The Big Indie Playlist: the best new music of the week
Welcome back to The Big Indie Playlist, where all the best new music of the week is compiled into one convenient list.
While I was lost in a world of Rolling Stones music this week, some of our other writers picked out the best of what the rest of the music world had to offer. Great efforts from the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Dylan LeBlanc, and Bug Teeth have made this a solid new music run.
If you want to check out more of the best of the new albums, you can check out our Alternative Album Chart, which is stocked full of goodies just waiting to be discovered. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a quick fix, we’ve got you covered with the best new singles of the week.
From Sarah Meth to Caroline Polachek to BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson, there is once more a smorgasbord of surprises from the music world and a few emerging talents to boot. Here are all the best singles from the week of October 20th. You can also check them out in a playlist at the foot of the piece.
The week’s best new music
The best new folk songs
Sarah Meth – ‘Sister You Said!’: Focusing on an unequal relationship dynamic, Sarah Meth openly confronts her ex-lover on ‘Sister You Said!’ with the lines, “Please don’t tell yourself you miss me/You only miss me when I’m down on my knees.” As the song progresses, comforting backing vocals and hazy percussion accompany Meth’s lyrics, giving warmth to the melancholic track. (4.5/5) [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
Harp – ‘A Fountain’: Folding in everything from mystical acoustic guitar lines to pleas of desperate unrequited love, Harp has probably taken the title of Saddest Song This Week with ‘A Fountain’. It’s a beautiful kind of sadness, though, one that feels good to hear even when you’re feeling incredibly low. (4/5)
Jeff Tweedy – ‘Filled With Wonder Once Again’ (Bill Fay cover): Jeff Tweedy has probably done more to bring old-school folk hero Bill Fat back into the spotlight than anyone else. Wilco has been playing Fay’s ‘Be Not So Fearful’ for years, and now Tweedy is taking on another Fay song, ‘Filled With Wonder Once Again’, in his own inimitable style. (3.5/5)
The best new indie songs
BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson – ‘Sleeper’: Coming in at four minutes long, BADBADNOTGOOD and Charlotte Day Wilson bring the breezy instrumentals that contrast Wilson’s description of a miserable relationship, with cheerful guitars and flute giving ‘Sleeper’ a precisely upbeat feel. (4.5/5) [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
Ducks Ltd. – ‘The Main Thing’: Frenetic and fast-paced, Ducks Ltd. have returned with their most breakneck song yet, ‘The Main Thing’. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a good baseball reference, but as drum fills and guitar lines whiz by my ears at high speeds, I can’t help but remember just how much I love these scrappy Canadian indie rockers. (4.5/5)
Snarls – ‘Big Fish’: Ohio’s own Snarls are finding fascinating new dimensions to the sounds of alternative rock. With enough pop punch to appeal beyond the punks and indie kids, ‘Big Fish’ keeps the trio’s search for the coolest, most memorable version of themselves going strong. (4/5)
Middle Kids – ‘Dramamine’: That woozy feeling of needing to go to bed is sometimes infectious. Middle Kids know that well, as they outline in their latest track ‘Dramamine’. Unlike its eponymous topic, there’s nothing sleepy about ‘Dramamine’, with the trio spitting out killer hooks with a strong sense of purpose. (3.5/5)
Talker – ‘TWENTYSOMETHING’: No job, depression, and not being able to afford your therapist anymore are some tricky roads to navigate when you’re stuck in your mid-20s. Celeste Tauchar knows that well, as the most recent song from her killer indie rock outfit Talker brings in the anxieties and harsh realities that come from being ‘TWENTYSOMETHING’. (3.5/5)
The best new alternative/rock songs
Caroline Polachek – ‘Dang’: ‘Dang’ continues Caroline Polachek’s goal to meld every genre imaginable into some kind of musical stew. With elements of trip-hop, house, pop, electronica, and R&B, ‘Dang’ leaps back and forth between stark minimalism and wild blasts of noise. From extended screams to babies laughing, ‘Dang’ is as vibrant and head-spinning as any of Polachek’s other songs. (4.5/5)
Helado Negro – ‘LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)’: The great gifter of peace, Helado Negro, has returned like Father Blissmas with another merry single you can positively float upon. This time, ‘LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)’, breaks free from pure tranquillity and offers a driving hi-hat drum rhythm and echoing vocals akin to a one-man plus reverb mimic of a Bulgarian voice choir. (4.5/5) [Words – Tom Taylor]
Drop Nineteens – ‘The Price Was High’: Pairing fuzzy indie rock basslines with doomy post-punk atmosphere, Drop Nineteens go right back to where they belong on ‘The Price Was High’. Seriously, listen to that fat bassline – now that’s the good stuff right there. (4/5)
Brittany Howard – ‘What Now’: The longer we all float on this planet, the less likely it seems like Alabama Shakes are getting back together. That’s fine – Brittany Howard will make her own damn music, thank you very much. ‘What Now’ is somewhere between R&B and indie rock, the perfect middle ground for an expert genre-blender like Howard. (3.5/5)
Party Dozen – ‘Wake In Might’: Ever just wake up in last night’s leather jacket, shake the hangover off in an instant, run a comb through your greased locks and smash the hinges off the front door before swaggering out onto the street? Me neither. However, if you want to hear how that might sound, then check out the new Party Dozen single ‘Wake In Might’. (3/5) [Words: Tom Taylor]
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