19 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 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.
BENNY THE BUTCHER – “BILLS MAFIA ANTHEM”
The Buffalo Bills are in the playoffs right now, and Buffalo rapper Benny the Butcher has written them a new anthem for the occasion.
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SINAI VESSEL – “TRACY CHAPMAN GET YOUR MONEY”
On January 8, Tracy Chapman won $450,000 in her copyright lawsuit against Nicki Minaj, and then indie musician Sinai Vessel (aka Caleb Cordes) wrote an atmospheric, minimal song “inspired by the events of January 8 2021” called “Tracy Chapman Get Your Money.” “I’ve never heard the song in question/It’s likely that i never will,” Caleb sings. “Haven’t got a dog in this fight/But know that I support you still.”
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BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – “TRACK X”
UK group Black Country, New Road will release their debut album, For the first time, on February 5 via Ninja Tune. They’ve just shared jazzy, reflective new single “Track X” along with its video. “Track X is a song we first worked on in 2018 but one that never made it out into our live performances,” says frontman Isaac Wood. “We decided to resurrect it during the recording of For the first time and assemble it in the studio. The story is old but a good one and worth telling. We believe that people will enjoy singing along.”
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KATE DAVIS – “TRUE LOVE WILL FIND YOU IN THE END” (DANIEL JOHNSTON COVER)
Kate Davis’ full album cover of Daniel Johnston’s Retired Boxer, Strange Boy, is due out on Friday (1/15), and ahead of its release she’s shared one more single, a lovely cover of “True Love Will Find You in the End.”
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KIWI JR – ‘WAITING IN LINE”
Here’s another new track from Toronto band Kiwi Jr’s first album for Sub Pop, along with its video which was directed by Laura-Lynn Petrick. “We like the candid and casual approach of director Laura-Lynn’s previous videos, including Weyes Blood, Jessica Pratt, Michael Rault, Twist, and she was excited by our idea to wander around downtown Toronto while it was something of a ghost-town.” says singer Jeremy Gaudet. Cooler Returns is out next week.
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SARIN – “RECKONER”
Toronto post-metal/sludge band Sarin have signed to Prosthetic and will release their third album, You Can’t Go Back, on February 5 via the label. The first single is the crushing, towering “Reckoner.”
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BABEHOVEN – “DISSOCIATIVE TALLY”
Babehoven, the project of Vermont-based singer, songwriter and producer Maya Bon, announced a new EP, Yellow has a pretty good reputation, which “explores dissociation, loss, and the quest for self-love.” First single “Dissociative Tally” “is largely about feeling detached from my sense of self,” Bon says. “As someone who struggles with dissociative tendencies, sometimes I feel like I’m moving around in a foggy dream. This song explores that experience. This EP is recorded onto tape and the voice has been slowed down to create a form of detachment from my day-to-day voice. The slow, slightly lower drawl of the voice represents what it feels like to be in a state of persistent, mild delirium.”
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SUFFERING HOUR – “OBSCURATION”
Forest Lake, Minnesota’s Suffering Hour have been honing a thrilling mix of death and black metal for a few years, and they recently caught the attention of Profound Lore, who will release their sophomore album The Cyclic Reckoning on February 19. It’s their first new music since 2019’s Dwell EP and first full-length since 2017’s In Passing Ascension.) “Obscuration” is the album’s second single, and it’s pretty intense shit.
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THE RUINS OF BEVERAST – “ANCHORESS IN FURS”
Long-running German metal band The Ruins of Beverast have shared a second single off their upcoming album The Thule Grimoires (due 2/5 via Ván Records), and like lead single “Kromlec’h Knell,” it finds them in gothic metal/death-doom territory, equal parts melodic and eerie.
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WIRETAP RECORDS – ATTENTION CHARITY COMP (JANUARY 2021)
LA punk label Wiretap Records releases four editions of their charity compilation Attention each year, and the first one of 2021 is out, with songs by The Casket Lottery Band, Moore Family Band, Kali Masi, Get Married (Misfits cover), Lovebreakers, Talk Show Host, Space Cadet, Devon Kay & the Solutions, Mercy Music, RICKY, Call Me Malcolm, Lost In Society, Maggie Gently, Virginity, Catholic Guilt, and more.
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YUNG – “FRIENDS ON ICE”
Danish band Yung will release their second LP, Ongoing Dispute, on January 22 and they’re just shared this new song from it. “’Friends on Ice’ came about as a consequence of Mikkel being challenged to strum the most difficult guitar chord he could come up with,” say the band. “This approach has since become a go-to suggestion to any kind of creative block we encounter. Like a one-card equivalent to Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies. It rarely works.” Frontman Mikkel Holm Silkjær adds, “As I wrote the lyrics, I very much went with a feeling without really reflecting much on where that feeling came from or what exactly I was trying to express. As time passed I have been able to contextualize the lyrics. To me, It’s a song about alienation, loneliness and the immediate remedies we, as individuals in western society, turn to when confronted with pain or struggle. Capitalism promotes individualism, which makes a lot of people think they have to deal with issues and problems in life on an individual level, when often we’d be much better off if we dealt with things on a collective level.”
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CRISTIN MILIOTI – “715 CREEKS” (BON IVER COVER)
Cristin Milioti, who you may know from How I Met Your Mother, Season 2 of Fargo, and Hulu film Palm Springs, has been covering Bon Iver’s “715 Creeks” at live performances for a while and has just shared a studio version. “It was always wild because people would come up to me afterward and be like, ‘What was that song?’ even though I would say who it was and everything,” Milioti says. “I do think that song is so special; it just gets in your marrow.”
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BLANCK MASS – “STARSTUFF”
Blanck Mass has announced a new album, In Ferneaux, which will be broken up into two long tracks, and the first taste is a single edit of an excerpt called “Starstuff.” Read more here.
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HAZING OVER (fka SHIN GUARD) – “JOCK”
Shin Guard have changed their name to Hazing Over, slightly changed their lineup, and went in a more metalcore/deathcore direction. Read more about it in our interview with the band and check out the first single from their upcoming Pestilence EP, “Jock.”
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AZITA – “ONLINE LIFE”
Chicago artist Azita, who returned from a long hibernation in 2020 with new single “Shooting Birds Out of the Sky,” has announced her first album in nine years, Glen Echo, on March 5 via Drag City. The album marks the first time she’s written on guitars instead of keyboards and new single “Online Life” has a Velvet Underground chug to it.
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GARY NUMAN – “INTRUDER”
“‘Intruder’ looks at climate change from the planet’s point of view,” says synthpop pioneer Gary Numan of his new album. “If Earth could speak, and feel things the way we do, what would it say? How would it feel? The songs, for the most part, attempt to be that voice, or at least try to express what I believe the earth must feel at the moment.” Check out Intruder‘s title track.
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DANNY ELFMAN – “SORRY”
“‘Sorry‘ was the first song I’ve written for myself in a long time,” composer (and former Oingo Boingo frontman) Danny Elfman says. “It began as an obsessive choral-chant instrumental work, which at the time I called ‘alien orchestral chamber punk’ and evolved slowly into a song. I was surprised by the amount of rage I’d been storing inside myself which came bursting out as soon as I applied my voice.” The song was written for his 2020 Coachella performance which hopefully he’ll actually get to do this year.
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SLEAFORD MODS – “NUDGE IT” FT AMY TAYLOR (AMYL & THE SNIFFERS)
On “Nudge It” Sleaford Mods’ singer Jason Williamson rails against “class tourists” over Andrew Fearn’s beat that throws in a little post-punk-style angular guitar. Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers drops in for a verse and fits right in with the Mods universe. Sleaford Mods’ new album Spare Ribs is out this week.
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LANA DEL REY – “CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB”
Lana Del Rey has revealed the details of her upcoming album Chemtrails Over the Country Club and shared the title track, which you can read more about here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
