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, show recaps, track premieres, and more all day. That includes a lot of tour announcements, a list of tonight’s NYC shows, and NY shows that just went on sale. 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…
DRAKE & FUTURE – “DESIRES”
Drake and Future already put out one collab song this year, the unstoppably huge and irresistibly catchy “Life Is Good,” and now they’re back with another, the more R&B-tinged “Desires.”
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DUCK SAUCE (A-TRAK & ARMAND VAN HELDEN) – “SMILEY FACE”
Duck Sauce (aka A-Trak and Armand Van Helden) were recently announced for Coachella, and now they’ve released their first new song in six years, the very ’70s disco-sounding “Smiley Face.”
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PHONY PPL – “FKN AROUND” (ft. MEGAN THEE STALLION)
As promised, Phony Ppl and Megan Thee Stallion have officially released the collab they debuted in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert last year, and it’s cool to hear Megan change it up and rap over lively full-band funk like this.
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AESOP ROCK – “ROGUE WAVE”
Underground rap lifer Aesop Rock is back with a new standalone single, “Rogue Wave,” and his hard-hitting, tongue-twisting sound is as great as ever on this one.
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JADAKISS – “KISSES TO THE SKY” (ft. RICK ROSS & EMANNY)
The eternally great New York rapper Jadakiss released the genuinely good single “Me” last year, and now he announced a new album, Ignatius — his first solo LP in five years — arriving February 28 via Def Jam. Along with the announcement comes a second single, “Kisses To The Sky,” which finds Kiss in slow jam mode joined by Rick Ross and R&B crooner Emanny.
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GANG STARR – “BAD NAME” (REMIX ft. METHOD MAN & REDMAN)
Last year, DJ Premier released the first Gang Starr album in 16 years featuring posthumous recordings by his late Gang Starr partner Guru, and earlier this week he announced that he’s doing some type of Gang Starr performance on the Gods of Rap UK tour with Nas, DMX, and The LOX. Now, he released a new remix of “Bad Name” featuring new verses by the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man (who pays tribute to Guru in his verse) and his frequent collaborator Redman.
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ROYCE DA 5’9″ – “I DON’T AGE”
Royce Da 5’9″ releases his new album The Allegory on February 21 via Heaven/eOne, and the veteran (but not aging!) rapper is in fine form on this head-nodding new single.
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SA ROC – “HAND OF GOD”
DC rapper Sa Roc was added as support to the great Rapsody’s “A Black Woman Created This Tour” tour, alongside R&B singer Heather Victoria, and she also released this killer new single on Rhymesayers today.
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LADY LAMB – “WE’VE GOT A GOOD THING GOING”
Lady Lamb released her first album in four years, Even In The Tremor, last year, and she’s followed it with this upbeat new single. “I was joyful writing it,” she says. “It’s a musing on wanting to be fearless and live really hard. I hope it gives you something good.”
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CANDLEMASS – “THE PENDULUM”
Last year, epic doomsters Candlemass released The Door to Doom, their first album with original singer Johan Längqvist since their classic and highly influential 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. And it looks like it won’t take another 36 years to get more new music from Candlemass with Johan, as they’ve just announced a new EP and shared the title track, “The Pendulum.” Read more here. The EP drops March 27 via Napalm Records.
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TESTAMENT – “NIGHT OF THE WITCH”
Thrash legends Testament are true lifers who remain incredibly active over 30 years removed from their debut album, and their new music is genuinely good, especially compared to new music from some of the other still-active ’80s-era thrash vets. They just released the new single “Night of the Witch,” and this song is no exception. It’s the first taste of their upcoming album Titans of Creation (due April 3 via Nuclear Blast) and you can read more about it here.
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DOWNCAST – “MAYDAY”
’90s hardcore band Downcast are back with new music for the first time in 25 years, “Mayday,” the first single off their upcoming album Tell Me I’m Alive, which is due February 21 via Three One G/Ebullition. It’s a ripper, and you can hear it over at No Echo.
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BE ALL END ALL – “BETTER YOU THAN ME” / “FAMOUS LAST WORDS”
Metallic hardcore crushers Be All End All are back with a new two-song single on Triple B Records, and people may use the term “whiplash-inducing” a lot for hardcore, but these guys earn it more than most.
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DAVID BOWIE – “BABY UNIVERSAL 97”
A posthumous David Bowie EP of mid-’90s rarities, titled Is It Any Wonder?, has been coming out one track at a time for a few weeks now and here’s a solo take on “Baby Universal” which was originally by his late-’80s rock band Tin Machine. This ’97 version also features Tin Machine’s Reeves Gabrels and was originally going to be on Earthling but was cut. “I thought ‘Baby Universal’ was a really good song and I don’t think it got heard. I didn’t really want that to happen to it, so I put it on this album,” Bowie said in 1997. “I think this version is very good.”
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PETER BJORN AND JOHN – “DRAMA KING”
Here’s another song from Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John’s upcoming Endless Dream. The jazzy “Drama King,” one of John’s contributions to the album, is a nice understated pop song and the video’s fun too.
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LEWSBERG – “FROM NEVER TO ONCE”
Rotterdam’s Lewsberg will get their first US release with upcoming album In This House, which will be out April 25 via 12XU. This first single evokes warm Velvet Underground vibes.
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THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS – “DON’T BELIEVE”
It’s the first single from alt-rock greats The Psychedelic Furs’ first album in 29 years.
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CHASTITY BELT – “THE PROCESS” / LOOSE TOOTH – “LONELY”
Seattle’s Chastity Belt will be on the road with Australian trio Loose Tooth (who are signed to Courtney Barnett’s Milk! Records) starting next week, and at the merch table will be a tour split 7″ featuring a song from each.
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AGAINST ALL LOGIC (NICOLAS JAAR) – “ALUCINAO” (ft. ESTADO UNIDO & FKA TWIGS) 7 “ILLUSIONS OF SHAMELESS ABUNDANCE” (ft. LYDIA LUNCH)
Nicolas Jaar announced a new Against All Logic album, released a new 50-minute mix, and released a new two-song non-album single with one song featuring FKA twigs and mysterious (?) artist Estado Unido and one featuring no wave legend Lydia Lunch. Read more about all this (and stream the mix) here.
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KEVIN DEVINE (KENNY O’BRIEN & THE ODOULS) – “PAT MCLAUGHLIN’S WORK SONG”
Kevin Devine’s Celtic alter-ego Kenny O’Brien and The O’Douls have a new EP on the way, featuring this new song which you can read more about here.
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AMIGO THE DEVIL – “DELILAH” (TOM JONES COVER)
“Murderfolk” artist Amigo the Devil has released a new Tom Jones cover, which you can read more about here.
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RADIAN – “NOT DYINNG”
Radian is the name of a new-ish Ohio sludge band featuring former members of Fistula, Rue, and Sofa King Killer (not to be confused with the long-running Austrian post-rock band of the same name), and you can read more about their new song “Not Dying” here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
