VIc Mensa

9 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 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.

VIC MENSA – “NO MORE TEAR DROPS”

After debuting it on the Lollapalooza livestream, Vic Mensa has now officially released his new single “No More Tear Drops.” It fuses ’70s psychedelic soul with modern-day rap, and it’s a lyrically powerful protest song that resonates very strongly right now.

BILL CALLAHAN – “BREAKFAST”

The last burning embers of a relationship play out over a morning meal in this terrific, melancholy track from Bill Callahan’s upcoming Gold Record. “She’s been leaving like a suntan ever since this sunset began / and when she leaves the surgery, she leaves her watch in me.” Gold Record’s out September 4 via Drag City.

SAD13 – “CALIFORNIA” (PHANTOM PLANET/THE OC COVER)

Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, aka Sad13, has been making the most of her HBO Max account watching ’00s-era indie-loving teen soap The OC, and tweeting along with her binge. “Why not,” she wrote on Twitter sharing her version of The OC theme song, aka “California” by Phantom Planet. Make no mistake, though, she’s covering it in opening credits form, all 37 seconds of it, which is really all you need. Seth Cohen forever.

NO JOY – “DREAM RATS” (FT ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ)

Montreal’s No Joy release new album Motherhood next week via Joyful Noise / Hand Drawn Dracula, and here’s a track that features frontwoman Jasamine White-Gluz’s sister, Alissa, who plays in deathcore supergroup Arch Enemy. “I’ve never collaborated musically with my sister before,” says Jasamine. “When we were kids we would sing and play music together but as we’ve both become adults and touring musicians we’ve never had a chance to work together. This is the heaviest song on this record so it felt fitting to have her on there. There is something special about her being on this album, specifically because it’s an exploration of family and motherhood.” It’s definitely heavy, but also has space for No Joy’s ethereal side, too.

SHADES APART – “95”

NJ punks Shades Apart’s first album in 19 years, Eternal Echo, comes out 8/28 via Hellminded Records, and here’s second single “95.” “The track ’95’ is a tribute to the community of friends and musicians who inspired us, and a generation of youth breaking down walls and making an impact in arts and culture and real life. They echo forever, like a soundtrack for our lives,” the band told No Echo. Listen here.

PRINCE FATTY W/ SHNIECE – “BLACK RABBIT” (JEFFERSON AIRPLANE COVER)

Producer Prince Fatty and singer Shniece, who just released a cover of Tom Browne’s “Funkin’ for Jamaica,” are already back with this dubbed-out take on Jefferson Airplane’s counter culture classic, here given a slight title tweak. “After Breaking Bad and Grey’s Anatomy, Hollywood got to know about the Prince Fatty sound,” Fatty says. “All was quiet for a while until I got a call from a sync agent asking if I had any psychedelic ‘Free Love’ era songs in my style for a pitch. I had to admit that I didn’t but it got me thinking which songs could be converted. A selection was drawn, and ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane stuck out. A masterpiece of course and quite a challenge as the vocal is so skilfully delivered.”

HOVVDY – “I’M SORRY”

Hovvdy released a new single, “Runner,” last month, and now they’ve followed it with a second, which “is about the mixed emotions when a relationship has to change or end,” Will Taylor says. “Grief and relief. We were excited to pull the guitars back to let the vocals and ambient textures shine. The clank and swing of the programmed drums create a resonance and energy that brings it all together.”

LO TOM – “START PAYIN'”

Back in 2017, before Pedro the Lion reunited, David Bazan released the debut album by his new band Lo Tom, which also features former Pedro the Lion member TW Walsh and Starflyer 59 members Jason Martin and Trey Many (the latter of whom also played in His Name Is Alive and has drummed for Pedro the Lion). They’re now prepping a second album for September 4 via self-release, and they’re crowdfunding it on Kickstarter and just released lead single “Start Payin’.” More so than the first album, this new song embraces some of the heavy shoegaze guitars of classic Starflyer 59, and that ends up sounding pretty great with David Bazan’s trademark songwriting style. Read more here.

GLENN MERCER (THE FEELIES) – “HERE SHE COMES NOW” (VELVET UNDERGROUND COVER)

The Feelies have covered a lot of Velvet Underground songs over the last 40 years and they’ve even done whole VU tribute shows. One song they’ve never covered, though, is “Here She Comes Now.” Feelies frontman Glenn Mercer now has, however, as part of the month-long Galaxie 500 tribute that’s leading up to the Record Store Day reissue of Galaxie 500’s Copenhagen live album on August 29. It’s a bit of a cheat for Glenn, but Galaxie 500 did cover the song as a bonus track for their third and final album, This is Our Music, and it’s also on Copenhagen.

Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive and check out today’s round up of Bandcamp releases.