Our recurring Songs of the Week column highlights the best new tracks from the last seven days. Find our new favorites on our Top Songs playlist, and for more great songs from emerging artists, listen to our New Sounds playlist. This week, we’ve listening to tunes from Madison Cunningham, Native Sun, The Temper Trap, and others.
googly eyes — “I Don’t Go Out” feat. Tove Lo and Flume
In 2023, Flume and Tove Lo put out an open call to collaborate with some up-and-coming vocalists, and electronic pop artist googly eyes answered: Now on Tove Lo’s label Pretty Swede, “I Don’t Go Out” is the first collaborative track from the trio. For one, googly eyes has quite the voice; she glides over the pre-chorus deftly and has more than enough vocal conviction to meet and match Flume’s sharp, booming production. But overall, “I Don’t Go Out” manages to feel utterly distinct, the result of a collaborative peak and a great preview of their forthcoming EP together. — Paolo Ragusa
Related Video
hannah bahng — “Orchid / Flame”
“Orchid / Flame,” the latest from rising alt-pop songwriter hannah bahng, is a two-part exercise in emotional frustration. Originally written as two separate track ideas, the string-backed tune finds bahng expressing feelings of, as she puts it, “giving and giving more than what they want to give back, and continuing to give despite the love and care not being reciprocated.” Hence, the titular flame she can’t help but be drawn to. — Jonah Krueger
Inner Wave — “Madre”
LA indie rockers Inner Wave are back with a dreamy new cut, “Madre.” It’s their first release since signing to Nettwerk, and it’s a great example of why the quintet have built such a devoted fanbase in SoCal and beyond over the last several years. With just a tint of psychedelia, warm harmonies, a low-key bounce, and production that sounds (for lack of a better word) expensive, “Madre” is the full package. With more new music to come this year, Inner Wave are just getting started. — P. Ragusa
Joey Valence & Brae — “SEE U DANCE” feat. Rebecca Black
Joey Valence & Brae are begging you to get down and dance on their new album Hyperyouth, and “See You Dance” is as convincing as ever. If you were alive in 2006, you’ll undoubtedly recognize some of the song’s nostalgic hallmarks: chunky drums a la Pharrell, synth stabs that feel lifted from “Promiscuous,” and a life-of-the-party ethos that beckons you back to the floor. It’s perfect that they recruit Rebecca Black, of all people, for this banger, considering she’s done her own rebrand by reappropriating some of the sounds and styles that were popular during her first era of viral success. This song is so infectious and delightfully unserious that a short blurb really can’t do it justice; instead, I entreat you to listen to the first verse where Joey Valence asks, “Who’s over there with a BIG OL’ BUTT,” and try not to bowl over with laughter. — P. Ragusa
Madison Cunningham — “My Full Name”
Having predicted the reissue of Buckingham Nicks with her full-album cover with Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham is back with her latest solo album. Entitled Ace, the singer-songwriter’s third full-length will arrive October 10th via Verve Forecast, and our first listen is the absolutely lovely “My Full Name.” Putting down her guitar as she sits at the piano, Cunningham presents a stirring new clarity on the single. It’s as warm as it is sad, a testament to the idea that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all — or, as she sings it in the lyrics themselves, “Love’s a kind of sorrow worth saving.” As if this delicate turn weren’t enough to have us anticipating the full LP, Ace also features a collaboration with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, “Wake.” — Ben Kaye
Native Sun — “Adam”
If you’ve bounced around the modern New York City scene to catch acts like Geese, Been Stellar, or Model/Actriz, there’s a fair chance you’ve caught a Native Sun set. The band’s urgent and joyfully messy garage-psych (think Parquet Courts via The Velvet Underground, with a stop off at White Fence) has been an NYC staple in recent years, and they’re about to bring their sound to the masses with their Concrete Language debut. Coming September 19th via TODO, the record is a love letter to the city the band calls home, with new single “Adam” capturing the craziness of a night on the town. Consider it an ode to moving fast in a fast paced world, a place where screaming “I don’t know!” isn’t a declaration of uncertainty, but a pledge to hold on tight on the wild ride. — B. Kaye
Pool Kids — “Tinted Windows”
Today saw Pool Kids drop their new album, Easier Said Than Done, and the whole thing is definitely worth a listen. If you’re not acquainted with the Tallahassee group’s hook craft, though, track No. 2 should pull your right in. “Tinted Windows” is a lament on life on the road, with the band entangling mathy guitar knots around offbeat drums with the technical chaos that makes their brand of rock such an impossibly appealing challenge. Singer Christine Goodwyne’s voice is at once beautiful and pained, gorgeous and jagged as the song demands. Listen to this track, and then just keep the album running. — B. Kaye
The Temper Trap — “Lucky Dimes”
The Temper Trap are back with their first slice of new music in nine years, and it’s a ripper; those looking for the serenading tenor of “Sweet Disposition” will have to look elsewhere, because “Lucky Dimes” feels much more akin to, say, Kasabian than their early 2010s indie contemporaries. It’s a treat to hear a band return and seem totally unafraid of punching the volume to a 12, evidenced by the brooding roar of guitars in the chorus and the busy breakbeat beneath it. There’s a lot out there these days beckoning older indie fans to that first big breakout moment (see: the Just Like Heaven festival), but The Temper Trap are happy to show us they’ve got a lot more left in the tank. — P. Ragusa
Villagerrr — “Ride or Die” feat. Lydia
Columbus, Ohio, indie rockers Villagerrr are back with quite a bit of news: They’ve signed to Winspear (also home to our most recent CoSign Teethe), announced a deluxe version of their 2024 LP Tear Your Heart Out, and dropped the tasty new tune “Ride or Die,” which features guest vocals from feeble little horse’s Lydia. The cut falls right in line with the easy-on-the-ears, intensely melodic, slowcore-tinged vibes of the act’s recent efforts, and arrives complete with pedal steel and an emotional, fuzzy guitar solo or two. What great news for Villagerrr ride or die-ers. — J. Krueger
