Woods
Woods

31 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…

WESTERMAN – “WAITING ON DESIGN”

Westerman has shared another song from his forthcoming debut album. Led with woozy synths, “Waiting on Design” is dreamy pop with a little breezy yacht rock in there as well. “I was thinking about the absurdity of the self, and how nobody wants to look at themselves from the perspective of the people they hurt. What’s interesting to me about storytelling isn’t necessarily the stories themselves, but the mutual connection that comes from people’s understanding of what’s being conjured by that story.”

WOODS – “STRANGE TO EXPLAIN” (FT. KEVIN MORBY)

Woods have shared the title track to their upcoming album Strange to Explain. Wistful and lightly melancholic, it’s a gorgeous song that features backing vocals from Glenn Donaldson and Kevin Morby.

DESIRE – “ESCAPE” (PRODUCED BY JOHNNY JEWEL)

Desire, who you may know from the Drive soundtrack or from opening for Chromatics last year, will release new album Escape this summer. It was produced by Chromatics’ Johnny Jewel and you can watch the video for the title track now.

DIANACRAWLS – A GLITTER MANIFESTO EP

Just yesterday, Infant Island released a new song, and here’s new music from another artist on last year’s great Frail Body/Massa Nera/Infant Island/dianacrawls split: dianacrawls. They just dropped the A Glitter Manifesto, which is bookended by two very non-screamo songs (the chilled-out electronic opener “The Unforgiven V” and the indie rock-leaning closer “Assumée”), but the stuff in between is pretty fucking brutal.

AESOP ROCK – MUSIC FROM THE GAME FREEDOM FINGER EP

Aesop Rock follows his recent standalone single “Rogue Wave” with a new 10-song EP of music he wrote for the video game Freedom Finger. There’s some “video game music” on there, but there’s also three new proper rap songs, including the especially good “Drums on the Wheel” which comes with an animated video by Freedom Finger‘s Travis Millard (illustrations) and Jim Dirschberger (direction), along with Steven Gong (animaiton).

SHINER – “PAUL P POGH”

Atmospheric post-hardcore vets Shiner have shared a second single off their upcoming first album in 19 years, Schadenfreude, and this one almost injects a little QOTSA-ness into Shiner’s usual sound. It finds theme in fine form, and it sounds as fresh today as plenty of the newer bands who take after Shiner’s sound.

VARSITY – “RUNAWAY”

Chicago indiepop group Runaway will drop new album Fine Forever May 29 via Run for Cover. Pulling from ’80s rock influences — dig that sax — first single “Runaway” makes for a fun first taste.

HAZEL ENGLISH – “FIVE AND DIME”

“It’s about the desire for space and independence when feeling stifled in a relationship,” says Hazel English of her new single “Five and Dime” from the upcoming Wake UP!. “I wrote it about a trip I took to Oakland when I just needed to get out of LA for a bit. ‘Five and Dime’ is actually an old slang term for the area code 510 which covers the East Bay, so I thought it would be a fun way to refer to the place that once used to be my home, while also invoking a sense of nostalgia for a time when a phrase like five and dime was very common.” Wake UP! is out April 24 via Polyvinyl.

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS – “WHEN GETTING LOST”

We Were Promised Jetpacks have had to cancel their May-June North American tour, which is a bummer, but on the brighter side they’ve just shared this moody, atmospheric track that will be on a new EP featuring unreleased songs and demos from The More I Sleep the Less I Dream. That’s out June 19 and is titled out of interest.

OHMME – “GHOST”

“We’d been kicking around the idea of doing something like the “Pop Musik” video by M but darker,” says Chicago’s Ohmme of the video for new single “Ghost” from their forthcoming Fantasize Your Ghost. “There’s a lot of darkness these days but it’s important to keep dancing. Austin said, ‘fancy ghosts’ and ‘can I press order on these California King satin bedsheets’ and we said ‘Yes, and YES!’”

GAY MEAT – “L’OREAL”

Gay Meat, the solo project of Museum Mouth singer Karl Kuehn, has released his second single and this one’s more of an ethereal dream pop song than you might expect from Karl, and he pulls it off well.

I’M GLAD IT’S YOU – “THE SILVER CORD”

I’m Glad It’s You have shared another song off their upcoming J Robbins-produced Every Sun, Every Moon (due 5/15 via 6131), and it’s a reverby, atmospheric take on classic emo. Cool stuff.

BAD MOVES – “PARTY WITH THE KIDS WHO WANT TO PARTY WITH YOU”

DC indie-punks Bad Moves are releasing their sophomore album Untenable on May 29 via Don Giovanni digitally (and June 12 physically), and the first single is the bright, fun “Party with the Kids Who Want To Party With You.”

MYKKI BLANCO – “PATRIARCHY AINT THE END OF ME”

Experimental rapper Mykki Blanco has dropped a new single that she says was “written as if it were a scene from a musical with radical feminist strippers.”

GHOSTPOET – “NOWHERE TO HIDE NOW”

Two-time Mercury Prize nominee Ghostpoet will release new album I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep on May 1. New single “Nowhere to Hide Now” is a typically dark track, mixing post-punk, trip hop and UK garage.

NANA GRIZOL – “FUTURE VERSION”

Nana Grizol, the Athens, GA collective led by Theo Hilton, will release new album Somewhere Else on June 19 via Arrowhawk/Don Giovanni. First single “Future Version” is super-catchy, careening indie rock that’s propelled along even faster with a little wild trumpet.

JOHANNA WARREN – “ONLY THE TRUTH”

Johanna Warren’s new album Chaotic Good is due out May 1 via Wax Nine/Carpark Records, and she’s shared another early taste of it, the atmospheric piano ballad “Only the Truth.”

…AND OCEANS – “FIVE OF SWORDS”

Finnish black metal vets …and Oceans (who are closely related to Finnish death metal vets Festerday) have shared another track off their upcoming first album in 18 years, and it’s another skull-crusher.

ABRAMS – “THAT PART OF ME”

Denver sludgy hard rockers Abrams have shared another riff-feast off their upcoming Modern Ways (due May 1 via Sailor Records).

BLACK DRESSES – “CREEP U”

Experimental Canadian duo Black Dresses have been releasing music at a prolific rate; their last full-length, LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES, came out in August, and they’ve announced another new album, Peaceful as Hell, due out April 13. The first single, “CREEP U,” is their poppiest, most listenable track yet… until a point a little over four minutes in, when things get weird.

ULTIMATE FAKEBOOK – “AFTER HOURS AT MELIN’S” & “MANHATTAN KS”

Kansas power pop/emo vets Ultimate Fakebook’s first album of new material in 16 years, The Preserving Machine, comes out this Friday (4/10), and you can hear two songs from it right now. These are big, loud songs that really rock. It’s like they never left.

EERIE GATES – “The Rainbow Trout And The Wicker Creel”

Here’s another track from Wild Pink singer John Ross’ upcoming instrumental album as Eerie Gates, and this one finds him in atmospheric ’80s pop territory.

THE SOFT PINK TRUTH (MATMOS) – “ON”

The Soft Pink Truth (aka Matmos’ Drew Daniel) has shared the drifting, delicate “On” off his upcoming album Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? (due May 1 via Thrill Jockey).

DAMON LOCKS / BLACK MONUMENT ENSEMBLE – “STAY BEAUTIFUL”

Chicago avant-jazz musician Damon Locks and the Black Monument Ensemble (which includes fellow instrumentalists Angel Bat Dawid, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith, plus a ton of singers and dancers) released one of last year’s best jazz albums with Where Future Unfolds, and today they followed it with a new seven-minute single, “Stay Beautiful.” Read more here.

HUMAN IMPACT – “CONTACT”

Unsane/Swans/Cop Shoot Cop offshoot Human Impact released a new standalone single (about pandemics, but eerily recorded before the mass quarantine of 2020), along with a video shot by fans around the world, documenting the impact of COVID-19 on their communities. Part of the proceeds from the song will go to the NYC Covid-19 Relief Fund. Read more here.

LESSER GLOW – “THE GREAT IMITATOR”

Here’s the first single off Boston sludgesters Lesser Glow’s upcoming sophomore album Nullity (due 5/29 via Pelagic). Read more here.

VOLPE CO (LUNACHICKS) – “DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE”

Lunachicks guitarist Gina Volpe has just released this timely new song/video/PSA, which you can read more here.

GOOD FUCK – “OOH DO I LOVE YOU” (CAP’N JAZZ COVER) & “THE LIFE CUMULATIVE” (JOAN OF ARC COVER)

Tim Kinsella’s band Good Fuck has covered two classic ’90s songs by other Tim Kinsella bands, and you can read more about them here.

BRIGID MAE POWER – “WEDDING FOR A FRIEND”

Irish singer-songwriter Brigid Mae Power will release her third albumHead Above The Water, on June 5 via Fire. She’s just shared gorgeous new single “Wedding From a Friend.” Brigid says it’s “a song of a vivid memory I have from a few years back on a spring day, walking to the wedding of a friend.” The video, directed by Rob Curry and film by Broderick, was shot on Brigid’s rooftop “due to the current restrictions” and is simply Brigid singing to the camera…which more magnetic than it may sound.

JIM JAMES – “LEAN ON ME” (BILL WITHERS COVER)

My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night to perform a tribute to Bill Withers (who we lost last week), covering one of his best-known songs, “Lean on Me.” Jim did it from his home, and Colbert was at his home, too, like everyone is these days. Jim delivered a powerful yet spare performance of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEXCQ48yEoQ

QUASI – “ROTTENWROCK”

Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes have shared a new Quasi song that’s titled “RottenWrock” and is their first new music in seven years. Janet notes that this is part of a “Coronavirus lockdown video series in which Sam and I ‘document’ new Quasi songs from our respective basements. We can get through this crazy mess together!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8dtWhT8ojc

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