Big Krit
Big K.R.I.T. - 'THRICE X' artwork

27 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…

ANDERSON .PAAK – “6 SUMMERS”

Anderson .Paak’s highly anticipated new album Oxnard finally came out today and one of the instant standouts is “6 Summers.” Here’s what we said about it in our first-impressions album review:

Paak’s rapping has never been better than it is on “Saviers Road,” the Dr. Dre-aided “Who R U?,” or on the standout “6 Summers,” which is one of the album’s most lyrically powerful songs with its pleas for gun reform and its shots at the president’s incompetence. It’s also one of the album’s most sonically interesting, with its unexpected but expertly executed transition from bumping West Coast rap to chilled-out neo-soul.

MIKE WILL MADE-IT – “DO YOU NEED POWER?” (ft. BON IVER)

It’s no secret that Bon Iver likes working with rappers and rap producers and sounds pretty great doing so, so it should be no surprise that his contribution to Mike WiLL Made-It’s all-star Creed II soundtrack is gorgeous.

MIKE WILL MADE-IT – “ICE COLD (FINAL ROUND)” (ft. VINCE STAPLES, LUDWIG GORANSSON)

Another major highlight of the Creed II soundtrack is the song with Vince Staples. With help from the composer of the film’s score, Ludwig Göransson — who also worked on the year’s other big rap-album-as-movie-soundtrack Black Panther (he scored that film too and also worked on the song from Black Panther: The Album with Vince Staples) — this one very much sounds like a climactic scene from a boxing movie, but it also functions as a great Vince Staples song.

MIKE WILL MADE-IT – “CHECK” (ft. NAS & RICK ROSS)

Just one more from Creed II: I wish Nas rapped this good on his own album this year.

BIG K.R.I.T. – THRICE X

Big K.R.I.T. followed 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time (one of our favorite albums of 2017) today with a surprise three-song EP. Compared to the warm, classic soul of that album, these songs are colder and more electronic, but K.R.I.T. navigates these beats with as much as skill as he displayed on last year’s LP.

THE REGRETTES – “POOR BOY”

LA pop punks The Regrettes’ new song, “Poor Boy,” is a direct response to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. “‘Poor Boy’ was written at a time of being completely fed up and disgusted by all of the awful humans who think it’s okay to assault and rape others,” frontwoman Lydia Night says. “This one is for Kavanaugh and all the other nasty men who think that this behavior is okay in any capacity. We won’t accept it and we will continue to fight against it.” The band is also raising money to benefit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN.

GERARD WAY – “GETTING DOWN THE GERMS”

Former My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way recently followed his power pop-leaning 2014 solo debut with a Halloween song, and today he shared another new, non-holiday-specific single. If you didn’t know who this was, you’d probably never guess “the singer of My Chemical Romance.” He channels ’90s slacker rock and he holds back from ever coming close to the belted vocal performances he’s most known for.

SABA – “BEAUTIFUL SMILE” (ft. IDK)

Saba recently followed his great 2018 album Care For Me with the Mick Jenkins and Xavier Omar-featuring single “Stay Right Here,” and now he shared yet another new single, “Beautiful Smile.” This one sees Saba trading verses with IDK (who released a new EP last week) over eerie, minimal production, and the two of them sound fantastic together.

KAREN O & DANGER MOUSE – “LUX PRIMA”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and super producer Danger Mouse are gearing up to release a collaborative album on December 14 and we wrote more about the nine-minute lead single “Lux Prima” here.

FAILURE – IN THE FUTURE YOUR BODY WILL BE THE FURTHEST THING FROM YOUR MIND (ALBUM STREAM)

While the most talked about heavy-but-melodic ’90s alt-rock comeback attempt out today is the new Smashing Pumpkins album, it’s also worth checking out the new Failure album In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind. It’s their second album since reuniting, and it includes all the music released on their series of EPs that came out this year.

KEMBA – “EXHALE” (ft. SMINO)

Bronx rapper Kemba (fka YC the Cynic) is gearing up to follow his very good 2016 album Negus, and while most details on the new album are TBA, he did release lead single “Exhale.” It features St. Louis rapper/singer Smino (who just put out his own great new album), and it’s a relaxed, soulful cut that makes Kemba’s new album seem very promising.

DYKE DRAMA – HARD NEW PILLS (EP STREAM)

Former G.L.O.S.S. frontwoman Sadie Switchblade released a new four-song EP, Hard New Pills, under her Dyke Drama solo project. About the album, Sadie says, “this record is for everyone who struggles with addiction, and especially anyone who is in those beginning stages of growth and awareness. It’s also dedicated to the memory of our dearly departed, loving, brilliant friend, Barker Gee. Each song has a little lifted riff, melody, or other nod to Barker’s music. Rest In Peace my friend <3."

2 CHAINZ – “HOT WINGS” & “GIRL’S BEST FRIEND” (ft. TY DOLLA $IGN)

2 Chainz returned today with two new songs, “Hot Wings” and “Girl’s Best Friend.” The first is a dark, aggressive, electronic rap song, while Tity Boi shows off his more tender side on the latter.

BURNA BOY – “ON THE LOW”

Nigerian Afro-fusion artist Burna Boy released his very solid album Outside earlier this year, and now he’s keeping the momentum going with the new song “On The Low.” The song takes danceable Afrobeat and puts an atmospheric spin on it, making for a head trip you can dance to.

SWERVERDRIVER – “DRONE LOVER”

Shoegaze vets Swervedriver have shared another new song from their forthcoming “Future Ruins.” While the “drone” in question is about remote-controlled bombs, it works to describe the band’s signature sound, too.

VENOM – “BRING OUT YOUR DEAD”

While Mantas and Abaddon are keeping the music of their legendary metal band Venom alive with Venom Inc, frontman Cronos also leads his own version of the group, and he’s set to release the new Venom album Storm the Gates on December 14 via Spinefarm. They shared new single “Bring Out Your Dead,” which sees Cronos staying true to the raw, proto-black metal sound of the band’s classic era.

IRON CHIC / TOYS THAT KILL – SPLIT LP

Two great melodic punk bands, Iron Chic and Toys That Kill, teamed up for this split LP, which features four new rippers from the former and five from the latter.

KING NINE – DEATH RATTLE (ALBUM STREAM)

Long Island hardcore newcomers returned today with their sophomore LP Death Rattle on Closed Casket Activities, and it’s ten songs of floor-punching brutality with all the crisp, chugged riffs and pissed-off, barked vocals you need.

ALLBLACK & KENNY BEATS – 2 MINUTE DRILLS (EP STREAM)

Rap producer Kenny Beats (also known as EDM producer LOUDPVCK) has been on a roll this year, having produced part of Rico Nasty’s Nasty, most of Vince Staples’ FM!, a couple KEY! projects, and the new JPEGMAFIA single. Now he’s back with a collaborative EP with Bay Area rapper ALLBLACK. Though Kenny’s from the East Coast, this EP (and FM!) prove he’s really got a grasp on how to channel that classic West Coast bounce.

MISSING EARTH (KYLE GILBRIDE OF SWEARIN’) – “GOLD, FLOWER, SALT”

Kyle Gilbride has been busy with the release of Swearin’s first album since 2013, and first for Merge, Fall into the Sun. He still found time to share another new release, this one from a new project called Missing Earth. It’s a mellow collection of songs with backing vocals from Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Maryn Jones (Yowler, All Dogs), and another Swearin’ member, Jeff Bolt, played drums.

THE LOX – “NEVER OVER”

Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P reunited The LOX a few years back, and today they returned with another new song, “Never Over.” They told Complex, “The record was necessary in today’s watered down hip-hop. We wanted to bring that classic sound back, along with legendary producer Rockwilder,” and as you might expect, “Never Over” sounds transported in directly from 1998.

NOISEM – “SIN RASH”

Noisem, who underwent some major lineup changes and are now fronted by Ben Anft, shared their first new song with the new lineup, “Sin Rash.” “‘Sin Rash’ is a little more manic all the way through than the songs on the album are; there’s kind of a pulse and a pace to the new record but there are still plenty of those super-fast rippers,” they told Decibel. They’re also gearing up to release a new album in 2019.

PURR – “GATES OF COOL”

Purr, the duo formerly known as Jack & Eliza, just released this single that they recorded with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado (who’s produced The Lemon Twigs, Cut Worms, Weyes Blood and more). “Gates of Cool revolves around a fictitious, allegorical place,” say the band. “The song satirizes cultural concerns (“I want to be here/ The gates of cool/ Will they receive me”) while telling a story that plays upon the world of fable and myth. The song was the last song we wrote before entering the studio with Rado.” Like a lot of Rado productions, “Gates of Cool,” has a classic late-’60s/early-’70s sound — wistful and melodic, with a groovy “bah bah bah” refrain.

ARIEL PINK – “MOPEHEAD”

This isn’t so much a song as “Hey did you realize we were recording for the last eight minutes while i was trying to figure out how this pedal works? Let’s release it.”

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