All The Best New Indie Music From This Week

Getty Image

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 very best of the indie releases from the past seven days. This week saw Billie Eilish establish herself as an essential young voice in both the rock and pop realms, Sky Ferreira offer up her much anticipated new single, and Modest Mouse prove that they can still wow people through pure force. Yeah, it was a pretty great week for new indie music.

Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

[protected-iframe id=”5e3e0a32a673bb076c9353a20b00ec43-60970621-76566046″ info=”https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0S0KGZnfBGSIssfF54WSJh” width=”650″ height=”380″ frameborder=”0″]

Not since Lorde has a teen pop star had this much hype. Of course, Billie Eilish is hard to compare to Lorde or any other rising artists because her aesthetic and sensibility seems so much her own, the kind of fully-formed vision that most artists take a career to cultivate. With her long-awaited debut album now available for the world, it’s Billie’s time to shine.

Sky Ferreira — “Downhill Lullaby”

One of the most anticipated returns of the year has finally come. Sky Ferreira has been promising new music for years, and with “Downhill Lullaby,” fans a paid off with gorgeous orchestration and subdued vocal performance. The vocals are pushed pretty far down in the mix, but the song is anchored by Sky’s impeccable taste, letting the production and aesthetic be the star.

Black Midi — “Crow’s Perch”

SXSW finished up early this month, and one band certainly emerged from the event with considerably more buzz. British rockers Black Midi were the talk of critics, proving that the annual trek for rising talent can still pay dividends. Writing about the song, Uproxx’s Derrick Rossignol said, “Jittery rhythms and waves of intensity take over for the rest of the track, which rewards listeners ready for something unexpected and appealingly different.”

Modest Mouse — “Poison The Well”

Modest Mouse leader Isaac Brock has a label called Glacial Pace, and that easily refers to how Modest Mouse functions as a band. Their last album came out in 2015 and the one before was 2008, and even though this song is technically a new release, the Washington natives have been performing it live for close to a decade, which gives you some idea of how long it takes for the band to get things just right. “Poison The Well” is an unabashed rocker, and whether this is just a one-off or the beginning of the next cycle, it shows the band can still bring the intensity 25 years into a career.

Kelsey Lu — “Blood”

A trend in music is to draw out debut albums for years, which Kelsey Lu has done effectively enough to bring anticipation to a boil. The title-track from said debut emerges to showcase how Lu’s classical sensibilities fuse with modern flourishes. The result feels like a thing of true beauty that could only exist in the contemporary scene.

Cage The Elephant — “Night Running” Feat. Beck

Ahead of their co-headlining tour later this year, Cage The Elephant and Beck offer up a co-headlining song. The tune combines dub, hip-hop, and rock influences for a track that doesn’t sound much like anything else happening in music right now, a distinctly 2019 vision of alternative music that feels destined to soundtrack sunny days and sweaty nights.

Twen — “Waste”

If you want to get behind a band right out of the gate, here is your chance. Twen’s debut single, “Waste,” will draw obvious comparisons to Courtney Love, but this DIY band manages to throw in surprising lilts and coos that make the murky psych-rock something distinctly their own. It’s rare to find a band this fully-formed from the start, which is precisely why Twen feels so essential.

Phil Cook — As Far As I Can See

[protected-iframe id=”1ea2a98457a4edd286656de2de4a8c9f-60970621-76566046″ info=”https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0wB67plaEM1zlEEFtdrAaA” width=”650″ height=”380″ frameborder=”0″]

Be it in band Megafaun, as a member of Hiss Golden Messenger, or on his own, Phil Cook‘s career has largely been under the radar despite his excellence. But this new collection works as both a primer for the uninitiated and as supplemental material for the ravenous, taking a decade’s worth of instrumental material and collecting it all into one place.

Drugdealer — “Honey” Feat. Weyes Blood

Drugdealer describes itself more as a collective than a band, which makes sense when you consider how much this new track is basically a Weyes Blood song that sounds like she is fronting Whitney. Michael Collins might be leading this band (as he takes a central roll in Drugdealer’s output), but “Honey” serves as an example of how singular the voice of Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering is right now, and how she can take over a song and quickly make it iconic.

Mikal Cronin — “Undertow”

[protected-iframe id=”c43a79bfbf4d11244c4bda459cd59a66-60970621-76566046″ info=”https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=407901209/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/” ]

When Ty Segall is your bestie, you’d think maybe some of that prolific nature might rub off. And it has in a way, as Cronin has been a part of many Segall releases and tour, though his own solo work has been much more slow and steady. “Undertow” is Cronin’s first new tune in four years, and there’s a lot to love here. Cronin’s voice is equally focused and relaxed, while the song takes its time sprawling out and showcasing its adventurousness. If this is the start of Cronin’s next cycle, consider us intrigued.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If you want even more indie music, sign up for our newsletter, Indie Mixtape, curated by Steven Hyden here.

×