Ladytron_2018_Maria-Louceiro_72dpi
Ladytron (photo: Maria Louceiro)

12 New Songs Out Today

Ladytron (photo: Maria Louceiro)
Ladytron (photo: Maria Louceiro)

So many artists, so little time. Each week we review five 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, show recaps, track premieres, and more all day. That includes a lot of tour announcements, a list of tonight’s NYC shows, and NY shows that just went on sale. We publish a monthly playlist of some of our favorite tracks. Here’s a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place…

MIKE KROL – “I WONDER” (FEAT. ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD)

Garage rocker Mike Krol shared this fuzzy second single off his aptly-titled upcoming LP Power Chords, which drops on 1/25 via Merge. The song features backing vocals from Swearin’s Allison Crutchfield, and according to Mike, he wanted to create a track that was “more mature in approach following a mutual breakup, or one that maybe stung at the time, but years later you can admit it was for the best and wish that person well.”

GRIMES – “WE APPRECIATE POWER”

After talking about new music for a while, a new Grimes single is officially here. More info here.

SAMPA THE GREAT – “ENERGY”

Zambian-born, Bostwana-raised, and now Melbourne-residing rapper/singer Sampa the Great put out a new song and video, “Energy,” which director Modu Sesay calls “an ode to feminine energy.” Sampa tells OkayAfrica: “Life is about balance. This year taught me a lot about this. It was very important to me to continue to apply this lesson in all aspects of my life. In the word we live in it is very important we re-evaluate our perceptions of strength and weakness and the balancing of the feminine and masculine aspects of all our energy. It’s especially important in our deeply unbalanced world.”

GESAFFELSTEIN – “RESET”

French producer Gesaffelstein, who’s collaborated with Kanye West, The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, and more, is back with a new single, “Reset.” No word on a new album yet (his debut and so far only album came out back in 2013), but if the dark “Reset” is a taste of what’s to come, it’s a promising one.

CHANDRA – “DAY WITHOUT SUCCESS”

The deluxe reissue of No Wave artist Chardra’s 1981 Transportation EP has a couple tracks that have never seen the light of day before, including the synthy “Day Without Success” that Chandra says was recorded as a four-track demo in 1983. “Chandra, the band, no longer existed but Eugenie, Steve, and I met up every so often for songwriting and recording sessions in their apartment in Chelsea. Steve programmed the drum machine (back then probably not a simple task) and Eugenie played the keyboard parts. I would come with lyrics and a melody, start singing, and they would form the music around that, as we had always done. Only now, instead of doing it with a full band, we did it with just the three of us. The new technology allowed us to flesh out multi-track demos. From there my thought was that we would put together another group of songs to record in the studio and to perform. That never happened. Now after over 30 years they are seeing the light of day.”

LADYTRON – “FAR FROM HOME”

UK icy synthpop group Ladytron will release their long-in-the-works sixth album in February and here’s another early taste from it. With the pulsating, arpeggiated keyboard lines, there’s no mistaking who this is. The band say look out for a North American tour soon.

YOLA – “RIDE OUT IN THE COUNTRY” (FEAT. DAN AUERBACH)

Soulful country artist Yola announced her debut album Walk Through Fire, due out February 22 via Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label. The new album was also produced and co-written with Dan, and the gorgeous, breezy vibe of this lead single proves the two make a great pair.

PHOEBE BRIDGERS – “CHRISTMAS SONG” (ft. JACKSON BROWNE)

Phoebe Bridgers is making it an annual thing to release a Christmas song, and this year’s is a cover of McCarthy Trenching‘s 2008 song “Christmas Song,” which we wrote more about here.

SHADOWGRAPHS – “ANOTHER TIME”

Portland duo Shadowgraphs have shared the title track to their forthcoming album, Another Time, which is out Friday. It’s a sparkling dose of very catchy, at times Beatlesque, psych-pop.

MODESELEKTOR – “WEALTH” (ft. FLOHIO)

German electronic duo and UK rapper Flohio teamed for a new song that we wrote more about here.

NILS FRAHM – “SPELLS”

The gorgeous, 12-minute “Spells” is the first single off Nils Frahm’s upcoming Encores 2 EP, which we wrote more about here.

CJ BOYD – “PEOPLE / HALFSLEEPER”

Bassist and composer CJ Boyd will release Kin Ships next year, a 52-song set that features a song for, and recorded in, every state of the U.S. (plus DC and one for the Outlying territories). It’s all covers, and “People / Halfsleeper” is combined take of “People” by Dilute and “Halfsleeper” by Chelsea Wolfe, and was recorded in California. Find out more here.

Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.