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. 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.
GUIDED BY VOICES - "DANCE OF GURUS"
Guided By Voices' second album of 2021 is titled It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! and Robert Pollard and the rest of the group sound in great form on this new song. Says guitarist Doug Gillard, "We love playing this one. It’s great. 'Gurus' here is pronounced the traditional way, with the emphasis on both syllables.”
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!!! - "FAST CAR" (TRACY CHAPMAN COVER) / "MAN ON THE MOON" (REM COVER)
Punk-funk-dance vets !!! have just shared a pair of unexpected covers: Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and REM's "Man in the Moon." Both songs are turned into the group's brand is electro-disco. “R.E.M. was known as the killer house party band in Athens, years before they became MTV darlings," notes frontman Nic Offer. "We re-imagined 'Man on the Moon' as something they would play at those house parties, in the thick of the James Brown/Ohio Players sample era. The goal was to make 'Fast Car' sound even faster. Something u would play in a FAST FUCKING CAR. The verses are the bitter small town feel of it all and the chorus is the fast car on the open highway -- into a night of possibilities....”
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MAC MCCAUGHAN - "BURN A FAX" FT TORRES AND MATT DOUGLAS
Superchunk's Mac McCaughan will release solo album The Sound of Yourself, on September 24 and here's a new song from it, the atmospheric "Burn a Fax" that features Mackenzie Scott of TORRES and Matt Douglas of the Mountain Goats."The opening line was inspired by a Brian Eno quote from a BBC doc where they’re playing him Roxy Music and he’s putting his hands over his ears going, 'I can’t bear remembering' or something," Mac says. "It’s not that he hates it, it’s just that 'it’s all in the past.' I think a lot about the power of nostalgia and fighting it at the same time… Mackenzie Scott sings the second verse and Matt Douglas of the Mountain Goats destroys on the sax. He sent three tracks “to choose from,” but of course I had to use them all!"
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ILLUMINATI HOTTIES - "THREATENING EACH OTHER RE: CAPITALISM"
"'Threatening Each Other re: Capitalism' makes haste of a machine by which we’ve all been fooled as well as the people who have fooled themselves into thinking they’ve not participated in it," Sarah Tudzin says of the latest single from her band illuminati hotties' new album Let Me Do One More, due out October 1.
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EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY - "FLYING"
Explosions in the Sky will release Big Bend (An Original Soundtrack for Public Television) on October 1 and here's another gorgeous, widescreen track from it.
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SUFJAN STEVENS & ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE - "CIMMERIAN SHADE" & "YOU GIVE DEATH A BAD NAME"
Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine's collaborative, film-inspired new album, A Beginner's Mind, is out later this month. They've been releasing singles in pairs, and here's the latest, "Cimmerian Shade," which is from the perspective of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs, and "You Give Death a Bad Name," inspired by Night of the Living Dead. "Many authors have emotional attachments to the characters they create," Angelo says about "Cimmerian Shade." "But in this instance, I was interested in how a character felt about being created. In my imagination I was giving consciousness to someone else’s creation. The song is essentially a dialogue between creation and creator that seeks to find understanding to some of the same questions that we ask ourselves about existence, free will, fate, purpose, guidance and if anyone or anything out there is listening or cares."
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ZENIZEN - "I WOULD (...BUT YOU WANT ME DOWN)" (ft. NAPPY NINA)
Brooklyn artist Zenizen has signed to Topshelf and released this new single, a dose of soulful synth-funk with a guest verse from rapper Nappy Nina.
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THEON CROSS - "THE SPIRAL" (ft. AFRONAUT ZU & AHNANSÉ)
UK jazz musician and Sons of Kemet member Theon Cross has announced a new solo album, Intra-I, due October 29 via New Soil / Marathon. Along with the announcement comes the genre-defying lead single "The Spiral," which features Afronaut Zu and Ahnansé and comes with a video featuring a cameo from Moses Boyd and others.
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JAMIRE WILLIAMS - "HANDS UP"
Jamire Williams will release a new album, But Only After You Have Suffered, on October 29 via International Anthem, and lead single "Hands Up" toes the line between modern jazz and instrumental hip hop.
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DAN ANDRIANO & THE BYGONES - "THE EXCESS"
Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano has shared a second song by his new band The Bygones, and this one's more in mid-tempo, Petty-esque heartland rock territory.
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BEARINGS - "GET THE NEED"
Bearings are putting out a deluxe version of their album Hello, It's You on September 15 via Pure Noise, and it'll include this new song, which channels Gin Blossoms/Goo Goo Dolls style alt-rock with a pop punk twist.
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THRICE - "SUMMER SET FIRE TO THE RAIN"
Thrice's new album Horizons / East arrives next week via Epitaph (black or yellow vinyl pre-order), and today they've shared this anthemic new single.
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JIM LINDBERG (of PENNYWISE) - "THE PALM OF YOUR HAND"
Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg has released a solo single, "The Palm of Your Hand," on Epitaph. It finds him going in a folk-rock direction, but with his usual punk grit intact.
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ANGELS & AIRWAVES - "SPELLBOUND"
Tom DeLonge's band Angels & Airwaves have shared another single off their upcoming album LIFEFORMS, and this one embraces gothy, industrial-tinged synthpop in an unmistakably Tom DeLonge way.
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GLASSING - "BURDEN"
Austin post-metallers Glassing will release their third album, Twin Dream, on November 5 via Brutal Panda, and new single "Burden" connects the dots between sludge, screamo, black metal, psychedelia, and more.
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THE BODY & BIG | BRAVE - "BLACKEST CROW"
On September 24, The Body and BIG | BRAVE will release their folk-inspired collaborative album Leaving None But Small Birds via Thrill Jockey, and today they've shared its opening track. It's a nearly-eight-minute trek through hypnotic, psychedelic folk rock.
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RICHARD ASHCROFT (THE VERVE) - "BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY" (ACOUSTIC)
The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft will release Acoustic Hymns Vol 1 on Ocotobr 29 which features mostly unplugged versions of some of his most famous and loved Verve and solo songs. You can get a taste now with this stripped-down rendition of the band's biggest hit.
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JOHN CARPENTER, CODY CARPENTER AND DANIEL DAVIES - "RAMPAGE"
Halloween Kills, the latest in the Michael Myers horror saga, is out October 15 and features a soundtrack by the series' creator, John Carpenter along with son Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. "Rampage" is minimal but intense and unsettling.
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MINI TREES - "MOMENTS IN BETWEEN"
"I wrote ‘Moments in Between’ out of a place of uncertainty and dread when the world started to shut down last March, but the song itself takes place in this dreamy state where I reflect on peaceful memories from my past and longingly look ahead to the future," Lexi Vega says of her new single as Mini Trees. "Writing the song served as a reminder to myself that I’ve been in the midst of trying periods before and made it through, so why not again this time?” It's from her new album, Always in Motion, due out later this month via Run for Cover.
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FIELD MUSIC - "SOMEPLACE DANGEROUS"
Field Music released Flat White Moon back in April and are already back with a new EP, Another Shot, which is out October 15 via Memphis Industries. "Someplace Dangerous" is the whistling first single. “It's a story of a change of circumstances and fear of that change," says Peter Brewis. "It's a move to a new place where all the old certainties, of the future and the sense of self, are questioned by a series of seemingly banal domestic images.”
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TIRZAH - "HIVE MIND"
The latest single from Tirzah's new album Colourgrade, due out October 1 via Domoino, is "Hive Mind," which was written with her frequent collaborators Coby Sen and Mia Levi, and is accompanied by a 10-minute mini film directed, edited, and shot by Leah Walker and Rebecca Salvadori.
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POWER SUPPLY (MIKEY YOUNG) - "INFINITY"
Few places consistently spit out snarling garagey postpunk like Melbourne, Australia. An oddly high percentage of those feature Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control), and the latest of those is Power Supply which also includes frontman/songwriter Leon Stackpole (Sailors, Ooga Boogas), Richard Stanley (Onyas, Drug Sweat) and Per Bystrum (Exhaustion, Voice Imitator). The band's debut album, In the Time of the Sabre Tooth Tiger, will be out October 22 via Goner and here's the very catchy "Infinity."
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CIRCUIT DES YEUX - "SCULPTING THE EXODUS"
Circuit des Yeux's new album and first for Matador, -io, is out in October, and the latest single is "Sculpting the Exodus," a haunting track that's cinematic in scope. "What is Sculpting the Exodus?," Haley For writes. "It is devotion. It is the well. It is my grandmother going into hospice, writhing in pain. It is reality exploding on an island made of sand. It is depression and the isolation of deep grief. I was trapped in a choir of myself with nothing to grab onto but echoes of past selves. It obliterated my heart until the only working parts of me were the appendages furthest from my mind. A few notes here A couple notes there… The fingers were working when nothing else could. And I was fantasizing of leaving like I always do…"
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THE DARKNESS - "NOBODY CAN SEE ME CRY"
“’Nobody Can See Me Cry.’ It’s devastating," says The Darkness' Justin Hawkins of their new single. "I yearn to be seen. On this I’ll settle for being heard. Listen to this song, it’s brilliant. I should know, I sang it." The band's new album, Motorheart, is out in November.
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JULIA SHAPIRO (CHASTITY BELT) - "DEATH (XIII)
“This song was inspired by the Death tarot card," says Chastity Belt / Childbirth member Julia Shapiro of her new solo single. "My friend Bree Mckenna (Tacocat, Childbirth) had the genius idea to put together a compilation of songs inspired by different tarot cards. She chose the Death card for me. I immediately knew I wanted it to sound super heavy (death!!!). I’d been listening to a lot of heavier slower music around that time (Jesu, DIIV, King Woman). Once I got the guitar tone I wanted, the rest came naturally. I probably wrote this song in about a day, taking inspiration from Alejandro Jodorowsky’s interpretation of the Death card (which he calls “The Nameless Arcanum”) in his book The Way of Tarot. The Death card is often feared by people who don’t fully understand its meaning, but it can actually be seen as the transformation needed in order to start fresh and cleanse yourself. In other words, it can be seen as a new beginning (which is partly why it’s the first song on the album).” Julia's new album Zorked Out is out October 15 via Suicide Squeeze.
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GUSTAF - "THE MOTIONS"
"I always envisioned ‘The Motions’ as our ‘walking around New York City’ song," says Gustaf's Lydia Gammill. "The cadence is great for trudging across a bridge or taking the subway. The song is about snapping between the perspective of your chaotic inner narrative while following the precut path of the world around you. Like when you’re strutting down the sidewalk to a song and your headphones slip off for a second to reveal the natural soundscape you’d been ignoring, realizing the world you had been wrapped up in is not the one shared by everyone else. Then you see that everyone with headphones is jumping between their own personal world and the reality they’re actually living in. I’ve found that if you walk around New York City without headphones, the streets are surprisingly silent. It’s us that add the cacophony of our own personal soundtracks." Gustaf's debut album, Audio Drag For Ego Slobs, is out October 1 on Royal Mountain Records.
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PLANNINGTOROCK - "GIRL YOU GOT MY HEART"
Planningtorock will release the Gay Dreams Do Come True’ EP on October 29 and here's the first single, a slinky, housey, autotuned banger titled "Girl You Got My Heart."
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HOLLY HUMBERSTONE - "SCARLETT"
Holly Humberstone's new EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, is due out November 5 via Darkroom/Interscope/Polydor Records, and the latest single is the dynamic pop gem "Scarlett." "This track is my absolute favourite," Holly says. "It’s a fuck you to the guy that was going out with my closest friend Scarlett and it was written as they were breaking up. The relationship was totally one sided and lasted for years. Scarlett was all in and had pretty much planned their future and it was pretty clear to me that he was stringing her along, until he broke up with her in a really insensitive and heartless way. I was her closest confidant and so I knew everything she was feeling, and I’d see how passive he was with her at parties first hand. She vented to me for probably about a year and so I went through all the stages of a break up with her and watched as she slowly realised her worth and that he wasn’t worth her tears anymore. I wanted to write this one from her point of view. It’s a pretty positive song as it’s about her finally letting go, realising his many faults and taking back her life."
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SLEIGH BELLS - "TRUE SEEKERS"
Sleigh Bells' new album Texis is due out Friday via Mom+Pop, and ahead of its release they've shared one more track, "True Seekers," which is a bit more subdued than previous singles.
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CURTIS HARDING - "CAN'T HIDE IT"
Curtis Harding has announced new album "If Words Were Flowers" which will be out November 5 via ANTI-. “That’s what this album is,” Harding says. “It’s me giving my flowers to the world, to anybody who needs to hear what these songs have to say right now.” Harding made the album with producer Sam Cohen and the new single is the groovy "Can't Hide It."
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COLLEEN GREEN - "HIGHWAY"
Colleen Green says "Highway" is "the newest in a long line of my songs that use driving and being in cars as allegory." She continues: "Living and touring on the west coast for 10 years, I grew to dislike the highway. It represents so many things that I hate about myself and about humanity/society in general. Not having a car for over a decade helped make me a much calmer person. When I’m on the bus or walking, I am stress-free. I don’t have to talk and I don’t have to worry about anything. I love being able to look all around me and notice beautiful, simple things. When people are on the highway, they’re going too fast to notice any kind of beauty, and they have a whole mess of stressors to deal with. Country roads represent freedom and serenity. Something I appreciate about where I’m from and where I’m now living again is that there are many different ways to get to a place. Even though LA is a huge city, there’s pretty much only one way to get anywhere and it’s very confining.” New album Cool is out this Friday (9/10) via Hardly Art.
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LOUIS CARNELL (VISIONIST) - "FIXED IS THE DAY WE’VE CAST OUR LOT"
After a decade Louis Carnell is retiring his Visionist alias. “After 10 years and three albums, now is the time to part ways from Visionist," Carnell says. "Working as Louis Carnell presents an opportunity to reinforce an understanding and connection to my work today." This is being described as a "transitional" track, a bridge between his Visionist work and what's to come.
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DEHD - "LONER" (PROTMARTYR REMIX)
Dehd are releasing Flower of Devotion Remixed next week, which finds the band handing over songs from their latest album to Lala Lala, Freak Heat Waves, Lionlimb, and more to be reworked. The band have just shared the remix of "Loner" by Detroit's Protomartyr, who take the track in some surprising, cool ways, delivering more of a dancy version than you might expect.
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EDDIE VEDDER - "LONG WAY"
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has shared "Long Way," the first single from his upcoming solo album, titled Earthling. It's a collaboration with Andrew Watt, who has worked with everyone from Miley Cyrus and Post Malone to Lana Del Rey and Ozzy Osbourne, and the song also features co-writing credits from Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer. It's got a Tom Petty vibe to it and you can watch the lyric video below.
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LONELY GUEST (TRICKY) - "ON A MOVE" FT KWAY
Lonely Guest, the project conceived and produced by Tricky, has announced its self-titled debut album which will be out October 22 via False Idols. While he is at the center of the album, he stresses this is not a Tricky album, instead a true collaborations with the album's many contributors, much like the Nearly God record from 1996. New single "On a Move" is dark and moody, as you'd expect from a Tricky production, but Kway brings a light, lithe touch to the track.
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BADBADNOT GOOD - "BESIDE APRIL"
BADBADNOTGOOD have shared another track from their upcoming album Talk Memory, which is out October 8 via XL/Innovative Leisure. "Beside April" features sweeping strings alongside the band's signature jazzy groove, and comes with a gorgeously shot, equestrian-themed video.
SUNSTROKE - "I WANNA BE IGNORED"
Philly melodic hardcore band Sunstroke are back with a new song and you can read about it here.
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LANA DEL REY - "ARCADIA"
Lana Del Rey has set a release date for her second album of 2021 and shared a new single, which you can read more about here.
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ROMAN LIONS - "EVERYTHING ENDS"
San Jose post-hardcore band Roman Lions have announced a new album, Gradients, and shared this new song, which you can read more about here.
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LLNN - "DESECRATOR" (ft. CRYPTOPSY's MATT MCGACHY)
Copenhagen sludge metallers LLNN will release a new album, Unmaker, on 9/24 via Pelagic, and you can read more about new single "Desecrator" here.
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KOWLOON WALLED CITY - "PIECEWORK"
Kowloon Walled City have announced their first album in six years, Piecework, and you can read about the just-released title track here.
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THOUGHTCRIMES - "MISERY'S A MUSE"
Thoughtcrimes (ex-Dillinger Escape Plan) have signed to Pure Noise and will give their 2019 debut EP Tap Night an expanded vinyl reissue with two new songs. Pre-order our exclusive black & red smash w/ white splatter variant and read more about this new song here.
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GOV'T MULE - "HEAVY LOAD"
Gov't Mule -- the band led by Warren Haynes (of the Allman Brothers Band, multiple Grateful Dead offshoots, and more) -- have announced their first-ever traditional blues album in November, and you can read more about lead single "Heavy Load" here.
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ANGEL DU$T - "BIG BITE"
Angel Du$t (members of Trapped Under Ice and Turnstile) have announced a new album, YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs (pre-order our light blue vinyl variant), and you can read more about new single "Big Bite" here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.