20 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.
WAX TAILOR – “JUST A CANDLE” (ft. MARK LANEGAN)
French producer Wax Tailor releases his new album The Shadow Of Their Suns this Friday (1/8), and it’s got an impressive cast of guests including the late Gil Scott-Heron, Del The Funky Homosapien & Mr Lif, Yugen Blakrok, D Smoke, Adeline, and Boog Brown. New single “Just A Candle” features the unmistakably grizzled voice of Mark Lanegan.
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SHAME – “NIGEL HITTER”
“The song is at the heart of what Drunk Tank Pink is about,” says Shame frontman Charlie Steen of their new single. “After we finished touring I was left with a lot of silence as I stumbled around trying to figure out the daily routine. On top of that, I was confronting my subconscious at night through a series of intense dreams which left me in a daze during the day. ‘Nigel Hitter’ feels like a cathartic expression of that period.”
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LOCALNEWSLEGEND – I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE EXPECTING (EP STREAM)
The new EP from Central PA folk-punk trio LocalNewsLegend sounds like twee indie folk, which belies the darkness of their lyrical content.
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VIAGRA BOYS – “GIRLS & BOYS”
Sweden’s Viagra Boys will release their second album, Welfare Jazz, this Friday and here’s one last taste before the whole thing’s out. “Girls & Boys” falls somewhere between a banger and a ripper, with a bleating saxophone, fuzzed out bass and an insistent disco beat.
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SUN JUNE- “EVERYTHING I HAD”
Austin band Sun June release their sophomore LP, Somewhere, on February 5 via Run for Cover and Keeled Scales. The latest single, “Everything I Had,” should appeal to fans of Feist. “‘Everything I Had’ is about feeling stuck and wising you could go back in time,” the band’s Laura Colwell says. “It misses when things were new and easy and full of promise. It feels very ‘Austin’ to us, because things change here so quickly and it’s easy to fall into a rut and feel like the city is moving on without you. Friends are always leaving town too, so sometimes it’s fun to think moving to LA or New York would solve all our problems. It’s also fair to say that the song has taken on some new meaning during the pandemic. We’re all missing someone or something right now.”
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CELESTE – “LOVE IS BACK”
UK singer Celeste releases her debut album Not Your Muse on February 26 via Interscope, and new single “Love Is Back” finds her putting a fresh spin on vintage-style soul.
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RICK HYDE – “FOLLOW ME” (prod. ARAABMUZIK)
Rick Hyde of Benny the Butcher’s Black Soprano Family crew has tapped the great araabMUZIK to produce his menacing new single “Follow Me.” His new project Plates 2 is on the way.
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TV PRIEST – “PRESS GANG”
UK punks TV Priest will release their first album for Sub Pop, Uppers, on February 5 and their Fall-esque new single was inspired by frontman Charlie Drinkwater’s grandfather who was a photojournalist and war correspondent.
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BADWAN/COXON (HORRORS/SPIRITUALIZED) – “BOILING POINT”
Horrors frontman Faris Badwan has launched a collaborative song series between himself and other artists. The first of these is “Boiling Point” which pairs him with John Coxon (Spring Heeled Jack / Spiritualized) and will be released as a 12″ single on February 5. “The lyrics were improvised and the focus was placed more on creating atmosphere and keeping things fairly raw and expressive,” says Faris. “I guess I found it rewarding particularly with the guitar playing because it was so intuitive and completely free from any expectations of how a song should be constructed. There are hooks and repetitive sections but fewer traditional structures.”
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RATS ON RAFTS – “FRAGMENTS”
Rotterdam’s Rats on Rafts will release new album Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths on January 29 via Fire. Say the band of this swaggering new single, “It’s an inner rush, exciting but at the end you’re back in the same place you started out at and what has changed? Memories become fragments, but like a scent the emotion behind it can be very intense with those fragmented memories having more control over you than the other way round.”
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WALTZER – “LANTERN”
Chicago’s Sophie Sputnik makes music as Waltzer and will release Time Traveler on January 29 via Side Hustle Records. New single is dark and bluesy and comes with a very cool stop-motion animated video.
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JOHN FOGERTY – “WEEPING IN THE PROMISED LAND”
“I took a look back at what 2020 has been and tried to get my feelings out about the political climate, Black Lives Matter, Covid and everything else that occurred this year,” says John Fogerty of this new single. “Friends are dying, we are stuck at home, we are indeed weeping in the promised land.”
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ALICE GLASS – “SUFFER AND SWALLOW”
Alice Glass has unleashed a new single from her upcoming debut solo album, and you can read more about it here.
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JAZMINE SULLIVAN – “GIRL LIKE ME” (ft. H.E.R.)
Neo-soul great Jazmine Sullivan releases her first album in six years this Friday, and you can read more about this new single here.
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THE WEATHER STATION – “ATLANTIC”
Here’s the third single from The Weather Station’s highly anticipated new album Ignorance, which you can read more about here.
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FOR YOUR HEALTH – “SAVE YOUR BREATH, YOU’RE GONNA NEED IT TO BLOW MY HEAD OFF”
The second single off For Your Health’s anticipated debut LP is a dose of chaotic post-hardcore and you can read more about it here.
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PORTRAYAL OF GUILT – “GARDEN OF DESPAIR”
Portrayal of Guilt’s new song is as intense and genre-blurring as you’d expect from this band, and you can read more about it here. Their new LP arrives this month.
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CALYX – “LESLIE PLAIN AND STRONG”
Pittsburgh indie-punks Calyx have EPs dating back to 2015 but they’re just now releasing their debut album, and lead single “Leslie Plain and Strong” is one hell of a promising taste. Read more about it here.
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BUCK MEEK – “CANDLE”
Big Thief’s Buck Meek co-wrote this song with his bandmate Adrianne Lenker, and it features backing harmonies by Twain’s Mat Davidson. You can read more about it here.
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BILL CALLAHAN & BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY – “MIRACLES” (JOHNNIE FRIERSON COVER FT. TY SEGALL)
The latest cover by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Bill Callahan, and a guest is here, and this time the guest is none other than Ty Segall. The cover is of “Miracles” by the late, storied R&B/soul singer Johnnie Frierson, whose “lost” ’60s/’70s material was given new life when it was dug up and released by Light In The Attic in 2016. Read more about it (and compare it to the original) here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
