26 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…
MODEST MOUSE – “POISON THE WELL”
Modest Mouse are releasing a new two-song single for Record Store Day (4/13), and A-side “Poison The Well” is streaming now. This is the rawest and punkest Modest Mouse have sounded in a while, and it’s very cool to hear them going back to this kinda thing. Maybe they’ll play it on tour with Black Keys this year.
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BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL – HIDING PLACES (ALBUM STREAM)
Brooklyn indie-rapper and LA beat-scene producer Kenny Segal have teamed up for a 12-song collaborative album, and Woods navigates Segal’s warped, bass-heavy beats with ease. Features come from Elucid, Self Jupiter, and Mothermary.
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UNKLE – THE ROAD PT 2: LOST HIGHWAY (ALBUM STREAM)
James Lavelle’s UNKLE project just released the second part of his The Road series, and this one features guest appearances by Mick Jones (The Clash), Mark Lanegan, The Cult’s Ian Astbury, Leila Moss (Duke Spirit),Twiggy (!), actor Brian Cox, The Big Pink and more. The Road Part II is a sprawling double album and quite the journey.
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MEKONS – DESERTED (ALBUM STREAM)
Iconic indie group Mekons just released their first album in eight years, Deserted. The band made the album in Joshua Tree, hence the title. “The desert is not unlike the ocean (just drier) and equally inspirational to old pirate punk rockers,” says main man Jon Langford. “The harshness of the environment, the bold and embattled plants and creatures that live there are metaphorical for us perhaps. Have you seen the desert after the rain? There are deserts everywhere. We took time to ponder the vastness and the weirdness of the desert. Going to the country to get your head together is a ripe old rock cliché. We went to the desert to have our brains scoured… We went from one desert to another. A more hopeful place where we arm ourselves with spikes and endure.” The arid conditions work well with Mekons’ signature sound that mixes, punk, post-punk and country. It’s a dry heat kind of record.
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LIFE – “MORAL FIBRE”
“‘Moral Fibre’ is a stinging and frenzied shut up and step aside – a tongue in cheek reflection on the music industry, that beige scene, those that pimp poverty from Mummy’s detached house, those that trade in fair-trade cocaine and those that preach behind their keyboard,” says LIFE frontman Mez Green about the UK punks’ new single. “I’m taking the piss, but I’m deadly serious!” Like all good sarcastic punk songs, it’s over in less than two minutes.
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BETH GIBBONS & POLISH NATIONAL RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – HENRYK GÓRECKI: SYMPHONY NO. 3 (SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS) (ALBUM STREAM)
Recorded five years ago, Portishead singer Beth Gibbons and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Henryk Górecki’s acclaimed piece Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) is now an album and a film. You can listen to the albu here:
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KELSEY LU – “BLOOD”
Vocalist, cellist and producer Kelsey Lu is releasing her debut album, Blood, on April 19, and ahead of that she’s shared its gorgeous, soulful, string-laden title track. “Blood is a recognition of the Pain, the Horror and the Beauty of finding the ability to observe it all in order to move through it,” she writes. “We live to die another day and in the end be hopeful of whatever there is to come or not come at all, and ultimately make love while doing it. Hope Rises Above All Else.”
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HANNA – SEASON 1 SOUNDTRACK (KAREN O, GEOFF BARROW & BEN SALISBURY, MORE)
The TV series adaptation of Joe Wright’s 2011 film Hanna, about a young girl being trained to be an assassin, just premiered on Amazon Prime today. You may recall the film featured a score by The Chemical Brothers but the series score was composed by Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) and Ben Salisbury, who have worked on such films as Annihilation and Ex Machina. The soundtrack also features new songs from Karen O, The Insects and more.
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EDWYN COLLINS – “I GUESS WE WERE YOUNG”
Former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins just released Badbea, his first album in six years, which finds him in fine form and happy with life. “I Guess We Were Young” tugs at heartstrings with surfy tremolo’d guitar, mariachi horns, whistling and Edwyn’s close harmony style.
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SMALL FEET – “THE LAKE”
Sweden’s Small Feet released their sophomore album With Psychic Powers on Barsuk today, and the whole thing is worth hearing but an early standout is this seven-minute psychedelic trip.
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PURE BATHING CULTURE – “AD VICTORIAM”
Portland, OR’s Pure Bathing Culture release a new album, Night Pass, on April 26, and they’ve shared a new single from it, the gauzy, synthy “Ad Victoriam.” According to the band, it’s “about making it through each and every darkness you’re up against no matter the odds. ”
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SHOW ME THE BODY – DOG WHISTLE (ALBUM STREAM)
It’s not everyday that you hear a band but a truly new spin on hardcore punk, but Show Me The Body do just that on their sophomore album Dog Whistle, out now on Loma Vista.
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DOG BLOOD – “TURN OFF THE LIGHTS”
Dog Blood (aka Skrillex and Boys Noize) have returned with their first new song in six years, and it’s a blend of house and techno that’ll take you right back to the ’90s.
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PALMISTRY – “WATER”
London vocalist, songwriter, and producer Benjy Keating is releasing his sophomore album, Afterlife, in May. He’s shared its first single, produced by longtime collaborator SOPHIE, “Water.”
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CIARA – “THINKIN BOUT YOU”
Ciara’s new album Beauty Marks comes out May 10 via Ciara’s own Beauty Marks Entertainment, and the announcement comes with this upbeat new single “Thinkin Bout You” that kinda sounds like Prince by way of Janelle Monae.
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MAXWELL – TIL THE COPS COME KNOCKIN’ / URBAN THEME (EXPANDED REISSUE STREAM)
Modern soul great Maxwell is reissuing his series of EPs that surrounded his 1996 debut album Urban Hang Suite. The first of those, Till the Cops Come Knockin’, is out today with four extra tracks, including remixes, acoustic takes, more.
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LIL DURK – “HOME BODY” (REMIX FT. TEYANA TAYLOR & MELII)
Chicago rapper Lil Durk has released a remix of “Home Body” from last year’s Signed to the Streets 3, and the new version comes with vocals by two very talented women, Teyana Taylor and Melii (the latter of whom dropped her debut phAses earlier this week).
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SAWEETIE – ICY (EP STREAM)
Rising rapper Saweetie has dropped a new seven-song EP, ICY. Two of those songs feature Quavo of Migos, but Saweetie is the star of her own show and ICY is a fine showcase of her booming, confident bars. The whole thing is worth hearing but “My Type” is an early standout.
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YBN NAHMIR – “BABY 8”
The YBN crew released one of the best rap albums of 2018 with YBN: The Mixtape, and now Nahmir is back with a new solo single. “Baby 8” is a little darker and more aggressive than Nahmir’s biggest hits, and he’s great at this kind of thing too.
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COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS – MAY YOUR KINDNESS REMAIN (ACOUSTIC)
Courtney Marie Andrews has just released an EP’s worth of acoustic versions of songs from last year’s May Your Kindness Remain. It’s just her, her guitar and her voice…which is really all you need.
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HARAM – وين كنيت بي ١١/٩؟? “Where Were You On 9/11?” (EP STREAM)
NYC punks Haram are back with a new EP, Where Were You on 9/11?, featuring recent single “The Solution (Is Resistance)” and three other relentless rippers. They’ve also got an EP release show in Ridgewood tonight.
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WU-LU – “SEVEN”
South London’s Wu-Lu has announced the new EP, S.U.F.O.S. (“Save Us From Ourselves”), due April 26 via The Vinyl Factory, and he shared lead single “Seven” which features Black Midi’s Morgan Simpson on drums. “Seven” falls somewhere between art rock, soul, and hip hop, without ever really falling neatly in any one of those categories. It’s cool, unique stuff.
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DENZEL CURRY – “BLACK BALLONS” REMIXES
Denzel Curry has released an EP with six remixes of “Black Balloons” (ft. GoldLink & Twelve’len) from last year’s excellent TA13OO, and he’s also got a new video for the song. The remixes were done by Telescope Thieves, Cancrejo, Manuvers, JerriousB, Pazmal, and Louby.
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THE DODOS – “THE SURFACE”
The Dodos released Certainty Waves, their first album since 2005, back in October, and now they’re following it with this new standalone single. About the song, singer/guitarist Meric Long says, “Back in the fall after finishing our first tour in what seemed like ages, a bunch of ideas that were floating around seemed to converge, and this song ‘The Surface’ is the first result of that. For those guitar nerds out there, I recently acquired a Recording King parlor guitar, it doesn’t look like much on paper but it is magical and I am squeezing it like a life raft through the next batch of songs. Perhaps it is age, or just compounded cynicism, but there is an overwhelming gratitude that I feel when any small bit of inspiration sheds it’s light, and the path ahead seems relatively clear.”
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BROOKE CANDY – “HAPPY”
Brooke Candy announced her debut album, SEXORCISM, due out later this year. She’s sharing one of its, tracks, “Happy,” and it’s accompanying (NSFW) video directed by fashion photographer Rankin. “Happy is about attempting to convince yourself you’re okay when you know that you’re not,” Brooke says about the song. “It’s about gritting your teeth and pushing through life with a smile on your face, even though all you want to do is curl up in fetal position, cry, and quit.”
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BIG|BRAVE – “SIBLING”
Heavy post-rockers BIG|BRAVE have shared the first full song from their upcoming fourth album, A Gaze Among Them (due 5/10 via Southern Lord), and we wrote more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
