This week brings new music from indie mainstays Mitski, HAIM, Big Thief, and the first new music in seven years from the Kills. There’s also a massive collaboration led by the drummers from the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and we’ll hear music from Minneapolis band she’s green.

Mitski, “Bug Like an Angel”

Mitski hit indie gold with her last album, Laurel Hell, the top-selling album of 2022 and giving her the No. 1 song on the Triple A Billboard chart with “The Only Heartbreaker.” She just announced a new album, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, with the release of new song, “Bug Like an Angel.” It’s a confessional tune that builds from stark Mitski solo to a swell of harmonies like an underlined reminder.

The Kills, “LA Hex / New York”

The Kills (duo Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince) return with their first music in seven years and cover their bases, from “LA Hex” to “New York.” The slow drunken-haze waltz of “LA Hex” feels like sitting outside in the sun for too long with trippy distorted guitars, church choirs, and warped horns. In more typical fashion from The Kills, “New York” focuses on Mosshart’s confronting vocals with dark and attacking guitars.

HAIM, “Home”

HAIM’s latest song, “Home” appears on the glittering Barbie soundtrack, but it sounds like a firmly HAIM song with perhaps a heavier lean on the synth that gives a low-impact pulse to pleas for someone to take them home.

Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee, “Los Angeles” feat. James Murphy

Sounding industrial and grimy with a focus on deep beats, drummers Lol Tohurst (The Cure) and Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees) have teamed up with producer Jacknife Lee for a new album called Los Angeles. They will be bringing in some of their favorite voices like Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Mark Bowen (Idles), and Arrow de Wilde (Starcrawler). It seems like this will be a ripper of an album just from the first drop featuring LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. 

she's green, “Purple”

The cover art for Wisteria from local Minnesota band, she’s green, shows a person floating in water under a blue sky. The shoegaze swirl in “Purple” captures sonically that peaceful float while the lyrics tell of a “ticking time bomb.”

Big Thief, “Vampire Empire”

Big Thief are a band who appreciate the moment. Every time they play a song, it’s a chance to re-explore it. A live show favorite, “Vampire Empire,” has been performed in a number of different ways, but on the newly released studio version, it’s tight like an overly coiled wire — full of tension waiting to be released.

Playlist