Cass McCombs & Steve Gunn

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.

CASS MCCOMBS & STEVE GUNN – “SWEET LUCY” (MICHAEL HURLEY COVER) / “WILD MOUNTAIN THYME” (TRADITIONAL)

Cass McCombs and Steve Gunn were to have toured together this year and while COVID put a stop to that, here’s both sides of what was to have been a tour-only 7″. “My side is a song written by Michael Hurley, Steve’s side is a traditional Scottish/Irish song,” explains Cass. “We did them both the same day, as quickly as possible, in a studio in Burbank. It was supposed to be a souvenir. I suppose it still is, but for a different reason.” Released on Bandcamp as part of the Juneteenth fundraiser, all proceeds from these songs will be donated to the Okra Project, Elevate Oakland and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

ARCA – “KLK” FT. ROSALIA

Arca’s new album KiCk i, which is due out this week, is full of anticipated collaborations, and here’s one of them, “KLK,” featuring Rosalia, and co-produced by Arca’s friend since adolescence, Cardopusher. “I always think of the furruco when I program sub bass,” Arca writes. “The furruco is an autoctonous musical instrument that is played via friction of a rod attached to a large drum head. when rubbed it produces a big sub bass pulse that marks the tempo for the whole gaita groupm, gaita is typical venezuelan music. I played furruco for years it in the gaita groups of my school and a music academy i went to and it influenced me a lot, as well as learning cuatro. Venezuelan music has always been with me, and I’m so grateful to have studied some of its musical stylings.”

KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH – “LAGOON”

The latest in Mexican Summer’s “Looking Glass” digital singles series, “Lagoon” is not too far from what Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith made on this year’s The Mosaic Of Transformation, full of flutey synths and clattering percussion.

JESU – “BECAUSE OF YOU”

Justin Broadrick will release new Jesu EP, Never, later this year and here’s the first track from it. “Because of You” is, like a lot of Jesu’s work, both atmospheric and heavy with layers of metallic sheen floating above pulsing electronics and some dreamlike vocals.

LAND OF TALK – “FOOTNOTES”

Land of Talk’s new album Indistinct Conversations is due out July 31, and about new single “Footnotes,” Elizabeth Powell says, “The music itself is the very sound of people connecting – lush and layered with swirling synths and dreamy guitar noise, driving drums – I envision us all sweatily, joyfully performing together on stage. Lyrically though this song has revealed itself to be about loneliness. How we get sidelined by/stuck in it, and the wish-hope-struggle to reach out and connect with others. The chorus promise ‘I’ll be there night after night’ is at once comforting and threatening. Is it a loved-one talking or the loneliness itself?”

ALAN BRAUFMAN – “SUNRISE”

Jazz great Alan Braufman will release new album The Fire Still Burns on arrive on August 28. The album features Cooper-Moore (piano), James Brandon Lewis (Tenor sax), Andrew Drury (drums), Ken Filiano (bass), and Alan himself on alto sax and flute. The fire is definitely burning on the record’s searing, if controlled, opening blaze, “Sunrise.”

CITY GIRLS – “JOBS”

City Girls released their new album City On Lock over the weekend (featuring Doja Cat, Lil Durk, Yo Gotti, and Lil Baby) and they put out a video for its single “Jobs.” It’s the duo’s first album since JT was released from prison in 2019.

COUNTERPARTS – “PURER FORM OF PAIN” & “STRINGS OF SEPARATION”

Just two weeks ago, Counterparts vocalist Brendan Murphy’s band END put out their killer new album, and now Counterparts unleashed two non-album tracks from the sessions for 2019’s Nothing Left To Love. Brendan writes, “You might love them, you might think they stink, either way it’s all good by me. They’re b-sides! Who gives a shit?” We certainly don’t think they stink!

NARROW HEAD – “NIGHT TRYST”

Houston’s Narrow Head will release their new album 12th House Rock on August 28 via Run For Cover (their first for the label), and if you miss ’90s grunge, you should check this new single out.

JAGA JAZZIST – “SPIRAL ERA” (PRINS THOMAS REMIX)

Jaga Jazzist’s new self-produced album Pyramid comes out August 7 via Brainfeeder, and it includes their recent single “Spiral Era,” which just got a sprawling, hypnotic, 11-minute remix by Prins Thomas.

NEVILLE STAPLE BAND (THE SPECIALS) – “LOCKDOWN”

Neville Staple of The Specials just released this dubby new single which is a collaboration with his wife, Sugary Staple. “Sugary came up with the idea to write a song about the lockdown, which, at first, was a very fast-stomping ska track. We then realised that it was too fun and happy a tune for the theme. Most of us have been quite down about the whole virus thing, so we decided to take it on a more sweet but moody 2Tone reggae route, in a similar vein to ‘Ghost Town’, with some music we had worked on previously with Sledge (Steve Armstrong).”

WILLIAM CASHION (FUTURE ISLANDS) – “LIGHTNING BUG” & “TRIPLE OCEAN”

Future Islands bassist WIlliam Cashion will release Postcard Music, his first solo album, on Friday, June 26. The songs, influenced by meditation, travel and the ocean, were all conceived with this question on mind: “What is the sound of a song that has no beginning and no end?”

GORDI – “EXTRAORDINARY LIFE”

Australian singer and songwriter Sophie Payten releases her second album as Gordi, Our Two Skins, on Friday, and ahead of that she’s shared new single “Extraordinary Life.” “I was standing in a shower in a hostel in Ghent at 2am towards the end of 2017 and I started humming,” she says. “I began recording the demo in stairwells across Europe while I was on tour with Asgeir and in most of the demo vocals you can hear distant chatter in Icelandic. For all the turmoil and anguish described in the record, this song just sits in pure joy. I like the idea that the ultimate gesture of love is to make someone feel exceptional; like they deserve an extraordinary life.”

BRIGHT EYES – “MARIANA TRENCH”

After teasing their 2020 return back in January and confirming they had a new album planned in March, Bright Eyes have officially announced Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, their first album in nine years, due out August 21 via Dead Oceans. This is the new single.

MIKE – “ALLSTAR” (ft. EARL SWEATSHIRT)

MIKE put out his new album Weight of the World, and the great closing track “Allstar” features Earl Sweatshirt.

THURSTON MOORE – “HASHISH”

Thurston Moore announced a new solo album, and the first single is “Hashish.” Read more here.

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