The Big Indie Playlist: this week’s best new music
Welcome back to The Big Indie Playlist, your home for all the best new music of the week. Before we get into it, a quick shout to Sufjan Stevens. Guillain-Barré syndrome is a very real and very terrifying auto-immune disorder that Stevens is currently battling. Obviously, his music means a lot to this playlist and to this particular writer, so best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Anyway, what are we doing here… ah yes, new music! Take your pick this week: we’ve got new albums from The National, CHAI, The Wytches, Will Butler + Sister Square, and Teenage Fanclub. Nothing has been terribly earth-shattering, but it’s been solid work all around from some top-tier indie artists.
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 Billy Ryder-Jones to Alex Lahey to Faye Webster and Model/Actriz, 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 September 22nd. You can check them all out in a playlist at the foot of the piece, too.
This week’s best new music:
The best new folk songs
Bill Ryder-Jones – ‘This Can’t Go On’: More of a sweeping ballad than a traditional folk song, Bill Ryder-Jones’ excellent new single ‘This Can’t Go On’ still has some of the hallmarks of the genre, including gentle acoustic guitar, plunking piano, and some killer sweeping melodies. As we’ve seen before, genre tags are meaningless in The Big Indie Playlist. Really, I just wanted to put this song first on the list, so that makes it close enough to folk in my mind. (4.5/5)
Alex Lahey – ‘Newsreader’: The great indie singer-songwriter Alex Lahey is currently preparing an expanded edition of her most recent LP, The Answer Is Always Yes. That album rocks, and so does her latest single, ‘Newsreader’, off of the upcoming expanded record. Delicate and doomly yet weirdly comforting, ‘Newsreader’ is a perfect addition to an already stellar album. (4.5/5)
Al Menne – ‘Freak Accident’: Great Grandpa vocalist Al Menne is ready to make their name his alt-tinged country folk rock. ‘Freak Accident’ seems like it’s going to be a straightforward song at first, but once the pedal steel guitars come in, the song starts to unfurl into something grander and more emotional than it initially seems. (4/5)
The Polyphonic Spree – ‘Galloping Seas (Section 44)’: The age of big-ass musical collectives is pretty much over. The idea that there could be anywhere from seven to 30 different members of a single band is a ridiculous idea, and The Polyphonic Spree seem like they’re standing on their own these days. Still, the choral rockers are carrying the torch loud and proud with their latest single, ‘Galloping Seas (Section 44)’. (3.5/5)
The best new indie songs
Faye Webster – ‘Lifetime’: I’m a simple man: a new Faye Webster song comes out, and I’m listening to it. More often than not, I like it. The Atlanta singer-songwriter has such a unique sound that it’s easy for her to potentially start looping into laziness. Luckily, we keep getting songs like ‘Lifetime’ which prove that Webster is still fine-tuning and perfecting her signature style. (4.5/5)
Bar Italia – ‘My Little Tony’: Not content to just sit back and enjoy the success of their most recent album, Tracey Denim, Bar Italia are coming back with their second album of 2023, The Twits. The first preview single, ‘My Little Tony’, shows off the band’s knack for fuzzy indie rock while trading lead vocal duties three ways. It’s maximum Bar Italia in one succinct package. (4/5)
Crumb and Melody’s Echo Chamber – ‘Le Temple Volant’: Sometimes things just go together perfectly. This week’s edition of indie rock chocolate peanut butter swirl is American band Crumb and French psychedelic mastermind Melody Prochet, who have teamed up for a new track, ‘Le Temple Volant’. With the best of both artists coming together in one project, the brief and trippy track just satisfies. (3.5/5)
The Drums – ‘The Flowers’: Surf rock seems to be on stan t flux of popularity, but I’m convinced that it always comes back to the fore when Jonathan Price drops new music. The Drums leader loves rubbery guitars, driving rhythms, and beach imagery, and he’s made a career out of throwing all three together. That’s exactly what you’ll find in his latest track, ‘The Flowers’. (3/5)
The best new alternative/rock songs
Model/Actriz – ‘Winnepesaukee’: If you prefer your indie music dark, nightmarish, and difficult to decipher, then Brooklyn’s Model/Actriz has you covered. Most of the band’s material at least throws in some disco beats or bouncy basslines to help bring the casual listener in, but that’s not the case with their latest single ‘Winnepesaukee’. This coffee is served black and bitter – just the way I like it. (4.5/5)
Chelsea Wolfe – ‘Dusk’: Speaking of palpable darkness, Chelsea Wolf has made goth aesthetics cool once again. ‘Dusk’ is a churning track that moves at its own perfectly languid pace. There’s no rush to get to the end, as Wolfe spins a hypnotising tale all the way to the final notes. (4/5)
Sleaford Mods – ‘Big Pharma’: Sleaford Mods are back, baby. The uncompromising British duo have returned with DMX growls, bouncy backing tracks, and a slap at major institutions, things that the band have always excelled at. ‘Big Pharma’ makes its target clear, but sifting through the lyrics sees plenty of other targets coming into view as well. (3.5/5)
Bleachers – ‘Modern Girl’: Jack Antonoff’s now-endless attempts to become the new Bruce Springsteen continue with ‘Modern Girl’. Is this an amazing song? No. Is it an original song? Not nearly. But damn if I don’t love a band that brings its saxophone player out to the front of each song. That’s criminally few and far between these days, so props to Bleachers. (3/5)
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