25 New Songs Out Today

WHITNEY JOHNSON LIA KOHL, & MACIE STEWART: photo by Leah Wendzinski

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.

BIG THIEF – “GRANDMOTHER (FT. LARAAJI)” & “LOS ANGELES”

Big Thief’s new album, Double Infinity, will be out in a month and they’ve just shared two more songs from it: the atmospheric Laraaji collab “Grandmother,” and “Los Angeles” is about former lovers becoming friends.

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SAINTSENECA – “SWEET NOTHING”

Saintseneca release their first album in 7 years, Highwalllow & Supermoon Songs, on Halloween, and they’ve given us another preview with “Sweet Nothing.” “On my honeymoon, years ago, I found this little riff,” Zac Little says. “It seemed to lead somewhere, but the edges rolled off into nothingness – a faded out map. I’d find fragments and try to line them up to no avail. Disparate states that just almost match up – but not quite. Like how you can tell the continents used to touch. I laid it in the drawer to sleep. The big heavy things – transcendent, effervescent, crushing, or crushing. It’s hard to find a tune buoyant enough to carry them. Then Patti Smith’s dream cowboy paid me a visit – straight off the M Train, and blessed me with a chorus. ‘I’m sure I could write endlessly about nothing. If only I had nothing to say.'”

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SAINT ETIENNE – “TAKE ME TO THE PILOT” FT ORBITAL

Saint Etienne’s final album, International is loaded with big name collaborators, including Orbital and procducers Xenomania who co-wrote this new single. Says Pete Wiggs: “Back in 1990, after Bob [Stanley] had written a piece on Orbital, the Hartnoll brothers kindly let us see their stage setup, we hadn’t done anything live yet and were slightly mystified. I think we remained so. Years later, now much wiser, I was reintroduced to Paul at a party in Hove, where I now live. We kept bumping into each other on the seafront, got chatting, and although I wasn’t sure he’d say yes, I asked if he’d be up for writing a song with us. He did – and we love it!” The song’s gorgeously shot video was directed by Alasdair McLellan who did all the visual accompanyment for the band’s 2021 album I’ve Been Trying to Tell You.

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STELLA DONNELLY – “BATHS” & “STANDING OVATION”

Stella Donnelly is back with her first new music since her 2022 album Flood, the spare “Baths” and synthy “Standing Ovation.”

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THE LEMONHEADS – “THE KEY OF VICTORY”

The Lemonheads’ first new album in forever is out October 24 and here’s the third single, a pretty acoustic ballad titled “The Key of Victory.”

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WEAKENED FRIENDS – “NPC” FT. BUCKETHEAD

The latest single off Weakened Friends’ new album Feels Like Hell features former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Buckethead. “Really happy to have been asked to play on the song,” he says. “Weakened Friends are one of my favorite groups and their new album is so great, I really encourage everyone to get it. Honored to be asked to be on their record. They’re a great live band as well. If you get a chance, definitely go see them.”

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JENS LEKMAN – “WEDDING IN LEIPZIG”

“‘Wedding in Leipzig’ is a song that never wanted to end, it just kept writing itself,” Jens Lekman says of the 10-minute song from his upcoming concept double album, Songs For Other People’s Weddings. “I think it was 20 minutes long at one point before I started cutting it down. I think I was subconsciously inspired by Lou Reed’s ‘Street Hassle’ when I was writing it. In the song we find J, the wedding singer in our story, in a rather desperate and vulnerable state as he makes his way to a wedding gig in Leipzig. There he’s placed at the dreaded singles table, consisting of a bunch of loners and weirdos. And through stories told at the table, he begins to ponder what it means to be alone.”

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SAMIA – “POOL (STRIPPED)”

Samia’s emotional Tiny Desk performance of “Pool,” the opening track of her 2020 debut, is currently making a splash on TikTok, so she’s shared a new stripped back version of it.

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ANAND WILDER (YEASAYER) – “MOLLY’S SONG”

Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder calls “Molly’s Song” his favorite song on his upcoming solo album. “This is probably the most direct and honest love song on the album,” he says, “no personas standing in, just self-analysis inspired by a protracted lover’s quarrel, where you can see certain patterns of behavior are looping, and even though you know that a little tenderness would alleviate the anger, it’s the last thing you feel like doing in the heat of the battle. I think of myself as pretty easy going, but when I cross a certain threshold my instinct is to escalate, get defensive and dig in my heels.”

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KADHJA BONET – “BATTLEWEAR”

Kadhja Bonet announced a new EP, Battlewear, due out September 18, and shared the title track. “This song is a direct cry to topple the oligarchy and end tech-fascism,” they say. “The billionaires think we will let them dismantle our rights and our decency and they are wrong. The resistance will grow, it has to.”

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LA DISPUTE – ACT 4 of NO ONE WAS DRIVING THE CAR

La Dispute have released three more songs from No One Was Driving The Car (and a video for one of them), meaning 12 of the album’s 14 songs are now here. If you like what you hear, pick up our exclusive tri-color vinyl variant, limited to 300.

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FIELD MEDIC – “SIMPLY OBSESSED”

Field Medic’s new album Surrender Instead is out this Friday, and ahead of its release he’s shared a final advance single, “simply obsessed.” “This song began as the opening lyrics & melody in my head while I was on a walk,” he says. “It had been a long time since I wrote a full-on love song, which is something I used to really enjoy. I wanted to make a song that felt empowering to listen to and remind the audience that they’re deserving of love and of course stylish no matter what they choose to wear.”

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RETIREMENT PARTY – “SIXTH SENSE”

Chicago indie-emo band Retirement Party returned from retirement with a new lineup in 2023 and now they’ve announced a new EP, Nothing to Hear Without a Sound. Its first single “Sixth Sense” is their first new songs in five years, and it’s very catchy stuff.

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SQUIRREL FLOWER – “ALL-NIGHTER” (BAD BAD HATS COVER)

Bad Bad Hats announced a tenth anniversary edition of their debut album Psychic Reader, plus a digital companion featuring covers of each song by various artists. The first of those covers, Squirrel Flower’s take on “All-Nighter,” is out now. “Squirrel Flower perfectly invokes the listless melancholy of my early demo, which perfectly conveys the forlorn anxiety of the lyrics,” guitarist and vocalist Kerry Alexander says. “I feel instantly transported by Ella’s heartfelt performance to that delicate time in my life.”

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ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER – “FOUR-DOOR CHARGER”

The trio of Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain, Comets On Fire) will release their self-titled debut album on September 5 via Drag City and you can get a taste of what to expect on this bluesy stomper.

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LONG FLING (PIP BLOM & PERSONAL TRAINER) – “FLUNG”

Pip Blom and Personal Trainer’s Willem Smit, who have been a couple for a decade now, have teamed up for a collab album as Long Fling and will release their self-titled debut on October 3. Pip says, “We’d never done everything including the mixing ourselves before. I think we both felt comfortable doing it this time because we were in it together, and we were okay with the idea that the record didn’t need to be super polished or perfect… When we each asked our dads whether the album sounded more like a Willem album or a Pip album, they both said the other’s name. I really feel like we made this album together – it’s a true blend of the both of us.”

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COLLAPSING SCENERY – “MAGIC BUTTON”

Reggie Debris and Don Devore are back with a new Collapsing Scenery album, Stand Up Tragedy, which will be out September 5. “‘Pressing the magic button’ is old CIA slang for assassination,” says Reggie of the inspo behind the new single. “This is a song about unintended consequences, blowback, and imperial hubris. After decades of engendering insurgencies, rogue states, rebellions and civil wars, we have learned no lessons from our myriad foreign policy failures. We are caught in an endless cycle of retribution and reaction, punctuated by hasty attempts at cleanup and moral grandstanding.”

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WHITNEY JOHNSON, LIA KOHL, & MACIE STEWART – “STONE PIECE I”

Chicago musicians Whitney Johnson (Matchess), Lia Kohl (El Infierno Musical) and Macie Stewart (Ohmme) have formed a new trio and have released their first music via International Anthem. “Stone Piece I” was fashioned out of string and vocal improvisations by Johnson, Kohl, and Stewart and then processed, looped and edited them further into what you have here.

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ELA MINUS AND NICK LEÓN – “QQQQ (NICK LEÓN APOCALYPTO MIX)”

Ela Minus has collaborated with Nick León on a new version of “QQQQ” from this year’s DÍA.

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JOAN SHELLEY – “EVERYBODY”

Here’s the splendid first single from Joan Shelley upcoming 10th album, Real Warmth.

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RHETT MILLER – “COME AS YOU ARE” FT TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS’ EVAN FELKER

No it’s not a Nirvana cover but a Rhett Miller original co-written and featuring Turnpike Troubadours’ Evan Felker. It’s the first single from Rhett’s upcoming album A lifetime of riding by night.

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ALGERNON CADWALLADER – “HAWK”

Emo revival OGs Algernon Cadwallader have announced their first album in 14 years, Trying Not to Have a Thought, due in September via their new label home of Saddle Creek. Read more about lead single “Hawk” here.

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AFI – “BEHIND THE CLOCK”

AFI go full ’80s goth rock like never before on “Behind the Clock,” their first single from their upcoming 12th album and first for Run For Cover, Silver Bleeds the Black Sun. Read more here and pick up our exclusive purple/white swirl vinyl variant.

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AREN’T WE AMPHIBIANS – “DUNCE HAT”

If you’re excited that Algernon Cadwallader announced a new album, you should also be excited that rising “emo revival revival” band Aren’t We Amphibians just announced their debut album, Parade! Parade!. Read more about lead single “Dunce Hat” here.

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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the New Songs archive