MIDLIFE
MIDLIFE

15 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 – “LET’S MOVE TO THE COUNTRY” (SMOG SONG)

Is it a cover when you wrote the song? Well, as Drag City notes, this is “A Smog cover from the artist formerly known as Smog!” Bill Callahan takes another swing at 1999’s “Let’s Move To The Country,” this time about as stipped-back as you can go. His new album, Gold Record, is out September 4.

BIG JOANIE – “CRANES IN THE SKY” (SOLANGE COVER)

UK group Big Joanie will release a new 7″ single via Third Man on August 14 and the a-side is a cover of Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky.” The band keep Solange’s same basic beat but otherwise reimagine the song in dark, post-punk hues.

VATICAN SHADOW – “REHEARSING FOR THE ATTACK”

Dominick Fernow (Prurient, Hospital Productions, etc) is releasing a new Vatican Shadow album, Persian Pillars Of The Gasoline Era, on 9/28 via 20 Buck Spin, and today he released the album’s first single: a nearly six-minute dose of eerie instrumentals called “Rehearing For The Attack.”

UADA – “DJIINN”

Portland black metallers Uada are following 2018’s Cult of a Dying Sun with a new album, Djinn, on September 25 via Esienwald, and the lead single/title track is a very promising first taste that’s equal parts furiously heavy and brightly melodic.

K.A.A.N – ALL PRAISE IS DUE (PROD. BIG GHOST LTD)

Big Ghost Ltd is on a roll this year with his own very good album Carpe Noctem, his production on the Conway the Machine EP No One Mourns The Wicked, and more, and now he also produced the new album by motormouthed Maryland rapper K.A.A.N.

DEAD TO FALL – “NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP”

Dead To Fall were one of the many bands to come out of the At The Gates-inspired melodic metalcore boom of the early 2000s (and they were not shy about ATG’s influence), and after breaking up in 2008 and reuniting in 2015, they’ve now released their first new song in 12 years. It sounds like classic Dead To Fall, which isn’t a bad thing at all, and the band writes, “We want to use this one song demo as a fundraiser for two of our long time colleagues and friends Andy Parmann and the X-Ray Arcade and Shane Merrill at Empire Productions. We are splitting the proceeds from the song between the two of them.”

JUNE OF 44 – “A PAST TO FACE” (JOHN MCENTIRE REMIX)

The John McEntire (of Tortoise and The Sea and Cake) remix of June of 44’s “Cut Your Face” (retitled “A Past To Face”) has been released off the band’s upcoming first album in 21 years, Revisionist: Adaptations & Future Histories In The Time Of Love And Survival. McEntire turns the angular post-hardcore of the original into something much more minimal and brooding.

SOFT BLACK – “HEAVEN”

Brooklyn band Soft Black will release their first album in 10 years next month and have just shared a second single from it. “It was inspired by a series of dreams I had about my father, just after his passing, and we recorded the whole track live in just one take,” frontman Vince Cacchione. He also says its his favorite song on the new album.

DARREN JESSEE (BEN FOLDS FIVE) – “CAPE ELIZABETH”

You may know Darren Jessee as drummer for Ben Folds Five but he’s a songwriter in his own right, and will release new album Remover on October 16 via Bar/None. The first single from the album is the gently orchestral “Cape Elizabeth.” Nice stuff.

MILDLIFE – “VAPOUR”

Proggy, jazzy Australian band Mildlife will release their second album, Automatic, via Heavenly on September 18. “Vapour is a dance mantra with enough weight to blow the cobwebs off your tired mind and snap you out of your endless feed scrolling rituals,” says the group of this funky, vocoder-friendly track.”

ROGER WATERS & LUCIOUS – “HELLO IN HERE” (JOHN PRINE COVER)

You may recall that both Roger Waters and Lucius sang with John Prine — who died in April from COVID complications — at the 2017 edition of Newport. This is a lovely tribute to Prine was recorded for Newport’s virtual edition.

COURTNEY BARNETT & PHOEBE BRIDGERS – “EVERYTHING IS FREE” (GILLIAN WELCH COVER)

Newport Folk Festival held a 2020 virtual edition in lieu of the real thing this past weekend, featuring special new performances, film screenings, great performances from their archives and more. On Sunday (8/2) they screened Our Voices Together, which featured never-before-seen performances, including one from Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers, who teamed up from their very different parts of the world (Melbourne, Australia and Los Angeles, specifically) to cover Gillian Welch’s 2001 song “Everything is Free” which Bridgers performed at the festival a few year’s back.

ANOHNI – “IT’S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE” (BOB DYLAN COVER) & “BE MY HUSBAND” (NINA SIMONE COVER)

ANOHNI is back with her first new music since her 2019 charity single “Karma.” She’s shared covers of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All over Now, Baby Blue” and Nina Simone’s “Be My Husband,” the latter of which was recorded in 1999 at NYC’s Knitting Factory. This will be out as a 7″ this fall.

KIWI JR – “TUGBOAT” (GALAXIE 500 COVER)

To celebrate the upcoming reissue of Galaxie 500’s Copenhagen, a whole bunch of artists are covering Galaxie 500 songs, including Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan, Real Estate, Mercury Rev and more. Here’s Kiwi Jr’s straighforward take on Galaxie 500’s debut single.

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