Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.
Last Friday, St. Vincent dropped her sixth full-length album, Daddy’s Home, which was preceded earlier in the week by one of its most compelling tracks, the infectious ‘Down’. Also last week, Brisbane trio The Goon Sax returned with news of their third album and first for Matador, Mirror II, sharing the propulsive, effortlessly dynamic ‘In the Stone’, while SPELLLING put out another impressive teaser from her upcoming album, a 7-minute epic called ‘Boys at School’. Claire George released the final single off her soon-to-be-unveiled debut LP The Land Beyond The Light, an enchanting song called ‘Northern Light’ that reckons with memory and loss; The Mountain Goats have a new track out, the misguidingly titled ‘The Slow Parts on Death Metal Songs’, an autobiographical tune about seeking a sense of belonging in strange places; Wild Pink and Samia teamed up on the ethereal, sparkling ‘Ohio’, very much in the style of Wild Pink’s last album; and finally, Los Angeles singer-songwriter Shannon Lay returned with a sparse yet soothing acoustic track called ‘Rare to Wake’.
Best New Songs: May 17, 2021
The Goon Sax, ‘In the Stone’
Song of the Week: TORRES, ‘Don’t Go Putting Wishes in My Head’
Claire Goerge, ‘Northern Lights’
SPELLLING, ‘Boys at School’
St. Vincent, ‘Down’
The Mountain Goats, ‘The Slow Parts on Death Metal Songs’
Wild Pink and Samia, ‘Ohio’
Shannon Lay, ‘Rare to Wake’