vacant-lots
Vacant Lots (photo: Luz Gallardo)

12 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…

ALCHEMIST & SCHOOLOBY Q – “W.Y.G.D.T.N.S”

Schoolboy Q is back with a new Alchemist collab, “W.Y.G.D.T.N.S.” (aka “When You Goin Drop That New Shit”), and Alchemist provides a blunted, jazzy beat that Q sounds perfect over.

GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA – “SEVEN EIGHT’

NYC trio Ghost Funk Orchestra make music that blends psych, funk, surf and other sounds into their own groovy, mysterious sound. The group will release their debut album, A Song For Paul, on August 23 via Colemine Records (who have put out records by Durand Jones, Ikebe Shakedown and more.) You can get a taste via the trippy “Seven Eight” which the band says is “about having a crush. When writing the song, we chose an awkward time signature because having a crush will make anyone feel a little awkward.” Check out the video which features visuals from Drippy Eye Projections.

CASSIE – “ROLLERCOASTER” (ft. RO JAMES)

The great, elusive R&B singer Cassie is back with another Soundcloud drop, “Rollercoaster,” which finds her in fine, atmospheric form.

CROSS RECORD – “I RELEASE YOU”

Emily Cross will release her new album as Cross Record this Friday via Ba Ba Bing and she’s just shared the video for the ethereal “I Release You” which features a number of different people listening to it on headphones. “The song is about struggling to let go of an identity you’ve built up around yourself and trying to see a life beyond it,” says Cross. “It’s also about moving ahead with intuition, even if you have no idea what the ‘right thing to do’ is or means. I was in a state of utter confusion, but somewhere in myself I saw the path I needed to travel, and I knew that eventually when I arrived back to Earth, I and (we) would grow under the right conditions. In this video, I was seeking expression of the song through my friends, who hadn’t heard the song yet. Thanks to them, who moved beautifully to it.”

PART TIME – “LIES IN THE EYES OF LOVE”

Part Time, aka L.A. artist David Loca, is back with a new single, “Lies in the Eyes of Love.” Like a lot of his stuff, this is ’80s-inspired, moody and very catchy dreampop.

KATE DAVIS – “OPEN HEART”

Sharon Van Etten-collaborator Kate Davis has moved past her jazz background for her new album, Trophy, due out November 8 via Solitaire Recordings. The two songs we’ve heard so far have been very good singer-songwriter style indie rock, and today Kate shares a third single, “Open Heart,” which she tells Billboard “was written after I dreamt of playing a real life version of the game ‘Operation’ on an ex-boyfriend. Instead of buzzing (losing) if the sides were touched, my patient would just wake up from a real human surgery. It’s a tough love song and an ode to the almost incurable pain we experience when we get dumped.”

THE VACANT LOTS – “BELLS”

Brooklyn duo Vacant Lots will be back with a new EP titled Exit that’s out August 30 via Anton Newcombe’s A Recordings. Newcombe produced the EP as well and here’s the first single that owes more than a little ’80s noisepop like Jesus & Mary Chain, Love & Rockets and Echo & The Bunnymen.

RESIDENTE & BAD BUNNY – “BELLACOSO”

Long-running Puerto Rican rapper/producer Residente has teamed with one of the biggest new Puerto Rican rap stars, Bad Bunny, for a collab that will appear on Residente’s sophomore solo album. The song comes with a video that advocates for inclusiveness and breaks down harmful stereotypes left and right. If you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty powerful stuff.

THE FIGHT – “CLENCHED FIST OF HUMAN GREED” & “PROMISED LAND”

The Fight are one of the more promising newer names in LIHC, and they’ve now signed to Triple B Records and dropped this new whiplash-inducing two-song promo on the label.

LAGWAGON – “BUBBLES”

Cali skate punk vets Lagwagon announced a new album that they’re touting as a return to form, and the first single is “Bubble.”

CESCHI – “YONI’S ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHS” (ft. YONI WOLF of WHY?)

New Haven indie rapper Ceschi has tapped likeminded artist Yoni Wolf of WHY? for a new version of “Electrocardiographs.” You can read more about it here.

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