32 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, 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…
PERFUME GENIUS – “ON THE FLOOR” (INITIAL TALK REMIX)
Initial Talk has done retro, ’80s and/or ’90s-style remixes of major pop stars like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Ariana Grande and most recently Dua Lipa, and now he put his spin on “On The Floor” off Perfume Genius’ highly anticipated album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. It still has that Perfume Genius charm, but Initial Talk’s rework makes “On The Floor” sound like something pop radio might actually play.
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PETITE NOIR & KINGDOM – “ALIVE” & “THROUGH THE BAD TIMES”
The genre-defying Petite Noir and electronic musician Kingdom have teamed up for a two-song collab single, and both songs are great doses of forward-thinking pop.
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FOUR TET – A LOT OF NEW SONGS
Four Tet already released the really good Sixteen Oceans this year, and now he’s using his quarantine time to drop tons of loosies on his Soundcloud. Listen to one below and the rest here.
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OKKULTOKRATI – “LOATHE FOREVER” & “KISS OF DEATH”
Norwegian metalpunks Okkultokrati are releasing a new album, La Ilden Lyse, on May 15 via Southern Lord, and they’re currently streaming these two scorchers from it.
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BLEACH EVERYTHING – “MIDDLE” (ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT COVER)
Speaking of bands who unintentionally have very relevant band names right now, Bleach Everything made a quarantine-style video for their cover of “Middle” from last year’s split with Integrity, where Bleach Everything covered Rocket From the Crypt and Integrity covered Septic Death.
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REEKING AURA – BENEATH THE CANOPY OF COMPOST EP
Reeking Aura is a new NY/NJ death metal band with some very familiar faces — vocalist William Smith (Artificial Brain, Afterbirth, Buckshot Facelift); guitarists Ryan Lipynsky (Unearthly Trance, Serpentine Path), Rick Habeeb (Grey Skies Fallen, Buckshot Facelift), and Terrell Granum (Thaetas, Buckshot Facelift); drummer Keith Harris (Afterbirth); and bassist Tom Anderer (Grey Skies Fallen, Buckshot Facelift) — and their debut EP Beneath the Canopy of Compost was produced by Colin Marston (of Behold… The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Krallice, Gorguts, and more). It’s three tracks of swampy yet razor-sharp DM and it’s very worth checking out.
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MYKKI BLANCO – “YOU WILL FIND IT” FT. DEVENDRA BANHART
Mykki Blanco has been working on a new album for a while, and “You Will Find It,” her new collaboration with Devendra Banhart, was originally intended as an interlude between tracks. “I wanted to make a song with Devendra,” Mykki says. “I wanted to make a song with one of my heroes just like a few years ago when I made a song with Kathleen Hanna. I had met him a few times now playing the same festivals in Europe and he was just open and it felt like a full circle moment. I could honestly say a lot about this song – I mean Devendra not only sings on the record, but he plays. He’s not just a feature, he is now in the blood of the song, he’s a part of the composition. It felt right to release this song now, I felt like I had this capsule of really good energy and I needed to release it now and not wait but let the vibe be felt now in this really anxious moment – so it can feel like a light hearted mini mediation amidst all the current noise.”
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BADBADNOTGOOD – “GOODBYE BLUE” & “GLIDE (GOODBYE BLUE PT. 2)”
Genre-defying band BADBADNOTGOOD returns with a two-song single, “Goodbye Blue” (featuring vocals by Jonah Yano) and the instrumental “Glide (Goodbye Blue Pt. 2).” The former is an airy, slow-burning singer/songwriter track and the latter is a dose of modern-day, chilled-out jazz.
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JOHANNA WARREN – “TWISTED”
Johanna Warren’s new album Chaotic Good is due out May 1 via Wax Nine/Carpark Records, and the newest single is “Twisted,” which has her voice rising to a chills-inducing near-scream. “Shh don’t tell my other songs, this one’s my favorite,” Johanna says. “Screaming is fun,” she continues. “I used to be too concerned with maintaining a certain crystalline prettiness in my high register to ever let myself go there. It was a very restrictive approach to such a versatile instrument as the human voice. But now that prettiness is something I specifically try to avoid. I’d much rather my voice sound rough and textured. I’m more interested now in trying to make as many different kinds of sounds as I can.”
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SHAW & GROSSFELDT (SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO SIDE PROJECT) – “KLAVIER P”
Simian Mobile Disco’s Jas Shaw has teamed with composer Bas Grossfeldt for, Klavier, a minimalist electronic album centered around the Yamaha Disklavier, which is a real piano fitted with electronic sensors and triggers. It’s an unusual record that showcases both musicians’ strengths, as can per heard on this droney but captivating track.
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HINDS – “JUST LIKE KIDS (MIAU)”
“‘Miau’ is a cocktail of all the comments and ‘advice’ we’ve had to listen to during all this years in the band,” say Hinds of the inspiration behind this track from the upcoming Prettiest Curse that’s out in June. “From random strangers, ‘friends,’ and industry. Oh wait…the guy sitting next to you in the bus probably has an opinion too! if you wondered how does it feel to be a girl in a band, here you go.”
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YELLE – “JE T’AIME ENCORE”
“We’re working on a new album for early September and this is our first song,” say YELLE of this chilled out, elegant new single. “It’s a love letter to our country France. We wanted to create a gorgeous, deep song, based on pure, classical French pop chords. ‘Je t’aime encore’ feels like when you are stretching out in your cosy bed, after a perfect night. Wake up people, we are back!”
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BERTRAND BURGALAT – “VOUS ÊTES ICI”
Staying in France, here’s Bertrand Burgalat (whose debut album made Indie Basement’s Favorites of 2000 list), with a brand new single. BB says it’s intended for his new album, due at the end of the year but it felt right to release now. It comes with a very cool video, making impressive use of Google Earth technology, really underlining the “you are here” theme of the song.
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THE SOFT PINK TRUTH (DREW DANIEL OF MATMOS) – “WE”
Matmos’ Drew Daniel releases new Soft Pink Truth album Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? this Friday but here’s one last appetizer to tide you over until the full meal. Chilled out to the point of forming crystals “We” is lovely and the video was made by Drew’s Matmos (and life) parter M.C. Schmidt.
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STUTTER STEPS – “GIANT SAND HEART”
Pittsburgh’s Stutter Steps are back with a new album, Reeling, which will be out this friday. Primary member Ben Harrison collaborated with Anthony LaMarca (War on Drugs, St Vincent) on the album who “helped push the edges and brought an expansive energy to these new songs” and the record also features Jeff Baron of Essex Green and Ladybug Transistor. With a strummy vibe pulled along by droning organ, there’s a strong New Zealand/Flying Nun vibe to to this song — fans of The Clean and The Bats take note.
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ANDY JENKINS – “FAR AWAY FROM HERE” FT. ERIN RAE
“’Far Away from Here’ is a song about the after images of love, remembering those free and easy times, heightened emotions and lengthening shadows,” says Virgina artist Andy Jenkins of his new single for Spacebomb featuring Erin Rae. “It also describes the realization – after love is gone – of feeling pretty alright. I pictured someone at the end of a long day of traveling, who realized they felt good for the first time in a while. ‘I don’t mind the way I felt today, far away from here.’ What’s the saying? Distance makes the heart grow.”
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VIVA BELGRADO – BELLAVISTA
Spanish post-hardcore band Viva Belgrado dropped this new album and it’s very tight. The band cites such influences as proggy post-hardcore staples La Dispute and European screamo vets Daitro, and this album kinda sounds like the exact middle ground of both of those things. Check it out.
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CABANA WEAR – “OUT FOR A WALK”
NJ indie rockers Cabana Wear (mem By Surprise) are releasing the three-song EP Cape Weather EP this Friday (5/1) and lead single “Out For A Walk” is a catchy, crunchy dose of ’90s-style alt-rock.
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TISAKOREAN – “BATE ONNA BO”
Houston rapper (and Chance the Rapper collaborator) TisaKorean is releasing the Party Pack EP on Ultra Records at some point, and it’ll include this booming, bass-fueled new single.
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IN WOLVES CLOTHING – IT EATS ITSELF
Richmond screamo up and comers In Wolves Clothing just followed their 2018 self-titled EP with their first full-length, It Eats Itself, out now on Zegema Beach Records. It pulls elements from all across the board, from post-rock to black metal, and no matter what mode it’s in, it’s pretty raw, ferocious stuff.
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SWEET WHIRL – “PATTERNS OF NATURE”
Melbourne artist Esther Edquist, aka Sweet Whirl, is releasing a new album, How Much Works, on May 29 via Chapter Music, and she’s shared another new single from it, “Patterns of Nature.” It’s a warm, compelling ballad with a really classic, familiar feel, like a cozy sweater.
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PETEY & MIYA FOLICK – “CALIFORNIA (PRIUS EDITION)”
Fellow Terrible Records artists Petey and Miya Folick collaborated on an alternate “Prius edition” rendition of Petey’s track “California” with vocals from Miya.
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BRANT BJORK – “CLEANING OUT THE ASHTRAY”
Brant Bjork’s self-titled album was pushed back to May 8 via Heavy Psych Sounds digitally (and May 29 physically), and while you wait, here’s another song from it that finds his time-tested desert rock in fine form.
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RETIREMENT PARTY – “COMPENSATION”
Chicago’s Retirement Party release their second album, Runaway Dog in a couple weeks and here’s another single from it, the catchy indie rock number “Compensation.”
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LAND OF TALK – “COMPELLED”
Land of Talk’s new album Indistinct Conversations was originally due out in May, but it’s been pushed back to July 31 because of COVID-19. They’ve shared first single “Weight of that Weekend,” and Elizabeth Powell did a solo take on “Compelled” in a livestreamed performance earlier this month. Now the studio version is on streaming services, too. “‘Compelled’ is about being deeply attracted to someone who is in a (toxic) relationship, and wishing things were different,” Elizabeth says.
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PROTOMARTYR – “WORM IN HEAVEN”
Detroit’s Protomartyr have shared a second single from their upcoming new album Ultimate Success Today (which just saw its release date pushed back to July). “Worm in Heaven” is a slow-build of a song that has Joe Casey singing “I am a worm in heaven / so close to grace / could lick it off of the boot heels of the blessed” as it grows in intensity.
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REMO DRIVE – “STAR WORSHIP”
Remo Drive announced their third album and shared this great lead single, which you can read about here.
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BELL WITCH & AERIAL RUIN – “HEAVEN TORN LOW III (THE TOLL)”
Bell Witch and Aerial Run will release a collaborative album in June via Profound Lore, and you can read more about the slowcore-ish lead single here.
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JOCKSTRAP – “THE CITY”
Melbourne duo Jockstrap announced a new EP for Warp, Wicked City, and shared new single “The City,” which we wrote more about here.
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A.A. WILLIAMS – “ALL I ASKED FOR (WAS TO END IT ALL)”
A.A. Williams announced her debut album for Bella Union, and the first taste is the dark, climactic “All I Asked For (Was To End it All).” Read more here.
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MANY BLESSINGS – “RUINA”
Many Blessings, the solo noise project of Ethan McCarthy who also plays in the sludge band Primitive Man and the grindcore band Vermin Womb, will release his sophomore album Emanation Body on May 29 via Translation Loss. Read more about lead single “Ruina” here.
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BOWERBIRDS – “ENDLESS CHASE” & “HAZEL EYES”
North Carolina’s Bowerbirds are back with their first new music since 2012. Phil, who is steering the Bowerbirds ship by himself these days, says both “Endless Chase” and “Hazel Eyes” are “about memories, juxtaposing the feelings of when I was a child to now.”
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
