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 Mac DeMarco, Florence And The Machine, Foo Fighters, Arlo Parks, and more.
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Mac DeMarco — One Wayne G
No, I did not listen to all nine and a half hours of this 199-track Mac DeMarco album. Nor do you have to! But that’s part of the charm of One Wayne G — it’s a buffet with a lot to choose from. A select few songs feature his vocals, like “Cowboy Sh*t” and “Goodnight Baby,” so those are definitely highlights.
Beabadoobee, Clairo — “Glue Song”
Clairo’s vocals were a great addition to Phoenix’s remix of “After Midnight,” so it’s great to hear her on the new version of Beabadoobee’s “Glue Song” as well. The track is a sprawling love song that doesn’t bother to hide its affection and devotion, and the pair’s vocals work seamlessly together.
Foo Fighters — “Rescued”
But Here We Are is the first new album by Foo Fighters since the tragic death of their beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins. The lead single “Rescued” is the first taste of it, and it’s everything fans could hope for. It has the victorious, invigorating feeling of their 1997 hit “Everlong” and already feels as timeless.
Florence And The Machine — “Mermaids”
Florence Welch is a Goddess to her fans, and her new song “Mermaids” is physical proof of why. The track has a divine texture, opening with her holy vocals against an eerie backing choir, and the opening lines are immediately startling in their genius: “I thought that I was hungry for love / Maybe I was just hungry for blood.”
Julie Byrne — “Summer Glass”
“Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me,” Julie Byrne said about her new song “Summer Glass” in a statement. The ballad buzzes as Byrne paints vivid images: “We draw the lines of protection / When our palms meet at every edge / You lit my joint with the end of your cigarette.”
Gnawing — “Clean Up Your Act”
Gnawing are not too happy with themselves on their new garage-punk anthem “Clean Up Your Act.” With jaded drawls and playful riffs, the Richmond, Virginia band may not have their sh*t together, but at least they’re honest: “I wish I fixed it early on / But I only seem to double down.”
Bully — “Hard To Love”
“Growing up never fitting into society’s constructed gender stereotypes and expectations, I often felt as though different equals bad or wrong,” Alicia Bognanno, more often known as Bully, said about her new song “Hard To Love.” It’s the perfect outsider anthem, exploding with edgy guitars and her angst shouts: “Hard to love / Hard to love.”
Arlo Parks — “Blades”
My Soft Machine, the new album by Arlo Parks, is one of the most highly anticipated indie records arriving this spring. The singles have all been beautiful and compelling, and “Blades” is no exception; her vocals are mesmeric against a warped, playful sonic backdrop, making the song feel like its own world.
Hannah Jadagu — “Admit It”
Sub Pop’s Hannah Jadagu is grappling with a rocky relationship on the brutally honest “Admit It,” a tame ballad that’s more tired than it is angry. “All of my friends ask where you’ve been / Should I think of a lie when I try to tell them?” she sings — something that’s hard to even recognize, let alone admit.
Stuck — “Time Out”
Chicago band Stuck’s new song “Time Out” is “about the compulsion to post, share, like, and subscribe,” explained Greg Obis in a press release. The frantic riffs and quick pace encapsulate the feeling of scrolling and the amphetamine-like sensation of being online at all, as do Obis’s vocals as he yells: “Time out! Time out! Time out!”
