence, this EP is more in shouty, mid-tempo post-hardcore territory, and Ian's pretty great at this sound too.
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OUR FUTURE IS AN ABSOLUTE SHADOW - EP
Our Future Is An Absolute Shadow is the new band of Dave Norman (Zegema Beach Records, Apostles of Eris), Jesse Mowery (Apostles of Eris, Marjorel, In Wolves Clothing), and Adrian Manges (Cloud Rat, Old Soul), and their new EP on Zegema Beach is a killer offering of '90s-style screamo that's raw, harsh, and noisy but still full of soaring melodies and atmosphere.
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NO THANK YOU - "ENOUGH"
Philly trio No Thank You will release Embroidered Foliage on October 23 via Lame-O Records, and lead single "Enough" is an atmospheric, climactic blend of emo, indie, and grunge that finds Kaytee Della Monica pairing towering guitars with an airy, mournful delivery.
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CLAIRO - "YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND" (CAROLE KING COVER)
Clairo's delicate, understated rendition of Carole King's classic song, from 1971's Tapestry, strips it to its bare bones.
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KIPP STONE - "SPRAGUE STREET" (ft. MICK JENKINS)
East Cleveland rapper/producer Kipp Stone will release his new mixtape HOMMÈ on October 20 via Chicago's Closed Sessions, and first single is "Sprague Street" is an intense offering of politically fired-up storytelling that features fellow Midwestern rapper Mick Jenkins.
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JAHMED - "GLIMPSE" (ft. FREDDIE GIBBS)
LA rapper Jahmed will release his new EP ARMANI in October via Human Re-Sources, and new single "GLIMPSE" is a dark, hypnotic, psychedelic song that finds JAHMED holding his own next to masterful spitter Freddie Gibbs.
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MARIKA HACKMAN - "REALITI" (GRIMES COVER)
Marika Hackman will release Covers on November 13 via Sub Pop, featuring her take on songs by Air, Alvvays, Beyonce, Edith Frost, Grimes, Elliott Smith, Muna, Radiohead, The Shins, and Sharon Van Etten. You can check out her ethereal cover of Grimes' "Raliti" now.
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MOURN - "MEN"
Barcelona trio Mourn's new album Self Worth is due out October 30 via Captured Tracks, and they've shared another new single from it, "Men." "This song is about walking the streets and having to deal with looks, words and attitudes from different men," they write. "To enter a store and be treated differently than male clients, and the same at work. This song portrays these situations and the frustration that comes with them. I'm sure there will be a lot of people that identify with these experiences, and being questioned for their identity. At the same time, I know there will also be people that are pissed or feel uncomfortable with these lyrics. But this is how we feel and no one can take our experiences from us. These lyrics come from a sincere and confident mindset where we want to establish our validity and identity and not let it be broken. We talk about feelings we see in men because we feel they‘re taken into account more, and are imposed onto us. I also feel like with this quote being so long, it is like I'm trying to justify why we wrote about this topic, and the thing is, this in itself is an uncomfortable situation we're being put through by society. In the end, it's just a personal experience...lived by millions of people everyday."
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POM POKO - "MY CANDIDACY"
NoRwegian band Pom Poko will be back with new album Cheater on November 6 via Bella Union, and here's an early taste. "My Candidacy" is skronky, hyper pop that “is about the wish to be able to believe in unconditional love, even though you know that there probably is no such thing," say the band. "We, at least, believe in unconditional love for riffy tunes with sing-song choruses.” Amen to that.
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MOLCHAT DOMA - "NE SMESHNO"
Belarusian post-punk group Molchat Doma will release new album Monument on November 13. Noir-ish first single "Ne Smeshno" translates roughly to "Not Funny" and is set to a sparse arrangement powered by vintage drum machines and Egor Shkutko's deep voice.
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TAMAR APHEK - SHOW ME YOUR PRETTY SIDE
Israeli musician Tamar Aphek will release new album All Bets Are Off on December 10 via Kill Rock Stars. Her style pulls from early-'60s rock, heavy on twangy atmosphere and sultry sax. "Show Me Your Pretty Side" is a pretty appealing appetizer.
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TEENAGE HALLOWEEN - "SWEAT"
The last song released from Teenage Halloween's debut album (out this Friday on Don Giovanni) was a fast-paced, Lawrence Arms-y punk ripper, but this new one finds them exploring slower, quieter, emo-tinged territory. They're great at this sound too, and it's also yet another great example of Luke Henderiks' compelling, personal lyrical style.
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TOLD SLANT - "FAMILY STILL" & "NO BACKPACK"
Told Slant (aka Felix Walworth) will release their first album in four years, Point the Flashlight and Walk, on November 13 via Double Double Whammy, and along with the announcement comes two doses of somber, emotionally bare indie rock.
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AUÐN - "LJÓSTÝRA"
Icelandic black metallers AUÐN have announced a new album, Vökudraumsins fangi, due October 30 via Season of Mist, and first single "Ljóstýra" finds them going back and forth between melodic, atmospheric sections and tornadic blasts. "Ljóstýra,' meaning 'Faint light,' is a metaphor for loneliness and the never ending jaded grind our world is spiraling towards, we hope for brighter days that never seem to materialize," the band says.
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RESISTANCE REVIVAL CHORUS - "THIS JOY"
Resistance Revival Chorus, the collective of over 70 women and nonbinary vocalists, including Rhiannon Giddens, Valerie June, Deva Mahal, and many more, announced their debut album. This Joy is due out October 16 via Righteous Babe Records, and they've shared the title track.
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THE QUEERS - "HONG FUCKING KONG"
Ramones-worshipping punk vets The Queers do what they do best on this new song, which is off their upcoming split with The Two Tens, Cha Cha Cha, which comes out Friday (9/18) via ProRawk Records. "We came up with the title on tour in China," they told Punk News. "We were waiting in the airport for about 12 hours 'cause our flight kept getting delayed. But they told us to stay in the airport and not go find a hotel. Plus we'd cleared customs so we'd have to re-enter if we left. Someone said, 'where are we going next?' And another clown said, 'Hong Fucking Kong for all I know.' I made a mental note that it would be a good song title and voila!"
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NEPUGIA - "GUÍA PARA SABOTEAR UN RESCATE"
Punta Arenas, Chile's Nepguai are releasing their new EP Cicatrices on October 1, and new single "Guía para sabotear un rescate" is an intense blend of screamo and metalcore.
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DOLLY PARTON - "I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS"
You may not be ready to think about Christmas or anything past Election Day but Dolly Parton is here to tell you about her new holiday album, A Holly Dolly Christmas, which will be out October 2. Here's her version of slightly creepy classic "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
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ELVIS PERKINS - "SEE MONKEY"
"'See Monkey' is an 'everything's gonna be alright' sort of song, a 'we're all only returning to the source' sort of song, from the monkey that is me to the monkey that is you," Elvis Perkins says. It's from his upcoming album, Creation Myths, due out October 2 via Petaluma Records.
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SUFJAN STEVENS - "SUGAR"
We're less than two weeks away from the arrival of Sufjan Stevens' anticipated Carrie & Lowell followup, The Ascension (due 9/25 via Asthmatic Kitty), and today we get the third single, "Sugar." Read more here.
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SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS - "SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I'M YOURS" (STEVIE WONDER COVER)
Daptone Records has announced Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In), a new compilation that includes previously unheard material by the late soul icon Sharon Jones and her band The Dap-Kings, including this cover, which you can read more about here.
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SMALL BILLS (ELUCID & THE LASSO) - "SAFEHOUSE" (ft. FIELDED)
Elucid has been having a busy year. He put out some solo music, and then Armand Hammer (his duo with billy woods) released their excellent new album Shrines in June, and now Small Bills (his new duo with Detroit multi-instrumentalist/producer The Lasso) have announced their debut album, Don't Play It Straight, due 10/30 via Mello Music Group. Read more about the album and lead single "Safehouse" here.
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SLOWTHAI - "FEEL AWAY" (ft. JAMES BLAKE & MOUNT KIMBIE)
That's one hell of a crew and you can read more about it here.
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THOU - "THEM BONES" (ALICE IN CHAINS COVER)
Thou's cover of "Them Bones" from Magnetic Eye Records' upcoming tribute album to Alice In Chains' Dirt was released, and it should be no surprise that Thou absolutely killed this one. Read more here.
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LAMBCHOP - "RESERVATIONS" (WILCO COVER)
Lambchop are releasing a covers album, titled Trip, on November 13 via Merge. For the record, each of the six members of the would pick a song to cover, which they would then record in a single day “My idea was to see what might happen if I removed myself from the process as much as possible,” said bandleader Kurt Wagner.
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JEFF TWEEDY - 'GUESS AGAIN" & "LOVE IS THE KING"
Jeff Tweedy will release new solo album Love is the King on October 23 via dBpm Records. He made the album back in April at his Chicago studio, The Loft, with help from his sons Spencer and Sammy and they worked to record a song a day till they had an album. You can listen to two songs -- "Guess Again" and the title track -- now.
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STEPHEN MALKMUS - "JULIEFUCKINGETTE"
Stephen Malkmus has shared a new song, "Juliefuckingette." While recorded in the same sessions as this year's folky, excellent Traditional Techniques, the song is a little more the kind of poppy indie rock number you associate with Malkmus, in addition to his standard wry wordplay.
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DEATH VALLEY GIRLS - "UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY"
Death Valley Girls' new album Under the Spell of Joy is out soon and you can check out the title track now that features a choir, as well as a stomping strut matched to Stooges-style punk rock.
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THE NUDE PARTY - "WHAT'S THE DEAL?"
The Nude Party will release their second album, Midnight Manor, on October 2 via New West Records. The band recorded the record live-to-tape over six days at the Outlier Inn in upstate New York, and it was mixed by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Kurt Vile).
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JEFF ROSENSTOCK - 4 NEW SONGS
Jeff Rosenstock has launched a new Bandcamp album called 2020 DUMP, which currently has four songs he's made at home during the pandemic and which he'll keep adding to. Laura Stevenson sang on three of the new songs ("Dept of Finance," "Collapse!" and "Done Done Done!"), and Jeremy Hunter (Skatune Network, JER, We Are The Union) played horns on "Collapse!" and "ACAB," both of which find Jeff revisiting his ska roots. Any money donated will go charitable causes. You can read more here.
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KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - "STRAWS IN WIND"
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have been releasing new songs monthly, and here's another. "Straws in the Wind" is not the same old song, an acoustic-leaning six minute jam that is sung by the band's keyboardists (and Murlocks founder) Ambrose Kenny-Smith.
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FU MANCHU - "WORKING MAN" (RUSH COVER)
Fu Manchu have released a Rush-approved cover of "Working Man" in honor of Neil Peart, and to benefit cancer research. Read more about it here.
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TWIN GOD - "YOU AND I (DEATH OF THE TWIN)"
NJ and Brooklyn based sludge metallers Twin God (fronted by Bryan Elkyns, formerly of In Musth) have announced their debut EP for Nefarious Industries, and the new song should appeal to fans of Leviathan-era Mastodon, Neurosis, and Godspeed. Read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.