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 we got new music from Speedy Ortiz, Jeff Rosenstock, Mannequin Pussy, Slowdive, and more.
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Yeule — “Inferno”
“Inferno” is the latest dose of ethereal electronic pop. Taken from their forthcoming album Softscars, it pulsates with an otherworldly aura, aided by Nat Ćmiel’s hypnotic vocals: “Heartbeat, heartsink / Heart broke, don’t think / Don’t love, don’t trust,” they sing.
Mannequin Pussy — “I Got Heaven”
Mannequin Pussy have always nailed down an addictive, unhinged punk sound. Their new track “I Got Heaven” proves they’re only getting better: “I went and walked myself / Like a dog without a leash / Now I’m growling at a stranger / I am biting at their knees,” Marisa Dabice shouts as the opening lines.
Greg Mendez — “Lining The Sheets”
Earlier this year, Greg Mendez shared his endearing, poignant self-titled album. “Lining The Sheets” is a stripped-down, sprawling outtake that encapsulates the alluring darkness of his soft sound as he sings earnestly while strumming quietly, Elliott Smith-style.
Speedy Ortiz — Rabbit Rabbit
Speedy Ortiz is back with Rabbit Rabbit, a lively, engaging record with blood pacts, infographics, vampire queens — Sadie Dupuis, who cited Sylvia Plath’s poetry as an influence, offers lyrics littered with references and vivid scenes. It makes for some cinematic indie rock.
Helena Deland — “Bright Green Vibrant Gray”
Helena Deland’s new single “Bright Green Vibrant Gray” is a mesmerizing sliver of her forthcoming album Goodnight Summerland. Pensive and glowing, the song has a texture of profundity as she illustrates an interaction alongside imagery of a beautiful landscape: “Dune grass cool wind blows / I know what I didn’t know before,” she sings.
Katy Kirby — “Cubic Zirconia”
Cool Dry Place was a stunning debut album from Katy Kirby, and she’s back with more. Her new song “Cubic Zirconia” captures what fans loved from her first record — a bewitchingly relaxed sound made better by her charming, conversational singing as she explores topics with depth, in this case navigating artifice and love, as she explained in a statement.
Daneshevskaya — “Big Bird”
Daneshevskaya’s new album Long Is The Tunnel arrives in November, and her glimmering single “Big Bird” makes the wait even harder. The shoegazey instrumentation is the perfect backdrop for her emotional vocals, alternating between fast and slow, conveying the capricious nature of life.
Slowdive — Everything Is Alive
The title Everything Is Alive sums up the significance of Slowdive; their signature brand of shoegaze that helped pioneer the genre breathes life into every sound. Every moving part of their song has importance that makes the listener feel more immersed in their refreshingly strange world.
Ty Segall — “Void”
Ty Segall doesn’t abide by any rules or formula. This is especially true on his off-kilter new song “Void,” which moves at its own hallucinatory pace, made all the more disorienting by his soaring vocals blending into the weird wall of sound. The colorful music video only helps transform the track into a full-on trip.
Jeff Rosenstock — Hellmode
Of course, Jeff Rosenstock had to spice up his album release by sharing Hellmode a day before fans were expecting it. The celebration started early, and the record is as energetic as listeners could hope — with anthems like the explosive “Head” and the infectious “I Wanna Be Wrong” delivering a great dose of upbeat rock.