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 the anticipated sophomore album from Fontaines DC, a new single from Angel Olsen, and the return of pop-punk kings Motion City Soundtrack. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
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Fontaines DC — A Hero’s Death
Just over a year after the release of their blistering debut Dogrel, Irish poet-punks Fontaines DC have returned with the brooding, reflective A Hero’s Death. “It’s an album that is not scared to look within and into the deepest and darkest aspects of individual humans and humanity,” guitarist Carlos O’Connell told me in a lengthy interview. “And you find the light at the very end. Not from the outside world, but that light is within and just needs to be found hiding down deep.”
Le Ren — Morning & Melancholia
On her debut EP, Lauren Spear has collected a handful of meditations on love and death and the variety of emotions — often conflicting — that come with both scenarios. Morning & Melancholia is only four tracks, but they showcase Spear’s pertinent knack for evocative instrumentation and introspective songwriting.
Cutler Station — Meat, No Sides
Ohio four-piece Cutler Station are back with a new album, a collection of power pop tunes that bristle with energy and nostalgia for a simpler time. Interestingly, the inventive instrumentation also features a pedal steel guitar that gives each track a unique zest of twang. Cutler Station has been around for some time now, and they are ready to experiment with their sound, making Meat, No Sides a welcome addition to the playlist.
Angel Olsen — “Whole New Mess”
Angel Olsen’s All Mirrors was one of our favorite albums of 2019. Without the ability for a victory lap due to the pandemic, Olsen is already slated to release the new album Whole New Mess, and has shared the title track. Where All Mirrors employed some of Olsen’s grandest productions to date, Whole New Mess sees her hearkening back to the simplicity of her earlier records, and the title track is a somber acoustic number that revels in the ashes of a breakup.
Nicholas Braun — “Antibodies (Do You Have Them?)”
What more needs to be said about Succession star Nicholas Braun’s debut single “Antibodies (Do You Have Them?)”? The epic quarantine anthem is a modern pop-punk number inspired by Blink-182 and Papa Roach. While the single itself presents as a joke, Braun has stated that he will be donating all of the proceeds to the organizations Partners In Health And Cope. Partners In Health is a global organization that helps people in communities that don’t receive adequate healthcare and Cope is a non-profit assisting the Navajo nation in the midst of the pandemic.
Lomelda — “It’s Infinite”
The second single from Lomelda’s forthcoming album Hannah is a bit more reserved than the album’s first offering. “It’s Infinite” is a beautiful, lo-fi affair that finds Hannah Read’s warbling vocals floating above a simple guitar line accented by rolling pianos and percussion with increasing intensity. Right when the song hits its peak, the extra instrumentation cuts out, leaving just the acoustic guitar.
Motion City Soundtrack — “Crooked Ways”
Motion City Soundtrack announced in 2016 that they would be breaking up. That didn’t last very long as the band was back on the road by 2019. Now, they have released their first new music since 2015’s Panic Stations. “Crooked Ways” is a reminder of what made the Minnesota rock band so exciting and long-lasting. The track opens with relatively standard emo fare before diving into a chorus hook that will be sure to have fans screaming along if live music ever returns.
Mike Huguenor — “Evening Light Seen Through A Window”
You might be familiar with Mike Huguenor through his work with Jeff Rosenstock, and now he’s ready to release music on his own. “Evening Light Seen Through A Window” previews Huguenor’s experimental new album X’ed, which is constructed entirely out of sounds from guitars. You read that right — every note of music on this album was played, in some way, by a guitar. Who said that guitar music was dead?
Knot — “The World”
Earlier this summer, members of the beloved band Krill reunited to form a new project called Knot and shared their debut single. Knot’s self-titled debut is just around the corner, set for release later this month, and now they have shared its second single in the form of “The World.” The track is a unique emo-inspired rocker that features intricate guitar noodling and snappy production to keep your attention locked.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
