Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney (photo by Nikko LaMere)

17 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…

BLANCK MASS – “LOVE IS A PARASITE”

Ben Power will release, Animated Violence Mild, his fourth album as Blanck Mass, on August 16 and he’s just shared what will be our last advance taste before the whole thing is out. “Love is Parasite” blends pop techno with industrial and metal and comes with a video, directed by Craig Murray, which depicts an early ’80s commercial shoot involving the green apple seen on the album’s cover art. Things get visceral in a Cronenberg-esque way. Ben said he admired Murray’s work that “definitely bridges that gap between the grotesque and the beautiful that I am so keen on. Presenting the darker theme of global mass consumerism whilst poking fun at the ’80s and starring a Drag Queen overseeing chaos wasn’t going to be an easy task but he nailed it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmMY35HlTAo&feature=youtu.be

KOHTI TUHOA – “IHMISEN KASVOT,” “NOITAYMPYRA” & “TOISELLA PUOLELLA”

Finnish hardcore band Kohti Tuhoa (which translates to “Towards Destruction”) have been making a name for themselves for a while, and as Stereogum points out, they’ll release their third album Ihmisen Kasvot (“Human Face”) on September 15 via La Vida Es Un Mus Discos. Three singles are out now — the title track, “Noitaympyrä” (“The Witch Circle”), and “Toisella Puolella” (“On The Other Side”) — and all of them are serious rippers. If you like punk of any kind, you should really hear these songs.

BAD HEAVEN LTD – STRENGTH (ALBUM STREAM)

Bad Heaven Ltd. — who are fronted by John Galm (Snowing, Street Smart Cyclist, Slow Warm Death), and also feature current and former members of TWIABP and Amanda X — are releasing their new album strength this Friday but you can stream the whole thing now. If you like off-kilter, quiet indie stuff like The Microphones and Low, you should give this LP a spin.

SLEATER-KINNEY – “CAN I GO ON”

Sleater-Kinney release their St. Vincent-produced new album, The Center Won’t Hold, on August 16. You can hear Annie Clark’s influence all over fourth single “Can I Go On,” from the deceptively bright melodies to the spiky guitars.

BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN – “BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN”

Bonny Light Horseman is a new supergroup featuring Anais Mitchell, Eric D Johnson (Fruit Bats), and The National/Craig Finn/Hiss Golden Messenger collaborator Josh Kaufman, and their debut single is a cover of the traditional folk song that there name comes from. The National’s Aaron Dessner contributed guitar to this; more info here.

CLITERATI – “TRANS IS BEAUTIFUL”

Oregon hardcore band Cliterati’s new album Ugly Truths, Beautiful Lies comes out in August via Tankcrimes, and you can read more about the powerful new single “Trans Is Beautiful” and its equally powerful video here.

TELEFON TEL AVIV – “STANDING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN”

Joshua Eustis brought Telefon Tel Aviv out of retirement in 2016, which was the first time since the tragic death of his musical partner, Charlie Cooper, back in 2009. He’s now back with the first new TTA album in 10 years, titled Dreams Are Not Enough which will be out September 27 via Ghostly. The label says Eustis, who has worked with Nine Inch Nails, Puscifer, Apparat and others in the last 10 years, decided to return to Telefon Tel Aviv after “years of reflection and processing gradually seeded in him a desire to revive TTA and venture a fourth full-length, in the spirit of what they started.” You can check out the album’s first single — the eerie, beautiful “standing at the bottom of the ocean.”

HAIM – “SUMMER GIRL”

Haim’s mellow, saxophone-seasoned new single, “Summer Girl,” came out of Danielle Haim’s response to her partner, producer Ariel Rechtshaid’s cancer diagnosis, with a little extra inspiration from Lou Reed. “This song started out as a garage band demo in my phone with just a bass line, drums, some gibberish and a doot doot doot little melody,” she wrote on Twitter. “I brought it to my friend Rostam to see if he wanted to work on it. he wrote the sax part within the first couple minutes of working on it and it all clicked. We were kinda joking about how the doot doot doot part reminded us of Walk on the Wild Side and then he put this stand up bass part on top of the electric bass part and It sounded amazing! The palette was there- v inspired by Lou. And we kept it that way.” Previous collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson directed the video.

FLUME – QUITS (EP STREAM FEAT. REO CRAGUN)

Australian electronic musician Flume dropped a new EP with rapper Reo Cragun, featuring two new tracks and a collaboration the pair released earlier this year, “Friends.” “This EP is us as a friendship,” Flume told Zane Lowe during a Wednesday appearance, “hanging out, just making tracks, having too many good songs and we’re like, ‘We need to get these out into the world.’ So we were like, ‘Let’s just do an EP.'”

JADU HEART – “WHITEFANG”

Dreampop duo Jadu Heart have an album on the way, and here’s a new track from it courtesy Adult Swim Singles. “This song wasn’t really going to be on the record but then we started playing it live and it became almost everyone’s favourite live track. We use it to finish sets as there’s a serious emotion to it when it builds up and the real only time we shout on stage.”

MEAN JEANS – “STUCK IN A HEAD”

Ramones-y punks Mean Jeans’ new album Gigantic Sike comes out in August via Fat Wreck Chords, and new single “Stuck In A Head” imagines “when your only skills are partying and playing guitar.” You can read more about it here.

1349 – “ENTER COLD VOID DREAMING”

Norwegian black metallers 1349 have announced their new album and shared a second single, and you can read more about it here.

DEVOURMENT – “A VIRULENT STRAIN OF RETALIATION”

Brutal death metal vets Devourment have shared another song off their upcoming album Obscene Majesty, and this one comes with a NSFW video (violence, gore) that’s just as, uh, obscene, as the song.

GIRL RAY – “SHOW ME MORE”

UK trio Girl Ray are back with their second album, titled Girl, which will be out November 8 via Moshi Moshi. For it, they worked with producer Ash Workman (Christine & The Queens, Metronomy) who helped them embrace synthesizers and shinier pop without sacrificing the mossy charm of their debut album. First single “Show Me More” has a breezy vibe, not a million miles from early Bananarama.

MIKAL CRONIN – “SHOW ME”

Here’s the first single from Mikal Cronin’s new album, Seeker. “‘Show Me’ is a song about feeling small in an overwhelming world,” says Cronin. “There’s a not-quite-subtle hint of the Heartbreakers in the instrumentation and arrangement, having asked many friends to play or sing. It’s one of my favorite songs from the album, I hope you like it too.” Watch the video, which features Shannon Lay, below.

DARSOMBRA – TRANSMISSION

Baltimore psych duo Darsombra (Brian Daniloski on guitar, vocals, and effects, and Ann Everton on synthesizer, vocals, gong, and visuals) are self-releasing their new album Transmission on August 9. The whole album is one very trippy 42-minute track, and you can stream it now and read more about it here.

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