The Big Indie Playlist: The best new releases of the week
While it finally feels as if the album release cycle is beginning to quieten down for the end of the year, singles are still popping up left, right and centre. Delivered as last-minute bids for track of the year or as statements of intention promising 2025 will be a strong one, plenty of artists are still putting out their best work. Gathered in one place, hear them all on The Big Indie Playlist.
Don’t get it twisted though, all genres are considered here. This week alone our handpicked selection of the best new releases features everything from classic indie and rock and roll, to jazz covers, electronic offerings, folk tunes and beyond. Our weekly Off The Beaten Track section looks even further afield, shining a light on the best new tracks from around the world that are all too often painfully overlooked by the music press.
This week’s highlights came from all corners of the music world. Dodie returned with her first solo single in a long time by delivering a stunning Chet Baker cover, while Chloe Slater screamed at the patriarchy on a new protest song rallying against beauty standards. Manchester was ablaze with new talent, putting out new tracks as Delights, Phoebe Green, Yasmin Coe, and Big Society put out some of the best offerings of the week. Elsewhere, bigger names like Sleaford Mods, Hot Chip and Regina Spektor were delighting their fans.
If it’s a new favourite album you’re looking for, head to our weekly Alternative Album Chart. But right here, The Big Indie Playlist boils down all the noise of New Music Friday into the top tracks that deserve to be heard.
The best new releases of the week
Track of the week
Chloe Slater – ‘Fig Tree’: A re-written Trainspotting monologue for the Substance era, Chloe Slater’s layer-upon-layer look at the modern age is unfaltering. In the anthemic chorus of ‘Fig Tree’, the flag for defiance is flying high, imploring people to break through society’s demands and boundaries and grab at liberation. But it’s the bridge where the power of Slater’s latest protest song lies.
Taking the “choose life” sequence and rewriting it as an attack on diet culture, misogyny and beauty standards, the punching bridge just keeps going and going, laying hit after hit on the suffocating noise of the modern day. Ending on a final note of freedom, Slater’s declaration of “I wanna choose to riot / choose to love / choose to bathe under the sun / choose to hold my mother up / choose to age like fine wine / never try to freeze in time / choose a life that is mine” is nothing short of euphoric. [4/5]
Instant classics – The biggest release of the week
Sleaford Mods and Hot Chip – ‘Nom Nom Nom’: Two big hitters teamed up this week as Sleaford Mods and Hot Chip combined their power for good with this new charity single for War Child. Hot Chip’s groove layer with Sleaford Mods’ gobby lyricism is a surprisingly hooking combo. [3.5/5]
Regina Spektor – ‘Lounge’: In case you’d forgotten just how good Regina Spektor is and always has been, ‘Lounge’ is here to remind you of that fact with her vocals as rich as ever and her lyricism still as unique as always. [3.5/5]
Julien Baker and Calvin Lauber featuring Soak and Quinn Christopherson – ‘Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying’: With a mammoth 46-song tracklist, we’re still discovering greatness on the Transa compilation album, like this incredible Belle and Sebastian cover that is refreshed into something new and gorgeous. [4/5]
Dodie – ‘Old Devil Moon’: Dodie’s best work has always been done when she’s let loose on the compositional side, so this new cover, paying homage to the music of Chet Baker with a reworked version of his song ‘Old Devil Moon’, gives her the perfect chance to shine. [4/5]
On The Rise – New releases to note this week
Annie-Dog – ‘The Feeling In My Fingertips’: It’s been a busy year for Annie-Dog. Ever since dropping her debut single at the start of 2024, she hasn’t stopped, but with each new track, she’s only getting better and better, as proved by this latest release. [3.5/5]
Connie Campsie – ‘Annie’: A perfect companion piece to Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck Babe’, Connie Campsie presents her own take on closeted queer lust as she confesses feelings for her best friend in gorgeous lyricism layered on top of cinematic strings. [4/5]
DRIIA – ‘I’D DIE’: Sparse, suspenseful and then suddenly huge, DRIIA’s new track feels like it should be soundtracking some angsty indie flick as the slow build to a big climax has drama built in. [3.5/5]
Delights – ‘Hotel Bar’: A good old-fashioned indie track from Manchester’s Delights is here. Smooth and seductive with a hooky instrumental, it’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s still a good groove to hit play on. [2.5/5]
Big Society – ‘Every Stage Of A Genuine Heartbreak’: If there’s one band that deserves their moment in the sun to finally come, it’s Big Society. For a long time, the Manchester-based group have been buzzing away as some of the city’s most sought-after musicians, but their own project demands attention, with this new track being a prime example of singer Will Jaquet’s emotive vocals and their sharp ear for an interesting instrumental. [4/5]
Phoebe Green – ‘Precious Things’: Huge week for Manchester as Phoebe Green is another one of the city’s best and brightest. Two years on from her debut, Green is still an artist in evolution where each new song offers a fresh perspective on her talent. ‘Precious Things’ gives a great view. [3.5/5]
Matt-Felix – ‘Kingdom of You & Me’: Matt-Felix is clearly a man with a solid musical education in the greats as at one, ‘Kingdom of You & Me’ has a bit of Bowie, a bit of McCartney and a whole lot of Springsteen for an anthemic, balladic sound. [3/5]
Natalie Wildgoose – ‘Come Into The Garden’: For fans of Molly Drake or any of the painfully underappreciated women of folk, Natalie Wildgoose is a name to pay attention to. Hailing from Yorkshire, this lo-fi track delivers gorgeous glimmers of her accent in the stunning song. [4/5]
Yasmin Coe – ‘Closer’: Yasmin Coe’s entire debut EP, The Most I Could Do, deserves a start-to-finish listen, but ‘Closer’ is a real standout with its gorgeous shoegaze energy that’s like Mazzy Star meets Cocteau Twins. [4/5]
Adam Hopper & The Wimps – ‘Alexandra Park’: Delivered by the same label that looks after The Bug Club and Melin Melyn, Adam Hopper & The Wimps are another anti-folk unit delivering personality-packed tracks. ‘Alexandra Park’ is so sweet it feels like it could clear away the clouds on a rainy day. [3.5/5]
Delivery – ‘The New Alphabet’: A predictably excellent new offering from Melbourne’s premier garage rock outfit, this track sees Delivery espouse their skilfully satirical lyricism and infectious instrumentation. Their new album, Force Majeure, is due out in January, believe the hype. [4/5]
Mandrake Handshake – ‘The Change and the Changing’: Head to one of Mandrake Handshake’s live shows, and you’ll be amazed by the expansive lineup of the unit. But each and every member contributes to their intricate psychedelic sound that’s somehow captured just as magnetically on tape as in person. ‘The Change and the Changing’ is a perfect display of that as the band announced their debut LP coming next year. [4/5]
First spin – Debut single of the week
Yulan and Blaise – ‘God Complex’: With Confidence Man dominating the music world, it’s a great time to be an Australian electro duo. Yulan and Blaise are the latest, but their sound is less of a soundtrack to drop a pill at a club and more of a track to trip to, mixing in elements of psychedelia with angelic vocals and a gothic, angsty art edge. [3/5]
Off the beaten track – Left-field sounds
Femi Kuti – ‘Politics Don Expose Them’: Afrobeat master Femi Kuti returns with a rip-roaring new track, awash with defiance and political rebellion but bathed in the joyous sounds of Nigeria. Femi is adept at paying homage to his father, Fela Kuti, while also driving Afrobeat music into new, diverse directions. [4.5/5]
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – ‘Freakadelic’: Jazz is a genre that is best shared live, but live recordings are an acceptable compromise. ‘Freakadelic’ features on the new live album by Jeff Parker and his ETA IVtet, released via International Anthem. A sprawling 24-minute improvisational epic, the recording is representative both of the power of jazz music, and the weird and wonderful mind of Parker himself. [4.5/5]
Monsieur van Pratt – ‘No Te Perderé’: A new seven-inch release from Berlin’s Too Slow To Disco label, legendary Mexican producer and songwriter Monsieur Van Pratt puts his own spin on an impossibly rare Mexican cover of the classic Bobby Caldwell track ‘What You Won’t Do for Love’. Van Pratt breathes new life into the old-school Latin disco anthem, securing its place as a floor-filler for years to come. [4/5]
Rogê – ‘100% Samba’: Soaked in the euphoric traditions of Latin soul and Brazilian tropicália, California-based songwriter Rogê is adept at embracing the historic sounds of South America. Taken from the new album, Curyman II, this song is particularly adept at conveying the timeless sounds of Brazilian samba music. [3.5/5]
[Words by Ben Forrest]
