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 Jessica Pratt, Rui Gabriel, Caroline Polachek, and more.
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Rui Gabriel – “Summertime Tiger”
In many cases, when you hear about a debut solo album from a beloved artist, it’s a key member of a legacy band wanting to “explore new sounds” or “find their own voice.” As one half of underground NOLA indie rockers Lawn, however, Rui Gabriel doesn’t succumb to such a hackneyed origin story. Much of Compassion, Gabriel’s solo debut out June 21, reckons with the volatility of youth and finding a place in the world. On “Summertime Tiger,” his recombinant, talky delivery evokes the matter-of-factness of Courtney Barnett and the narrative prowess of Kevin Morby. “Summertime Tiger” is an empathetic exploration of coming into one’s own during a time of financial strife.
L’Impératrice – “Love From The Other Side”
L’Impératrice’s strain of breezy indie-pop coincides with the large-scale Italo disco revival that has tinged the 2020s thus far, from Jessie Ware’s pivot to the dance floor to Sabrina Carpenter’s reign on the masses with “Espresso.” Cast in a hazy, fluorescent glow, the Parisian band’s nu-disco sounds wonderfully in (French) touch on the understatedly groovy “Love From The Other Side,” their first song in English. They’re in conversation with pop’s current milieu, but L’Impératrice sound like they’ve fortuitously struck gold rather than tirelessly sought it out.
Jessica Pratt – Here In The Pitch
Previous records from Jessica Pratt, like 2019’s Quiet Signs and 2015’s On Your Own Love Again, highlighted the Los Angeles musician’s gift for folk songs that are grounded and gauzy in equal measure. Here In The Pitch, her first album since Quiet Signs, doesn’t completely reinvent Pratt’s signature sound so much as expand it into new shapes. Here, she pulls from ‘60s girl groups and Brian Wilson-indebted studio wizardry, similar to what Cindy Lee achieved on the instant-classic Diamond Jubilee in late March. Here In The Pitch finds Pratt at her apotheosis, conjuring magic like an adept sorcerer.
Hana Vu – Romanticism
“All dark times, they have their end,” Hana Vu sings toward the end of “Dreams.” Coming slightly after the halfway mark of her second album, Romanticism, the Los Angeles indie rocker emits a spark of hope. That is, before she pivots back to darkness on “Find Me Under Wilted Trees,” where she invokes Tears for Fears’ famous opening couplet before turning it on its head: “Welcome to your life / It’s a big defeat.” Thus is the sentiment presiding over Romanticism. Much like the 18th-century artistic movement it derives its name from, Vu prizes introspection, seeking an understanding of the world around her through an investigation of the self.
Snarls – With Love,
Combining sugary pop-punk, ’90s indie rock, and heart-on-sleeve emo, the Columbus trio Snarls creates soaring paeans to love in its sundry forms. On their sophomore album, With Love,, they capture the central truths of romance on songs like the closing diptych “Ur Song / Lovers Of Valdaro” and the infectiously hooky “Heavy Drinker.” Recorded alongside former Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla at his secluded Norwegian studio, Snarls unearth the intricacies of human relationships, laying bare a foundation in all its messy, thrilling glory.
Mdou Moctar – Funeral For Justice
No one pulls off a guitar solo quite like Mdou Moctar. Real name Mahamadou Souleymane, the Tuareg guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader’s songs bemoan the cruelties of French and American colonialism with a fury as searing as the desert regions in his home country of Niger. His white-hot guitar solos convey this anger against geopolitical malfeasance as much as his words do, and backed by his bandmates, that emotion reaches a fever pitch. From his miasmic vocals that open “Tchinta” to drummer Souleymane Ibrahim’s intuitively flowing tempo that guides “Imouhar,” Mdou Moctar doesn’t program a funeral for justice so much as demand justice itself.
Blushing – Sugarcoat
Shoegaze these days can sound interchangeable. There’s such an abundance of it that, somehow, a subgenre built on enveloping soundscapes and noisy guitar effects has led to a lot of staid, uninspired music. Blushing doesn’t do that. Sugarcoat revives the sheer volume and rich textures that forebears like Ride and Drop Nineteens pioneered in the ’90s. The Austin four-piece, composed of couples Michelle and Jacob Soto and Christina and Noe Carmona, taps Ride’s very own Mark Gardener and Ringo Deathstarr’s Elliott Frazier for mixing, engineering, and mastering, and the end result is a contemporary shoegaze record that stands out among a trove of them. With the title track’s dirty, chorus-soaked bass riff and the kinetic drive of “Fizz,” Blushing doesn’t sugarcoat it: they’re one of the best bands leading the shoegaze renaissance.
City Of Caterpillar – “In The Tall Grass”
Screamo music owes a lot to the Richmond outfit City Of Caterpillar, whose eponymous 2002 debut gave rise to a then-underground scene. While the group remained firmly DIY and eventually disappeared entirely before resurfacing in 2022 with Mystic Sisters, their imprint is as significant as ever. They’re back with the one-off single, “In The Tall Grass,” which morphs from quiet, eerie arpeggiated guitars to a full-on, boisterous post-hardcore track.
Caroline Polachek – “Starburned And Unkissed”
I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s new film, is easily one of the best movies in recent memory. Its ensemble soundtrack deserves its own spotlight, as well. Caroline Polachek’s “Starburned And Unkissed,” co-produced with PC Music figurehead A.G. Cook, showcases Polachek’s indie-pop flair in a new light. She’s backed by a suite of shoegaze guitars, and its heaviness complements Polachek’s elastic vocals.
Illuminati Hotties – “Can’t Be Still”
Sarah Tudzin does not stop. From making her own, self-coined “tender punk” as Illuminati Hotties to mixing and engineering countless records, Tudzin refuses to be still. It’s only fitting then that she would name her latest single after her inability to stop and relax for a while. “Oh, got places I wanna go,” she sings in the anthemic chorus of “Can’t Be Still.” While she definitely needs to take a rest for her own sake, you can’t help but be excited for whatever it is that Illuminati Hotties may have on the horizon.
