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 Katy Kirby, Romy, Magdalena Bay, and more.
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Katy Kirby – “Headlights”
Back in January, Katy Kirby released Blue Raspberry, an immediate indie rock standout for the new year. The Nashville-based songwriter will soon be releasing the deluxe version of that album, and “Headlights” is our first taste of this new extended version. Like much of Blue Raspberry, it’s a vulnerable, tender tune that grows from a muted ballad into a rollicking rocker. But “Headlights,” however, is a self-described paean to “being f*cking tired.” Here, exhaustion sounds strangely revelatory.
Magdalena Bay – “Death & Romance”
Magdalena Bay are world-builders. Vocalist Mica Tenenbaum and producer Matthew Lewin’s greatest strengths as a duo center on their predilection for the imaginary. Their 2021 debut, Mercurial World, evinced those traits, but here they take matters a step further, carefully leavening their oddball edge with a polished, poppy sheen. On the one-off single, “Death & Romance,” Tenenbaum and Lewin’s infectious synth-pop straddles the line between experimental eccentricity and standard pop songwriting, much like their best songs do. Hopefully, it’s a promise of something else to soon come from them.
GIFT – “Going In Circles”
GIFT have quickly become one of the most exciting new bands in indie rock. The NYC five-piece’s tactful blend of psych-rock and shoegaze reaches new heights on “Going In Circles,” one of the tracks from their forthcoming sophomore album, Illuminator. Frontman TJ Freda’s gauzy vocal timbre lends itself well to the swelling guitars that surround him, emulating the cyclical nature of relationships that Freda sings of.
Sasami – “Honeycrash”
In 2022, the mononymous artist Sasami traded her breed of indie rock for something notably heavier on Squeeze. On tour, she covered the title track from System Of A Down’s 2001 masterpiece Toxicity to further solidify the volume hashed out on her own record. “Honeycrash,” her new single, doesn’t contain the nu-metal penchant of songs like “Skin A Rat” or her interpretation of Daniel Johnston’s “Sorry Entertainer,” but its distorted guitars and pounding drums show that Sasami’s louder side is here to stay.
Romy – “Always Forever”
Donna Lewis’ 1996 song, “I Love You Always Forever,” has been indelibly etched into the pop canon. Fresh off the release of Mid Air, her debut solo album released last September, The xx’s Romy Madley-Croft has interpolated Lewis’ classic for her own spin on it, “Always Forever.” Recently debuted during her set at Mexico City’s Ceremonia Festival, “Always Forever” retains all the joie de vivre of its muse but with thumping synth bass and a faster BPM.
Half Waif – Ephemeral Being
Nandi Rose’s work as Half Waif is as delicate as it is striking. Over programmed drums and synth washes, Rose waxes philosophical on the transience of life on her new EP. Having grieved the death of a family member and then healed from her own medical challenges, Rose embraces the impermanence of being on the aptly named Ephemeral Being. The EP itself is only five songs, but that may as well be the point. Beauty can lie in brevity.
King Hannah – Big Swimmer
Liverpool duo King Hannah, consisting of vocalist Hannah Merrick and guitarist Craig Whittle, are back with the follow-up to their 2021 debut, I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me. The follow-up, Big Swimmer, expands on the bluesy post-punk that King Hannah so expertly laid out on its predecessor. On songs like “Davey Says” and “Scully,” Merrick and Whittle’s songwriting dives into new depths.
Mabe Fratti – “Enfrente”
Guatemalan avant-garde cellist Mabe Fratti always finds the groove in the most hypnotic compositions. “Enfrente,” the latest preview of her forthcoming record, Sentir Que No Sabes, establishes a rhythmic pulse that sways like a ship on open seas, and Fratti’s cello rises and falls alongside it. It’s another display of her disarming artistic prowess, where there’s ample space for orchestral beauty and kaleidoscopic soundscapes alike.
Balance And Composure – “Cross To Bear”
In 2019, Balance And Composure went on an indefinite hiatus. But, just like it affected many, many things, the pandemic changed that. When lockdown took over the U.S., vocalist and guitarist Jon Simmons missed his bandmates. So, they got back together in October 2022, and they’ve been working on a new record in the interim, the Will Yip-produced With You In Spirit. “Cross To Bear,” one of two new singles from the Pennsylvania emo quintet, is a foreboding alt-rock slow-burner built on simmering tension. “I wanna catch you by surprise,” Simmons sings. After a five-year break, Balance And Composure have delivered the most welcome of surprises.
Bodysync – “Babies”
Ryan Hemsworth and Giraffage, the two producers behind the electronic duo Bodysync, relish in absurdity. Take a song like “Babies,” a single off of their forthcoming album, NUTTY, whose squelchy, acid-house percussive elements wondrously buttress the spliced and pitched soul sample at its core. It’s steeped in ’90s rave, but Hemsworth and Giraffage throw their other influences, like mall-punk’s juvenility and Y2K pop’s syncopation, into the mix on a delirious whim. “We’re just babies, man,” goes the opening vocal sample. It sounds like a mere joke out of context, but the single contains all the wide-eyed wonder and omnivorous curiosity of youth. Bodysync pulls it off like well-honed masters of their craft.
