Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week is full of epic covers: a chilling remix of Miley Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky” that interpolates Stevie Nicks’ “Edge Of Seventeen,” a Nine Inch Nails cover from St. Vincent featuring Dave Grohl on the drums, and a new cover from Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
Darkside – Psychic Live July 17 2014
After releasing their first and only collaborative album in 2013, Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington toured heavily for the better part of a year under their moniker Darkside. Although the duo split up shortly thereafter, they recently unearthed a discarded recording of one of their last-ever shows, a document of a band burning brighter than ever, ready to explode.
Record Setter – I Owe You Nothing
On their new LP, this Denton, Texas screamo band is candid as candid as ever. I Owe You Nothing is emotional, raw, and thrashing in its delivery, making for one of the most instantly invigorating and vital records of 2020.
Donovan Woods – Without People
Written and recorded during the throes of quarantine, Donovan Woods’ new album puts on full display the songwriter’s charming rustic aesthetic. Each song is more evidence that Woods could be an “updated version of Gordon Lightfoot,” as Steven Hyden wrote in our latest Indie Mixtape newsletter.
Miley Cyrus – “Edge Of Midnight (ft. Stevie Nicks)”
Miley Cyrus has been on a classic rock roll lately. Her latest solo “Midnight Sky” was already good, but the track’s cool factor goes up exponentially on the new remix, which opens with the instantly familiar guitar riff that prefaces Stevie Nicks’ solo hit “Edge Of Seventeen,” and features interpolated Nicks and Cyrus harmonizing throughout. It’s really awesome.
Big Red Machine – “Wise Up” (Aimee Mann cover)
Big Red Machine’s latest release is an Aimee Mann cover that comes as part of Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin initiative, which has given performances and hosted conversations to implore more residents from his home state to vote in the 2020 election. Aaron Dessner takes the lead vocals on the cover, while Vernon provides backing support and handles some of the production.
St. Vincent – “Piggy” (Nine Inch Nails cover)
To celebrate Nine Inch Nails’ long-awaited induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last weekend, St. Vincent gave an electrifying cover of the group’s track “Piggy” from their 1994 album The Downward Spiral. The cover is a good reminder of St. Vincent’s never-ending musical versatility, composed atop an industrial backbone but showcasing her haunting vocals.
ManDancing – “Wall Spot”
ManDancing sound bigger than ever on the latest single from their new album The Good Sweat. “Wall Spot” is a slow burner that builds to a cinematic, Manchester Orchestra-inspired finale, where Stephen G Kelly’s vocals at times evoke the earnestness and drama that imbued the best of Gerard Way’s My Chemical Romance days.