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 Katie Gavin, Porter Robinson, Origami Angel, and more.
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Sinai Vessel – I Sing
“Ten years eating shit / And going back for seconds,” Caleb Cordes sings at the beginning of “Country Mile,” a standout from Sinai Vessel’s new album. I Sing, the new album in question, is full of lines like these that practically jump off the (Genius) page. Surrounded by gorgeous acoustic guitars, tasteful pedal steel, and masterful production from frequent collaborator Bennett Littlejohn, Cordes’ tales of happiness and hardship come to life.
Hinds – “Superstar”
Long live Hinds! Viva La Hinds comes out soon in early September, and Hinds have given us excellent single after excellent single. It’s a streak that continues with “Superstar,” one of the Spanish indie rock duo’s best tunes yet; it’s perfect for a blissful drive in the summertime. Despite recently losing their rhythm section, Hinds’ Carlotta Cosials and Ana Garcia Perrote haven’t lost any of their verve.
Katie Gavin – “Aftertaste”
As the frontwoman of indie-pop trio Muna, Katie Gavin knows how to command a room. Her stage presence perfectly complements the band’s sophisticated synth-pop, an adept skill she has translated into making relatively quiet, introspective music under her own name. Gavin’s debut solo album, What A Relief, sees her adapt her predilection for memorable songwriting to a more intimate setting. Adorned with acoustic guitars and arrangements that evoke everyone from Sheryl Crow to the Indigo Girls, it marks a new path for Gavin. Despite the mellow milieu of her new endeavor, she hasn’t lost any of that commanding presence.
Porter Robinson – Smile! 😀
Bright, maximalist, and shameless, Porter Robinson’s third studio album lives up to its emoticon-anointed name. Semi-ironic Taylor Swift self-comparison? Check. Allusion to the infamous Pitchfork review of Jet’s Shine On? Why not! A song titled after a luxury fashion brand in which the producer does his best Bladee impression? Sure! It all might seem absurd, but the absurdity is kinda the point. It’s fun and self-aware, distinguishing itself as a new addition to Robinson’s proverbial Eras Tour. After all, bitch, he’s Taylor Swift.
Origami Angel – “Dirty Mirror Selfie”
Ryland Heagy and Pat Doherty are on a roll. As Origami Angel, the Washington D.C. emo duo pair lyrics about Pokémon with some of the sickest shredding you’ll ever hear. As evidenced by records like 2019’s Somewhere City and 2021’s double LP Gami Gang, the two musicians have their style down to a science. But there’s still room for fun surprises. Feeling Not Found, the third proper Origami Angel album, abounds with halftime screamo breakdowns, math-rock noodling, and pristine pop-punk hooks. Sometimes, like in the case of “Dirty Mirror Selfie,” all three of those appear in a single song. If Somewhere City is Charmander and Gami Gang is Charmeleon, then Feeling Not Found is Charizard.
Alex Izenberg – Alex Izenberg & The Exiles
On previous albums, Alex Izenberg’s ’70s-inspired indie-folk relished in sparse textures. For Alex Izenberg & The Exiles, however, the Los Angeles songwriter has transposed that dreamy languor into something bigger and more concrete by way of a full backing band. Legendary PNW indie producer Phil Ek presides over the boards, and Ek and the band give Izenberg’s music a bit more heft without losing the somnambulant quality so central to his work. The end product resembles something like sleepwalking and lucid dreaming at the same time.
Enumclaw – “Not Just Yet”
“Not Just Yet” is a loving, heartbreaking tribute to family. Uncle Mike, a relative of Enumclaw’s Aramis Johnson and Eli Edwards, was recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and frontman Johnson marvels at the cruelty of time and the tenuousness of memory. “How could he forget me when he taught me everything,” he sings in the second verse. For all of its fuzzed-out guitars and noisy ambiance, “Not Just Yet” teems with heartfelt tenderness.
Spirit Of The Beehive – “I’ve Been Evil”
This past week, the wildly influential noise-pop trio Spirit Of The Beehive shared two new singles from their forthcoming fifth album, You’ll Have To Lose Something. But really, they work in tandem. “Something’s Ending” sets the stage for the more conventionally structured yet no less captivating “I’ve Been Evil.” It perfectly encapsulates what makes the Philly group’s artful, zany strain of indie rock so appealing.
Touché Amoré – “Nobody’s”
Touché Amoré is a band that thrives on intensity. For five albums, the Los Angeles post-hardcore staples have honed a fiery ferocity that’s as loud as it is melodic. They continue that pattern on LP6, Spiral In A Straight Line, if the opening track and lead single “Nobody’s” is any indication. Jeremy Bolm’s larynx-shredding vocals, lying somewhere between screaming and singing, is the main through line, as the rest of the band chugs forward with stacked riffs and kinetic drumming. For a song that Bolm describes as “about forward movement,” that much is conveyed in the instrumentals alone. Once again, Touché Amoré blaze ahead.
Peel Dream Magazine – “Wish You Well”
Following dalliances with shoegaze and kosmische, Joe Stevens has pivoted to woodwinds and glockenspiel. Steeped in the baroque-pop inclinations of Sufjan Stevens’ state albums, the other Stevens’ new work as Peel Dream Magazine marks another exciting turn from an artist always in motion. Rose Main Reading Room turns Stevens’ music into a delirious maze with surprises at every corner. Take the swirling, orchestral flourishes and the Byzantine drum patterns all over “Wish You Well.” Here, Peel Dream Magazine has never sounded dreamier.