There’s a moment in “Aging Young Women,” as the song nears its 3-minute mark, where Anna von Hausswolff’s voice combines with Ethel Cain’s. “In the crumbled chest of kindness,” they sing, “your heart will break.” The song, von Hausswolff’s final teaser from ICONOCLASTS, required four violinists, one violist, a cellist, a double-bassist, a saxophonist, and a programmer. But the music isn’t as dense as the personnel list might suggest. No, “Aging Young Women” is a cavernous sanctuary dedicated to “getting older by the hour” and a lingering worry that “the dream of a family will slowly disappear”—a song about, as von Hausswolff puts it, “when the passing of time becomes a negative notion due to unfulfilled dreams and a feeling that a tainted situation is impossible to change to the contrary.” The potency of “Aging Young Women” is the opposite of a torch song. A church organ hums with elegance. Angels dangle above us. Any sentimentality is replaced by sirens of flesh and transience von Hausswolff and Cain arrive to in grace. —Matt Mitchell
Hayley Williams: “Good Ol’ Days”
Hayley Williams dropped some major lore on her new album Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, sending fans into a tizzy when she revealed that not only had she and Taylor York had feelings for each other for years, but that the guitarist had broken things off. There’s even more to unpack in “Good Ol’ Days,” one of two bonus tracks that will be part of the album’s physical release. Channeling Ctrl-era SZA on the beat, Williams seemingly calls out York for being caught up in the thrill of being secret lovers, with their fate seemingly being written in the stars when they picked their band name as teens (“What’s in a name? Secret love”). Williams has a knack for crafting the catchiest songs in any genre, drawing you in while she sings the most crushing lyrics possible. You can’t help but feel for her as she croons, “Who knew the hard times were the good ol’ days?,” in the chorus, calling back to a tumultuous period in the band leading up to their 2017 LP, After Laughter. —Tatiana Tenreyro
Mute Swan: “Hypnosis Tapes”
Mute Swan’s new release, “Hypnosis Tapes,” is a moody indie rock track with a hazy layer of distortion. The song features the disaffected, dreamy voices of band members Mike Barnett and Prabjit Virdee, and I couldn’t help but think of Slowdive’s Neil Holstein as a potential reference. Mute Swan seem to take heavy inspiration from the mystical, foggy murals of shoegaze, found in layers of drone sounds and clouded whispers that comprise the atmospheric backdrop of “Hypnosis Tapes.” But the song is not quite swept into a total sprawl, as a steady percussion and clean guitar tone ground the song. The title “Hypnosis Tapes” is aptly matched to the lyrical structure, which involves sentences that taper off before the singers can complete them. “On the way back to the bird murmuration of the de-obfuscation of the…” the song goes, letting the end of that thought go unanswered. There’s enough going on in the arrangement to let that omission slide—after the ellipsis, there’s nothing but potential.—Caroline Nieto
Navy Blue: “Orchards”
When he’s not skateboarding or modeling, Sage Elsesser makes music under the banner of Navy Blue. Between him and MIKE, rap has been in good hands for a minute now. His last record, Memoirs in Armour, was a favorite of mine in 2024. His new record, The Sword & The Soaring, will likely land all the same next month, especially if its lead single is any confirmation of what’s to come. Produced by Elsesser’s “guiding light and force” Child Actor, “Orchard” arrives on time, as the autumn trees are readying their bareness for winter. The song is, as Navy Blue puts it, “connected through soil and roots, with expansiveness that resembles the infinite source.” Nebulas of jazz piano are unwound by a looping snare drum and cymbal vibration; Navy Blue reflects on family, death, and his river of grief, talking about how “life’s tapestry is tattering.” I could quote the whole song honestly, but I’ll keep it to just one sequence for now: “I love the dark because the light meaning my brother near / The forecast of his youth last a hundred years / Downpour of his rain, wasn’t nothing clear / It was literally opaque / Little me was up late / Watching life curve, bend, tryna get his soul straight.” This song has been out for a day but it’s affected me deeply. Maybe it’s just that good. Maybe my shadow needed a light like this, a voice saying “we was dealt so many losses that we gotta win.” Maybe it’s both. Yeah, I’m gonna go with both. —Matt Mitchell
Oklou: “dance 2”
oklou has been on a winning streak following the release of choke enough earlier this year. Since, the French artist has amassed a cult following among ambient and pop music fans alike, and her mass appeal is a testament to the truth that nobody is making music like her. This week, she released the deluxe edition of the album with three new tracks, notably the electronic tune, “dance 2.” oklou’s skill as a songwriter and producer lies in her ability to make the understated sound colossal. The bass-driven beat of “dance 2” thumps steadily under oklou’s high-pitched riffs, creating a tantalizing kinetic energy that carries the song. Though it’s more upbeat than its cohabitants on the deluxe record, “dance 2” is a shinier variation on a more traditional dance track. The personal touch of oklou herself is never far away, even when she trades her typical verbosity for a more lyrically sparse environment. Her style is found in lofty vocals and flourishing synths, yielding music that’s a total ear worm.—Caroline Nieto
Ratboys: “Anywhere”
Ratboys’ last album, The Window, has been one of the most soothing records of the 2020s for me, so I often find myself revisiting it when my thoughts are ruminating and I feel overwhelmed. It’s funny, then, to learn that their upcoming album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, was written after bandleader Julia Steiner started therapy for the first time and its lead single, “Anywhere,” is about grappling with anxiety attacks. Here, Steiner sings from the perspective of guitarist Dave Sagan’s family dog, while tying his anxious attachment to her own. “Anywhere” is restless, with pulsing drums and power-pop chords, reminiscent of an energetic puppy ready to play. It’s yet another banger from Ratboys, making me very excited for this era under New West Records. —Tatiana Tenreyro
ROSALÍA ft. Björk & Yves Tumor: “Berghain”
I have a few friends who have been to “Berghain”’s titular (in)famous Berlin club, one of whom stayed for nearly 72 hours and left with a broken arm—so when I think of Berghain, I mostly think of that. ROSALÍA’s version, however, swaps the strobe lights for a symphony. The first single from her upcoming record LUX is an orchestral fever dream that’s less warehouse rave than it is apocalypse mass. Backed by the London Symphony Orchestra and joined by Björk and Yves Tumor, ROSALÍA sings in German, Spanish, and English, twisting operatic technique into something bodily and unsettling. Björk’s entrance feels like the room cracking open; a slightly distorted Yves Tumor slinks in later, murmuring “I’ll fuck you ’til you love me” over the wreckage. I had never really stopped to wonder what the Fleabag‘s season two soundtrack would sound like reimagined by a beloved flamenco art pop icon, but if I had, I’m pretty sure my imagination would have conjured exactly this. For an artist who has turned flamenco into reggaeton and avant-pop into ritual, this feels like one of ROSALÍA’s most ambitious metamorphoses yet: operatic club music (“club” used very loosely here) for the end of the world. —Casey Epstein-Gross
Rubber Band Gun: “Eyes Above”
I got turned onto the work of Kevin Basko through the people he rubs around with: The Lemon Twigs, Foxygen, Uni Boys, etcetera. Basko makes pop-rock like all of them, the sticky, howling dogs kind that’ll clog up your noggin, and he also makes a lot of it. In fact, he’s already put out three albums under the Rubber Band Gun banner in 2025 alone, a follow-up to the three albums he put out last year! And that’s not even including the three-part collection of demos he unveiled sometime in there, too. I dig that, and I dig the new Rubber Band Gun record, Record Deal With God. It’s a whole lot of fun, especially a firecracker track like “Eyes Above.” I mean, we’re talking about a potential favorite song of the year here!! With a glint of McCartney in his eye, Basko breaks through with some delirious, rabble-rousing rock and roll timelessness colored by his striking, catchy flavor of modernity. I credit Emily Moales’ backing vocals for yanking “Eyes Above” through the tides of retro. If there ever were a present-day example of Ram’s lasting influence on us young folk, look no further: —Matt Mitchell
The Soft Pink Truth: “Time Inside the Violet”
The Soft Pink Truth’s music is like a religion to me; many spirits awaken in the thrums of Drew Daniel’s deeply emotive idyll. Daniel gives dystopia a sugary aroma, present even in the name of his next album: Can Such Delightful Times Go On Forever? The first single, “Time Inside the Violet,” finds Daniel building this filmic, old-Hollywood pastoral out of a rummage of solo piano notes, squawking violin pulls, and spiraling, exhaling animations of drones and synth. Titled after a line in a Chris Nealon poem, Daniel reflects on the “passage and retrieval” of life by making “Time Inside the Violet” a “miniature nightmare.” Talking about the song, Daniel mentioned the phrase “emotional turbulence.” It washes over you, in classical movements—Ulas Kurugullu’s strings, which come dressed in spy-movie beats—that provide a surge of noir-flushed drama and panic before collapsing back into an electronic resolve. —Matt Mitchell
Other Notable Songs This Week: Courtney Marie Andrews: “Keeper”; Equipment Pointed Ankh: “The Shelbyville Codes”; Florence Road: “Miss”; GUM: “Expanding Blue”; keiyaA: “k.i.s.s.”; Melody’s Echo Chamber: “Eyes Closed”; Patterson Hood: “Scott’s Sister”; The Convenience: “Angel”; The Twilight Sad ft. Robert Smith: “Waiting For the Phone Call”; The Weather Station: “Airport”; Together Pangea ft. The Red Pears: “Halloween”; Victoryland: “No Cameras”
Check out a playlist of this week’s best new songs below.
