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 new album from Car Seat Headrest, a riotous track from Pup, and a dance-ready number from Jessy Lanza. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
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Hovvdy – True Love
Hovvdy’s fourth studio album simultaneously sounds like their past work and a fresh look to the band’s future. Recorded with esteemed indie producer Andrew Sarlo, True Love is a more polished affair than we’ve heard from the Austin duo, but with the same beautiful melodies and exciting song structures that we’ve come to know and love. “True Love is the perfect album to throw on a fall drive with the windows down, hearing the leaves crunch under your car tires,” I wrote in a recent interview with the band. “It’s the soundtrack for a walk around the neighborhood when you find yourself in awe of our planet’s natural ability to create beauty, for now at least. You get the idea.”
Strand Of Oaks – In Heaven
After a string of increasingly impressive singles, the new album from Tim Showalter’s Strand Of Oaks is finally here. Showalter said that he set out to create a record that was “a momentary space for reflection, joy, catharsis, and whatever else someone might be looking for in their life,” and the resulting effort is what “might very well be his best work since 2014’s classic Heal,” according to Steven Hyden in a recent Indie Mixtape newsletter
Illuminati Hotties – Let Me Do One More
Where a lot of modern indie rock’s relatability is centered around topics of anxiety, depression, romantic failure, existential doom, Sarah Tudzin’s Illuminati Hotties manage to elevate her songwriting by tackling the same topics with “plenty of absurdist humor and bubblegum pop hooks,” writes Steven Hyden for Uproxx.
Couplet – LP1
Tanner Jones’ first new music since the dissolution of his band You Blew It! was born out of years spent leading a life outside of music. The ability to take a step back from the constant grind and financial uncertainty of a career in music allowed Jones to approach LP1, a new project under the name Couplet, with a refreshing sense of ease. The resulting effort is more experimental and genuinely relaxed than anything Jones has written to date, put to tape with the help of Into It. Over It’s Evan Weiss and Sincere Engineer’s Adam Beck.
Phoebe Bridgers – “That Funny Feeling” (Bo Burnham cover)
After fans pointed out that Bo Burnham’s sardonic track “That Funny Feeling” felt like a Phoebe Bridgers tune, Bridgers took the hint and regularly covered the song throughout her summer headlining tour. Now, she’s released an official studio version of the cover, recorded in LA with Tony Berg, Ethan Gruska, Christian Lee Hutson, Harrison Whitford, Rob Moose, Sebastian Steinberg, Marshall Vore, Nate Walcott, and Maria Taylor. All proceeds from the cover on Bandcamp will go toward Texas Abortion Funds.
Courtney Barnett – “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To”
With her new album Things Take Time, Take Time due in just a few days, Courtney Barnett has shared its final single. “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To” is a classic Barnett track in its thoughtful, stream of consciousness delivery as she tries to pull herself out of a dark place by listing things that should keep her going.
Bedouine – “It Wasn’t Me”
Unfortunately, this is not a Shaggy cover. Fortunately, Bedouine (aka Azniv Korkejian) has a knack for crafting such beautiful songs that you’ll be quick to forget about Shaggy. Korkejian originally wrote “It Wasn’t Me” nearly 15 years ago, during her earliest stages of demoing music in her bedroom, and the song serves as a time capsule for the person and artist that she was at that time.
Wet – “Far Cry”
With their new album, Letter Blue, just a few weeks away, NYC electro-pop trio Wet have shared “Far Cry,” a new song produced by Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bear. The new track is another promising taste of what’s to come from the album, described by Rachel Brodsky for Uproxx as “a grooving R&B-inspired song, with a mid-tempo beat, flowing guitar melody, and electronic accents.”
Ian Sweet – “F*ckthat”
Ian Sweet can’t seem to stop making new music. Just a few months after releasing the stellar LP Show Me How You Disappear, Jillian Medford has returned with “F*ckthat,” a defiant new track that Rachel Brodsky describes for Uproxx as “an ultra-catchy pop banger, complete with shimmery synths, echoing drum machines, and Medford’s breathy vocals.”
Mom Jeans – “What’s Up”
California punk outfit Mom Jeans have been making waves in the pop-punk/emo scene since their 2016 album Best Buds. Now, the band is prepping a new quasi-conceptual record called Sweet Tooth. The album is prefaced by “What’s Up,” a shimmering and self-deprecating pop-punk track that is very easy to fall in love with.
Scruffpuppie – “Paint”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kb34kBJqSg
Earlier this summer, Scruffpuppie was announced as the latest signee to Phoebe Bridgers’ label imprint, Saddest Factory. Now, JJ Shurbet has shared their second single for the label, “Paint,” which is a piano-based ballad that showcases Shurbet’s vocal and songwriting talents as they describe their relationship with drugs and how they controlled other relationships in their life.
Angel Du$t – “Truck Songs”
With the new album Yak: A Collection Of Truck Songs due out later this month, hardcore-turned-folk-punk outfit Angel Du$t have shared the album’s quasi-title track, “Truck Songs.” The new track oscillates between the band’s two personas, with twangy and bright guitars driving the track alongside glimpses of a more thrashing sound. About halfway through the track, the latter sound takes over the track for a distorted guitar solo. It’s a really cool look at the full spectrum of what this band is capable of.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
