18 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.
JORJA SMITH – “COME OVER” (ft. POPCAAN)
UK soul/R&B singer Jorja Smith and Jamaican dancehall singer Popcaan offer up a very appealing fusion of their styles on this new collab.
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SMALL BILLS (ELUCID & THE LASSO) – “ET DIAMOND” (ft. KONCEPT JACKSON)
Elucid and The Lasso have released the second single off their anticipated collaborative album as Small Bills, Don’t Play It Straight, which is due 10/30 via Mello Music Group. This one features Koncept Jackson and it’s a dose of hypnotic, psychedelic rap.
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MAISHA – “OPEN THE GATES”
London ensemble Maisha make shimmering, psychedelic modern-day jazz, and this new 17-minute single on Brownswood Recordings is as gripping as anything on their great 2018 debut album There Is A Place. It comes backed by a live recording of “Osiris” from their debut, recorded at the band’s final show of 2019 with the same lineup as the album sessions: bandleader Jake Long plus Amané Suganami, Twm Dylan, Tim Doyle, Shirley Tetteh and Nubya Garcia (and live member Al MacSween).
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CUT WORMS – “VETERAN’S DAY” & “WALK WITH ME”
Cut Worms’ new album, Nobody Lives Here Anymore, is out next week and he’s shared one last single before it drops. “I think it was close to 7 minutes or so at one point but I didn’t want to get rid of any of what I’d written,” says Clarke of “Veteran’s Day.” “Somehow I got it down to 5 and half minutes by the time we recorded it, as a merciful gesture to the listener. It came together quickly and easily in the studio. Matt Ross-Spang got some great sounds on this one. He must have had them (the sounds) in his pocket ready to go or some other such quick-draw wizardry because it immediately sounded like what you hear on the final recording.” The flip side is the laid-back, dreamy “Walk With Me.”
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GOOD SAD HAPPY BAD (FKA MICACHU) – “PYRO”
Micachu & The Shapes reinvented themselves as Good Sad Happy Bad, with keyboardist Raisa Khan taking over as lead singer, and Mica Levi moving over to the Brian Eno role of “electronics.” This is the second “excerpt” from their debut album, due out later this month. “Pyro” is dense, danceable post-punk that is both very catchy and cacophonous.
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LEE FIELDS – “TWO TIMER” (LITTLE CARL CARLTON COVER)
Big Crown Records is digging through its vaults, unearthing Lee Fields recordings from Special Night and It Rains Love that didn’t make the cut for whatever reason. Big Crown Vaults Vol 1 is out November first and here’s a taste — a terrific cover of Little Carl Carlton’s “Two Timer.”
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THE WEAK DAYS – “THE SEAMS” (ft. JESSICA KNIGHT of LOOMING)
Lansing, Michigan emo band The Weak Days are releasing their new EP The Fabric of Our Lives on October 30 via Deep Sea Records. It was recorded by TWIABP’s Chris Teti and this first single features guest vocals by Jessica Knight of Illinois indie rockers Looming. “When we wrote this part and story, we thought [Jessica] would be the perfect person for the role,” the band said. “It’s been a dream come true for [her] to sing on this.”
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SOLSTAFIR – “HER FALL FROM GRACE”
Icelandic post-metallers Sólstafir have shared another atmospheric, climactic epic from their upcoming album Endless Twilight of Codependent Love.
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LINKIN PARK – “IN THE END” (DEMO)
Linkin Park have a massive Hybrid Theory 20th anniversary box set on the way featuring lots of rare and previously unreleased material, and today they’ve shared an early demo of their huge hit “In The End,” which features alternate lyrics.
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BILL CALLAHAN, BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY & AZITA – “BLACKNESS OF THE NIGHT” (YUSUF/CAT STEVENS COVER)
Bill Callahan and Bonnie “Prince” Billy have teamed up to cover “Blackness of the Night,” the classic protest song by Yusuf Islam, from 1967 back when he was known as Cat Stevens. Making it even more of a Drag City supergroup, the cover also features Chicago’s AZITA who did all the music here. Bill, Will and AZITA all sound amazing together, as you might expect.
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ADRIANNE LENKER – “DRAGON EYES”
Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker has shared the second single from one of her two upcoming albums, and it’s a gorgeous, tender folk song that totally takes you out of whatever time and space you’re in. Read more here.
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GORILLAZ – “THE PINK PHANTOM” (ft. ELTON JOHN & 6LACK)
Here’s the latest star-studded single off the new Gorillaz album, which you can read more about here.
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SLOAN – “SILENCE TRUMPS LIES”
Canadian rock greats Sloan are back with a new single, “Silence Trumps Lies.” While the song isn’t explicitly political — the title reads like “silence beats lies” — it’s hard not to hear it as “Silence Trump’s Lies,” especially when it’s written and sung by the band’s biggest lover of double entendres and wordplay, Chris Murphy.
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I AM THE AVALANCHE – “BETTER DAYS”
Vinnie Caruana’s grungy indie-punk band I Am The Avalanche have announced their first album in six years and released the lead single, and you can read more about it here.
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LESS THAN JAKE – “LIE TO ME”
Gainesville ska-punk vets Less Than Jake have announced their first album in seven years. The first taste is “Lie To Me,” which you can read more about here.
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THE SLACKERS – “BLUE”
The Slackers encourage you to vote blue and vote early with this groovy new song that you can read more about here.
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TOM PETTY – “LEAVE VIRGINIA ALONE”
Another lost Tom Petty song from the upcoming 70-track Wildflowers reissue has been released, and this one’s the original recording of a song that Tom Petty ended up giving to Rod Stewart. Rod released it as a single in 1995, but Petty’s version has remained shelved until now.
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CHASTITY – “HEAVEN HELL ANYWHERE ELSE” (LIVE & RE-ARRANGED)
Chastity have released a live version of “Heaven Hell Anywhere Else,” recorded with a 10-piece band at the Whitby Courthouse Theatre and featuring new arrangements and a string quartet. It’s also out on a limited edition flexi/zine combo that PUP’s Little Dipper label released. You can read more about that here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
