So many artists, so many songs, 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. 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.
SELF ESTEEM – “YOU CAN GET IT IF YOU REALLY WANT” (JIMMY CLIFF COVER)
New BBC series This Town, which is set around the 2-Tone ska scene of the early-’80s, closes each episode with a cover of a period-appropriate cover and the first episode features Self Esteem covering Jimmy Cliff’s classic, “You Can Get it If You Really Want.”
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MARGAUX – “I WOULDN’T WANT IT ANY OTHER WAY”
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Margaux Bouchegnies announces her debut full length album, Inside the Marble, due out on June 7 via Massif Records. About delicate new single “I Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way,” she says, “I think the worst part of a breakup is the feeling of losing your friend… this song is about coming to terms with the way things are and truly accepting that reality, but really missing the friendship you once shared. Harmonically I wanted this song to oscillate between feeling grounded but also a little untethered… my hope is that it communicates the longing that can still be present even when you believe it’s for the best.”
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JANE PENNY (TOPS) – “BEAUTIFUL ORDINARY”
TOPS singer Jane Penny releases her debut solo EP this Friday and here’s one last early taste before you can stream the whole thing. “This song is about being afraid to lose someone that you love,” Penny says. “When I listen to it now it sounds like an anthem for codependency. At that time I thought that the more afraid you are to lose someone, the stronger your love was. I’ve come to see those fears in a different way, but I know they were very real emotions. I love dark ’80s music, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys etc., and I thought that ’80s vibe suited a song about such angsty juvenile feelings.”
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ROMY – “DID I” (PEACHES REMIX)
“Peaches is an absolute icon and has inspired me in so many ways over the years,” Romy says of the new remix of her Mid Air track. “Peaches was one of the first gigs I ever went to and I’ve never forgotten her energy onstage, her lyrics, production and how she continuously pushes boundaries for the better. With this project I wanted to celebrate queer dance music and I couldn’t think of an artist who embodies this more than Peaches, I’m honoured that she has not only remixed ‘Did I’ but added a verse too!” Peaches adds, We’ve always had a great admiration for each other and this was the perfect moment to collaborate.”
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CADENCE WEAPON – MY COMPUTER FT. MACHINEDRUM
“I wanted to rap about tech companies and the physical impact they have on cities,” says Cadence Weapon of this new song featuring techno artist Machinedrum. “One example is the ill-fated Sidewalk Labs project where Google attempted to build a neighborhood of the future in Toronto where garbage collection was automated and the taxis drove themselves. While that project failed, I find cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and London are basically already there. These tech-utopias have one thing in common: working people are typically made expendable and pushed to the margins.” New album ROLLERCOASTER is out April 19 via MNRK.
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SWAMP DOGG – “COUNT THE DAYS” FT. JENNY LEWIS
The second early taste of Swamp Dogg’s new album Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St is “Count the Days,” which Jenny Lewis sings on. “I figured, once a hit, always a hit—and this song has been a hit three times with Inez and Charlie Foxx, Joss Stone, and Gene Pitney,” Swamp Dogg says. “After hearing Jenny Lewis’ voice, I knew it was destined to be a hit again.”
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LIP CRITIC – “IN THE WAWA (CONVINCED I AM GOD)”
Anyone whose spent time in a gas station convenience store convinced they are a deity will certainly relate to Lip Critic’s new single. For the rest of us, this is also a rad electro-punk jam. It’s off their debut album, Hex Dealer, that’s out in March.
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GRACE CUMMINGS – “A PRECIOUS THING”
Ahead of the release of her new album Ramona on Friday, Grace Cummings shared a final advance single, “A Precious Thing.” “I wrote this song on Christmas Eve in 2022,” she says. “I think it’s pretty self explanatory. This song used to feature the screech of an eagle. We decided to take that part out and replace it with a Timpani.”
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DRAAG – “ORB WEAVER”
Shoegaze band Draag have announced a new EP, Actually, the quiet is nice, due May 17 via TAGABOW’s Philly-based label Julia’s War, and the first single is the sweetly woozy “Orb Weaver.”
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SARAH GRACE WHITE – “SINKHOLE”
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sarah Grace White followed her 2023 debut EP, Are You Here This Time, with a new single, “Sinkhole,” that she worked on with Jorge Balbi. “I wanted the production to reflect the unreliable tint of memory,” she says. “We worked out of Valentine Studios in LA to build a reflective palette rife with small stories and space. There’s a very nostalgic, open quality to that studio, so we allowed the character of the room to speak for itself. This is a story song; I wanted the vocals to be confessional and direct, laid out plain at the forefront of a soundscape that is at once hypnotic and arresting, lulling the listener into the past while still pulling them forward. Like all the music I like, it is hopeful, and a little sad.”
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MURF – “5 IRON”
Minneapolis hardcore maniacs Murf will release Already Dead on June 7 via Learning Curve Records, and the band tells Cvlt Nation that the album “seeks to break the thick walls of PTSD, re-examining the past with more matured eyes yet still standing in awe at the intensity/insanity of life. It addresses surviving a pandemic, living in the city that sparked a worldwide discussion on police brutality, the bitter-sweet feelings of nostalgia with those who are no longer here, and commenting on hyper-commercialism.” First single “5 Iron” is an absolute rager.
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KELSEY WALDON – “UNCLE PEN” (ft. AMANDA SHIRES)
Kelsey Waldon taps Amanda Shires for a wonderful update of Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen” from her upcoming album There’s Always a Song.
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CONTENTION – “IN THE LAND OF NOD”
Tampa’s Contention have announced their debut LP Artillery From Heaven, due May 3 via DAZE. They call it an “apocalyptic straight edge album,” and lead single “In the Land of Nod” is a metallic hardcore song “about watching friends and loved ones succumb to their addictions.”
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ARIELLA – “BLINDSIDED”
LA singer/songwriter Ariella has just signed to Lauren Records, and her debut single for the label is “Blindsided,” a somber, folky song in the boygenius realm.
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LA LUZ – “POPPIES”
“”Poppies is about the surreal feeling of going through the horror and isolation of a cancer diagnosis and treatment and then suddenly being out in the bright world again,” says La Luz’s Shana Cleveland, “trying to make sense of it all, feeling like I’m walking through a waking dream, seeing the first wildflowers come out and feeling a similar sense of rebirth.” La Luz’s new album News of the Universe is out May 24 via Sub Pop.
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MIKE LINDSAY (TUNNG) – TABLE FT. ANNA B SAVAGE
Here’s another course from Tunng member Mike Lindsay’s food-themed solo album, supershapes volume 1. Like much of the album, “Table” features lead vocals from Anna B Savage.
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OH BOLAND – “HERE COMES THE ORDER OF MALTA”
Irish band Oh Boland will release new album Western Leisure on May 31. Fans of Protomartyr might dig this not only because they share a love of angular guitars and half-sung vocals, but also Protomartyr frontman Joe Casey did the artwork. Check out the first single.
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JESS CORNELIUS – “BACK TO THE MAINLAND”
New Zealand artist Jess Cornelius releases new album CARE/TAKING on June 14 via Tender Loving Empire. “‘Back to the Mainland’ is my favorite song on the album, I think because of the territory it covers both sonically and emotionally,” Jess says of the album’s latest single. “In the beginning I’m playing fingerpicked nylon string guitar, then gradually the kick drum and these beautiful ‘disco’ Mellotron strings and vocal harmonies come in, and then it kind of takes off into this full-blown fuzz bass, guitar, synth and drum outro.”
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DIRTY THREE – “LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING PART 1”
Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White are back as Dirty Three, and have announced Love Changes Everything, their first album in 12 years, that will be out June 28.
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BEACHWOOD SPARKS – “TORN IN TWO”
Psychedelic alt-country vets Beachwood Sparks are back and have announced Across The River Of Stars, their first album in 12 years, which will be out July 19 via Curation Records. Original members Chris Gunst (guitar/vocals), Brent Rademaker (bass/vocals), and Farmer Dave Scher (lap steel/keys/vocals), along with newer members Ben Knight (guitar), Jen Cohen Gunst (keys/guitar) and Andres Renteria (drums) made the album with producer Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes.
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OLD 97’S – “SOMEBODY”
Rhett Miller says “Somebody” is “Old 97’s at our Garage Rock finest.” It’s the final advance single off their new album American Primitive, and you can read more about it here.
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PUZZLED PANTHER FT EUGENE HUTZ & BRIAN CHASE – “LEGS LONG”
Puzzled Panther, the NYC band led by Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo that also features Gogol Bordello‘s Eugene Hutz and Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase, have shared their self-titled debut EP, which is out now via Hutz’s Casa Gogol Records. “Legs Long” is the new single and video.
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CANDY – “EXISTENZ”
Richmond’s boundary-pushing metallic hardcore band Candy have announced their third album, It’s Inside You, due 6/7 via Relapse. Read about lead single “eXistenZ” here.
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SUMAC – “YELLOW DAWN”
SUMAC (members of Isis, Botch, etc) have announced a new album, The Healer, along with this epic lead single. Read more here.
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PEDRO THE LON – “MODESTO”
Pedro the Lion have announced a new album, Santa Cruz, and you can read about lead single “Modesto” here.
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UMBRA VITAE – “BELIEF IS OBSOLETE”
Umbra Vitae, the death metal band fronted by Converge’s Jacob Bannon (that also features current and former members of The Red Chord, Twitching Tongues, Hatebreed, Uncle Acid, Job For A Cowboy, and more), have shared the first taste of their upcoming sophomore album Light of Death. Read more here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive.