Warpaint ‘I’ll Start Believing’
Unlike the leisurely paced seven-plus minutes of new single ‘No Way Out’, this b-side starts with a communal scream and clocks in at under 180 seconds. It’s all sinuous guitar lines, fuzzed bass and Stella Mozgawa’s urgent drumming. These two tracks are the“first in a series of new songs being released this year” and hopefully a sign of a new period of prolificness for the band who have previously released (brilliant) records at a snail’s pace.
[Warpaint]

Tame Impala ‘Let It Happen’
Speaking of seven-plus minute tunes, this is the first new track from Kevin Parker since 2010’s Lonerism. An electronics-heavy psych number, with the strings kicking in around the four minute mark and it’s not until after the six minute mark where we hear something that is recognizably a guitar. Download it for free over on the Tame Impala site.
[Tame Impala]

The Mountain Goats ‘Heel Turn 2 (edit)’
Second track to be released from the loosely wrestling themed album Beat the Champ (April, Merge) only whets our appetite to hear the whole thing. The full length version of this song has a beautiful instrumental piano coda that’s as long as the narrative part.
[The Mountain Goats]

Bully ‘I Remember’
First featured here with ‘Milkman’ back in November (ITP #67) this tracks is taken from the Nashville based band’s forthcoming as yet untitled album.
[Bully]

Chromatics ‘I Can Never be Myself When You’re Around’
Johnny Jewel and co. return with more 80s indebted electronic pop. This is taken from delayed forthcoming album Dear Tommy, the follow up to 2012’s Kill For Love.
[Chromatics]

Colleen ‘Captain of None’
Colleen (aka French multi-instrumentalist Cecile Schott) utilises her voice and the 15th century baroque intrument viola da gamba to create something hypnotic, haunting and contemporary. This is the closing title track from her forthcoming album on Thrill Jockey (April 7).
[Colleen]

Radical Dads ‘Slammer’
From the Brooklyn band’s third album, 
Taken from the indie rock band’s Cassette Brain EP.
[Radical Dads]

My Morning Jacket ‘Big Decisions’
Taken from Waterfall (ATO, May 4) their first album since 2011’s Circuital. A big stadium filling number driven by Jim James’s vocals and Patrick Hallahan’s drumming, over slide guitar, horns and piano.
[My Morning Jacket]

Evans The Death ‘Expect Delays’
Title track from from the London based indiepop band’s second album (out now on Fortuna Pop! / Slumberland).
[Evans The Death]

Modest Mouse ‘Coyotes’
The other end of the MM spectrum to ‘Lampshades on Fire’ (ITP#73). A waltz-time number from the band’s rather bloody excellent Stranger to Ourselves album.
[Modest Mouse]

Chastity Belt ‘Joke’
Second digital single from Chastity Belt’s second album Time To Go Home (out March 24 on Hardly Art) the highlight is the outro where the band cut loose on the guitars for two and a half minutes.
[Chastity Belt]

Dick Diver ‘Leftovers’
Melbourne, Florida is one of the best albums of 2015 so far and likely to stay that way. It’s one fault? That there are only a couple of tracks that features Steph Hughes on lead vocals. With mournful horns and slide guitar, this one is a real beaut.
[Dick Diver]

Slutever ‘Maggot’
LA garage pop duo of Nicole Snyder and Rachel Gagliardi teamed up with buddies Girlpool for a split cassette last year (though they’ve been releasing stuff through Bandcamp since 2010). This is taken from their new Almost Famous cassette.
[Slutever]

Speedy Ortiz ‘The Graduates’
Lessons learned from the Stephen Malkmus school of songwriting on this second track to appear from the band’s forthcoming album Foil Deer (April 21, Carpark). One of their best songs so far, I reckon.
[Speedy Ortiz]

Sufjan Stevens ‘Death With Dignity’
Openning track from the forthcoming Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty, March 31).
[Sufjan Stevens]

Westkust ‘Swirl’
Gothenburg shoegazers who in Hugo Randulv and Gustav Andersson share a couple of members with Makthaverskan (ITP #72). This is taken from their forthcoming album Last Forever (available via their Bandcamp page).
[Westkust]

BRAIDS ‘Taste’
Raphaelle Standell-Preston has featured here a couple of times, firstly with her other project Blue Hawaii and then with ‘In Kind’, the closing track from BRAIDS last album Flourish//Perish. This may not have the quirky edge of that latter track, but it’s a winning slice of 21st Century pop, that takes its influence from the late 20th Century (a bit of drum n’ bass, a bit of trip hop, a bit of Radiohead), but it’s Standell-Preston’s vocals that are the star here.
[BRAIDS]

Soko [featuring Aerial Pink] ‘Lovetrap’
French musician / actress Stephanie Sokolinski (aka Soko) is well known to Australian audiences for her 2007 hit ‘I’ll Kill Her’. Here she teams ups with buddy Ariel Pink for some super smooth 70s-influenced electronic pop. Taken from Soko’s forthcoming My Dreams Dictate My Reality album.
[Soko]

Jenny Hval ‘The Battle is Over’
Previously featured here with ‘Mephisto in the Water’ and her cover of Paul Simon’s ‘The Cool Cool River’, the Norwegian experimentalist returns with this intriguing track from her forthcoming Apocalypse, Girl album (Scared Bones, June).
[Jenny Hval]

Lower Dens ‘Your Heart Still Beating’
Motorik centrepiece of forthcoming third long player Escape From Evil, features some nice Fripp-like guitar in the middle (March 31, Ribbon Music).
[Lower Dens]