Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
Say Sue Me - "In This Mess"
The closest parallel for Say Sue Me's brand of classic mainline indie rock has always been Yo La Tengo, and that comparison certainly holds on "In This Mess," the latest from the Korean band's upcoming EP. The song spends more than six minutes surging forward, upward, outward, riding its fuzzed-out bass and effects-laden guitars to the horizon line and pairing it with gentle, beautiful vocal harmonies. It's a gorgeous sustained adrenaline rush. —Chris
redveil - "square one"
The DC rapper/producer redveil isn't an insular indie-rap weirdo like the MIKEs of the world, but he never pushes his sincerity into Chance The Rapper-esque overdrive. Instead, he exists in an appealing place between those poles, dropping real-talk therapy insights over his own gorgeously cascading beats. As a rapper, redveil is always sturdy, but the real miracle of "square one" is the production. The track rests on glorious waves of strings, woodwinds, and choirs. I don't know whether it's an expertly looped sample or just some lushly layered in-studio orchestral action. Either one would be impressive. —Tom
Kissing On Camera - "Voice Actor"
Kissing On Camera is a great band name, and a picture of fish swimming in water in a plastic bag is great cover artwork for a song. “Voice Actor” is Kissing On Camera’s third song ever, and it takes unapologetic influence from Ovlov, which is also great. The Dublin-native, London-based band has the dramatic vocal delivery, the explosive, fuzzy guitars, and the fun melodies of the Connecticut shoegaze band. It ends before the two-minute mark, but reaches great heights well within that short span. —Danielle
Greg Freeman - "Point And Shoot"
One time in college, on a north Texas highway so flat and barren I could see miles ahead of me, I received a ticket for driving 20 miles over the speed limit. As I wept to the police officer, I considered: We're in the middle of nowhere and I'm operating a vehicle that can go 100 miles an hour. That just didn't feel right. That encounter was the exact premise that inspired "Point And Shoot," the excellent single from Burlington singer-songwriter Greg Freeman's upcoming album Burnover. Beyond those pesky interstate speed traps, the slacker rock banger ponders the conflicting vastness and limitations of the world: "You laughed and said, 'Yeah, the crime of the century'/ But I was lost like a little child/ In a wilderness where the West was way too wild," he croons over ramshackle guitars reminiscent of '90s Drag City. If you're not careful, "Point And Shoot" is also the type of song that might make you feel like driving really, really fast. —Abby
Addison Rae - "Headphones On"
I have a bias against influencers-turned-musicians. But Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi” has been the perfect karaoke song for me and my friends, and “High Fashion” has an amazing lyric about "a cigarette pressed between my tits." "Headphones On" is her best yet, a hazy, earnest earworm about finding solace in music and needing a cigarette to feel better. When, early on in the song, Rae sings, "Wish my mom and dad could’ve been in lovе," it feels like a startling moment of vulnerability that gives emotional weight to the dreamy tune. I’m willing to look past the old TikTok dances. —Danielle
