Everything Everything's "In Birdsong" video
Everything Everything's "In Birdsong" video

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…

NO AGE – “WAR DANCE”

LA noisepunk duo No Age will release their new album, Goons Be Gone, on June 5 via Drag City and here’s the Fall-esque “War Dance” that may leave your ears ringing till the record’s actually out.

CAR SEAT HEADREST – “THERE MUST BE MORE THAN BLOOD”

Car Seat Headrest’s new album, Making a Door Less Open, is out next week and here’s another appetizer. The centerpiece of the new album, “There Must Be More Than Blood” is a simmering seven-minute slow-build, adding layers of guitars and keyboards and building to an anthemic climax. You can listen to the studio version and an acoustic version played by Will Toledo in isolation.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – “IN BIRDSONG”

“We weren’t intending to share this song right now,” says Everything Everything’s Jonathan Higgs, “but in the age of coronavirus, we wanted to be responsive to the changed landscape, and ‘In Birdsong’ unexpectedly emerged as the most appropriate song to reappear with.” The song really does take flight, elegiac with gossamer guitars and EE’s trademark falsetto vocals. “‘In Birdsong’ tries to imagine what it would have been like to have been the first self-aware human,” says Higgs. “The theory claims that the eventual melding of these two minds into the two-sided human brain we have now was the dawn of mankind’s consciousness.” Ponder that while watching the single’s mind-expanding video.

JPEGMAFIA – “BODYGUARD!”

Experimental rapper/producer JPEGMAFIA, unpredictable as ever, returns today with a dose of auto-tuned, atmospheric R&B.

OCTAVIAN – “POISON” (ft. TAKE A DAYTRIP, OBONGJAYAR, SANTI)

UK rapper Octavian teams with “Mo Bamba” producers Take A Daytrip and Nigerian singers Obongjayarr and Santi for this murky, multi-cultural jam.

CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS – “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” (TRAVIS SCOTT COVER)

Christine and the Queens released a surprise new EP, La Vita Nuova, in February, and she’s been doing regular livestreamed performances on Instagram from isolation. That’s where she first shared this Travis Scott cover, about which she wrote “morning after 4/20. Covered Travis Scott up close and personal.”

GERARD WAY – “PS EARTH” & “CRATE AMP_01”

Earlier this month, My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way released some rough solo recordings, two of which were genuinely great songs, and the other two were more unfinished ideas/sound experiments. Here’s two more, which fall on the unfinished ideas/sound experiments side.

SELF DEFENSE FAMILY – “JESUS OF NAZARETH”

Self Defense Family are in the process of releasing songs from their vaults during quarantine, and this one dates back about a decade. It’s a ten-and-a-half minute slow burn that requires a little patience but really earns its lengthy running time.

LAMB OF GOD – “NEW COLOSSAL HATE”

Lamb of God have shared the third single off their upcoming self-titled album (which was pushed back from May 8 to June 19 via Epic), and it’s a classic-LOG-sounding skull-crusher.

RUM.GOLD – “WAITING FOR” (ft. JAMILA WOODS)

R&B singer rum.gold has tapped Jamila Woods for this dose of warm, laid-back soul, and fans of Jamila’s great 2019 album LEGACY! LEGACY! are not gonna wanna sleep on this. “‘Waiting for’ came from two people writing about two very different relationships and finding one phrase connecting the two experiences,” rum.gold told The FADER.

KATIE VON SCHLEICHER – “WHEEL”

Katie Von Schleicher’s new album Consummation is due out May 22 via Ba Da Bing, and she’s shared another new single, the upbeat “Wheel.” It’s accompanied by a video directed from isolation by V Haddad using self-shot footage from the artists who appear. “When I listened to Katie’s song ‘Wheel’ I immediately felt elated, connected and empowered,” Haddad writes. “Her lyrics lead me to imagine what those feelings could look like in this moment: we reached out and collaboratively made a music video with 25 people who created their own video-portraits of their life right now. They show personal and collective power, perseverance and joy in a time of isolation, uncertainty and hardship. Through this collaboration we found a really special sense of hope and possibility even while being apart.”

HENRY JAMISON – “GREEN ROOM” (ft. ED DROSTE)

Vermont indie-folk singer/songwriter Henry Jamison releases his new EP Tourism on May 15 via Color Study, and this new song features guest vocals by Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste, who adds a bit of a Veckatimest-style touch with his harmonies.

SIR – “RAPPER WEED” (ft. BOOGIE)

The TDE drops keep coming! This one’s from Inglewood soul/R&B singer SiR, and it’s got a warm West Coast bounce and a verse from Compton’s Boogie. Okay, now do Kendrick Lamar next!

GRAF ORLOCK – “VIOLENT ULTIMATUM AT THE LOCAL DOJO” & “BLEAK NEWS REPORT IN THE OFFICE BREAKROOM”

Metallic hardcore maniacs Graf Orlock have got a new two-song Decibel flexi, and both songs bang.

RETOX – “GARBAGEMAN” & MICROWAVES – “DON’T EAT STUFF OFF THE SIDEWALK” (CRAMPS COVERS)

Two more songs from Three One G’s Cramps covers album are here, and both are very cool takes on these creeper-punk classics. Listen to the Retox one at Decibel and the Microwaves one below.

ONYX COLLECTIVE – “MANHATTAN”

NYC jazz group Onyx Collective’s Manhattan Special: Onyx Collective Plays Rodgers & Hart / Rodgers & Hammerstein comes out at midnight and here’s one more song from it.

LE SUPERHOMARD & MAXWELL FARRINGTON – “THE GOOD TIMES ARE COMING” (CASS ELLIOT COVER)

Parsian band Le Superhomard have teamed with Australian artist Maxwell Farrington (who lives in Toulouse, France these day) for a delightful, synthy take on Mama Cass’ “The Good Times Are Coming.” We hope they’re coming, too.

SAM PREKOP – “SUMMER PLACES”

The Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop will release new solo album, Comma, on July 10 via Thrill Jockey. The album represents Prekop’s first deep dive into beat programming with an emphasis on lush, tropical analog synth sounds. First single is the dreamy instrumental “Summer Places.”

MR BEN & THE BENS – “WATERING CAN”

UK group Mr Ben & The Bens will release new album Life Drawing on July 12 via Bella Union. Bandleader Ben Hall says of new this widescreen folk-rock track (which might appeal to fans of Beirut or Pete & The Pirates), “‘Watering Can’ is a gently-swaying brassy ode to small town life. I took up gardening recently as our band obtained an allotment and I loved the image of a watering can becoming a metaphor for good intentions. Lyrically the track deals with the themes of lost love, claustrophobia and aspirational dreams that somehow never seem to be realised. The song is the finale of the new album and I wanted it to be that very specific combination of uplifting melancholy.”

THE ROLLING STONES – “LIVING IN A GHOST TOWN”

“So, let’s cut a long story short,” says Keith Richards. “We cut this track well over a year ago in L.A. for part of a new album, an ongoing thing, and then shit hit the fan Mick and I decided this one really needed to go to work right now and so here you have it.”

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER – “THE GREATEST” (LANA DEL REY COVER)

Hamilton Leithauser, who just released new solo album The Loves of Your Life, did a live session for SiriusXMU and as part of it covered Lan Del Rey’s “The Greatest.” The song was already prescient of our COVID-19 times, with a litany of things missed, but Hamilton adds a new verse to make it very explicitly now.

ILE – “EN CANTOS” FT. NATALIA LAFOURCADE

Puerto Rican composer and vocalist iLe shared her first new music since her 2019 album Almadura. About “En Cantos,” a collaboration with Natalia LaFourcade, she says, “‘En Cantos’ is a pun. It means ‘in-pieces’ and if put together as one word it means ‘enchantment.’ This song is about the uncontrollable curiosity that comes from creating this ‘mystical someone’ who we believe makes us feel complete. A strong sensory feeling that moves us towards the satisfaction of fulfilling what we desire.”

JONSI – “EXHALE”

Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi is back with his first solo single in a decade, and it’s great. Read more here.

CHARLI XCX – “CLAWS”

The second taste of Charli XCX’s upcoming album how i’m feeling now has arrived. Read more here.

THE 1975 – “IF YOU’RE TOO SHY (LET ME KNOW)”

The sixth single off Notes on a Conditional Form finds the 1975 going in a thumping, danceable ’80s synthpop direction, complete with an amazingly cheesy sax solo. Read more here.

TWIABP – “IN CIRCLES” (SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE COVER)

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die have released a great cover of Sunny Day Real Estate’s classic “In Circles.” Read more about it here.

END – “COVET NOT”

Hardcore/metalcore supergroup END (members of Counterparts, Fit For An Autopsy, Misery Signals, Shai Hulud, etc) have shared a second track from their upcoming debut full-length. Read more here.

EYE OF NIX – “CONCEALING WATERS”

Eye of Nix will release a new album in June, and here’s the great first single, which pulls from gothy, Dead Can Dance-type stuff as much as it pulls from black metal. Read more here/a>.

RICHARD EDWARDS – “INCHYRA BLUE”

Here’s a new song from Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s frontman Richard Edwards’ upcoming solo album. Read more about it here.

PLASMA CANVAS – “FIRECRACKER”

Fort Collins punk two-piece Plasma Canvas are releasing a new EP (produced by the Descendents’ Bill Stevenson) on SideOneDummy in June, and it includes this new ripper. Read more about it here.

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