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.
VIC MENSA & CHANCE THE RAPPER - "WRAITH"
Longtime collaborators Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper have teamed up once again for "Wraith," which is part of Chance's Writing Exercise series, and which was produced by Smoko Ono and Beat Butcha. It's more of a straight-up, traditionalist rap song than Chance is usually known for, and it's a nice reminder that he can still pull off this kinda thing.
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TRAAMS - "BREATHE" FT SOFTLIZARD
UK group TRAAMS' new album "personal best" is out in July and they've just shared a second song from it. Featuring vocals from Softlizard (Liza Violet of Menace Beach), "Breathe" glides along a wave of droning guitars and gentle motorik beat. The band's Stu Hopkins calls it "a soft, meandering lullaby, born out of a trip to the GP - waiting room imagery, mismatched furnishings, gaudy posters, and jarring slogans all coming together in a fleeting moment of calm, before expanding out into a celebration of life’s repetition.”
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VIAGRA BOYS - "TROGLODYTE"
Viagra Boys have shared a second single from their upcoming album Cave World. "Troglodyte" is a post-punk burner about internet trolls with killer mix of guitars and synths.
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YAYA BEY - "REPRISE"
Brooklyn R&B singer Yaya Bey has shared another track off her anticipated new album Remember Your North Star, and it pairs an intimate vocal delivery with a jazzy backdrop that you can't help but nod along to.
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ARLO MCKINLEY - "TO DIE FOR"
Alt-country singer Arlo McKinley announced his new album This Mess We're In with the melancholic "Stealing Dark From The Night Sky," but if you're hoping the new album still has some swelling, rousing rockers, you're in luck. "To Die For" is exactly that, and it's another very promising taste.
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FOXTAILS - "VIOLETA"
Connecticut art-screamo band Foxtails are working on a new EP, but first they've released "Violeta," which they say is "a bit of a B-side" of this year's Fawn. It finds their climactic, stirring, string-laden sound in fine form.
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RACHEL BOBBITT - "MORE"
Toronto singer-songwriter Rachel Bobbitt has signed to Fantasy Records and shared an evocative new single, "More," which she says is about "navigating the medical system as a woman whose pain is often disregarded as inevitable." "It’s all about this body that I have, suffering from the migraines I’ve inherited from my mom, but it’s also about how some people see women as being made for having children, something I don’t even necessarily want at this point,” she continues.
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THE FRIGHTNRS - "YOU, STILL"
Queens reggae/rocksteady band The Frightnrs are gearing up for their new album Always, which the band recently completed using vocal stems that lead singer Dan Klein recorded before tragically passing away from A.L.S. at age 33. New single "You, Still" sounds right out of the late '60s Jamaican rocksteady era, and it sounds fresh today too.
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GWENNO - "TRESOR"
Gwenno has released the gorgeous, dreamy title track from her upcoming third album Tresor. "'Tresor' is a song questioning what makes us human, and the conscious choice that we have to either have a positive or negative impact on our environment and everything around us. We live in a chaotic world and what impacts on our ability to make positive decisions is largely circumstantial, the song is about trying to connect with our ability to do the right thing at a point where everything is in-flux, in crisis, and the foundation of our society is changing. How do we connect with our responsibilities and instinct to commit to the collective in a largely individualistic society? 'Tresor' is an homage to an older, analog world, the soundtracks to European cinema, and a final fair farewell to the 20th Century.” Tresor is out July 1 via Heavenly.
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MAJOR MURPHY - "ACCESS POINT"
Here's the title track to Major Murphy's forthcoming EP, Access Point. This was a song that didn't make it onto last year's terrific Access. Over glistening synthesizers, tripped-out vocoder harmonies carry the the very pretty melody. Nice song.
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YUMI ZOUMA - "MISSING" (EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL COVER)
New Zealand band Yumi Zouma recently stopped by the SiriusXM studios for a session and as part of it covered Everything But the Girl's '90s hit "Missing." Their version is closer to EBTG's original version than the Todd Terry remix that took the world by storm.
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ATTIA TAYLOR - "DOG AND PONY SHOW"
Brooklyn musician Attia Taylor will release her debut album Space Ghost on July 7 via Lame-O Records. It was produced by Jeff Ziegler (Kurt Vile, War on Drugs), and lead single "Dog and Pony Show" has a hazy bedroom pop vibe that's kinda like early Julia Holter meets chillwave. Pretty cool stuff.
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BOLDY JAMES x REAL BAD MAN - "OPEN DOOR" (ft. ROME STREETZ & STOVE GOD COOKS)
As mentioned, Boldy James and producer Real Bad Man are releasing another collaborative project, the Killing Nothing EP, next week. New single "Open Door" features likeminded rap traditionalists Rome Streetz and Stove God Cooks, and they all sound great over RBM's head-nod instrumental.
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2 ELEVEN & T.F. - "BLACKOUT" (ft. CONWAY THE MACHINE)
Last year, 2 Eleven released Mastermind, which features Freddie Gibs on six of its eight songs, and this year he and fellow West Coast rapper T.F. put out Skanless Levels 2, the sequel to their 2020 project. Now, the two of them have another new single, this one featuring Griselda's Conway the Machine, whose gritty East Coast sound adds a nice touch to this song.
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SCOUT LARUE WILLIS - "WOMAN AT BEST"
Singer/songwriter (and Nicolas Jaar collaborator) Scout LaRue Willis has announced her self-titled debut album, due June 24. Along with the announcement comes the soulful, folky "Woman At Best," which Scout calls "a love letter to Sacred feminine rage. It’s an anthemic celebration of the courage it takes to make the tough decisions in life and love, that while for your highest good, can feel excruciating. It’s about finally stepping away from something both toxic and intoxicating. This song is an ode to feminine creativity, sexuality and freedom, to the idea that I can be all of it without hiding or withholding any piece of myself."
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SIMULAKRA - "FOLLOW THE FLIES"
Delaware metallic hardcore band Simulakra have followed "Fading Away" with the second single off their upcoming LP The Infection Spreads (due 5/24 via DAZE), and it's another dose of pure, unfiltered rage.
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SNOW ELLET - "19"
Snow Ellet has announced a new EP, Glory Days, due June 10 via Wax Bodega, and lead single "19" is a very catchy blend of sugary early 2000s style pop punk and rickety modern-day bedroom pop.
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CHARLES STEPNEY - "DADDY'S DIDDIES"
The late composer/producer Charles Stepney has worked with Earth Wind & Fire, Deniece Williams, Rotary Connection, Minnie Ripperton, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, and more, and been sampled by Kanye West, Madlib, MF Doom, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, and more, and International Anthem is celebrating his legacy with Summer of Stepney, a string of events, releases, a documentary, and more happening from now through September. As part of that, they've unearthed this home-recorded rarity.
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VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ - "NGALA KAOURENE"
Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré has shared another single off upcoming LP Les Racines, and like the previous ones, it's hypnotic, alluring, and full of gorgeous melodies.
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KATIE ALICE GREER - "DREAMT I TALK TO HORSES"
Former Priests vocalist Katie Alice Greer is releasing her debut solo LP, Barbarism, and the latest single is "Dreamt I Talk to Horses." "This was one of the last songs I finished on the record," Katie says. "It was originally 8 minutes long, way slower, and had a lot more reverb and noise. When I finally let go and re-recorded it, something totally different came out pretty organically. It seems hilarious now but initially when I finished this track I sent it to some friends saying I thought this was me finally going into straight forward pop territory, that it was 'my Drake song,' and pretty much all of them told me it is still way too weird to sound like Drake. But, I hope people hear something they can connect with in it. It's about confronting all of the hard feelings that come with loving people, even, and maybe especially, when things are not gonna work out and you need to go your own way."
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RUBY GOON - "COLD WIND"
Led by Russian-born musician Ivan Solimani-Lezhnev, Ruby Goon have signed to Eron Alkan's Phantasy Records and just released their debut single. "Cold Wind" is spaciously psychedelic, floating like a single cloud on a clear blue sky.
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SAY SUE ME - "NO REAL PLACE"
Say Sue Me's new album The Last Thing Left is due out Friday via Damnably, and ahead of its release they've shared one more advance single, the peppy "No Real Place." "There’s been a lot of parting ways over the years," the band's Sumi Choi says. "Spent a long time missing someone. And I usually walk… I gained courage as I walked, and now I think I can overcome the sadness and fear of someone leaving."
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NINA NASTASIA - "THIS IS LOVE"
"Is this love? It feels so bad / Drawing blood until we both see black," Nina Nastasia sings on this new song from her first album in 12 years. "Somehow I got comfortable living with trauma, living in a fight and sitting in sadness," she says of it. "Happiness came in moments, but I must have gravitated towards misery, because I built a life around it. My definition of love became skewed. 'This Is Love' is a love I don’t want to repeat. I’m not regretful. It was love, but love doesn’t have to look like that if you ultimately don’t want it to."
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BRET MCKENZIE - "A LITTLE TUNE"
One half of genial, funny duo Flight of the Conchords, Brett McKenzie is getting series for his debut album, Songs Without Jokes.
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CRACK CLOUD - "PLEASE YOURSELF"
Vancouver collective Crack Cloud‘s second album, Tough Baby, is out in September and this is the first single.
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DAVID KNUDSON - "VARV"
Former Minus The Bear and Botch guitarist David Knudson's debut solo album comes out this Friday, and here's more song from it, which you can read more about here.
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DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - "ROMAN CANDLES"
Death Cab for Cutie announced a new album, Asphalt Meadows, and shared the first single, which you can read more about here.
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EARTHEATER - "MITOSIS"
Eartheater produced her glitchy new single "Mitosis" with Sega Bodega.
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DANGER MOUSE & BLACK THOUGHT - "NO GOLD TEETH"
Danger Mouse and Black Thought have finally announced their long-teased collaborative album, titled Cheat Codes, and you can read more about lead single "No Gold Teeth" here.
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BEHEMOTH - "OV MY HERCULEAN EXILE"
Behemoth announced their 12th studio album, Opvs Contra Natvram, and shared the first single, which is accompanied by a creepy video directed by Zuzanna Plisz.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.