Dr. Dog, Melvins, Bartees Strange & more

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.

COUCH SLUT – “THE DONKEY” (ABRIDGED)

NYC’s noisy, sludgy Couch Slut have shared the second taste of You Could Do It Tonight.

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MAYA HAWKE – “DARK”

The latest single from Maya Hawke’s new album Chaos Angel is “Dark,” which she says is “a cut and dry love song about a relationship struggling to find its footing. It’s about trying to sort out the mixed bag of history and pain two people bring into a new love to find the path forward. The chorus was written a few years ago when I was going through a particularly debilitating bout of bedtime anxiety: I would lay in bed with the fear that if I let myself fall asleep, my brain would forget how to breathe and I would die in my sleep. I saw a doctor who told me that I had to become okay with dying. He said if I accepted it, I would be able to sleep and would likely…not die. He was right, I didn’t die. And I wrote this song to celebrate it.”

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DR. DOG – “STILL CAN’T BELIEVE”

Dr. Dog have dropped a new single, a rustic, swaying, rock ballad called “Still Can’t Believe.”

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TEI SHI – “NO FALTA”

Tei Shi’s new album Valerie is out on April 19 via The Orchard, and the latest single is “No Falta,” which she calls “a doe-eyed love song, uplifting and playful, but at its core, it delves into themes of denial. To me, it’s a conversation with someone you desperately plead with, grasping for something that might not even exist. It’s a bit delirious and desperate. The song’s name translates to ‘nothing is missing’, or ‘nothing is lacking’. I made the song with Knox Fortune and incorporated Rodrigo Amarante’s playing—he played all the hand percussion, guitar, and bass guitar you hear on it. It ended up being a blend of future-y electronic tropicalia with elements of neo-soul—which is just as I envisioned it. 🙂 I love Brazilian music, and that was an inspiration while I was working on it. It’s part of why I thought Rodrigo would bring exactly what the song needed in terms of instrumentation.”

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ANOTHER MICHAEL – “MUDSLIDE”

“‘Mudslide’ is all about framing anxiety as something more communal that everyone goes through, as opposed to something you have to go through alone,” says Another Michael’s Michael Doherty of the latest single from Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down.

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GRACE CUMMINGS – “RAMONA”

Grace Cummings has shared the title track for her new album Ramona, which is out next month on ATO. “This song makes reference to two of the most momentous songs in my life, Bob Dylan’s ‘To Ramona’ and The Wizard of Oz’s ‘If I were King of the Forest,’” Grace says. “It’s about putting on a mask to become brave and true. I have spent a lot of time living in my own little world, because I have been quite scared of the real one. I have spent much of my life believing that I deserved to be unhappy. I became a weak little bird who didn’t know who she was and at times I was so unwell that I didn’t even think I wanted to be in the world anymore. I hated what I saw in the mirror and I wanted to be somebody else. That’s what ‘Ramona’ is about.”

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JOE ARMON-JONES – “NUBYA’S SIDE OF TOWN” (ft. NUBYA GARCIA)

Having recently released the single “Wrong Side of Town,” Joe Armon-Jones teams up with Nubya Garcia for the “horns cut.”

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THICK – “FATHER”

Of THICK’s new single “Father,” vocalist and bassist Kate Black says, “THICK has always been a cathartic outlet for frustration and anger, but ‘Father’ is the first time I tapped into sadness and loss without a snarky comeback. This song is a snapshot in my journey with grief after losing my dad, at a point when it was still a surprise every time I wanted to ask him a question and remembered that he wasn’t there. It’s scary sharing something so personal and vulnerable, I could barely get through recording the first voice note that I sent to Nikki of the song, you could hear the tears rolling down my cheeks. It can be tough playing it live, my whole body tightens up against my emotions. But, it’s been rewarding having people share their experiences and relate to the song, it’s a nice reminder that you’re never really alone.”

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ANGÉLICA GARCIA – “COLOR DE DOLOR”

Angélica Garcia has announced a new album, Gemelo, due June 7 via Partisan. It’s her first album sung almost entirely in Spanish, and of its experimental pop single “Color De Dlor,” she says, “I wanted ‘Color De Dolor’ to feel very textured and lush, like you’re walking through a jungle. To me, its kaleidoscopic quality shows sadness and beauty.”

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STOREFRONT CHURCH – “THE HIGH ROOM”

Before he begins his run of shows supporting Laetitia Sadier, Storefront Church, aka Lukas Frank, has shared a majestic, string-laden new single, “The High Room.”

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SO TOTALLY – “DOZ ROSES”

Philly shoegazers So Totally have shared another alluring taste of upcoming LP Double Your Relaxation, due 5/10 via Tiny Engines.

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BARTEES STRANGE – “YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONES YOU LOVE” (THE MILLS BROTHERS COVER)

The latest song off the Jack Antonoff-curated and produced soundtrack to the The New Look is Bartees Stragen’s take on “You Always Hurt The One You Love.” It was first recorded by the Mills Brothers, with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher, and has since gotten many other renditions, including Spike Jones’ parody version and Ryan Gosling’s version for Blue Valentine.

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MELVINS – “WORKING THE DITCH”

Here’s the latest sludgefeast from Tarantula Heart.

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BOTANIST – “MAGNOLIA”

“Green metal” band Botanist have shared “Magnolia” from their upcoming LP Paleobotany, due May 17 via Prophecy Productions. “Magnolias abound in our present day, but they’ve been around for at least 65 million years… that’s before the existence of bees! Instead, beetles used to do this song’s subject’s bidding.” – Otrebor/Botanist.

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SMELTER – “IN SPADES”

Smelter (who share members with Ephemeral, Domain, and Gouge Away) drop off “In Spades,” a big-riff, sludge-pop song that fans of The Smashing Pumpkins and Torche (whose Jonathan Nuñez recorded, mixed, and mastered this song) should check out.

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LIFE’S QUESTION – “BRASS COFFIN”

Life’s Question take their hardcore roots in a Bronx-esque punk ‘n’ roll direction on this one.

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KOTA THE FRIEND – “BAD 4 U”

KOTA the Friend shares this song from Anti Social Camp, Vol. 1, a compilation of songs created at the songwriting camp Anti Social Camp. He also opens GZA’s live-band Liquid Swords show in NYC on April 10.

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THE REDS, PINKS & PURPLES – “WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE”

Here’s another mopey/jangly earworm from The Red, Pinks & Purples’s upcoming Unwishing Well.

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FAT WHITE FAMILY – “TODAY YOU BECOME MAN”

This is not your average Fat White Family song, with Lias Saoudi detailing his “big brother Tamlan’s circumcision at age 5 without anaesthetic in the mountains of Algeria.” New album Forgiveness is Yours is out April 26 via Domino.

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RUSSIAN BATHS – “SPLIT”

Brooklyn’s Russian Baths are back with their first new music in three years. Powered by a brooding bassline, “Split” is an alluring slice of dark atmosphere and the first single from upcoming album Mirror.

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ANNA PRIOR (METRONOMY) – “FALL BACK”

Metronomy drummer has announced her debut solo EP, Almost Love, which will be out June 13 via House Anxiety. First single “Fall Back” is a serious banger. “The song is about when I realised that love from a partner is never unconditional,” says Anna. “I think it’s where my lack of trust in relationships began, when my hyper independence began and when I started searching for people that I knew could never love me so I would never get hurt again.” The song’s very cool video was directed by The Horrors’ Tom Furse.

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POKEY LAFARGE – “ONE YOU, ONE ME”

This new Pokey LaFarge single sounds beamed in straight from 1962, as does the video. As to the latter, Pokey says: “Captured over six years, this is a world travel journal of my wife, Addie Hamilton, and I from when we were dating to when we were engaged and culminating in the celebration that was our wedding.” Rhumba Country is out May 10.

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KOKOKO! – “SALAKA BIEN”

Duo KOKOKO! say new single “Salaka Bien” is ” “a bass line driven track, with a lot of influences, like punk funk meeting old house stabs with a trance feeling! When we play it live there are moments of overwhelming feeling building till it explodes and people let go totally. Do it, do it good, do it till you break it.” This is from their upcoming album BUTU.

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PERSONAL TRAINER – “INTANGIBLE”

Dutch collective Personal Trainer have signed to Bella Union and just released their first single for the label. “Intangible” is funky and anthemic, in a very indie sort of way. “I tried to make a song that is something I wouldn’t normally do and experiment with that,” says the band’s Willem Smit. “I like how it turned out because it’s also probably one of the first instances where I had the chorus first and the other parts later, which rarely happens.” This is the first taste of their new album, details still to be announced.

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BILL MACKAY – “GLOW DRIFT”

“‘Glow Drift’ appeared in this sunny melody and celebratory vibration. A song to lift you,” Bill MacKay says of “Glow Drift” which is from his forthcoming Drag City album Locust Land. “I like the surfy guitars, a hint of joyful release. Like remembering a particular drive with special characters to the sea. The stops and starts of a journey, space for an organ note to linger, then things start galloping again. It jumps.”

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JUSTICE – “SATURNINE” FT MIGUEL

“Been friends with Xavier and Gaspard for some years now so to finally work together and get a great song has been the best experience,” says Miguel of his collab with Justice that’s on their upcoming album Hyperdrama. “Merging our sounds felt effortless.”

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MAN MAN – “IGUANA”

Here’s the first single from Man Man’s new album Carrot on Strings.

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MAGAZINE BEACH – “VACUUM” / “TURNAROUND”

Having released one of 2023’s best punk albums with Constant Springtime, DC emo band Magazine Beach get shoegazier and sludgier on their new two-song single “Vacuum” / “Turnaround.”

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SCARCITY – “IN THE BASIN OF ALKALINE GRIEF”

NYC experimental black metallers Scarcity have expanded from a duo into a five-piece and announced a new album. Read more about lead single “In the Basin of Alkaline Grief” here.

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PLUTOCRACY PLANET & JONAH MATRANGA – “BUT YOU SAID”

The song with Jonah Matranga from “super-collective” Plutocracy Planet’s upcoming album has arrived. Read more here.

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DRUNK UNCLE – “BED OUR MOUTHS”

Austin emo band Drunk Uncle have announced a new LP, O, brittle weather!, due in May via Count Your Lucky Stars. Read about lead single “Bed Our Mouths” here.

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JER – “SAY GAY OR SAY GOODNIGHT” (ft. MONEY NICCA)

JER teams with Money Nicca (aka Soul Glo’s Pierce Jordan) on new song “Say Gay or Say Goodnight,” and they and added Insignificant Other to their upcoming tour after Zeta had to drop off (to open the High On Fire tour).

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PALLBEARER – “WHERE THE LIGHT FADES”

Pallbearer have announced a new album, Mind Burns Alive, due 5/17 via Nuclear Blast. Read about lead single “Where the Light Fades” here.

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