25 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.
RZA & DJ SCRATCH – “SATURDAY AFTERNOON KUNG-FU THEATER”
RZA’s new album RZA vs Bobby Digital will be out August 6 and features production by DJ Scratch. “Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater” is named for RZA’s weekly streaming series and waxes a little nostalgic in between playful boasts. “Lyrically the hip-hop part of me had a chance to re-emerge during quarantine,” RZA says. “Giving Scratch the reins as a producer and me taking the reins as an MC, that’s what frees me up creatively and lets me play more with lyrical gags and lyrical flows because I don’t have to be focused on everything. He delivered tracks that resonated and brought me back to a sound that I felt was missing. For me it was really natural to flow and write to these songs.”
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BEANZ – “AS SEEN ON TV” (ft. BENNY THE BUTCHER)
Pennsylvania rapper Beanz follows her promising single “Blow Me” with another new one, and this one pairs her with Buffalo spitter Benny the Butcher. Even next to a titan like Benny, the rising Beanz holds her own.
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THE HIGHWOMEN – “HIGHWAY UNICORN (ROAD TO LOVE)” (LADY GAGA COVER)
The 10th anniversary edition of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, featuring covers of its songs from various artists, includes this take on “Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)” from The Highwomen, aka Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires, along with Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards.
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EST GEE – “CAPITOL 1”
Louisville street-rapper EST Gee shared a third new single ahead of the release of his next project, and it’s another great example of his tough-but-accessible style.
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SINCERE ENGINEER – “RECLUSE IN THE MAKING”
Here’s another single off Sincere Engineer’s anticipated new album Bless My Psyche (due 9/10 via Hopeless), and this one finds the Chicago indie-punk band going in a breezier, folkier direction than usual. They’re great at this kind of thing too.
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SHARON VAN ETTEN – “CONJUNCTION”
The original soundtrack to Rebel Hearts, a new documentary directed by Pedro Kos, is out today, and it includes “Conjunction,” which Sharon Van Etten wrote for the film. “When I was first asked to work on Rebel Hearts, I wasn’t familiar with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart,” she says. “However, after I saw the trailer, I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of it and find out more about these renegade women, ahead of their time. It was a welcomed time to reconnect with my friends and musicians and get my partner to brush off his drumsticks to help me flesh out the opening of the film, which greatly sets the tone of their journey and struggle. My bandmate Charley Damski helped with string arrangements, Zeke Hutchins played drums, Zach Dawes played bass, and Dan Knowles engineered and mixed it. They helped me feel like I was working towards something again and that process directly informed what I have been working on currently in my writing. Thank you to Pedro Kos and Tracy McKnight for having faith in me to help support this moving documentary. Working with that dynamo duo kept me on my toes with their attention to detail and emotive references.”
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RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – “SECRET SISTER”
Also written for the Rebel Hearts soundtrack is “Secret Sister,” a new song by Rufus Wainwright. “I had heard about the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for years as my grandfather’s girlfriend was a student at the school and two of her sisters became Sisters,” he says. “When Pedro asked me to write a song for the movie, it almost wrote itself as the story was within me for such a long time already. I recorded it with two of my favorite musicians, Blake Mills on guitars and Matt Chamberlain on drums and percussion. The song is like a mantra, very simple, that builds and builds. I sing all the harmonies that get more and more complex and more and more layered as the song progresses. It is about the loss of innocence as we discover our destiny.”
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ICEWEAR VEZZO – “TEAR THE CLUB UP” (ft. FUTURE)
Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo has been on the rise lately, and now he’s got a new single that pairs him with Future over dark, booming, piano-fueled production.
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DABABY – “RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT”
Just one week after releasing “Ball If I Want To,” DaBaby dropped his third single of 2021, and like the last single, it’s an in-your-face song with an over-the-top video.
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COI LERAY – “AT THE TOP” (ft. KODAK BLACK & MUSTARD)
Boston sing-rapper Coi Leray has been rising, and now she’s finally at the top, or at least that’s what she says on this catchy Mustard-produced song.
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JASON ISBELL – “ALL I DO IS DRIVE” (JOHNNY CASH COVER)
The soundtrack for new Netflix movie The Ice Road includes Jason Isbell’s twangy, rustic cover of Johnny Cash’s Ragged Old Flag trucker anthem “All I Do Is Drive.”
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OUTLANDER – “UNCONDITIONAL”
UK band Outlander have released their new two-song single, featuring the previously released “Sundowning” and the new “Unconditional.” Picture the heavy shoegaze of Hum mixed with the towering weight of Neurosis and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this 10-minute song.
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ESPERANZA SPALDING – “FORMWELA 6” FT. COREY KING
The latest single in Esperanza Spalding’s series that she’s writing and recording in her Songwrights Apothecary Lab in Portland, OR with collaborator Corey King is “Formwela 6,” and it’s about “the fear of the vast-spinning potential hurt triggered by the bliss of a new romance.”
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ANXIOUS ARMS – “FAUST”
Sacramento’s Anxious Arms just get heavier and heavier. Their new track “Faust” is lively metalcore/post-hardcore that fans of Glassjaw, Every Time I Die, and The Chariot should not sleep on.
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WINDSHELTER – “SAME BLOOD”
Swiss post-hardcore band Windshelter are gearing up for a new album, and the lead single is “Same Blood,” which was produced by Lewis Johns, who’s also worked with Employed to Serve, Rolo Tomassi, and Svalbard. If you like those bands, you should definitely check out this heavy, melodic song too.
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BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – “FIX THE ERROR”
Progressive metal shapeshifters Between The Buried and Me have announced a new album, Colors II, a sequel to their classic 2007 album Colors. First single “Fix The Error” features drum solos from Mike Portnoy, Navene Koperweis, and Ken Schalk, and it finds the band starting out in melodic hard rock/heavy metal territory before going way off into prog space.
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ROMAN LIONS – “NEGATIVE”
San Jose atmospheric post-hardcore band Roman Lions (former members of A Perfect Kiss, I Am Empire, and Octaves) have shared another single off their upcoming Jack Shirley-recorded/mixed new album, and if you like impassioned, heavy, melodic post-hardcore, you should not sleep on this.
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CALEB GILES – “WON’T DO”
New York rapper Caleb Giles goes back and forth between venomous raps and soulful singing on his new single “Won’t Do.”
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CAKES DA KILLA x PROPER VILLAINS – “TASTE TEST”
Underrated New York rapper Cakes Da Killa and producer Proper Villains put out the Muvaland EP last year, and now they’re set to follow it with Muvaland Vol. 2 on July 16 via He.She.They. It features recent single “What’s The Word” as well as this new addictive dose of hip-house, “Taste Test.”
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CAGED ANIMALS – UNDERNEATH THE SPELL
Caged Animals are back with their fifth album, Underneath The Spell. Singer and songwriter Vincent Cacchione says it’s Caged Animals’ “first genuinely ‘band’ album which we managed to complete during the least band-friendly moment.”
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THE VACCINES – “BACK IN LOVE CITY”
UK group The Vaccines will release new album Back In Love City on September 10 and they’ve just shared its title track.
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CHVRCHES – “HOW NOT TO DROWN (ROBERT SMITH REMIX)”
Chrvches new single “How Not to Drown” features Robert Smith and now he’s gone and remixed the track, making it even more Cure-esque
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ABSOLUTELY FREE – “HOW TO PAINT CLOUDS”
It’s been seven years since Toronto’s Absolutely Free — the komische-influenced spinoff of DD/MM/YYYY — released their excellent self-titled debut. They’ve put out a few singles and EPs since, toured, and apparently had a second album in the can four years ago that never saw the light of day. The band are finally back, though, and will release Aftertouch on September 24 via Boiled Records. This is the new single.
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EMPLOYED TO SERVE – “EXIST”
UK metalcore band Employed To Serve announced a new album, Conquering, and shared this killer lead single, which you can read more about here.
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WILLOW – “LIPSTICK”
WILLOW (Smith) announced her new album lately I feel EVERYTHING and shared this second single, following “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” (ft. Travis Barker). Read more about it here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs archive.
