Best New Songs (May 4, 2023)
At Paste Music, we’re listening to so many new tunes on any given day, we barely have any time to listen to each other. Nevertheless, every week we can swing it, we take stock of the previous seven days’ best tracks, delivering a weekly playlist of our favorites. Check out this week’s 10 best new songs, in alphabetical order. (You can check out last week’s songs here.)
Bush Tetras: “Things I Put Together”
New York City No Wave legends Bush Tetras are back with They Live in My Head, their first studio album in 11 years (and their first release since the death of their original drummer, Dee Pop, in 2021). Shifting from their post-punk trademark, lead single “Things I Put Together” is classic Nixon-era hard rock—pairing blues riffs with Marc Bolan-conjuring glam textures and their own foundational punk architecture. “They said I wasn’t worthy / Ever no never / But still I won’t keep those things I put together / No never / I put my foot in the door / Hoping for redemption,” vocalist Cynthia Sley sings. Produced by Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, this new chapter for Bush Tetras is the band’s reflection on growing up together in the late-1970s in the Big Apple. After 40 years, it’s a welcomed return for them. —Matt Mitchell
Coach Party: “All I Wanna Do Is Hate”
One of the hottest rising acts in the UK, Isle of Wight alt-rockers Coach Party have a debut album—Killjoy—on the way later this year. The band’s new single, “All I Wanna Do Is Hate,” is a roaring, relentless fit of punk and noise pop that conjures Treats-era Sleigh Bells and the distorted algorithm of Sonic Youth’s catalog. Much like Coach Party’s catalog at-large, the track finds the band writing through “the often entertaining struggle of real life.” “I am untouchable / Yeah I’m a dangerous girl / I’m gonna hate shit / You should embrace it / You’ll learn to like it,” vocalist Jess Eastwood chants atop a hypnotic, rioutous melody. —Matt Mitchell
Ezra Williams feat. Sammy Copley: “Until I’m Home”
UK singer/songwriter Ezra Williams’ debut LP Supernumeraries arrives next month via AWAL, and brand new single “Until I’m Home” is one of the sweetest synth-folk songs you’ll hear all year. Williams writes songs that chronicle romance, isolation and catharsis in refreshing ways, paired with instrumentals that are lush, inviting and endearing. “Everyone cannot be right / That’s how I know that there’s more for me to fight / And this big list of burdens I pass onto you / Are only easy ‘til you’re home / But then it’s late and you’re alone,” they sing. At just 20 years old, Williams is quickly establishing themselves as a creative powerhouse with a deft language for how the world orbits beyond them. —Matt Mitchell
Girl Scout: “Monster”
Girl Scout—our Best of What’s Next pick for February 2023—have returned with “Monster,” the first single from their new chapter as a band (a new EP is on the way this fall). After the release of the ballad “Attenborough Beach” in March, the ‘90s alt-rock textures of “Monster” signal a quick return to the heavy stuff that Girl Scout made a name for themselves with—especially on “Do You Remember Sally Moore?” and “Weirdo.” The energetic, infectious sound of grunge-infused power-pop has become the band’s calling card, and they have perfected the formula. —Matt Mitchell
Hand Habits: “Private Life”
“Private Life” marks Hand Habits’—aka Meg Duffy—second teaser ahead of their forthcoming EP Sugar the Bruise. Though they are more often playing guitar or calculating synthesizer grooves, Duffy has taken a seat at the piano on their new, tender single. In a solemn moment of reflection, they consider how they might continue occupying the space of a bygone loved one. “You, the one who loved so fearlesssly / Watch you burn up in the summer glow / I was on the roof sweeping your gutters clean / Always admiring you, above and below,” Duffy sings. —Matt Mitchell