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.
HELLISH FORM (mem BODY VOID, KEEPER) - "SHADOWS WITH TEETH"
Not only is Willow Ryan releasing a new album with Body Void this year, she's also releasing an album with Hellish Form, the Vermont-based musician's bi-coastal duo with California's Jacob Lee of Keeper (who put out a split with Body Void last year). It's called Remains and due June 25 via Translation Loss, and first single "Shadows With Teeth" is a cathartic piece of glacial-paced doom. Listen and read more at Invisible Oranges.
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MUSTAFA - "ALI"
Toronto singer/songwriter Mustafa began breaking through after collaborating with The Weeknd, and he's just as influenced by The Weeknd's airy R&B as he is by folk singers like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Richie Havens. His music is also highly inspired by his Muslim background, and that all comes through on "Ali," the new single off his upcoming debut project When Smoke Rises, which features contributions from Jamie xx, James Blake, Sampha, and Frank Dukes and arrives on May 28 via Mustafa's own Regent Park Songs.
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DAMON LOCKS & BLACK MONUMENT ENSEMBLE - "KEEP YOUR MIND FREE"
Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble have shared the second single off their anticipated new album NOW (due 4/9 via International Anthem). It's a groovy avant-jazz song that incorporates some lead vocals, and it was inspired by mental health during the pandemic.
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KIPP STONE - "FAYGO BABY" (ft. CHUCK STRANGERS)
East Cleveland rapper/producer Kipp Stone will release a new EP, Faygo Baby, on May 11 via Closed Sessions. It features the Statik Selektah-produced "Manic," as well as the just-released title track, produced by D’Artizt and featuring Chuck Strangers. It's a very appealing dose of psychedelic rap.
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BLESSINGS - "A BELLY FULL OF STONE"
Sweden's Blessings will release new album Biskopskniven on May 21 via Pelagic, and lead single "A Belly Full of Stone" occupies the appealing middle ground between sludgy post-metal and caustic post-hardcore.
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CAKE POP - "BLACK RUM"
Cake Pop, the project of 100 gecs' Dylan Brady and collaborators including Aaron Cartier, Ravenna Golden, Lewis Grant, Pritty, Robel Ketema, Kevin Bedford, and Adam Newcomber, have announced a new album, Cake Pop 2, due out May 14 via Mad Decent. The first single is "Black Rum," a hyperpop track with slickly autotuned vocals.
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FLOCK OF DIMES - "ONE MORE HOUR"
“This song is about getting lost in a fantasy-- of another life, of someone else, or of a different version of yourself," says Jenn Wasner of the ethereal "One More Hour" from Flock of Dimes' upcoming album. "And it's about the ways in which a combination of nostalgia and longing can make imagining the past or dreaming about the future so much more appealing than whatever present reality we happen to be inhabiting." Head of Roses is out Friday via Sub Pop.
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BEACHY HEAD (SLOWDIVE, CASKET GIRLS) - "ALL GONE"
Beachy Head, the new group featuring members of Slowdive, Casket Girls, Flaming Lips, and more, have shared a second single from their upcoming debut album. "All Gone" is moody and dark, moving slowly in the mist. Lovely.
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DU BLONDE - "ALL THE WAY" FT. RIDE'S ANDY BELL
These days Beth Jeans Houghton records under the name Du Blonde and will release Homecoming that's out Friday. There are a number of guest on the album, including Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman and, on this anthemic single, Ride's Andy Bell on bass
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JUAN WAUTERS - “ESTÁS ESCUCHANDO” FT DAVID AGUILAR
Juan Wauters' new album Real Life Situation is loaded with guest stars, including Grammy-nominated Mexican singer-songwriter El David Aguilar. This sunny track features a very cute, '70s-style animated video by Juan Molinet. "Enjoy this piece inspired by the classic sing-a-long videos for kids, which fits perfectly well with this catchy and chirpy song by Juan and David, full of good vibes and impossible to take out of your head," says Molinet. "The color and style also helps paint a picture of a breezy walk around the park, the perfect setting for whistling this tune away! Much love!"
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POTÉ - "YOUNG LIES" (FEAT. DAMON ALBARN)
Paris-based artist Poté (aka Sylvern Mathurin) has worked on records by Little Dragon, Gorillaz and more is is gearing up to release A Tenuous Tale Of Her, which will be the first album released on Bonobo's Outlier imprint. The album features Pierre Kwenders, INFAMOUSIZAK and Damon Albarn on the album's first single, "Young Lies."
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LUCY GOOCH - "RAIN'S BREAK"
Bristol, UK's Lucy Gooch will release the Rain's Break EP on June 25 via Fire, which will be her first record for the label. The title track is dreampop that spans wide like the horizon and was inspired by the monsoon scene in classic Powell & Pressberger film Black Narcissus. “That amazing tradition in early film of using weather to reflect the character’s emotional journey - it seems cliched now but at the time it was revolutionary," says Lucy. "This is my attempt at trying to recreate the feeling of total surrender to drama, of something totally sensual.” It comes with a striking video by Derrick Belcham (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Laurie Anderson, Max Richter, Julianna Barwick) featuring dancer Stephanie Crousillat.
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WOMBO - "DREAMSICKLE"
Louisville, Kentucky trio Wombo has signed with Fire Talk Records who will release the Keesh Mountain EP via the label on May 28. The fist single is a driving, punky and catchy indie rock number titled "Dreamsickle." The band say it's "about the frustrating yet comforting truth that no one can ever see or feel exactly what you experience in a dream. How no amount of explaining can be done to put an image from your dream into someone else's mind. The visual was roughly based off ‘A Trip to the Moon.’ We wanted a whimsical video that complements the dreamy feeling of the lyrics. Also we wanted something that looked very tactile with the textures of the fabrics and clouds to feel like a children's story book.”
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SONS OF RAPHAEL - "REVOLUTION"
UK duo Sons of Raphael will release Full-Throated Messianic Homage on May 21 via Because Music. They've been working on the album for seven years and it was mixed by the late Phillipe Zdar (Phoenix, Beastie Boys, Cat Power) at his Motorbass studio in Paris. New single "Revolution" has shades of MGMT and comes with a very cinematic video. “The wild horse of revolution is called for as we try to liberate ourselves from a future morally-oppressive society ‘where killers and messiahs are identical twins,’” say the band. “As it is written in The Book of Proverbs: ‘A friend loves at all times but a brother is born to help when trouble comes’; this is the nerve centre of our new music video for ‘Revolution’. It captures ‘how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.’”
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MOONTYPE - "STUCK ON YOU"
Chicago's Moontype will release their debut album, Bodies of Water, this Friday via Born Yesterday. Get a taste now with terrific new single "Stuck on You" which is jangly and powerful, with a strong melodic hook (and lovely harmonies). "This song is about a crush I had on someone who had hurt my friend and really didn’t deserve that kind of love from me," says singer/bassist Margaret McCarthy. "It took me a long time to finally come to terms with what had been in front of me the whole time, that this person was not worth longing for. Despite the subject, it’s really a jaunty song, and it feels really joyful whenever we play it now."
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FRANCIS LUNG - LONESOME NO MORE"
Former WU LYF member Francis Lung has a new LP, Miracle, due out June 18 via Memphis Industries. New single "Lonesome No More" has a melancholy, orchestral sound, and Lung told Flood Magazine, "The title comes from a science-fiction novel in which every family in America is assigned an extended family to cure a loneliness epidemic. When I thought about loneliness as something personified, it seemed to be like a friend or a lover who is a bad influence. Someone that encourages you to feel sorry for yourself, makes you want to drink more, but at the same time, someone you just can’t stay away from. The song to me is like a farewell to a state of mind that I fall back into all too easily."
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BITE ME BAMBI - "LIKE THAT"
Orange County ska-pop-punks Bite Me Bambi have followed up their very good debut EP Hurry Up and Wait with a new single, "Like That." It's as bright and catchy as anything on the EP, and the Chris Graue-directed video plays off the lyrical themes with a cheeky revenge tale.
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ZAO - "THE FINAL GHOST"
Metalcore vets Zao have shared the third single off their first album in five years, The Crimson Corridor. Like the previous two, it finds the band's crushingly heavy sound in fine form.
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BRUISER WOLF - "I'M A INSTRUMENT" (ft. DANNY BROWN)
Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade label continue their onslaught of 2021 releases with their third project of the year, Bruiser Wolf's Dope Game. J.U.S. and Fat Ray, who each previously released an album on Briuser Brigade this year, appear on the album, and almost the whole thing was produced by Raphy (except the last song, produced by Knxwledge). Like the previous albums, Danny executive produced and he makes sure to appear on a track, "I'm A Instrument." Danny brings star power to the track, but it's hard to keep your ears off Bruiser Wolf. "Nobody sounds like this, I got my sound, I'm a instrument," he raps. And, yeah, it's very true.
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DORDEDUH - "DESCANT"
Negură Bunget offshoot Dordeduh have shared another song off their first album in eight years, Har, due 5/14 via Prophecy Productions. Like the previous single, it's a hard-to-pin-down offering of melodic folk metal.
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MARK MALLMAN - "FOR LOVE I WILL LET LOVE GO"
Minnesota cult musician Mark Mallman will release Happiness, his first album in five years, on April 9. It's a companion to his memoir, The Happiness Playlist: The True Story of Healing My Heart With Feel-Good Music. “This is the final track from the sadness side of the Happiness album when true love finds someone new," says Mark of this song. "Love is an agreement. Honor the agreement, even if it costs tears."
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ST. LENOX - "DELIVERANCE"
Korean-American artist Andrew Choi announced a new album as St. Lenox, Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for Our Tumultuous Times, due out June 11 via Don Giovanni Records. The first single, "Deliverance," should appeal to fans of The Hold Steady. "I’m not particularly religious, but I grew up in a religious household," Choi says. "I pay attention to what’s happening, and it’s weird seeing the turn it has taken over the years, from a distance. I understand why people have moved away from the church. But at the same time, I also understand why people are religious. These songs are me dealing with religion, but not really in a critical or negative way. Instead, I want the music to help people remember the hopeful feeling that I remembered, when I was growing up in the church. If that’s the starting point, then maybe people can see themselves being religious again. Maybe I can see myself being religious again. I’m not sure."
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JULIANNA BARWICK, DAN DEACON, MADAME GANDHI & MORE - EXPLORATIONS IN ANALOG SYNTHESIS
Bonobo, Julianna Barwick, Dan Deacon, Ela Minus, Madame Gandhi, Peter CottonTale, and Martial Canterel have contributed new songs to an EP where they used Moog's new Sound Studio line synthesizers.
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BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT - "PAINT THE SKY WITH BLOOD"
Children of Bodom offshoot Bodom After Midnight have shared the title track to their upcoming Paint the Sky with Blood EP. It's the first song to be shared from the EP, which was made before frontman Alexi Laiho passed away earlier this year at age 41. “Like ourselves, Alexi was beyond stoked about these songs and anxious to get these out, so we are happy that we can fulfill his wish," say the band.
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BEAK> -- “OH KNOW”
Beak> (Geoff Barrow, Billy Fuller, Will Young) are back with this new song originally released for festival NRMAL's YouTube show. "Oh Know" is the kind of killer komische banger that Beak> specialize in, mixing dubby dread with a groovy beat. It comes with an excellent and weird video, made by Canada's Echo Panda films who also did the video for Beak>'s 2019 single, "The Gaol."
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DRY CLEANING - "UNSMART LADY"
Dry Cleaning release their debut album, New Long Leg, this week via 4AD and they've just share one last single before the whole thing drops. "Unsmart Lady" is a grungy rocker whose sludgy riffs are counterbalanced by vocalist Florence Shaw's bone-dry lyrical delivery. The video was shot in a carpet store -- guess a dry cleaners wasn't available.
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ANGEL OLSEN - “IT’S EVERY SEASON (WHOLE NEW MESS)"
This alternate version of "Whole New Mess" was recorded during Angel Olsen's All Mirrors sessions and appears on her upcoming Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories box set.
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GARBAGE - "THE MEN WHO RULE THE WORLD"
Alt-rock lifers Garbage have announced their first album in five years -- and seventh overall -- No Gods No Masters, and lead single "The Men Who Rule the World" is a protest song attacking "the rise of capitalist short-sightedness, racism, sexism and misogyny across the world" with some percussive, Prince-like funk guitar and an anthemic chorus that sounds like classic '90s Garbage. Read more here.
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SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY & IF I DIE FIRST - "BLOODSTAINEDEYES"
Post-hardcore/metalcore bands SeeYouSpaceCowboy and If I Die First are releasing a split, and it includes this collaborative song/video, which is the most late 2000s Myspace/Hot Topic-looking and sounding thing in the world but feels new and exciting. Read more about it here.
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COMPLTR - "EVERYTHING YOU WANTED"
In addition to leading the Oakland post-rock band Unconditional Arms and playing the guitar in the emo-pop band The American Scene, Jeff Wright also stays busy with his indie rock band Compltr. Having last released the single "Flush" in 2019, they're now back with a new one, "Everything You Wanted." Read more about it here.
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HEAVY TEMPLE - "THE MAIDEN"
Philly psych-doom trio Heavy Temple have announced their debut album for Magnetic Eye, and you can read more about the lead single here.
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OH THE HUMANITY! - "NEVER WORSE"
Oh The Humanity! usually make both fast-paced melodic punk/hardcore rippers that take influence from bands like A Wilhelm Scream, Strike Anywhere, Propagandhi, and Strung Out, but they show off a different side on third single "Never Worse," which is closer to the slower, emo-tinged side of The Lawrence Arms and Hot Water Music. You can read more about it here.
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SONS OF KEMET - "HUSTLE" (ft. KOJEY RADICAL & LIANNE LA HAVAS)
UK jazz leader Shabaka Hutchings remains insanely prolific. Having released a new Shabaka and the Ancestors album last year and a Comet Is Coming album the year before that, he's now back with a new Sons of Kemet album, Black To The Future, due in May. The first single features UK rapper Kojey Radical on lead vocals with backing by Lianne La Havas. Read more about it here.
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WAVVES - "SINKING FEELING"
Wavves are back with their first song in four years and first release for Fat Possum since King of the Beach, and it abandons their usual snotty punk in favor of breezy, psychedelic folk-pop. Read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.