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.
WIKI & SUBJXCT 5 - "THE FONZ"
Wiki and Subjxct 5's collaborative mixtape Cold Cuts arrives in two weeks, and here's another great taste of it.
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DUNGEN - "HÖSTENS FÄRGER"
Swedish band Dungen release En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog, their first studio album in seven years, this week and here's one more Beatlesque early taste before the whole thing drops. The title translates to ”The colors of the fall” and comes with a hallucinogenic video starring frontman Gustav Estes. "Like all great artists, Gustav is a bit on his own planet, operating outside of the 'normal' sphere of life," says director Isidor Estrada. "He sees things from a totally different perspective, and he uses his music to help others see it too. Gustav just does his beautiful thing, like a kid playing, and that's what I wanted to portray with this video.”
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ALVVAYS - "AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE"
Alvvays' terrific new album Blue Rev is out this week and ahead of its release comes one final preview. The band call the jangly "After the Earthquake" a "rapid fire recital of drive-thru breakdown, tectonic breakup and boyfriend in a coma brake failure.”
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BICEP - "WATER” FEAT. CLARA LA SAN
"Water," featuring Clara La San, is a rework of their song "Waterfall" that has been a staple of Bicep's euphoric live sets for a while now, but they've now released the studio version. “There was no outright idea when we started, but the original 'Waterfall' was born out of experimentation with an instrument called the MEGAfm," say Bicep. "It’s a new synth but has chips inside which formed the sounds of the SEGA Megadrive/Genesis games consoles. Weirdly it got more computer game sounding when we developed it into 'Water,' speeding up and slowing down the lead line and LFOs to give that classic low-bit sound effect.”
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SPECIAL INTEREST - "FOUL"
“This call and response tune is a working class anthem,” Special Interest’s guitarist Maria Elena says about this dark post-punk banger. “Alli and I co-wrote the lyrics and sing it together with Ruth adding a classic line - foul! Ever so foul. It’s a dispatch from the dish pit! An ode to all beleaguered workers! Minimum balance savings account blues!” Special Interest's new album Endure is out November 4 via Rough Trade.
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ANTI-FLAG - "MODERN META MEDICINE" (ft. JESSE LEACH)
Anti-Flag's upcoming album Lies They Tell Our Children features tons of cool guests, and here's "Modern Meta Medicine," the fired-up anthem that features Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach.
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BRUTUS - "WHAT HAVE WE DONE"
Genre-defying, atmospheric heavy band Brutus have shared the final single from their upcoming LP Unison Life, and it's as towering as you'd expect from this band.
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SPARTA - "UNTIL THE KINGDOM COMES"
Sparta have shared a new track off their upcoming self-titled LP. It's on their lighter, slower side, but some of that classic Sparta post-hardcore grit comes through too.
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NICK HAKIM - "M1" FT DJ DAHI
Nick Hakim teamed with Kendrick Lamar and Drake collaborator DJ Dahi for this hazy new song from upcoming album Cometa. “I’ll never forget when Nick was opening up sessions he had previously been creating for the album and ‘M1’ was just a DJ Dahi drum loop, a choir synth take plus a sub bass sound with minimal editing," says producer Andrew Sarlo." It was an immediate head turner and we knew we had to mine it. Later that night Nick delivered an insane scratch vocal take that still gives me chills just recalling the first moment I heard him ascend melodically during the chorus refrain. We tend to have one song during the final stages of the album process that is a hard one to crack and the adrenaline rush of finishing ‘M1’ in time was very gratifying. It’s definitely solidified as one of my favorite Nick songs.”
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HONEY HARPER - "HARD TO MAKE A LIVING"
Honey Harper's Alana Pagnutti says "Hard to Make a Living" was written in "somewhat of a pandemic-related depressive state, reevaluating what we wanted to do and whether it was right for us,” adding, “We’d spent so long working on Starmaker and then it came out right before the pandemic, which left us feeling really discouraged. I wanted to investigate the idea that, in the music industry, if you haven’t made it by a certain age, then you’re not going to make it at all, and I ended up writing about the Greek myths of Daphnis, Narcissus and Hyacinth: all young, beautiful boys whose lives were taken away from them before they really had a chance to live.” New album Honey Harper & The Infinite Sky is out October 28 via ATO Records.
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CARLA DAL FORNO - "SIDE BY SIDE"
"‘Side By Side’ is about the anticipation of hooking up with someone and the feelings of inevitability, transparency and impatience," says Carla Dal Forno of her sultry, beguiling new song. "It’s all in the lyric, ‘Make your move / I recognise the method you use.’” Carla's new album, Come Around, is out November 11 via Kallista Records.
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FIREWALKER - DEMO 2022
Boston hardcore band Firewalker are back with a new demo featuring two new no-frills rippers and a cover of Subzero's "Boxed In."
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TY DOLLA $IGN & MUSTARD - "MY FRIENDS" (ft. LIL DURK)
Longtime collaborators Ty Dolla $ign and Mustard now have an entire album they've made together on the way, and it'll include this new single, which is a great example of the chemistry these two have.
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TFD (MEMS STARS, YOUNG GALAXY) - "HIM"
TFD, the duo of Stars' Torquil Campbell and Young Galaxy's Stephen Ramsay, have shared a second single, "Him." This one's even better than their debut single, with strong early-'90s house/rave vibes and Torquil whispering lines like "Kerry was the only girl I knew / who came into a room like she was brand new / Time is like an arrow and it’s piercing me / Leaving me alone in the galaxy."
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RAYLAND BAXTER - "RUBBERBAND MAN"
Rayland Baxter will release new album If I Were A Butterfly on November 4 via ATO, and here's the swaggering lead single. He's also got upcoming shows, including Brooklyn Made on November 16.
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EXHUMED - "SICK AT HEART"
Not only do death/goregrind vets Exhumed have a new album on the way, they've also got this non-album track out now on a Decibel flexi and it's an absolute scorcher.
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JULY TALK - "CERTAIN FATHER" FT. SPENCER KRUG
Canadian band July Talk enlist Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, etc) on this dark, synthy track from their new album Remember Never Before.
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RUSSIAN BATHS - "DONE AND DEAD"
Brooklyn's Russian Baths are back with this new single that finds the usually noisy group sounding decidedly pretty.
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KALI - "BOUT U"
Fast-rising Atlanta rapper Kali keeps the momentum going with her very fun new single "Bout U."
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OHHMS - "EATEN ALIVE"
UK sludgesters OHHMS will release new album Rot in March 2023 via Church Road, and if you miss aughts-era Mastodon and Baroness, check this out.
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CIRCUIT DES YEUX - "SCULPTING THE EXODUS" (CLAIRE ROUSAY REMIX)
Circuit des Yeux and Claire Rousay created new versions of three songs from Circuit des Yeux's 2021 album, -io for a new EP. Sunset Poem is due out October 20 via Matador, and the first single is Rousay's remix of "Sculpting the Exodus." "I found Claire Rousay’s music when we were all stuck inside for two years," Haley Fohr says. "Her music kind of gave me the atmosphere of company in a solitary reality. It reminded me of the way I used to interact with music when I was a teenager. A room can become a whole ecosystem once the music is playing. Her deft ability to work with sound in a microscopic way is what makes this collaboration so successful. It was an honor to give Claire the stems of -io. The results are beguiling and immense, like watching lead pipes slowly melt into a metallic river."
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HALF GRINGA - "MIRANDA"
Half Gringa has shared a new track off her upcoming Ancestral Home EP, due January 27 via self-release. It's a sweeping indie pop song and main member Isabel Olive says, "This song is about many things: mirrors, perspectives, the past, the future, love, longing, homeland, identity, characters, and relatives. Basically, all the things I love writing about. Miranda is representative of who I am, who I could be, who I was, who my ancestors were, how I love, how I grieve, and all of the different versions of me that exist in between."
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HEATHER TROST - "BLUE FISH"
A Hawk and a Hacksaw's Heather Trost has announced a new solo album, Desert Flowers, due out November 11 via Ba Da Bing. The first single is psychedelic lullaby "Blue Fish," which was part of the soundtrack for Peter Strickland's new film Flux Gourmet.
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GIRLPUPPY - "TEENAGE DREAM"
girlpuppy's debut album, When I'm Alone, is out later this month, and the latest single is "Teeange Dream." "I wrote ‘Teenage Dream’ after I cried at an Atlanta United soccer game at Mercedes Benz stadium," Becca Harvey says. "The song’s about a guy I lead on who looks like Keanu Reeves, and it’s the first one we made for the album. It was, in part, inspired by Caroline Polachek, who said in an interview that her lyrics for ‘Bunny Is A Rider’ make no real sense, and that they just sounded good to sing. Similarly, the chorus lyrics to 'Teenage Dream' don’t make much sense, but I do enjoy singing them. An important detail: I’m talking to my puppy Obi at the beginning, and you can hear him barking at the end.”
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FAUNESS - "HIGH"
"Musically, 'High' is an homage to the music I love from the late 1970s, particularly the songs of Nicolette Larson, one of my favourites from that era," Fauness says of her new single. "But the spirit of the song is deeply personal. It speaks to the fact that my life so far has been all about journeys. Bus stops, train stations, even airports are comforting places to me where I strangely feel a sense of home. My entire sense of self was shaped as something that could easily fit into a suitcase. 'High' captures the essence of one of these journeys, only this time with no particular destination. The song is meaningful to me because it describes the joys of aimlessness, of possibility, and the feeling of quiet self-containment that comes with always being on the move."
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TEE GRIZZLEY - "TEZ & TONE 1"
As the release of Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley's Chapters Of The Trenches nears, he's shared this new track, which wraps street tales in a bouncy, catchy exterior.
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SAUCY SANTANA & TRINA - "NO VOTING NO VUCKING"
Saucy Santana and Trina encourage you to vote with this new charismatic rap anthem.
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CASS MCCOMBS + WEAK SIGNAL - "VACATION FROM THOUGHT"
Cass McCombs has teamed up with NYC band Weak Signal for a collaborative 7", due November 11 via Wharf Cat. A-side "Vacation From Thought" finds Cass bringing his unmistakable style to a driving proto-punk backdrop and it's very cool stuff.
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AUTRE NE VEUT - "OKAY"
Autre Ne Veut helped pioneer the indie/R&B crossover of the early 2010s, though they've been quiet for a while, but now they're back with their first new song in seven years, and it picks up right where they left off.
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BLACK SABBATH COVER BAND REHEARSAL - “CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE” (BLACK SABBATH COVER)
Black Sabbath Cover Band Rehearsal, the all-star and seriously good Sabbath tribute act that features Deradoorian, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Mick Barr (Krallice), Brad Truax (Interpol), and Greg Fox (Liturgy, Uniform, Ex Eye), formed as a lark and have continued to play shows and are even releasing records. Like this one, their take on "Children of the Grave" from Master of Reality.
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TODD RUNDGREN - "I'M NOT YOUR DOG" FT THOMAS DOLBY
Todd Rundgren's new album Space Force features a collaboration on every track, and he's just shared this one which is with "She Blinded Me with Science" singer Thomas Dolby.
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FIEVEL IS GLAUQUE - "SAVE THE PHENOMENON"
Fievel Is Glauque, the groovy duo of American keyboardist Zach Phillips and Belgian singer Ma Clément, are currently out with Stereolab and have announced their debut album. Here's the first single.
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GUIDED BY VOICES - "INSTINCT DWELLING"
Guided by Voices will release their 37th album, 'La La Land,' in January. (#38 is already in the works.) Somehow Robert Pollard's stash of earworm hooks has not dried up as "Instinct Dwelling" shows.
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THE WOLFMANHATTAN PROJECT (KID CONGO, MICK COLLINS, BOB BERT) - "SILKY NARCOTIC"
Kid Congo Powers (The Cramps, The Gun Club, The Bad Seeds) has two new albums and a memoir out this month. Here's a track from the second album from his supergroup trio with Mick Collins (Gories) and Bob Bert (Pussy Galore, Sonic Youth).
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FEVER RAY - "WHAT THEY CALL US"
The first Fever Ray song in five years was co-written with Karin Dreijer's sibling and former bandmate, Olof Dreijer, so it's almost a Knife song.
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LITURGY - "93696"
Liturgy have announced a new double album, 93696, and they shared the 15-minute title track, as well as a surprise EP that features an alternate version of that track, split into three separate tracks. Read more here.
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CINDERBLOCK - "'91"
Cinderblock -- the short-lived early 1990s Buffalo hardcore band co-fronted by Scott Vogel (Terror, Buried Alive, Despair, Slugfest, etc) and Tim Redmond (drummer of Snapcase, Slugfest) that also featured guitarists Karl Dutton and Phil Popieski, bassist Clint Marriott, and future Earth Crisis drummer Dennis Merrick -- recently revealed that they've finally given their old demo songs proper studio recordings which will result in the Breathe the Fire EP, due digitally on 10/28 via WAR Records. New single "'91" was an instrumental back in the day but now they've written lyrics for it. Read more about it here.
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EMILY SCOTT ROBINSON - "DOUBLE DOUBLE"
Emily Scott Robinson is releasing a new Macbeth-inspired EP Built on Bones later this month via Oh Boy Records, and you can read more about new single "Double Double" here.
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SHARON VAN ETTEN - "NEVER GONNA CHANGE"
Sharon Van Etten announced the deluxe edition of her new album We've Been Going About This All Wrong, featuring two new tracks, and shared the first of those, which you can read more about here.
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THUNDERCAT - "THOUSAND KNIVES" REMODEL from RYUICHI SAKAMOTO TRIBUTE
A Ryuichi Sakamoto tribute album called To the Moon and Back is on the way. It features "remodels" of Ryuichi's songs by other artists, including Thundercat, whose version of "Thousand Knives" came out today. Read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.