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 the anticipated new albums from My Morning Jacket and Wet, a new track from Anjimile, and a nostalgic-sounding track from Ovlov. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
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My Morning Jacket – My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket are back with the jammiest record of their career, which is also a recipe for their most interesting release in years. In a recent interview with Steven Hyden, Jim James revealed that he hadn’t been actively engaged with My Morning Jacket for much of the 2010’s, but he felt more locked in on the band’s new self-titled album. The attention pays off, and My Morning Jacket just might be the record that revitalizes the veteran indie rockers.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – B-Sides & Rarities (Part II)
After dropping the first volume of a massive archival project, Nick Cave is back with the second. B-Sides & Rarities (Part II) was compiled by Cave alongside longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, and comprises rarities, outtakes, covers & B-sides spanning from 2006’s Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! to Ghosteen. Together, both volumes show another side of Nick Cave’s creative process that is both revealing and enveloping.
Wet – Letter Blue
After a few years of flux that had members leave then return, as well as finding a new label home, New York indie-pop trio Wet are back with an excellent new record. Letter Blue is what Adrian Spinelli calls for Uproxx “Wet’s most diverse offering yet. Zutrau’s hallmark emotional pop lyricism is as sharp as ever.”
Super American – SUP
Listening to the new album Buffalo, NY punks Super American, it’s hard to believe the band is solely a duo. The songs on SUP feel so fleshed-out, there has to be more going on than just two people. But alas, the album features none other than multi-instrumentalists Matt Cox and Patrick Feeley, delivering a collection of massive pop-punk tracks that juxtapose the miracle of being alive with the constant sense of nagging fear.
Bedouine – Waysides
Azniv Korkejian sat in the co-producer chair alongside Gus Seyffert (Beck, Sia) for her third album under the name Bedouine. On Waysides, Bedouine delivers what Adrian Spinelli calls for Uproxx “downright gorgeous folk music for day dreamers and lovers alike.” The release of the album couldn’t be timed more perfectly, to throw on during a solipsistic fall walk.
Helado Negro – Far In
Two years after dropping his acclaimed 2019 effort This Is How You Smile, Roberto Carlos Lange is back with a brand new album. Announced earlier this year, Far In features collaborators like Jen Wasner of Flock of Dimes, Kacy Hill, Buscabulla, and Benamin and is another excellent addition to Lange’s prolific catalogue.
Parquet Courts – Sympathy For Life
On their seventh album, Parquet Courts once again prove their lasting consistency. Sympathy For Life was born out of unstructured jam sessions that were eventually distilled into more straightforward songs, and the freewheeling experimentation can be heard throughout its eleven tracks. Sometimes, it’s nice to hear a band get out of their head and just let loose, and Sympathy For Life does just that.
Hand Habits – Fun House
“Meg Duffy is considered one of the best guitarists working in contemporary indie rock, but the music they make as Hand Habits is less about solos than exploring the textural possibilities of the instrument,” Steven Hyden wrote in a recent issue of the Indie Mixtape newsletter. Duffy pushes these textural boundaries throughout Fun. House, the latest effort Hand Habits. It’s a fully enveloping LP, one that will reveal new sonic layers upon every listen.
Trace Mountains – House Of Confusion
After garnering quite a bit of attention with their 2020 debut, Lost In The Country, former LVL UP member Dave Benton is back with another new record under the name Trace Mountains. House Of Confusion is a declarative sonic step forward from the debut, but still “feels like a throwback to the rustic ‘out in the country’ acts of the classic-rock era,” according to Steven Hyden called in a recent issue of the Indie Mixtape newsletter.
Tonstartssbandht – Petunia
If you were a diehard Mac DeMarco fan in the mid-2010’s like me, then you’re definitely familiar with Florida duo Tonstartssbandht, who lended their vocalist Andy White to DeMarco’s band for a stint. With 17 records to their name in under 15 years, Tonstartssbandht have now unleashed Petunia, an experimental jam record that feels like it could be a breakthrough. Chock full of 12-string guitars and impressive vocal harmonies, Petunia sounds like “a jammier Radiohead,” wrote Steven Hyden in a recent issue of the Indie Mixtape newsletter.
Angel Du$t – YAK: A Collection Of Truck Songs
Baltimore outfit Angel Du$t have revealed their Jekyll and Hyde — 2016’s Rock The Fuck On Forever was a straight-ahead hardcore LP, while 2019’s Pretty Buff was an acoustic-forward power-pop effort. Now, the two sides of the band have met somewhere in the middle on the new album YAK: A Collection Of Truck Songs. Sometimes, the full spectrum of the band’s abilities are showcased within the span of one song, which makes for a thrilling and provocative listen.
Clinic – Fantasy Island
For the better part of two decades, Liverpool outfit Clinic have been pumping out some of the coolest, most inventive alternative music available. Now, the duo has delivered their ninth studio album, Fantasy Island. As the title indicates, the LP is chock full of literary references, with twelve tracks that explore time, music, and entertainment atop funky bass tracks and drum machines.
Mom Jeans – “Circus Clowns”
Mom Jeans are one of the most talked-about bands in the indie-emo scene. Given the quality of the two singles we’ve heard from the forthcoming album Sweet Tooth, it’s not surprising that people are buzzing about this band and “Circus Clowns” sets a high bar for the remainder of the album.
Ovlov – “The Wishing Well”
With their new album Buds set for release in November, Connecticut rockers Ovlov have shared another new single. “The Wishing Well” is what Derrick Rossignol describes for Uproxx as sounding “like a not-too-distant relative of early-2000s Death Cab For Cutie,” and deals with varying responses to mental health issues.
Anjimile – “Stranger”
Giver/Taker, last year’s full-length debut from Anjimile, was one of the year’s best albums and catapulted them into a deal with 4AD. Now, Anjimile has returned with more resources at their back in the form of “Stranger,” which kicks off with what Carolyn Droke calls for Uproxx “the emotive strumming of an acoustic guitar as Anjimile’s captivating voice floats in. The instrumentals swirl between nostalgic piano keys and boisterous horns, mimicking the tumult that’s detailed in the song’s lyrics.”
Dan Campbell – “Flight No. 5”
Early in the pandemic, The Wonder Years’ frontman Dan Campbell started taking commissions for original songs, for the first time looking to tell other people’s stories instead of his own (or ones he conjured up for his Aaron West character study project). The resulting LP Other People’s Lives is both startling and comforting in its delivery, and “Flight No. 5” is our first taste of what we can expect as Campbell provides a unique glimpse into the lives of strangers.
Ryan Pollie – “On The Nose”
Ryan Pollie’s new album Stars is set for a mid-December release, and he has shared a first look at the record in the form of “On The Nose.” Inspired by the parties that take over the parking lots outside of Dead & Co. shows during the summer, “On The Nose” is an engaging track about growing up and taking summers for granted.
Camp Trash – “Weird Florida”
Camp Trash’s brand of emo is instantly exciting and boasts incredible vocal melodies that make you want to sing along, even when you’re by yourself in your room (like I am right now). “Weird Florida” is a diatribe against my personal least favorite state in the union, and is supposedly the first proper taste of the forthcoming Camp Trash full-length due next year on Count Your Lucky Stars.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
