13 New Songs Out Today

So many artists, so many songs, 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, track premieres, and more all day. We update a playlist weekly of some of our current favorite tracks. Here’s a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place.

SKINNY PELEMBE – “LIKE A HEART WON’T BEAT”

Skinny Pelembe has signed to Partisan Records, and his first single for the label is “Like A Heart Won’t Beat,” a kinetic, impossible-to-pigeonhole art pop song and a very promising taste of whats to come (his sophomore album is due in 2023).

—

WE ARE THE UNION – “YR ALWAYS ALONE (ON CHRISTMAS)”

There’s nothing like a good, cynical, Christmas punk song, and ska-punk greats We Are The Union offer up exactly that with “Yr Always Alone (On Christmas),” which will appear on I Surrender Records’ upcoming compilation I Surrender Sleighs (due 12/2). ” The holidays are a time when so many people come together,” the band says, “so it seemed like the perfect setting for a story about being alone.”

—

LIELA MOSS – “ACHE IN THE MIDDLE” – FT. JEHNNY BETH

“I was working with Johnny Hostile on extra instrumentation for this track, when he sent it back with a middle 8 vocal section written and sung by his partner Jehnny Beth,” says The Duke Spirit’s Liela Moss of “Ache in the Middle” which is on her upcoming solo album. “He emailed saying she loved the track and hoped I didn’t mind her spontaneous contribution? This was a real gift, some unexpected beauty. The track crystallizes my thoughts about some of my own childhood, ideas about attachment and my recent work with Children’s Social Care. Jehnny Beth must have somehow understood where I was with this personal process, because she jumped straight in with a complimentary lyrical flow.” Moss’ new album, Internal Working Model, is out January 13 via PIAS and also features Gary Numan.

—

BILLY NOMATES – “SPITE”

Billy Nomates has shared another track off her second album, CACTI, a song called “Spite” that has a little bit of a Pretenders vibe to it. “Writing CACTI took just over a year,” she says. “I wrote very intensely and then none at all. (This seems to be the way I work best). I picked up old drum machines, mapped out things in my kitchen with the same small micro keyboard I always use and then raided the cupboards and rooms at Invada Studios, to play and experiment with old synths, an upright piano, this weird organ thing. I hope everyone finds their own narrative in CACTI. I think it’s about surviving it all.”

—

MOLLY BURCH – “COZY CHRISTMAS” & “DECEMBER BABY”

Molly Burch wrote a pair of new seasonal songs “just in time for Thanksgiving,” “Coz Christmas” is jaunty and festive while “December Baby” slows it down with acoustic folk.

—

JOE RAINEY – “ONCE THE REAPER”

Pow Wow singer Joe Rainey follows up this year’s debut album, Niineta, with this new single out via Sylvan Esso’s Psychic Hotline singles label that he made with Andrew Brodor. “This song was created in the wake of Niineta,” explains Rainey. “‘once the reaper’ means when the reaper comes for me, who knows if I’ll have a chance to punch him for the people he took too soon. Hopefully I’ll have that chance to once the reaper.”

—

INDEX FOR WORKING MUSIK (MEMS PROPER ORNAMENTS, TOY) – “WAGNER”

TOY and Proper Ornaments’ Max Oscardnold formed Index for Working Musik with DRIFT.’s Nathalia Bruno and will release their debut album, Dragging the Needlework for The Kids at Uphole, via Tough Love next year. You can listen to their dirgey first single now. “Wagner isn’t as pretentious as its title might sound, really,” say the band of the first single. “It’s a confusion of the random way thoughts materialise and disappear when walking. A collection of ghosts a memory retains, and a contrast of observations made by people on the street.” Check out the video, directed by former Jesus and Mary Chain bassist Douglas Hart, now.

—

SERPENTWITHFEET – “THE HANDS”

Animal Collective scored new A24 film The Inspection, and they also contributed to its end credits track, which is from serpentwithfeet and produced by Sensei Bueno, with vocals from StemsMusic Choir. “‘The Hands’ is a devotional song,” serpent says. “By the film’s end, Ellis French has a strong sense of self but doesn’t lose his sensitivity or optimism. I wanted to reflect that lyrically and musically.”

—

HOLLOW HAND – “HEAVEN JUST WATCHED”

Hollow Hand, aka Brighton-based songwriter Max Kinghorn-Mills, has announced his third album, Your Own Adventure, which will be out March 3 via Curation Records. The album features contributions from Tim Smith (ex Midlake), Spencer Cullum, Holly Macve and more. This is the cheery first single. “The lyrics for ‘Heaven Just Watched’ are based on a diary I kept when I moved into London to work on music,” says Max. “I was reading Peter Ackroyd’s definitive biography of the city & totally immersed in the mythology & hidden rituals which form the foundations of the city’s architecture. I imagined myself walking through those streets. Nothing has meaning, there are no gods, choose your own adventure.”

—

TECHNOLOGY + TEAMWORK (SARAH JONES AND ANTHONY SILVESTER) – “AMSTERDAM”

Sarah Jones, who has played drums in New Young Pony Club and Hot Chip and is currently in Harry Styles’ band, also makes liminal pop as one half of Technology + Teamwork with Anthony Silvester (they were both in ’00s era Mute band XX Teens). Their debut album, We Used To Be Friends, will be out March 17 via Good Way Records. Check out the album’s dreamy, synthy new single “Amsterdam.”

—

GORD DOWNIE & BOB ROCK – “THE RAVEN AND THE RED-TAILED HAWK”

The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie died five years ago, and one of the projects he had been working on was a collaborative album with musician and producer Bob Rock (Metallica’s Black Album) that will finally see the light of day in May. “First and foremost Gord was my friend,” says Rock of the album, “and having the opportunity to work with him on these songs was one of the biggest highlights of my professional life. I am grateful that I got to witness his genius in such close proximity.”

—

ROBERT FORSTER (THE GO-BETWEENS) – “TENDER YEARS”

Anyone who cooks while listening to music should appreciate Robert Forster’s video for “Tender Years,” the second song released from his upcoming album, The Candle And The Flame. The Go-Betweens co-founder sings along to his own song, dancing a little too, as he prepares a little breakfast.

—

SAD SNACK – “KENNY G HOTLINE”

Sad Snack are a rising new ska-punk band from San Francisco, and they’ve got a new two-song cassingle coming via Lavasocks Records and Ska Punk International. Here’s the second of two songs, which you can read more about here.

—

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