The Big Indie Playlist: This week’s best new music – May 2023
“I’ve found it!” I proclaimed earlier in the week, “perhaps the worst song in history!” It’s the ultimate Broadmoor anthem, a song that sounds like the transposed sound of insanity, Steve Aoki’s brand-new butchering of The Beach Boys’ classic ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’. With that wail of meme-ified mania poisoning my mind, it came as a welcome antidote that the lovely Michael Nau is back with more luscious music and Weyes Blood is back to embellishing classics.
As we sit in the fallow patch between the onslaught of festival bangers and moody winter efforts, it seems music is allowed to get experimental. Part of the beauty of the modern zeitgeist is that without a dominant trend, bands and artists have been set free to offer us up a smorgasbord of delights, and that is exactly what we’re about to indulge in.
From Talking Heads offering a live surprise to a cracker from Ben Howard and a very promising debut from Eyes of Others, there’s plenty of beauty to sprinkle into your spring here. Hell, even Blur are back to join the party and Damon Albarn seems certain that Oasis will soon be joining them, but let’s not that detract from the crackers already being churned out by great new acts this year.
So, without further ado, check out our collated list of this week’s best new music below, and find a playlist where we’ve wrapped them all up at the foot of the piece. Enjoy…
The best new music this week – April 2023:
The best new folk songs:
‘When You’re Smiling’ – Weyes Blood (Frank Sinatra cover): Weyes Blood could sing your eviction notice and it would still somehow be comforting and not without a considerable amount of charm. So, tackling a classic melody that has been passed from Billie Holliday to Frank Sinatra via a thousand other greats is a sure-fire thing for her to send soaring towards the wistful edges of the ether. National Geographic asked her to work on a tune for their new forthcoming limited series A Small Light. The show’s executive music producer is Este Haim which explains the show’s indie draw. (4/5)
‘Walking Backwards’ – Ben Howard: Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Ben Howard has returned with a new single, ‘Walking Backwards’. The track is the latest cut from Howard’s forthcoming album, Is It? The release will arrive on June 16th and follows in a similar thread to his last album, 2021’s Collections From The Whiteout. “‘Walking Backwards’ is a song to remind ourselves you are doing just fine,” Howard says of the new track. “A small, personal resistance to the growing pressure to conform. To let go of the constant expectation that we should be striving for more and ploughing forever forwards.” (4.5/5)
‘Land of Waterfalls’ – Floating Action & Michael Nau: If Michael Nau was anymore laidback, he’d have to perform on a gurney, and this luscious pillow-propped style has resulted in one of the most sumptuous back catalogues of recent times. Now, he has teamed up with the beachside tones of Floating Action to create a gorgeous garden playlist classic with ‘Land of Waterfalls’, the sonic equivalent of a Solero. (4/5)
The best new indie songs:
‘Changer’ – Bar Italia: Despite having little online presence, the London-based trio Bar Italia have steadily built up a loyal underground fanbase since their first release in 2020. Collaborating with Dean Blunt, playing intimate cult venues across the country, and slowly building a discography of fuzzy guitar and muffled vocals, Bar Italia’s stock has steadily grown. Their newest single, ‘changer’, fits into this narrative seamlessly. (4/5)
‘Stumbling Still’ – Nation of Language: American indie pop band Nation of Language have shared their newest single, ‘Stumbling Still’. The track is the band’s latest single from their upcoming third studio album Strange Disciple. The new album is being produced by Nick Millhiser, better known for his work with Holy Ghost! and LCD Soundsystem. Explicitly inspired by the band’s live shows, Strange Disciple was recorded while Nation of Language was on a stop between their tours. (3.5/5)
‘Fill My Head With Sugar’ – James Leonard Hewitson: An obsession with E4‘s finest shows is a decidedly 21st century theme for a song, but that is all part of the slacker charm that the tousle-haired Hartlepudlian anti-hero James Leonard Hewitson delivers in effortless spades. His latest horn littered track about living life with a diabetic approach to appreciating bliss uber-alles is a toe-tapping gem to live by. (4/5)
‘The Narcissist’ – Blur: After nearly a full decade with no new music, the Britpop legends Blur will be returning with a new album, The Ballad of Darren. This coincides with the group’s massive upcoming shows this summer at Wembley Stadium, with the release of the first single, ‘The Narcissist’. Guitarist Graham Coxon commented on the need for new music to go along with that: “The older and madder we get, it becomes more essential that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention. Sometimes just a riff doesn’t do the job”. They’re back in swaggering style. (4/5)
‘Baggio’ – Miles Kane: Miles Kane has dropped his latest single, ‘Baggio’, inspired by Italian footballing legend Roberto Baggio. “I was eight years old when I first saw Baggio on TV, it was during the 1994 World Cup. I was taken back by his presence, his look and his talent. It was the first time I’d seen a man look so different and unique. Seeing Baggio led me to be obsessed with that Italian football team for many years later. They made me want to grow my hair and I think that was the start of me getting obsessed with clothes, fashion and all things Italian. It was the start of me wanting to grow into who I am today.” (3.5/5)
‘Sugar Babies’ – Spoon: Lucifer on the Sofa was one of the finest LPs of 2022, and now indie stalwarts Spoon are set to release three new tracks that began life during the record’s sessions. The lead, ‘Sugar Babies’, sees them bring their enigmatic energy to simple piano riff douses in plenty of Samba flair to make for a cinematic gem that gears up towards a moving crescendo. (4/5)
The best new alternative songs:
‘Pulling Stitches’ – Bdrmm: From its first fuzzy strum, the sonic influence of these shoegaze pioneers on ‘Pulling Stitches’ is clear. The Hull quartet immediately plunge into heavy, distorted guitar, channelling Loveless in all its droning glory. But then, the Kevin Shields-esque chords fade away to reveal a thinner, more restrained sound. Ryan Smith’s vocals are left to float above light, playful percussion. As the instrumentation veers into softer territories, Smith’s dreamy lyrics contemplate second chances and starting anew. (4/5)
‘If Only It Was Warmth’ – King Krule: King Krule has further teased his forthcoming album Space Heavy with the release of the new single ‘If Only It Was Warmth’. The melancholic track arrives alongside a music video, which is directed by King Krule and stars Archy Marshall wandering with only a cactus for company. Marshall sings on the new single, “Keep running out of space for your mistakes, Now you can’t avoid, Walked two hours across empty space, To fill the void.” (3/5)
‘Once, Twice, Thrice’ – Eyes of Others: Eyes Of Others is a vibrantly uncompromising sonic odyssey with virtues many and vices few. John Bryden has stretched his legs into several musical styles binding the package with a psychedelic ribbon emblemised by the technicolour cover cow on the album cover. ‘Once, Twice, Thrice’ typifies his motif with a wavy air of beauty. A very promising debut. (4/5)
‘Common Ground’ – RVG: RVG are keen purveyors of pairing lusciousness with subverting themes like the concept of being a christian neurosurgeon. Their latest efforts keep that up by proving a riff and soundscape that feels like what it must be like to drive a convertible around norther California, with lyrical wit that keeps you focussing on the road rather than drifting off into dreamland entirely. (3.5/5)
The best new rock and punk songs:
‘Who Do You Wanna Be?’ – Dream Wife: London-based indie punk rock trio Dream Wife have shared the fourth single ahead of their third album Social Lubrication, out on June 9th via Lucky Number. ‘Who Do You Wanna Be?’ is a criticism of faux-activism. The band stated that it is “about running on the capitalist treadmill and falling face first on the pavement. Hollow slogans, social media activism without action, leftist infighting, monetising feminism, ‘girl boss’, all soul-crushing nonsense”. (3.5/5)
‘Gila Monster’ – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard remain too prolific for their own good, but we’re not complaining. This time out, they return to a thrashy, punky sound to sing of some sort of monster. Brimming with the garage band energy that they always bring to the fore, they clearly still love creating as much as Grand Designs couples love pretend that they’ve built the property themselves. It’s an enthusiasm that shows even when it might not be at its best. (3/5)
The best new live / remastered / unreleased songs:
‘Memory as Miniatures’ – Rachika Nayar: I’ll be damned if music gets more beautiful than this. Like Maximus in Gladiator running his hand over the crests of swaying corns if only his family hadn’t been murdered and he was simply retuning home from a tough stint working away, there is a sense of euphoric bliss and contentment in this honeyed riffing. Originally released on a cassette in 2021, Fragments is back in a polished guise and everything is sweeter for it. (4.5/5)
‘Gigolô’ – Jonas Sa: Classic Brazilian tropicália is back with a bang thanks to Hidden Waters : Strange and Sublime Sounds of Rio De Janeiro. The compilation offers sunshine supreme in droves and its second release proves the perfect time to share ‘Gigolô with you once more. This epic track from Jonas Sa is a cold beer of a track, and a free cold beer at that. (5/5)
‘Love-Building On Fire’ – Talking Heads (Live 1978): Oh to have seen Talking Heads live in 1978. It is a dream that we can all imagine a little clearer now thank to the new Take The Highway (Live) LP that goes back to a classic performance. Brimming with energy and musical brilliance, this epic shines with stunning vigour. (4/5)
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.