20 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…
KINDNESS – “HARD TO BELIEVE” (ft. JAZMINE SULLIVAN & SAMPHA)
Kindness’ new album Something Like A War comes out September 6 via Female Energy, and it includes the Robyn collab “Cry Everything” as well as the just-released “Hard To Believe.” This one’s got soaring guest vocals from R&B great Jazmine Sullivan, and Sampha is on there too.
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EFTERKLANG – “VI ER UENDELIG”
Danish group Efterklang will soon be back with their fifth album, Altid Sammen, on September 20 via 4AD. “We needed a break from the album and touring routine, and we needed a break from Efterklang,” says Clausen of the group’s five year absence that followed a “final show” in the band’s hometown of Sønderborg. “After the Sønderborg show, things felt very exciting – and a bit scary too. We could think freely, and move in new directions again, just focusing on the things that excited the 3 of us.” The first single is “Vi Er Uendeli” (“we are infinite”), a delicate song that builds to a more orchestral, Efterklang-esque crescendo.
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BLACK BELT EAGLE SCOUT – “AT THE PARTY”
Multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul is releasing her sophomore album as Black Belt Eagle Scout, At the Party With My Brown Friends, on August 30 via Saddle Creek Records. About first single “At The Party,” which she wrote in her bedroom, Katherine says, “within my conscious self, there is always a sense of questioning the legitimacy of the world when you grow up on an Indian reservation. We are all at the party (the world), trying to navigate ourselves within a good or bad situation. I happen to be at the party with my brown friends- Indigenous, Black, POC who always have my back while we walk throughout this event called life.”
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TYCHO – “JAPAN”
Tycho have just shared a new single from their forthcoming album Weather. “Japan” comes in two forms: one with vocals from Hannah Cottrell (Saint Sinner) and, for those who are more Tycho purists, an extended instrumental version. Their new album is out July 12. Hannah’s breathy vocals blend seamlessly with Tycho’s airy sound.
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THE JUAN MACLEAN – “GET DOWN (WITH MY LOVE)”
The Juan Maclean will release The Brighter the Light on September 20 via DFA. The album collects various non-LP singles they’ve released over the last six years, in reeditted and remastered form. The new single from the album is “Get Down (with My Love)” that is a classic Juan Maclean banger with a summer vibe. Brighter indeed.
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HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER – “I NEED A TEACHER”
MC Taylor calls his new Hiss Golden Messenger album, Terms of Surrender, “a collection of songs about what we are prepared to sacrifice in order to live the lives that we think we want. It’s a wandering record, one that realizes that joy is so fleeting and so delicate that when you see it, you better grab it and try to understand what it’s made of.” The album features guest appearances from Aaron Dessner, Jenny Lewis and Tucker Martine and will be out September 20 via Merge. Check out the first single.
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STREET SECTS – “GOODBYE RECIDIVIST ROAD”
Austin industrial-punk duo Street Sects are releasing the two-song EP Gentrification III: Death and Displacement on August 2 via The Flenser, and lead single “Goodbye Recidivist Road” is out now. As heard on last year’s The Kicking Mule, Street Sects have been developing a more melodic sound lately (without losing the abrasion of their early material) and this new song is another example of their ability to make music that’s both crushingly aggressive and accessible.
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JOAN SHELLEY – “COMING DOWN FOR YOU”
Louisville, KY folk singer Joan Shelley is back with her first new song in two years, “Coming Down For You,” which features contributions from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Nathan Salsburg, and James Elkington. Joan says the song “came to me while I was in motion and I couldn’t write it down. I was thinking of the rhythm of animals, of work, and of travel; the rhythm of someone riding into chaos to bring a loved one back out again.” As Joan’s songs often are, it’s a gorgeous song that sounds like it could’ve come out of early ’70s Laurel Canyon but sounds fresh today too.
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THE BIRD AND THE BEE – “AIN’T TALKIN’ BOUT LOVE” (VAN HALEN COVER)
The Bird and The Bee’s love of Van Halen dates back to their 2009 song “Diamond Dave,” and more recently they covered “Panama.” That’s just one of many VH covers they do on their new album, Interpreting The Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen, which will be out August 2. (Vol 1 paid tribute to Hall & Oates.) Check out their synthpop take on “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” from 1978’s Van Halen.
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HONEY HARPER – “TOMORROW NEVER COMES”
William Fussell, who used to front dreampop band Mood Rings, now makes lush, dreamy pop as Honey Harper that owes more to soft rock country than Cocteau Twins. “‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ is my ’70s alt-country sing-along turned krautrock jam that simply is about the early days of me and my wife/co-writer’s love and relationship. It’s a musical and personal celebration of summer. In the song, I sing about how my wife and I were possibly aligned/meant to be because of our astrological signs. She is a Gemini and I am a classic Leo so we begin and end the summer season (though not in strict astrological terms). So Happy Birthday to all the fellow Geminis and Leos and Happy Summer to everyone!”
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HONEY RADAR – “KITE BALLOONS”
Philly band Honey Radar are back with new album Ruby Puff of Dust which will be out June 28 via What’s Your Rupture. Lead track “Kite Balloons” is very catchy, very low-fi psych pop, somewhere between The Byrds, Guided by Voices and Lilys.
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AJANI JONES – “PLUTO”
Chicago rapper Ajani Jones is releasing his debut album Dragonfly on July 16 via Closed Sessions, the same Chicago label responsible for breakthrough releases by Jamila Woods and Kweku Collins. Its new single is “Pluto,” a lush-sounding song that should easily appeal to fans of the thriving Chicago hip hop scene.
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MANEKA – “NEVER NOWHERE”
You may know Devin McKnight as the former guitarist of both Speedy Ortiz and Grass Is Green, and now he’s releasing his debut album as Maneka. It’s called Devin and due out July 26 via Exploding In Sound, and it features Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis on the song “My Queen.” The first single is “Never Nowhere,” which has a similarly mathy guitar style to both Speedy and Grass Is Green, and should definitely appeal to fans of those bands (or of ’90s Dischord bands). Devin tells FLOOD, “This song is tricky to talk about because it’s a criticism of myself. I feel like as a man and especially as a black man, I was always encouraged to push my feelings and emotions down into my gut and to just barrel ahead. Men a lot of times are running around town as these half emotionally developed people laying all their baggage on the women in their lives with zero accountability. Meanwhile women have to carry their own shit and coddle our untended emotions. This is something I am guilty of in many situations in my life. I’ve done a lot of therapy on and off over the years and am medicated for Major Depressive Disorder, but I still slip up.”
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NASTIE BAND – “SHAPESHIFT”
Nastie Band, the project led by visual artist Frank Haines (under the name Sandy Smiles) and also featuring Faith No More/Imperial Teen member Roddy Bottum and songs with vocals by the 81-year-old Chris Kachulis (who’s known for working with Bruce Haack and sang on his 1970 album The Electric Lucifer), are releasing their self-titled debut album on July 26. First, they’re putting out the single “Shapeshift” this Friday, along with 10 remixes (including one from members of Dalek). You can hear the brooding song now, and see Nastie Band live at NYC’s Brooklyn Bazaar on Thursday (6/13) with Christeene.
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JASON ANDERSON – AUBURN (ALBUM STREAM)
Jason Anderson is in the process of releasing one “lost” project a month in 2019 as he gears up for his next album, and June’s is Auburn. Jason recorded it in Guy Capecelatro III’s attic in Portsmouth, NH, and he says, “I emerged with a double record called Lewiston-Auburn, subsequently arranging eight of the tracks into a single collection. Crafting this album was an incubated process – none of it existed before I climbed the stairs at Guy’s and shut myself away. And with the exception of Nine Years, none of these songs have ever been played live. I suppose, then, that Auburn is one of the more lost of the lost sessions, and I’m so excited to finally share it, now streaming everywhere.”
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SERATONES – “POWER”
Louisiana garage-soul band Seratones are prepping new album Power, which was produced by Cage The Elephant’s Bradley Shultz and will be out August 23. Here’s the title track which definitely reflects its title.
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BOB MOULD – “I DON’T MIND” (BUZZCOCKS COVER)
To announce his upcoming solo electric tour, Bob has shared a cover of classic Buzzcocks single “I Don’t Mind” which he doesn’t mess with and is very much in his loud pop wheelhouse
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TAU CROSS – “BURN WITH ME”
Amebix/Voivod-related punk/metal supergroup Tau Cross announced their third album and shared the ripping lead single, which we wrote more about here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgi1pF64VJc
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TINARIWEN – “TAQKAL TARHA”
Storied Tuareg band Tinariwen are releasing a new album this September, and we wrote more about lead single “Taqkal Tarha” here.
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RADIOHEAD – MINIDISCS [HACKED]
Last week, 18 hours of Radiohead’s OK Computer sessions leaked onto the internet. Today, Jonny Greenwood said the band was hacked and the hacker demanded ransom, so instead the band just released the sessions themselves and they’re donating the proceeds to Extinction Rebellion. Read more here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
