New Songs: Thelonious Monk, Alicia Keys, Haim, Tee Grizzley, more

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

ALSO: Find even more of today's new songs in our roundup of special/exclusive releases for Bandcamp's Juneteeth fundraiser.

ALICIA KEYS - "PERFECT WAY TO DIE"

Alicia Keys has released an emotional new song about a mother whose son was shot to death after a "simple walk to the corner store." "They say 'just another one gone' and they tell her 'move on,'" Alicia sings on the devastating song.

THELONIOUS MONK - "EPISTROPHY" (LIVE IN 1968)

The late jazz legend Thelonious Monk performed at a high school in Palo Alto, CA in 1968, and the performance was recorded by the school's janitor. The recordings, which Thelonious' son calls "one of the best live recordings I’ve ever heard by Thelonious," are now being released as Palo Alto on July 31 via the legendary Impulse! Records. Here's one of the songs, which very much lives up to Thelonious' son's description.

MEREBA - "HEATWAVE" (ft. 6LACK) (ACOUSTIC)

As members of Spillage Village, Mereba and 6LACK were both part of "END OF DAZE," one of the best singles of the past couple weeks, and now they've released an "acoustic" version of their 2019 collaborative song "Heatwave." This version is arguably even more impactful.

HO99O9 - "CHRISTOPHER DORNER" & "PRAY OR PREY"

Punk-rap duo Ho99o9 are back with a two-song single that will benefit the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Zero, Advancement Project and the National Black Disability Coalition. "Christopher Dorner" (named after the former Black LAPD officer who killed four people and himself after alleging that the department discriminated against him because of his race) is a straight-up hardcore punk song, while "Pray or Prey" is a hazy rap song. Both are great.

TEE GRIZZLEY - "LIONS & EAGLES" (ft. MEEK MILL)

Tee Grizzley dropped his new project The Smartest today, and in addition to including his recent protest song "Mr. Officer," it includes this awesome collab with Meek Mill.

HARLEM GOSPEL TRAVELERS - "FIGHT ON"

“During slavery, songs were a form of communication for black people," says Thomas Gatling of Harlem Gospel Travelers. "These songs became known as hymns, or as our seasoned saints call them, the songs that brought us over. 'Fight On' was inspired by a hymn called 'Hold On (Just A Little While Longer),' a song used to encourage black people to not give up. Through that song, God gave me 'Fight On.' It was written to amplify the voices that for so long have fallen on deaf ears and to encourage and uplift people to continue the fight for equality and against white supremacy. Be empowered, my people. We are not thugs, we are innovators. We are intelligent and our feelings, hopes, dreams, and lives matter. Fight on, and everything's gonna be alright." The video features footage show at recent NYC protests.

CAT POWER - "TOOP TOOP (A TRIBUTE TO ZDAR)" FT. -M-

Cat Power honors collaborator Philippe Zdar of French house duo Cassius, who passed away a year ago today, with a cover of "Toop Toop" off their 2006 album 15 Again, featuring French artist -M-. Read more here.

HAIM - "GASOLINE"

Haim's new album Women In Music Pt. III is due out next week, and they performed one of its songs, "Gasoline," on Instagram. "Miss playing for you guys," they write.

JOHN LEGEND - "REMEMBER US" (ft. RAPSODY)

John Legend's new album Bigger Love is out today, and one of the highlights is this song with a great guest verse by Rapsody.

KAMAIYAH - "BLACK EXCELLENCE"

Kamaiyah's been dropping new singles all year and here's another one. Her retro-meets-modern West Coast bounce never gets old.

42 DUGG - "HARD TIMES" (REMIX ft. DEJ LOAF)

Rising Detroit rapper and Lil Baby collaborator 42 Dugg dropped a deluxe edition of Young & Turnt 2 today, and it comes with this new remix of "Hard Times" featuring some genuinely awesome additions by DeJ Loaf.

SHY GLIZZY - "RIGHT OR WRONG" (ft. LIL UZI VERT)

Lil Uzi Vert has been on fire this year, and he keeps the momentum going with a verse on DC rapper Shy Glizzy's melodic new single.

OXYMORRONS - "JUSTICE"

Alternative rap group Oxymorrons go into rap-rock territory on "Justice," which they say is "more than a song, but an act of solidarity with the people." Proceeds from the song will "be given back to the community through various charities, non-profits, and movements."

CRUEL SANTINO - "END OF THE WICKED" (ft. OCTAVIAN)

Nigerian artist Cruel Santino (fka Santi) is gearing up to release his new album Monster Boy on Interscope this year, and along with the announcement comes this new single featuring UK rapper Octavian. It's a chilled-out, atmospheric fusion of both artists' sounds, and it's very cool stuff.

WINTER - "HEALING"

Dreampop artist Samira Winter will release new album Endless Space (Between You & I) on July 24 via Bar None. New single "Healing" is charmingly spacy, not unlike the very cool DIY sci-fi video she made for it.

SEVEN ASH GREEN (HEIDI BERRY & SUMISHTA BRAHM) - "WHERE THERE WERE ORANGE TREES" (BLACK WATCH COVER)

Heidi Berry, who made records for Creation and 4AD in the '80s and '90s, has teamed with Sumishta Brahm (who has done graphic design for Adrian Borland and The Jazz Butcher) for a distanced duet cover of the black watch song “Where There Were Orange Trees.”

FIVIO FOREIGN - "MOVE LIKE A BOSS" (ft. YOUNG M.A)

Brooklyn drill rapper Fivio Foreign taps the more traditional New York rapper Young M.A for this new song and their styles go very well together.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS - "DEAD HORSE" (HOT CHIP REMIX)

Hayley Williams' "Dead Horse" is already one of the bounciest, most upbeat songs on her great debut album (but with subject matter that's much darker than the song's sound), and this Hot Chip remix makes it even bouncier.

SKELETON - "THE SWORD"

Austin blackened punks Skeleton have shared the third single off their anticipated self-titled debut album (due 7/10 via 20 Buck Spin), and it's a ripper.

DERRICK HODGE - "HEARTBEATS"

Derrick Hodge (who's played alongside Robert Glasper, Common, Terence Blanchard, and others) is releasing a new album as a bandleader, Color of Noize, next week (June 26 via Blue Note). His band for the album features Jahari Stampley, Michael Aaberg, Mike Mitchell, Justin Tyson (who's in R+R=NOW with Hodge), and DJ Jahi Sundance, and the album was co-produced by Don Was. Here's the hazy, atmospheric new single.

MISERY SIGNALS - "RIVER KING"

Metalcore vets Misery Signals have shared the second single off Ultraviolet, their first album in seven years and first with original vocalist Jesse Zaraska since their 2004 debut. This one throws a little post-rock into the band's usual bludgeoning metalcore.

SUNDRESSED - "OH PLEASE"

Tempe, Arizona emo/indie/punks Sundressed follow "Home Remedy" with another super catchy single, "Oh Please." As we said about the last one, fans of Modern Baseball and Weezer should take note. Proceeds from the song go to National Bail Out and Black Renaissance.

ANDERSON .PAAK - "LOCKDOWN" (ft. JAY ROCK)

Anderson. Paak's powerful new song "Lockdown" addresses protests in the age of pandemic, the long history of racism and unjust police killings that fueled them, the terrifying ways police responded to protests, and more. Read more about it here.

NONAME - "SONG 33" (prod. MADLIB)

Noname dropped a new Madlib-produced song, on which she responds to J Cole's "Snow On Tha Bluff." Read more here.

PUBLIC ENEMY - "STATE OF THE UNION (STFU)" (prod. DJ PREMIER)

Public Enemy (including both Chuck D and Flavor Flav) released a new DJ Premier-produced protest song, "State of the Union (STFU)." Read more about it here.

BOB DYLAN - "KEY WEST (PHILOSOPHER PIRATE)"

Bob Dylan's new album Rough and Rowdy Ways is out today (read our review), and it's a genuinely great album that's really not like anything he's released before. The two biggest highlights were singles ("Murder Most Foul" and "I Contain Multitudes") but the secret weapon is the nine-and-a-half minute penultimate track, "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)."

AMNESIA SCANNER - "AS FLAT" (ft. CODE ORANGE)

Experimental electronic duo Amnesia Scanner's excellent new album Tearless is out today, including this genre-defying track with nu-metalcore band Code Orange.

BLACK NOI$E - "THE BAND" (ft. LIV.E)

Black Noi$e became the first artist to sign to Earl Sweatshirt's Tan Cressida label besides Earl himself, and his first new single for the label is "The Band." Read more here.

ANNIE - "AMERICAN CARS"

Norwegian pop artist Annie, who you may remember from mid-'00s blog hits like "Chewing Gum" and "Heartbeat," is gearing up to release Dark Hearts, her third album and first full length since 2009's Don't Stop. She says this first single was inspired by David Cronenberg's Crash.

Find even more of today's new songs in our roundup of special/exclusive releases for Bandcamp's Juneteeth fundraiser.

For even more new songs, browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.

Categories: Music News

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30 New Songs Out Today