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 Japandroids, FKA Twigs, Sorry, and more.
While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.
Porridge Radio – Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me
A common fixture of Porridge Radio’s music is repetition. “Thank you for making me happy,” Dana Margolin sings over and over again at the end of 2020’s “Born Confused.” “Lock all the windows and shut all the doors / And get into the house, and lie down on the cold, hard floor,” go the recurring lyrics in 2022’s “Back To The Radio.” For the Brighton post-punk group’s fourth album, Margolin ends matters on an uncharacteristically hopeful note: “I’m sick of the blues / I’m in love with my life again.” Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, through this lens, is a document of resilience, a real-time realization of the constants in your life that keep you afloat.
Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate
A Kelly Lee Owens track sounds like a dream. Enveloping synths stand in for the diaphanous imagery, and clubby house drums ground it in the reality your brain pulls those dreams from. Fittingly, the Welsh electronic producer’s fourth record, Dreamstate, is both her haziest and most tactile work to date. Many of its songs, such as “Time To” and “Love You Got,” prominently feature Owens’ vocals, usually a rarity in her catalog. Her featherlight voice augments the surreal qualities of her music. Unlike a dream, however, Owens’ latest record is something that won’t be forgotten.
Japandroids – Fate & Alcohol
The fourth and final Japandroids album has arrived. Fate & Alcohol is a bittersweet record that almost didn’t even exist, but it demarcates a closing chapter on a storied indie rock duo. Even though guitarist-vocalist Brian King and drummer David Prowse rarely talk these days, Japandroids captured male friendship in a way that felt corny, yes, but also touching. That spirit is here on their last outing. Anthemic choruses, soaring hooks, and cathartic singalongs are all here. To put it another way, the dudes rock.
Panda Bear – “Defense”
Animal Collective have been on a wild run recently. They’ve released Time Skiffs and Isn’t It Now? — two of the best records of their career — and celebrated their history with a reissue of their debut plus a live version of their seminal 2004 record Sung Tongs. On his own, however, Noah Lennox (AKA Panda Bear) has largely been content with one-off collaborations, including everyone from Sonic Boom to Braxe + Falcon. Now, he’s coming back with Sinister Grift, his first solo record since 2019, in February. “Defense,” its lead single, still finds Panda Bear in collaboration mode, though. Featuring Cindy Lee, who was just on a hot streak of their own with Diamond Jubilee, “Defense” brings Lennox to the foreground once again. “Here I come,” he sings in the song’s denouement, not a portentous warning so much as an assured promise.
Anxious – “Counting Sheep”
Contrary to Anxious’ statement, Anxious are not breaking up. After teasing a hiatus on the site formerly known as Twitter, the Connecticut emo outfit announced their second album, Bambi, a self-described “big swing” record in the vein of Blink-182’s self-titled (or untitled) album and Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity. If “Counting Sheep,” its lead single, is any indication, then they’re pretty much on the money. The five-piece retains the hardcore at their core while injecting it with an explosive poppiness. On their latest song, Anxious do indeed take a big swing. They don’t miss.
Dazy – “It’s Only A Secret”
James Goodson’s influences range far and wide. Taking equal cues from Britpop and Dookie, Goodson packs punk’s serrated edge into power-pop’s melodic mannerisms. As Dazy, the Richmond musician achieved that on his 2022 debut album, OUTOFBODY, and he has refined that recombinant approach for his new single, “It’s Only A Secret.” Featuring MSPAINT barker Deedee, Goodson condenses his entire ethos into a succinct two minutes and 45 seconds. Deedee’s pugnacious snarls accentuate the chorus’ earworm, the final result straddling the line perfectly between hardcore and jangle-pop. On his new tune, Dazy keeps their potent formula a secret.
Sorry – “Waxwing”
The last time we heard from London indie rockers Sorry, it was for their excellent 2022 album, Anywhere But Here. They’re now back with a one-off single, “Waxwing,” which interpolates Toni Basil’s ubiquitous “Mickey” for a brooding slow-burn that replaces that song’s carefree ebullience with harrowing synth stabs. Compared to Charli XCX’s shiny interpolation from last year’s Barbie, Sorry’s take on the song is its evil cousin, and I mean that as the highest form of praise.
Drop Nineteens – “Daymom”
Drop Nineteens are not dropping anything. As shoegaze looms ever larger in the cultural consciousness, the Boston shoegazers’ 2023 comeback album, Hard Light, marked an auspicious return. They weren’t done there, though. Earlier this year, they reissued their classic 1992 album Delaware, and now they’re on the cusp of sharing their never-before-released 1991 LP. Simply titled 1991, the album has been transformed from an open-secret bootleg, known among fans as Mayfield (1991), into an official chapter in Drop Nineteens’ discography. Lead single “Daymom” is a six-minute swirl of gauzy guitars, gossamer vocals, and blissful reverie. It begs the question: If the material is this good, why’d it have to live in the vault? It seems the group are finally asking themselves that question, too.
FKA Twigs – “Perfect Stranger”
Only someone like FKA Twigs could bring Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Yves Tumor together. In the music video for her new single, “Perfect Stranger,” the Fleabag star and experimental glam musician each take a turn playing Twigs’ paramour. Throughout the video, Twigs assumes different roles in various relationships. It’s a tidy metaphor for how Twigs approaches her music; “Perfect Stranger” is one of her poppiest tracks yet, one that sits comfortably alongside more outré fare like “Thousand Eyes” and “Water Me.” In both presentation and execution, “Perfect Stranger” showcases the plurality of its creator.
The Head And The Heart – “Arrow”
Pop-folk staples the Head And The Heart have returned with “Arrow,” their first release on new label home Verve Forecast and their first new material since 2022’s Every Shade Of Blue. After going to Richmond for a reset, they re-emerged with the self-produced one-off single “Arrow,” which vocalist-guitarist Jonathan Russell describes as a song about “providing yourself with confidence when you’re out there in the dark.”