Nao Lianne La Havas
Nao & Lianne La Havas - "Woman" art

14 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, track premieres, and more all day. In these concertless times, that includes daily livestreams and live concert videos we love. 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.

BILL CALLAHAN – “RY COODER”

Bill Callahan’s new album Gold Record is out next week and he’s been releasing a song from it every week all summer. “Ry Cooder” is the album’s penultimate track, “A knee-slapping roundhouse of a tribute to America’s own polymath guitar legend-in-his-own-time, leaving one to wonder what sort of fandom is being indulged here,” notes Bill’s label, Drag City. “Stop-start licks melt into vaudevillian relief as Bill unpacks and reassembles Ry’s history with deadly dry affect. Guaranteed to break up your late-night guitar jam, no matter how deep!”

TRAVIS – “THE ONLY THING” FT. SUSANNA HOFFS (THE BANGLES)

Long-running UK band Travis will release new album 10 Songs on October 9 via BMG. New single “The Only Thing” features The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs who connected with Travis’ Fran Healy via Twitter. “Fran and I met through a mutual appreciation on Twitter. The friendship grew from there,” Hoffs notes. “One day, he asked me to sing with him, and without hesitation, I burst out ‘Yes!’. He showed up at my doorstep with his recording gear and we recorded my vocals in the living room. Collaborating with Fran and the band has been a pure pleasure.”

TIWA SAVAGE – “TEMPTATION” (ft. SAM SMITH)

Nigerian Afro-pop artist Tiwa Savage releases her new album Celia this Friday (8/28) via Motown/Island, and it includes this breezy new single, which finds Tiwa duetting with Sam Smith, and which was co-written with Fireboy DML (who released a new album last week).

FRUIT BATS – “HUMMER” (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS)

Eric D. Johnson recently released a vinyl-only cover album of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, and he’s now streaming a second track from it digitally. He turns “Hummer” into a laid-back folk song without losing the charm of the original.

BRIGHT EYES – “RUNNING BACK” (THIN LIZZY COVER)

Bright Eyes have a great new album out, Thin Lizzy have a box set and documentary coming, and now Bright Eyes have done a faithful cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Running Back” for SiriusXM Sessions. (We also earlier today posted 10 great covers of Bright Eyes songs by other artists.)

3TEETH – “YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD)” (DEAD OR ALIVE COVER) & “BALLROOM BLITZ” (SWEET COVER)

Modern-day industrial rock mainstays 3TEETH have put out a new single with two cover songs that they recorded for the Daniel Radcliffe-starring Guns Akimbo. The “You Spin Me Round” cover is pretty faithful (just a little heavier), but the “Ballroom Blitz” cover is a pretty drastic, chaotic rework. Both sound great.

JOE WONG – “IN THE MORNING” FT. STEVEN DROZD (FLAMING LIPS)

Drummer, TV composer and “Trap Set” podcast host Joe Wong will release his debut solo album, Nite Creatures, in September which features appearances from Mary Lattimore, Jon Natchez (War on Drugs), Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think), Anna Waronker (that dog.), and more. Among the “more” are Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd who plays on new single “In the Morning” which is pretty trippy.

REBECCA ODES AND ALAN LICHT – “DON’T LET OUR YOUTH GO TO WASTE” (GALAXIE 500 COVER)

Artists have been covering Galaxie 500 songs all month in lead up to Record Store Day this Saturday (G500 live album Copenhagen is getting its first vinyl pressing as part of it). Here’s a cover of “Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste” by Rebecca Odes and Alan Licht, who both played in late-’80s / early-’90s indie rock band Love Child. “As a contemporary trio with some VU vibes, Love Child definitely felt a vague kinship with Galaxie (like a brattier, lower-achieving sibling, or a distant cousin with tripolar disorder),” says Odes. “We had Boston affiliations and knew Dean’s younger brother from Vassar so there was a personal connect. But the songs always hovered outside of time/space/association in a zone of pure mood.”

SHADES APART – “SO WHAT NOW”

NJ punk vets Shades Apart are streaming a third track off their first album in 19 years, Eternal Echo, which comes out this Friday (8/28) via Hellminded Record. It’s a catchy, anthemic song that finds them in fine form. Listen and read an interview over at New Noise and hear the previous two singles below.

NAO – “WOMAN” (ft. LIANNE LA HAVAS)

Nao and Lianne La Havas team up for this R&B-tinged dose of alt-pop, celebrating female empowerment. “I truly believe this is the start of a new dawn where being a woman – esp a woman of colour – can and should be celebrated,” Nao writes. “This is our time!”

LEIKELI47 – “ZOOM”

Leikeli47 is gearing up for a new album Shape Up, and you can read more about lead single “Zoom” here.

WEDDING DRESS – “I DON’T KNOW LOVE BY ITS NAME”

Wedding Dress are releasing their first album since their 2014 debut LP Desperate Glow and first since band leader Erin Elders officially left Maps & Atlases, The Flood Feeling, on Friday (8/28) via Lovitt, and it features members of Chin Up Chin Up, Karate, and more. You can read about lead single “I Don’t Know Love By Its Name” here.

WILLIAM BASINSKI – “O, MY DAUGHTER, O, MY SORROW”

Composer and tape loop wizard William Basinski has announced new album Lamentations which will be out November 13 via Temporary Residence, LTD. The label calls it his “most mournful work” since The Disintegration Loops, and it was constructed from archives dating back over 40 years.

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