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.
PREDATORY LIGHT - "TO PLEAD LIKE ANGELS"
Santa Fe black metallers Predatory Light have announced a new album, Death and the Twilight Hours, due May 20 via 20 Buck Spin, and first single "To Plead Like Angels" brings melody and pomp to black metal without sacrificing any of its pure evil.
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AU SUISSE (MORGAN GEIST / KELLEY POLAR) - "CONTROL"
Electronic producers Morgan Geist and Kelley Polar have formed new duo Au Suisse. “We had some vague ideas—mainly visual, or perhaps psychological—about what we wanted Au Suisse to be,” says Morgan. “There was a lot of talk about moods and how to establish them, about reverbs and echoes and ‘lonely’ sounds. Ironic, considering we started working just before the onset of the pandemic. But I think a prime motivator was trying to eschew the roles we both fell into in our prior working relationship. I wouldn’t be making things more dancefloor-friendly, and Kelley wouldn’t be doing huge string arrangements.” The first single, "Control," is very promising. “The words are concrete and there’s definitely a narrative,” Kelley says, “but in my mind the story is vague: couple dynamics, or some sci-fi civilizational arc?”
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BLACK DICE - MOD PROG SIC / REMIXES EP
Black Dice are back with this EP featuring remixes of songs from last year's Mod Prog Sic (their first album in 10 years). Maral, DJ Lycox, and Inner Flight all rework BD songs.
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THE DROWNS - "LUNATICS"
Seattle punks (members of MadCap, Time Again, and Success) are releasing a new EP, Lunatics, on May 6 via Pirates Press, and the title track is a rousing, gritty punk anthem.
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A BEACON SCHOOL - "DOT"
Brooklyn's A Beacon School (Patrick J Smith who also plays in Maxband) is back with their first new music in a while. "Dot" is a lovely dose of airy synthpop.
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PANDA BEAR - "CALM APP (REJECTED)"
Animal Collective's Panda Bear has just shared this 17-minute ambient track that he recorded for the Calm app but was rejected. Not calm enough? You be the judge.
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DAVID GRUBBS & JAN ST. WERNER - "TRANSLATION FROM UNSPECIFIED"
David Grubbs (Squirrel Bait, Gastr Del Sol, more) has teamed with Mouse on Mars' Jan St. Werner for a collaborative album titled Translation from Unspecified that's out May 20 via Drag City. Says the label: "Evolving from a microscopically disordered set of sounds and words into a reconstituted monolith of sound, it’s clear this deck-clearing collaboration was long overdue."
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FLOCK OF DIMES - "GO WITH GOOD"
Flock of Dimes will release Head of Roses: Phantom Limb, a collection of odds-and-ends, including songs Jenn Wasner recorded during the Head of Roses sessions along with demos, covers and more. That's out Friday but you can listen to "Go With Good" now. “‘Go With Good’ is about making peace with those moments in which what we believe we want for ourselves doesn’t end up aligning with what life actually has in store for us. It’s about trying to step outside of ourselves enough to see and accept things as they truly are— letting go of the illusion of control that keeps us stuck, and revising the false narratives that we may have constructed to protect ourselves from pain.”
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WILLIAM BASINSKI & JANEK SCHAEFER - “ . . . on reflection (three)”
William Basinski and Janek Schaefer have shared another track from their collaborative album “ . . . on reflection," which will be out April 29 via Temporary Residence Limited. “ . . . on reflection (three)” is a gorgeous, crystalline soundscape.
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BLACK STAR - "MINERAL MOUNTAIN" FT BLACK THOUGHT (PROD MADLIB)
Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli's first Black Star album since 1998 is out May 3
and they just released the first single.
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KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW - "GOING DOWN"
The King Khan & BBQ Show have shared a new single, “Going Down,“ that's the first taste of their fifth album that the duo have been working on in Berlin.
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JOCKSTRAP - "CONCRETE OVER WATER"
UK duo Jockstrap (Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye) are back with new single "Concrete Over Water," which they say is a hint for what to expect from their debut album, due later this year via Rough Trade. "Concrete Over Water" begins as a lullaby before blasting into the daylight with shiny, swirling electropop and then back again across six dizzying minutes.
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KIKAGAKU MOYO - "CARDBOARD PILE"
Back in January, Japanese band Kikagaku Moyo announced that they would be going on "indefinite hiatus" after 2022. This year will be busy for them, though, with lots of touring, and they've just announced what they're calling their final album, Kumoyo Island, that will be out May 6 on Guruguru Brain. This is the first single.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.