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 most of us are getting spooky, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard decided to get sneaky by releasing their new album, The Silver Cord, a day early. That bump wasn’t enough to grab our Album of the Week, however: Black Pumas took the crown with their supremely psychedelic and soulful new LP Chronicles of a Diamond.
If you want to check out more of the best 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 Kurt Vile to Future Islands to Yard Act and Katy Kirby, 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 27th. 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
Kurt Vile – ‘Another Good Year For The Roses’: All it takes is a little old-school county music reference to get Kurt Vile rolling. America’s favourite indie rock slacker is eyeing down a new EP, Back To Moon Beach, and if lead single ‘Another Good Year For The Roses’ is any indication, it’ll be another great addition to Vile’s killer discography. (4.5/5)
San Fermin – ‘Didn’t Want You To’: Brooklyn indie rock collective San Fermin are usually more interested in the nexus point between rock and classical music. But on their latest single, ‘Didn’t Want You To’, they take a page out of the book of Waxahatchee and craft a killer folk-country-indie number. It’s delicate and volcanic at the same time, making it a real treat of a song. (4.5/5)
The Antlers – ‘Need Nothing’: I think the last time I talked about indie folk duo The Antlers was back when their song ‘Ahisma’ was released at the tail end of 2022. It’s time to amend that because The Antlers have another lovely new song, ‘Need Nothing’, to gift the world just as spooky season comes to an end. (4/5)
The best new indie songs
Future Islands – ‘The Tower’: Synthpop doesn’t really get any better than Future Islands. After listening to the perfectly fine, if terribly pedestrian, new album by Wild Nothing, I’m glad that I’ve got ‘The Tower’ and Future Islands’ upcoming studio album People Who Aren’t There Anymore to look forward to down the line. (4.5/5)
Bar Italia – ‘World’s Greatest Emoter’: Britain’s coolest upstart indie rock band is probably Bar Italia, the multi-vocal three-headed animal who are releasing their second studio album of 2023, The Twits, next week. Everything we’ve gotten as preview singles so far have been awesome, and ‘World’s Greatest Emoter’ is no exception. (4.5/5)
Yard Act – ‘Dream Job’: Post-punk shit-stirrers Yard Act made a hell of an impression last year with their debut, The Overload. While the iron is still hot, the quartet have returned with another funky, dancefloor-ready snark attack, ‘Dream Job’. We all know that “dream jobs” don’t exist, and who better than vocalist James Smith to burst that bubble in a wonderfully dry way? (4/5)
Rocket – ‘Future Memory’: The best part about this job is the discoveries. I can’t believe that there hasn’t been a band called Rocket in the world yet, but the Los Angeles indie-punks have laid claim to it. ‘Future Memory’ is a killer blast of emo guitars and poppy vocals, but the hardened edge of punk rock flows through this band’s veins. (4/5)
Gia Ford – ‘Falling in Love Again’: I think I might have originally placed Gia Ford’s new piano ballad ‘Falling in Love Again’ in the folk part of this list, but that’s not right. Instead, Ford’s impassioned track rests somewhere in between the genres we have here. Hey, better to have it somewhere it doesn’t exactly fit than not to have it here it all. (3.5/5)
The best new alternative/rock songs
Katy Kirby – ‘Table’: Resting in the nebulous place that exists between folk, indie, and alternative rock, Katy Kirby is back to share her sophomore studio effort, Blue Raspberry. ‘Table’ is probably the heaviest that I’ve heard Kirby be on record, which makes me incredibly excited to hear what she has in store for the rest of the album. (4.5/5)
Luna Shadows – ‘Witches Brew’: Spooky season is about to come to a close, but we’re going out with a band featuring not one but two witch-centered songs. I’m just barely giving the edge to Luna Shadows, the bedroom pop emo-folk singer-songwriter whose haunted atmosphere reigns supreme on ‘Witches Brew’. (4/5)
Bash! – ‘Witch Finder’: Great day for witches, innit? Going back-to-back with Luna Shadows and Bash! with their wild synth-heavy new jam, ‘Witch Finder’ is a great way to celebrate Halloween this year. More energetic and fun than ‘Witches Brew’, ‘Witch Finder’ embraces the kitsch of the scary holiday season and milks it for all it’s worth. (3.5/5)
Everything Everything – ‘Cold Reactor’: Everyone loves synthpop, especially English art rockers Everything Everything. On their newest track ‘Cold Reactor’, singer Jonathan Higgs tries on his best Sam Smith falsetto and samples vocals like Chvrches to make a wild amalgamation of synth-art-pop-rock. (3.5/5)
86TVs – ‘Higher Love’: Imagine my disappointment when I learned that The Maccabees spinoff band 86TVs weren’t covering Steve Winwood’s eternal 1980s classic ‘Higher Love’. Ah, well, no matter. ‘Higher Love’ is a solid jam on its own, even if Chaka Khan doesn’t make a guest appearance. (3/5)