23 New Songs Out Today
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…
CLOUD NOTHINGS – “SO RIGHT SO CLEAN”
Cloud Nothings’ anticipated new album Last Building Burning sees them making their heaviest, most abrasive music in years, and while new single “So Right So Clean” starts out on the slightly calmer (but still dark and ominous) side, it eventually erupts into a dissonant rager.
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SASAMI – “NOT THE TIME”
SASAMI (aka former Cherry Glazerr keyboardist/backup vocalist Sasami Ashworth) put out the promising “Callous” earlier this year, and now she signed to Domino who just released another new single, “Not The Time.” this one’s a little more atmospheric than “Callous” (but still in a DIY indie rock way), and it’s got an awesomely weird guitar solo in the mix. She has upcoming tour dates with Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, and Mitski.
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DEER TICK – “HEY! YEAH!” & “RUN OF THE MILL” (GEORGE HARRISON COVER)
Deer Tick are whipping up some Mayonnaise — that’s the name of a new compilation of covers, alt-versions of songs from their two 2017 LPs, and a few new tracks, that’ll be released on February 1, 2019. They’ve shared two songs from it: a brand new track “Hey! Yeah!” and a cover of George Harrison’s “Run of the Mill.”
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THE BANGLES – “JET FIGHTER” (THREE O’CLOCK COVER)
Four groups who got their start in Los Angeles’ neo-psychedelic “Paisley Underground” scene (The Bangles, Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade and The Three O’Clock) will cover each other’s’ songs for a new compilation that’s coming out as a Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive. You can check out The Bangles version of The Three O’Clock’s great single “Jet Fighter,” where they “traded in the keyboards for guitars, but stayed close to the original version in other ways,” says Vicki Peterson. “I think Debbi (Peterson) tried not to sing with Michael Quercio’s almost-British accent, but he’s so bloody charming and we’re all unapologetic anglophiles, too, so she just had fun with it.”
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YOKO ONO – “IMAGINE” (JOHN LENNON COVER)
Today would’ve been John Lennon’s 78th birthday and in celebration, Yoko Ono has shared her new, minimalist take of the iconic song “Imagine” she received a co-writing credit on last year. This new version features on her new album Warzone which is all reimagined songs from throughout her career that she still feels hold special relevance today.
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THE FREE NATIONALS – “BEAUTY & ESSEX” (ft. DANIEL CAESAR & UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA)
The Free Nationals are best known as Anderson Paak’s backing band, but today they released a single without him and instead featuring R&B singer Daniel Caesar and indie-psych band Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It’s a pretty awesome dose of modern soul that fans of any of the three contributing artists should check out.
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REMY BANKS – “AND MORE” (ft. WIKI)
Queens rap crew World’s Fair released their very solid debut album New Lows earlier this year, and now group member Remy Banks has dropped a new solo single featuring Wiki. Over laid-back, vocal-sample-heavy production from Black Noi$e, the two New York rappers trade throwback-ish verses and sound great together.
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AGAINST ME! – “PEOPLE WHO DIED” (JIM CARROLL BAND COVER)
Hopeless and Sub City are releasing a new compilation, Songs That Saved My Life, on November 9, which is “centered around music that has played a pivotal role in the lives of artists and fans and that benefits mental health and suicide prevention charities.” It includes Taking Back Sunday (covering The Smashing Pumpkins), The Wonder Years’ Dan Campbell + The Early November’s Ace Enders (covering The Mountain Goats), Against Me! (covering The Jim Carroll Band), and more. The Against Me! cover is out now, and it sees them doing a pretty faithful rendition of the punky power pop of the original. “Choosing to cover a song that is filled with death to be featured on a compilation dedicated to the thought that music can save your life seemed completely fitting to me,” Laura Jane Grace told PEOPLE Magazine.
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THE DODOS – “CENTER OF”
The Dodos’ new album Certainty Waves drops this Friday via Polyvinyl and the band has unleashed one more song ahead of its release, “Center Of.” It’s a catchy dose of indie-folk-pop with that distinctive Dodos twist.
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GIRLPOOL – “LUCY’S” & “WHERE YOU SINK”
Girlpool released their sophomore album Powerplant last year, and now they’ve returned with two new songs. About “Lucy’s,” Cleo Tucker says, “this song responds to stubborn feelings from a past relationship. I wrote ‘Lucy’s’ a couple of years ago to sort through some droning thoughts about hope, distraction and love. ‘I swear I’ll be alright/although (you) are in the sky,’ continues to resonate. These lyrics distinguish a time when my partner would check out from our relationship. I reassured myself that even when they were not present, and I was, that I would be alright. I was hopeful that my partner would find resolve from their struggles, which stifled their capacity to provide the kind of care and attention that I needed. I practiced nurture, and I hoped that they would find the ambition that I saw in them.” Harmony Tividad says the second song, “Where You Sink,” “explores our fixations on characters in our lives and the projections we create. It explores our natural human desire to be made special by another. I wrote it when I found myself looking at one person from various angles (emotionally); I found them to be beautiful in toxic but charismatic ways. It’s about loving someone who you don’t really have the chance to get to know fully because their time is spent trying to get out of their head, further from reality. It explores the complications of trying to get close to someone who ultimately wants to be far from themselves.”
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IMOGEN HEAP – “PLATFORM 9¾” & “IN TROUBLE (AGAIN)”
Imogen Heap’s score for the stage production of Harry Potter & The Cursed Child is being released as an album, with four suites made up of music from each of the play’s four acts. She’s shared the first two tracks, “Platform 9¾” and “In Trouble (Again).” Both have a charming whimsy and feature wordless vocalization from Imogen.
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DENZEL CURRY – “R.I.P 2 R.I.P | R.1.P 2 R.1.P”
Denzel Curry, whose tour includes two NYC shows tonight (10/9), dropped a freestyle over Playboi Carti’s “R.I.P.,” and in under two minutes, he changes his flow up more times than some rappers do on entire albums.
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XXL (XIU XIU + LARSEN) – “KING OF KOALAS”
Jamie “Xiu Xiu” Stewart and Italian experimental band Larsen have teamed up as XXL and will release LP Puff O’Gigio on December 7 via Bad Paintings. You can get a first taste of the proggy, gotthy, arty sounds within via first single “King of Koalas.”
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DOG POWER – “COME BACK TO PARIS”
New Zealand duo DOG Power cite Sade, The Stooges, Serge Gainsbourg, Suicide as influences on their self-titled debut which will be out via Flying Nun on November 23. You can certainly here Suicide on “Come Back to Paris” and we’ll mention some groups that don’t start with “S”: Jesus and Mary Chain and early Echo & The Bunnymen.
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JOE JACKSON – “FABULOUSLY ABSOLUTE”
The great Joe Jackson will release new album Fool on January 18. First single “Fabulously Absolute” finds Joe still full of the fire that gave us “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” and “Stepping Out.”
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PAVO PAVO – “MYSTERY HOUR”
Pavo Pavo, the duo of Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg, will release new album Mystery Hour on January 25 via Bella Union. The first single is the LP’s sweeping title track. “Our new record was written after Eliza and I were separating after a six–year relationship,” says Oliver. “For the title track, we wanted to make a video that introduced us as two characters meditating on relationships from all angles, while matching the romantic melodrama of the orchestra and choir with lots of cinematic action and narrative. John, the 7–foot protagonist of the video, is an angel of love and sex, and serves as a superhuman mascot for the record – he represents the search for intimacy and connection. The human heart tattoo on his neck is the core of his power, and within the tattoo lives us, Pavo Pavo, casting spells and guiding his movements as he makes out with everyone in sight.”
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EVOKEN – “CEREMONY OF BLEEDING”
NJ death/funeral doom vets Evoken are releasing their sixth album (and first in six years), Hypnagogia, on November 9 via Profound Lore, and they’ve shared the truly evil-sounding “Ceremony of Bleeding,” which starts out plodding and atmospheric but turns into something much different.
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LITTLE DRAGON – “LOVER CHANTING”
Little Dragon signed to Ninja Tune for the new Lover Chanting EP and released the title track, which we wrote more about here.
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ESPERANZA SPALDING – “UNTIL THE NEXT”
“Until the Next” is the third song released in Esperanza Spalding’s ongoing 12 Little Spells project, and this one’s a little softer and more on the folk-jazz side.
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SIR BABYGIRL – “FLIRTING WITH HER”
Sir Babygirl announced her debut album Crush On Me and shared a poppy new single, “Flirting With Her.” Read more about it here.
Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
