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 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.
THOUGHT CONTROL - SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM EP
NJ's Thought Control formed this year (with members of Sunstroke, The Dividing Line, and Electric Flesh), and their debut EP Shock To The System is the kind of classic, no-frills hardcore that never goes out of style, and it fucking rips.
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NIGHTFALL - "DARKNESS FOREVER"
Greek metal vets Nightfall have announced their first album in seven years, At Night We Prey, due March 5 via Season of Mist. Lead single "Darkness Forever" is a whiplash-inducing dose of pure evil that picks right up where the last album left off.
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PURGATORY - "STACK 'EM UP"
Midwest hardcore bruisers Purgatory have announced that their sophomore album will arrive in spring 2021 via Unbeaten Records, but first they've got a bone-crushing new standalone single, "Stack 'Em Up." The band says, "This is a very anti-police, anti-politician, anti-justice system song dealing with the corrupt, greedy, evil, vile, racist, hate-fueled things ingrained in the whole system that runs our world."
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BARTEES STRANGE - "POOL" (SAMIA COVER)
Samia's 2020 debut album, The Baby, is getting a rework through her friends and contemporaries on The Baby Reimagined, due out January 15 via Grand Jury. The latest single from it is Bartees Strange's intense, gorgeous take on "The Pool."
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SADA BABY - "PRESSIKAN"
Prolific Detroit rapper Sada Baby had his biggest year yet in 2020, and he's still going. He just returned with the new single "Pressikan," a hazy yet bouncy song that proves he's still got plenty of more ideas up his sleeve.
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KENNY MASON - "A+" (ft. DENZEL CURRY)
Kenny Mason follows up his 2020 album Angelic Hoodrat with a new song that features Denzel Curry. Both rappers share an abrasive, punk-ish approach to rap, but on "A+" they explore a more chilled-out side.
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박혜진 PARK HYE JIN & NOSAJ THING - "CLOUDS"
Having recently put out a song with Blood Orange, 박혜진 Park Hye Jin returns with a Nosaj Thing collab on Ninja Tune, and it's an appealing dose of brisk, subtle electronic pop.
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MATT SWEENEY & BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY - "MAKE WORRY FOR ME" VIDEO
Superwolves Matt Sweeney and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy have made a video for their new single "Make Worry for me." It was filmed at A Cell in The Smile, the underground bunker "architectonic sculpture" installation created by artists Freeman & Lower somewhere outside Cleveland. Matt and Will, at least according to the press release, hung out there a lot. "The 18 months we spent in Freeman and Lowe's bunker felt like 18 years," say the Superwolves. "It feels great to be out and to be able to share some of what we did during our internment. The first few drafts of the song and its accompanying visualization were full of anger and fear. Finally we got around to owning it, and like good Stockhausen Syndrome sufferers, we now love Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe and everything they do.” The installation does make for good scene locations, and the video matches the song's simmering vibe.
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NIGHTSHIFT - "MAKE KIN"
Glasgow band Nightshift, who share members with Spinning Coin and 2 Ply, will release their new album, Zöe, February 26 via Trouble in Mind. First single "Make Kin" recalls low-key post punk like This Heat and Young Marble Giants. Nice appetizer.
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ADA ROOK - SEPARATED FROM HER TWIN, A DYING ANDROID ARRIVES ON A MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
One half of the broken up Black Dresses, Ada Rook has had a prolific 2020, and follows her June LP 2,020 Knives with a new EP, separated from her twin, a dying android arrives on a mysterious island.
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GLITTERER - "ARE YOU SURE?"
Glitterer (Title Fight's Ned Russin) announced a new album, and you can read more about lead single "Are You Sure?" here.
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CAROLINE POLACHEK - "HIT ME WHERE IT HURTS" (TORO Y MOI REMIX FT. CHINO MORENO)
Caroline Polachek rolled out more Pang remixes today, including this one that was done by Toro y Moi and features newly-added vocals by Deftones' Chino Moreno.
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CULT OF LUNA - "THREE BRIDGES"
Long-running post-metal greats Cult of Luna have shared the first taste of their upcoming EP, and you can read more about it here.
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MUZZ - COVERS EP (MAZZY STAR, DYLAN, TRACY CHAPMAN, ARTHUR RUSSELL
Muzz, the indie supergroup trio of Interpol frontman Paul Banks, Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), and Matt Barrick (The Walkmen), just released their covers EP, featuring their pretty, low-key takes on Mazzy Star's "Fade into You", Bob Dylan's "Girl from North Country", Tracy Chapman's "For You," and Arthur Russell's "Nobody Wants a Lonely Heart." They bring their melancholic charm to all four songs, even breathing a little life into the oft-covered "Fade Into You."
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THIS IS THE KIT - "BAD FEELING" (MUZZ COVER)
Meanwhile, This is the Kit has covered Muzz's "Bad Feeling" to help them celebrate their EP's release. It's also in the spirit of camaraderie, as Josh Kaufman produced This is the Kit's new album Off Off On.
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CHERRY GLAZERR - "RABBIT HOLE"
Cherry Glazer's new single is a dancy, poppy new direction for Clementine Creevy's group. “I feel like I’m growing into the artist that I’ve always wanted to be," Creevy says, “it feels better than anything to do what you want with your own art."
SPACE CADET (THE EXPLOSION) - "FOREVER FOR A WHILE"
The Explosion vocalist Matt Hock and guitarist David Walsh have a new jangly punk band, Space Cadet, and you can read more about this new single here.
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MODERN HUT - "I DON'T WANT TO GET ADJUSTED TO THIS WORLD"
Don Giovanni Records founder Joe Steinhardt's Modern Hut project (which is now basically a duo with Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster) announced a new album and the first single is this anti-folk cover of gospel song "I Don't Want To Get Adjusted To This World." Read more here.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.