21 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…
STORMZY – “CROWN”
Stormzy is back with “Crown,” and it’s the grime artist’s second single of 2019 following the great “Vossi Bop.” This one is more of a gospel-tinged ballad compared to its predecessor, and proof that Stormzy continues to expand his sound.
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NEW MODEL ARMY – “END OF DAYS”
For nearly 40 years Justin Sullivan has led strident, political punks New Model Army who will release their 15th studio album, From Here, on August 23. First single “End of Days” has them sounding fiery as ever.
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KIRIN J CALLINAN – “RISE” (PUBLIC IMAGE LTD COVER)
Kirin J Callinan’s new album, Return to Center, was made using equipment he bought — and then returned 14 days later — at Guitar Center, and features his takes on other people’s songs he really loves. Among them is his version of PiL’s 1986 college radio hit “Rise,” which he uses as an opportunity to answer to the “controversy” around his kilt-flashing incident at the 2018 ARIA Awards, complete with samples of news reports of the story.
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YACHT – “(DOWNTOWN) DANCING”
Arch indie dance vets YACHT, who are a three piece these days, are back on DFA after releasing I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler on Downtown in 2015, and will release a new album later this year. For it the band are experimenting with open-source Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to help write the songs, drawing on YACHT’s 82-song back catalog as source material. “It’s not so much about collaborating with the machine as it is about collaborating with people through the medium of the machine,” says singer Claire L. Evans. “Creating this kind of work requires that creative and technical people work together, and that’s a good thing in our increasingly siloed culture.” Their first AI collab is new single “(Downtown) Dancing,” a funky disco number very much in the catchy YACHT style. “We wanted to find a way to interrogate technology more deeply,” explains Evans. “Now that we’re making music again, it feels more human than human, more YACHT than YACHT, “ says Jona Bechtolt. “And easily the thing we’ve made that most reflects how we see ourselves.”
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BEAK> – LIFE GOES ON (EP STREAM)
Less than a year since their terrific third album, Beak> — aka Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Billy Fuller (who plays in Robert Plant’s band) and Will Young (Moon Gangs) — are back with this new EP that was recorded after a particularly inspiring tour of Mexico. The EP included “We Can Go” ( “the most normal song we have ever written” say the band), the post-punk-meets-Can-meets-BBC-Radiophonic-Workshop blurt of a title track and two other woozy, groovy jams.
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GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA – “ALLO ALLO BOOM”
Austin, TX’s afrobeat/psych/disco collective Golden Dawn Arkestra are back with their third album, Darkness Falls on the Edge of Time, which is out September 6 via 11A Records. The first single is “Allo Allo Boom,” which the band wrote while on tour in France and that country’s influence can be heard here on this poppy, funky track.
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BENNY THE BUTCHER – THE PLUGS I MET (ft. PUSHA T, BLACK THOUGHT, JADAKISS & more)
Rising Buffalo rapper Benny the Butcher’s music brings you bright back to ’90s New York rap, and he does a lot of justice to that sound. His new 7-song The Plugs I Met project is out now, featuring his Griselda associate Conway and a few vets who likely influenced him like Jadakiss, Black Thought, and Pusha T. If you like those guys, you’re gonna wanna hear this.
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NICKI MINAJ – “MEGATRON”
Nicki Minaj follows last year’s Queen with new single “Megatron,” a very fun track that finds Nicki in fine form.
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MACH-HOMMY – WAP KONN JOJ! (ft. QUELLE CHRIS, EARL SWEATSHIRT, YOUR OLD DROOG & more)
Mach-Hommy is back with a new seven-song project called Wap Konn Jòj!, and it features an impressive cast of alternative-minded rappers. If you like your rap sounding left of the dial, this is worth checking out.
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MUSTARD – “ON GOD” (ft. A$AP FERG, YG, TYGA, A$AP ROCKY)
Major rap producer Mustard’s new album Perfect 10 comes out next week (June 28), and its latest star-studded single is out today.
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RICK ROSS – “ACT A FOOL” (ft. WALE)
Rick Ross is prepping his new project Port of Miami 2, and new single “Act A Fool” has him sounding as triumphant as ever.
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THE GAME – “WEST SIDE”
Has it really taken The Game 15 years to name a song “West Side”? Guess so! Anyway, it’s the first single off Born 2 Rap, which he says will be his final album. It’s a little rougher around the edges than his most classic material, but stays true to the kind of aggressive West Coast rap you’d expect from The Game.
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YK OSIRIS – “FREAKY DANCER” (ft. DABABY)
YK Osiris and DaBaby were both just named members of XXL’s 2019 Freshman Class, and now they’ve got a song together. YK Osiris offers up auto-tuned singsongy trap and then DaBaby comes in with one of his trademark booming verses.
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NOAH GUNDERSEN – “ROBIN WILLIAMS”
Phoebe Bridgers collaborator Noah Gundersen is releasing a new album, Love on August 23, and he’s shared the first single, the country-tinged “Robin Williams.”
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LIL BABY – “OUT THE MUD” (ft. FUTURE)
Fast-rising Atlanta trap rapper/singer Lil Baby teams with long-running Atlanta trap rapper/singer Future for this new one that sounds like you probably expect it to.
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TYLER CHILDERS – “ALL YOUR’N”
Tyler Childers is following his 2017 breakthrough album Purgatory with Country Squire, due out August 2 via Hickman Holler Records/RCA. The latest single from that, “All Your’n” is a summery, easy-going tune with plenty of twang.
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IMOGEN HEAP – “THE QUIET”
Imogen Heap has released three versions of a new song called “The Quiet.” Listen to the main version below and hear the other two (including a rework by Baths) and read more here.
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BLINK-182 – “GENERATIONAL DIVIDE”
blink-182 return to their punk roots on the 50-second new song “Generational Divide,” which we wrote more about here.
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MARK RONSON – “TRUE BLUE” (ft. ANGEL OLSEN)
Mark Ronson’s guest-filled new album Late Night Feelings is out today (read our review), and one of the most anticipated songs on the album within indie rock circles is the one with Angel Olsen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gaSax33y7s
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ANGIE MCMAHON – “AND I AM A WOMAN”
Rising Australian singer/songwriter Angie McMahon announced her debut album and you can read more about new single “And I Am A Woman” here.
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CASSIUS – DREEMS
Following the tragic death of Cassius’ Philippe Zdar, the duo released their new album Dreems, which features Portugal. The Man’s John Gourley on “Nothing About You,” Beastie Boys’ Mike D on “Cause oui!,” The Rapture’s Luke Jenner on “Dreems,” and more.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
