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 a new remix album from Perfume Genius, the official studio release of a Lucy Dacus live favorite, and a new single from buzzy up-and-comers Crumb. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
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Perfume Genius – Immediately Remixes
Perfume Genius’ Set My Heart On Fire Immediately was one of 2020’s most captivating releases, and he is make sure that no one forgets about the album with the release of a brand new set of remixes. Immediately Remixes features reinterpretations of the album from artists like Jaakko Eino Kaleivi, A.G. Cook, Jim-E Stack, and many more and is described as a “companion album” to the original effort. It certainly adds extra depth to the world Mike Hadreas created just a year ago, and we’re happy to be back in it.
Really From – Really From
Boston-based quartet Really From gained some attention with their 2017 LP Verse, which created a unique and very interesting blend of modern emo and jazz. On their new self-titled effort, the band finds a healthier balance between the two seemingly disparate genres, often allowing the horn sections to take precedence over the twinkly guitars. Really From is an album that will please fans of American Football and Charles Mingus alike.
Harmony Woods – Graceful Rage
Harmony Woods went mostly silent after the release of their 2019 LP Make Yourself At Home. That all changed last week, when Sofia Verbilla dropped Graceful Rage out of nowhere, a brand new album produced by Bartees Strange that features her most fleshed-out songwriting and fullest production to date. All told, the surprise album is an astounding statement from the young songwriter.
Sunburned Hand Of The Man – Pick A Day To Die
On their first album in nearly a decade, Sunburned Hand Of The Man has reconvened their collective of musicians for Pick A Day To Die. It’s an album that’s as experimental and exciting as we could have hoped from the Massachusetts group. After all, as Steven Hyden wrote in last week’s Indie Mixtape newsletter, “when the going gets tough, the tough get weird. And times this exceedingly weird call out for a band like Sunburned Hand Of The Man.”
Future Teens – Deliberately Alive
Future Teens have gotten sharper and sharper with each release. Deliberately Alive is just five tracks long, but nicely showcases the Boston quartet’s knack for indie pop structures refracted through a pop-punk lens. It would be no surprise if the band’s next full-length effort helps them break through into the more mainstream alternative scene.
Lucy Dacus – “Thumbs”
Lucy Dacus started inserting “Thumbs” into her live set as early as 2018, and fans have been begging for an official studio release consistently throughout the intervening three years. Fans were rewarded for their persistence last week, when Dacus released what Derrick Rossignol calls for Uproxx a “smoldering, emotional, and understated” standalone single.
Citizen – “Black & Red”
Citizen’s forthcoming LP Life In Your Glass World is their most expansive release to date, heading more in the direction of danceable new wave and away from the pop-punk that they made their name on. “Black & Red” is perhaps the greatest example of this new mindset, with intermingling guitars and a driving bass line.
Crumb – “Trophy”
Crumb’s new single “Trophy” is their first offering of new music since they leapt into the conversation with their 2019 album Jinx. It follows the formula that made Crumb exciting in the first place, devolving into a cacophony of instrumentals before snapping back into focus. The track “opens with lulling synths before their drummer picks up the past with a swift, shuffling beat,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx. “Vocalist Lila Ramani offers her muffled musings, adding dimension to the song’s washed-out atmosphere.”
Idles – “Peace Signs” (Sharon Van Etten cover)
As part of Sharon Van Etten’s announcement that she would be releasing a tenth anniversary reissue of Epic, she also noted that she would be sharing another artist’s cover of one of her songs every week until release, culminating in a full album’s worth of covers. This week, she invited Idles to “apply their signature intensity” to “Peace Signs,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx.
F*ckin Whatever – “I’m Waiting On You”
This project features Anthony Green of Circa Survive, Adam Lazzara and John Nolan of Taking Back Sunday, and additional percussion from Benjamin Homola of Grouplove, but it doesn’t sound anything like you’d expect. While all of the vocalists are emo legends, the new music from F*ckin Whatever takes on an indie-pop feel, with a beat built around diegetic sounds like hand claps and what sounds like spoons. In fact, the group’s forthcoming self-titled EP features zero instruments at all.
Jenny Lewis & Serengeti – “Idiot”
Jenny Lewis and Chicago rapper Serengeti struck up a friendship in 2018, and have spent the last several months working together and releasing collaborative music. “Idiot” is the latest offering from the duo, a groovy offering that features the two vocalists trading verses. Lewis’s sections take on a dreamy approach, while Serengeti’s is more spoken word.
Current Joys – “Amateur”
Nick Rattigan’s project Current Joys have been pretty prolific throughout the 2010’s. Voyager is the project’s seventh full-length album, and lead single “Amateur” illustrates that Rattigan hasn’t lost his touch. After a melancholy, cinematic opening, Rattigan’s yearning vocals come into full focus as the track continues to build.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
