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.
TKAY MAIDZA - "KIM" (ft. YUNG BABY TATE)
Australia-via-Zimbabwe rapper Tkay Maidza follows her great 4AD-released 2020 EP Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2 with another awesome dose of art-rap. "KIM" features Yung baby Tate, and it comes with an over-the-top video that pays tribute to a couple iconic Kims: Kim Possible and Kim Kardashian.
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GHETTS - "NO MERCY" (ft. PA SALIEU & BACKROAD GEE)
There are a lot of cool guests on UK rapper Ghetts' upcoming Warner debut Conflict of Interest, and following singles with Stormzy and Skepta comes one featuring the fast-rising Pa Salieu, alongside BackRoad Gee. All three of them sound great together.
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H.E.R. - "FIGHT FOR YOU"
H.E.R. has shared "Fight For You" from Shaka King’s new film Judas and the Black Messiah, and this one finds her channelling the protest lyricism and hypnotic grooves of civil rights era psychedelic soul. H.E.R. does a lot of justice to that era, and really makes it her own.
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INDIGO SPARKE - "COLOURBLIND"
Indigo Sparke has shared another song off her upcoming Adrianne Lenker-co-produced debut album Echo (due 2/19 via Sacred Bones), and this one's another appealing taste with some serious Mazzy Star vibes.
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STURLE DAGSLAND - "BLOT"
Sturle Dagsland's previous single was glistening ambient pop, but on the abrasive "Blot," it makes a lot of sense that he's scheduled to tour with a metal band.
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KITTY KAT FAN CLUB - "FLY SO HIGH I SEE CLEAR BELOW"
One of Mike Park's many bands, Kitty Kat Fan Club, are back with "Fly So High I See Clear Below," a very fun dose of '90s-style punky power pop. It follows recent single "Choked by the Weeds."
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LENO BANTON - LOVERMAN EP
Leno Banton (son of Burro Banton, who Buju Banton took his stage surname from) released one of the best reggae singles of 2020 with "Brown Sugar," and now he has released the Loverman EP featuring that song and four others cut from the same forward-thinking, hip hop-infused reggae cloth. He also put out a video for "Brown Sugar" along with the EP.
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BADDNEWS - "GOOD VIBES" (ft. BENNY THE BUTCHER)
Syracuse rapper Baddnews has tapped fellow Upstate New Yorker Benny the Butcher for his first single of 2021, which finds the two rappers trading hard-hitting verses over a beat from Noc (Rick Ross, Jadakiss, etc). Baddnews has more music coming this year; stay tuned.
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PURGATORY - "NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE"
Midwest metallic hardcore crew Purgatory will release their sophomore LP Lawless To Grave on April 9 via Unbeaten Records, and it features recent single "Stack 'Em Up" as well as the equally hard af "No One Gets Out Alive."
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SLOPING - "FITTING ROOM"
Sloping (aka JJ Posway of Scooterbabe) has shared another song off his upcoming debut album Completed Songs (due 2/26 via Sound As Language), and this one kinda sounds like a slowcore, auto-tuned version of Built to Spill. Cool stuff.
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PICTISH TRAIL - "DREAM WALL"
Scotland's Pictish Trail (aka Johnny Lynch) follows up last year's Thumb World with a new EP, Dream Wall, featuring the chilled out, psychedelic title track and a few remixes of Thumb World songs. The EP's out April 1.
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JOHN DWYER, TED BYRNES, GREG COATES, TOM DOLAS, BRAD CAULKINS - "VERTICAL INFINITY"
John Dwyer is best known for the proggy/garagey psych rock he makes with Osees, but here gets experimental as part of this improvisational Quintet featuring Ted Byrnes, Greg Coates, Tom Dolas, and Brad Caulkins. Says Dwyer: "Everything incrementally growing everyday. Waste into heaps. Information waves weigh on the human psyche. A small seed of hope cracking its husk and reaching for the sun. Beauty rising from the rubbish heap." Their album, Endless Garbage isout March 19 via Castle Face.
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PAINTED SHRINES - "HEAVEN AND HOLY"
Painted Shrines, aka the duo of Woods' Jeremy Earl and Skygreen Leopards' Glenn Donaldson, will release their debut album, Heaven and Holy, on March 5 via Woodsist. They've just shared the chiming, Byrdsy title track.
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LLAWGNE - "GOLDEN SOUL"
Swedish artist Mathias Engwall, who records as llawgne, will release new album Nevereverie later this year and here's an taste of what's to come. "Golden Soul" mixes baroque pop with folky psych into an appealing cinematic pop blende.
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THE KLF - COME DOWN DAWN
The KLF's influential ambient album, Chill Out, has finally hit streaming services. Kind of.
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RUSSIAN BATHS - "RESPONDER (NIGHT)"
Brooklyn's Russian Baths released their debut album back in 2019. A year later, they've returned to album standout "Responder" for an of the song.
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PETER MATTHEW BAUER (THE WALKMEN) - "MOUNTAINS ON MOUNTAINS"
Former Walkmen member Peter Matthew Bauer is back with "Mountains On Mountains," his first new music in three years. "This is the first track of my own that I've recorded and decided to release in a long time," Peter tells us. "I'm not entirely sure how to explain it: it's a pretty dark song about certain types of people and memories fading away. But it also has this feeling of no expectations, so it leaves me with a sense of optimism and presence in the end."
THE ARMED - "ALL FUTURES"
Experimental punk collective The Armed have announced their first album for Sargent House, and you can read more about the killer new single "ALL FUTURES" here.
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WE ARE THE UNION - "FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING PUNK ROCK STARS"
We Are The Union take aim at veteran punks who abandon their antiestablishment ethos with age on their Dead Kennedys-referencing new song, "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Punk Rock Stars." Read more about it here.
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SAM GENDEL / GOOSE - "2021" (VAMPIRE WEEKEND COVERS)
"2021" is the shortest song on Vampire Weekend's great 2019 album Father of the Bride, but they've now commissioned two very long covers of it, both of which clock in at exactly 20 minutes and 21 seconds. One is by modern-day jazz great Sam Gendel and the other is by jam band Goose. Read more here.
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EVE 6 - "BLACK NOVA"
Very relevant band and Twitter MVPs Eve 6 have released their first new song in nine years, and you can read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.