Headie One
Headie One - "Rose Gold" artwork

27 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…

HEADIE ONE – “ROSE GOLD”

UK drill rapper Headie One is fresh off releasing GANG, one of the best rap albums of April, and he’s already back with a new song. GANG features FKA twigs, Jamie xx, Sampha, slowthai, and Octavian, and one of its songs was remixed by Brian Eno, but “Rose Gold” reminds you Headie One doesn’t need big names to help him write instantly satisfying songs.

BERWYN – “GLORY”

Speaking of Headie One’s GANG, London-via-Trinidad musician BERWYN (who did an official remix of GANG‘s title track, and who’s also on the new Everything Is Recorded album) has released the lead single off his upcoming debut project. He handles all the rapping, singing, and production himself, and this kinda sounds like a cross between UK hip hop and early James Blake. It’s very promising stuff.

LA PRIEST – “BEGINNING”

LA Priest, aka onetime Late of the Pier frontman Sam Estgate, has shared another new song from his forthcoming album, GENE, which will now be out June 5. “Beginning” is funky and elastic and quite charming. GENE is also the name of Sam’s custom-built drum machine on which the record was made, and you can play around with it too, via an online emulator.

PAUL WELLER – “VILLAGE”

Former The Jam and Style Council frontman Paul Weller will release new album On Sunset and here’s a new track that really lets his soulful voice shine. “It’s a response to being told that we’ve all got to explore the Amazon and climb Everest to make our lives complete,” says Weller. “And there’s a guy who says, fuck all that, I’ve got heaven around me.”

ZESHAN B – “ONLY IN MY DREAMS”

Zeshan B’s new album Melismatic comes out next week (5/15) and new single “Only In My Dreams” is a great example of his ability to make bold, multi-layered art pop.

RMR – “DEALER” (REMIX ft. FUTURE & LIL BABY)

It seems like RMR has been doing the go viral for something ridiculous and then release your more serious music thing, and so far it’s working. This new remix with Future and Lil Baby should help too.

ONEFOUR – “SAY IT AGAIN” (ft. A$AP FERG)

Drill is taking off all over the world, including in Australia, where Sydney group ONEFOUR have been quickly taking off. Maybe they’re about to leave a mark in the US too, ’cause New York rapper A$AP Ferg lends a verse to this new one and he sounds pretty great doing so. He’s got a line about coronavirus on this one, but I sure hope they filmed this video before the outbreak escalated.

ACTOR|OBSERVER – “CARGO CULT”

Boston post-hardcore band Actor|Observer dropped this new rager on No Sleep Records, and they explained the WWII-referencing title in a statement to Revolver. Fans of mid 2000s Thrice, take note.

WESTERMAN – “THE LINE”

“I was thinking about moral relativism when I wrote this,” says UK artist Westerman of this new track. “The ever-shifting parameters of what is and isn’t acceptable. This applies to many things – gender, human rights, parenting, politics. I don’t believe that this means there’s no right and wrong, but normative values are constantly in flux – hopefully as we continue to be more compassionate.” Like most of Westerman’s songs, “The Line” is ethereal but poppy, floating lightly on the breeze. His debut album is out June 5.

LE REN – “LOVE CAN’T BE THE ONLY REASON TO STAY”

Montreal folk singer Le Ren (aka Lauren Spear) recently toured with Orville Peck aand now she signed to Secretly Canadian and released her first single for the label, “Love Can’t Be The Only Reason to Stay.” It’s a gorgeous, tender dose of Americana that sounds like a lost record from 1971 and sounds pretty great today too.

CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON – “GET THE OLD BAND BACK TOGETHER”

Christian Lee Hutson released a new song off his upcoming Phoebe Bridgers-produced album Beginners, and it also features Conor Oberst (on harmonica), Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy (on guitar), and more.

JACKNIFE LEE – “I’M GETTING TIRED” FT BETH DITTO AND EARL ST. CLEAR

Producer and remixer Jacknife Lee, who’s worked on records by everyone from U2, R.E.M. and the Killers, to Robbie Williams, Bloc Party and One Direction, is releasing his own new self-titled album on June 26. The record features lots of special guests, including Beth Ditto and Earl St. Clear who appear on the funky, drum-crazy “I’m Getting Tired.” “I’d been working with Beth Ditto for a while,” say Lee. “She has one of the most soulful voices of our time. I’m a crazy fan of her voice… all punk gospel wildness. I didn’t want to ask anyone that I was producing to be on the record because I didn’t want to blur any lines and my original idea was to work with people I didn’t know and then I thought she would turn this into something really, really special. And she did.”

EXECUTIONER’S MASK – “NO FUNERAL”

Executioner’s Mask is gothy post-punk from members of Crowhurst (Jay Gambit), Intestinal Disgorge (Ryan Wilson), and LACE/Cop Warmth (Craig Mickle), and “No Funeral” is the first taste of their upcoming album Despair Anthems, due July 10 via Profound Lore. It’s very revivalist, but Executioner’s Mask do it well.

COLD HART – “TAMMY AND THE T-REX” (PROD. YAWNS)

Cold Hart co-founded GothBoiClique (Wicca Phase, Lil Peep, YAWNS etc), and now he signed to Epitaph and his first release for the label is the YAWNS-produced “Tammy and the T-Rex.” “Growing up a lil’ skate rat from Long Beach that was into punk and alternative music and listening to Rancid, Bad Religion, and Joe Strummer (RIP,) I felt it was only right that I went with Epitaph and followed in the footsteps of these legends,” says Cold Hart, and you can very much hear the influence of those artists on Cold Hart’s style of punk/emo-informed rap. “The spirit of punk, of hip-hop, of rock n’ roll – it’s all the same elixir in different dispensers – and Coldy’s music is the most potent out there,’ adds Epitaph founder and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. “They’re calling his sound the new punk and who am I to argue. I’m just thrilled to welcome this uniquely talented artist to the Epitaph family.’

ACHES – DEAD YOUTH EP

Germany’s Aches pull from melodic hardcore, post-rock, post-hardcore… they just call it “modern hardcore,” which we agree covers it pretty well. This is their new EP and it’s a ripper.

A.A. WILLIAMS – “BE QUIET AND DRIVE” (DEFTONES COVER)

Dark singer/songwriter A.A. Williams has a debut album on the way and she also continued her isolation cover series with a haunting, minimal take on the Deftones classic “Be Quiet and Drive.”

RHIANNON GIDDENS – “JUST THE TWO OF US” (BILL WITHERS COVER) FT. SXIP SHIRLEY

Rhiannon Giddens’ soulful take on Bill Withers’ classic has a hearty baking of horns, plus harmonica contributed by Sxip Shirley. Proceeds from the cover go to Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

MEGAN THEE STALLION – “SAVAGE” (MAJOR LAZER REMIX)

First, Megan Thee Stallion’s unstoppable Tik Tok hit “Savage” got a remix with a Beyonce verse, and now it’s got a thumping new edit from Major Lazer.

SAM PREKOP – “CIRCLE LINE”

Here’s another song from Sam Prekop’s upcoming solo album Comma. “Circle Line” has some strong Tangerine Dream vibes and Sam says, “I wanted the piece to feel quite sparse and open.”

NATION OF LANGUAGE – “THE WALL & I”

NYC synthpop band Nation of Language release their debut album, Introduction, Presence, on May 22 and here’s another single from it, sounding a bit like the midway point between The National and Future Islands (by way of New Order). Says frontman Ian Devaney, “In the time since writing ‘The Wall & I,’ itself a product of many such fruitless hours, I have tried to make a mental adjustment to see the struggle itself as a kind of conceptual or performative dance—to make the conscious choice to spend a whole day locked in battle with my own aspirations wrestling against actual outcomes. As good as it feels to just sit down and knock a song out, there is a different level of satisfaction when you feel like you’ve bled a little bit and truly earned it.”

CHARLI XCX – “I FINALLY UNDERSTAND”

Charli XCX has been working on a new album, how i’m feeling now, while in quarantine, and the latest single is “I Finally Understand,” which Charli told Zane Lowe is for her boyfriend. “The song is basically about [how] me and my boyfriend are quarantined together during this time,” she said. “I’m conscious that I’ve spoken about this a lot and I don’t want people to be like, ‘Shut up about your boyfriend.’ [But] I’m writing about what I know, and we’re quarantined together, and our relationship wasn’t in a brilliant place prior to quarantine. I’m not going to say at the end of the road, but close to it — we were living on separate sides of the country, and even though we were physically far apart, we were emotionally quite distant as well. I’m extremely lucky that [quarantine] has brought us physically close together — because now we’re living in the same house — but also emotionally, and I finally understand that this person is somebody who I can trust with my life and I will have my security and protection at the front point of their heart no matter what. So that’s what it’s about, very emo.”

JESSIE WARE – “SAVE A KISS”

Jessie Ware’s new album What’s Your Pleasure? is due out June 19, and the newest single is the disco-tinged “Save a Kiss.” “‘Save A Kiss’ has taken on a new meaning during these weird times,” Jessie says, “and it seems like the right time to put it out. This track is an optimistic one for me, I hope it resonates with people wherever they are right now. It’s an upbeat song to dance along to and have fun with. I know I’ve got plenty of kisses I’m saving up for everyone when this is all over.”

TEI SHI – “DIE 4 UR LOVE”

Tei Shi released her second LP, La Linda, last year, and now she’s back with a new single, “Die 4 Ur Love,” which she says is “a song about the end of the world as you know it. About losing someone or something you never knew you could lose, and then all of a sudden, your reality shifts. All the things you would have done, or said, the love you could have given, and being willing to die over it. I wrote it right after the new year when I was feeling a sense of impending doom and darkness, which now feels surreal to see taking form in a real way around the world and in how the rest of 2020 has unfolded.”

DOMINIC ANGELELLA – “VAMPIRE”

Indie rock everywhereman Dominic Angelella has unleashed this upbeat, catchy jam from his upcoming album Poison River.

MATT COSTA – “AVENAL”

Long-running indie singer/songwriter Matt Costa will release a new album, Yellow Coat — which was produced by Alex Newport (At the Drive In, Bloc Party, etc) — on September 11 via Dangerbird, and here’s the breezy lead single.

OWEN – “A NEW MUSE”

American Football frontman Mike Kinsella has announced his first Owen album in four years, The Avalanche, and you can read more about the very good lead single “A New Muse” here.

JON HOPKINS – “SINGING BOWL (ASCENSION)”

Jon Hopkins has shared a new 20-minute ambient track, “Singing Bowl (Ascension),” which he’s included as part of his collaborative “Quiet” Spotify playlist.

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