cindy-lee
Cindy Lee

13 New Songs Out Today

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, 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…

NADA SURF – “LOOKING FOR YOU”

The first single off Nada Surf’s upcoming album Never Not Together sounded like classic Nada Surf, but the new “Looking For You” is an atmospheric, angelic song that feels a little different for them, and it’s gorgeous sounding.

DIRTY PROJECTORS – SING THE MELODY (LIVE ALBUM STREAM)

Dirty Projectors released Lamp Lit Prose last year, and following a round of touring in support of it, the band’s live lineup, which includes Felicia Douglass, Kristin Slipp, Maia Friedman, Nat Baldwin, and Mike Johnson joining Dave Longstreth, visited NYC’s Power Station studios to record the live arrangements of the songs they’d been performing, including a cover of “FourFiveSeconds,” which Dave co-wrote.

CINDY LEE (EX-WOMEN) – “HEAVY METAL”

Former Women leader Patrick Flegel is back with their new album as Cindy Lee, titled What’s Tonight To Eternity and out February 14 on W.25TH. Patrick found inspiration for the LP in Karen Carpenter. “I found a deep interest and comfort in her story, which is a cautionary tale about the monstrosity of show business, stardom at a young age, and being a misfit looking for connection,” says Patrick. “The darkness and victimizing tabloid sensationalism she suffered, which is easily tempered and overwhelmed by her earnest output, her artistry, her tireless work ethic. Something utterly unique and magical takes shape in the negative space, out of exclusion. What I relate to in her mainly has a lot to do with her output and what is unknown about her, how much she kept hidden to herself while having this public profile.” You can hear the Carpenters influence in first single “Heavy Metal” — a gauzy and gorgeous slowdance number with spidery guitar lines and strings wrapping around you as you slowly spin under the mirrorball.

YUMI ZOUMA – “RIGHT TRACK / WRONG MAN”

New Zealand band Yumi Zouma have signed with Polyvinyl and will release their first album for the label in 2020. While they’re still working on that they have just released effervescent new single “Right Track / Wrong Man” which singer Christie Simpson says “comes from a place of uncertainty – of not knowing if you should stay in the comfort of a slightly unfulfilling relationship, or branch out and make the most of the youth you have left; meet new people, go out more, dance, live…As Yumi Zouma we often write songs that we want people to dance to, and that we ourselves would want to dance to – this is our dancefloor anthem to the confusion of living through your twenties.”

PORTA NIGRA – “DAS RAD DES IXION”

German black metallers Porta Nigra are releasing their third album and first with new vocalist Tongue (of Chaos Invocation), Schöpfungswut, on January 17 via Soulseller Records. New eight-minute single “Das Rad des Ixion” is equal parts evil and melodic, and it’s a very promising taste of this new LP.

NECROWRETCH – “THE ONES FROM HELL”

For something even more evil, there’s the venomous title track of Necrowretch’s upcoming album The Ones From Hell, which drops via Season of Mist this Valentine’s Day.

GODTHRYMM – “AMONG THE EXALTED”

Godthrymm is a new-ish band from vocalist/guitarist Hamish Glencross (ex-My Dying Bride, Vallenfyre, Solstice), drummer Shaun Taylor-Steels (ex-My Dying Bride, Anathema), and bassist Bob Crolla, and they’ll follow their A Grand Reclamation and Dead In The Studio EPs with their debut album Reflections on February 14 via Profound Lore. The first taste is “Among The Exalted,” a dose of gruff, gothy doom in the vein of classic My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, with bright, melodic guitar leads running through the whole song to offset the darkness.

NOW, NOW – “LONELY CHRISTMAS”

Minneapolis alt-pop duo Now, Now returned in 2018 with Saved, their first album since 2012. They’ve shared a new single since then, and now they debut their “new Christmas classic,” “Lonely Christmas.” “This song came about because I always get really lonely and bummed out during the holidays,” KC Dalager says. “I try every year to overcome that, so writing this song is another attempt to reclaim the magic of the season. I had the initial concept idea for this song two years ago while sitting in my car by myself listening to the Christmas station on the radio. The world around me was sparkling and cheerful but I couldn’t feel it. So I wanted us to capture that feeling and write a song for anyone else out there who may also be experiencing that. I always loved the freedom in Christmas music. Nothing is too much. Nothing is too far. Nothing is too joyous. Nothing is too desperate. I can openly plead with someone to not break my heart in the name of Christmas.”

CAM’RON – “BIG DEAL”

Cam’ron’s new album Purple Haze 2 drops on December 16, and he shared a new single from it, “Big Deal,” which is in that classic Cam’ron tradition of Cam marrying his low, booming voice to a high-pitched sample.

THE WONDER YEARS – “WE LOOK LIKE LIGHTNING” (ACOUSTIC, FT. SHORTLY)

The Wonder Years have a new acoustic EP on the way, and the first taste is this reworking of “We Look Like Lightning” featuring Alex Maniak of Shortly. Read more about in the EP in our interview with singer Dan Campbell.

AJJ – “MEGA GUILLOTINE 2020”

“Mega Guillotine 2020” is the second song to be released from AJJ’s upcoming album Good Luck Everybody, and you can read more about it here.

BRIAN FALLON – “YOU HAVE STOLEN MY HEART”

The Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon announced a new solo album, and the first taste is the melancholic “You Have Stolen My Heart.”

WORRIERS – “PWR CPLE”

Worriers are touring with Brian Fallon in 2020, and they also announced a new album today. You can read more about first single “PWR CPLE” here.

ANNIE HART – “LONGING TO CARE LESS”

Annie Hart has made a video for her new single “Longing to Care Less” which is about climate change and “feeling so inadequate and alone in the face of this overwhelming and insomnia-inducing problem.” She adds, “I was afraid to write the song and make the video because I didn’t want to trivialize the seismic shifts that are required NOW to stop the worst effects of climate change. But I have been so surprised by popular culture’s near disregard for the issue outside of sci-fi and a sporadic newspaper article. So I decided if, hey, I am going to devote my life to being in the fabric of popular culture, I had to face my fear of feeling corny or meaningless and contribute to an unceasing wave of attention to this matter.” The video has Annie going out and trying to do something about it in her own way, which will hopefully inspire others.

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