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.)
billy woods & Kenny Segal - "Misery"
There are so many rap songs about sex, but there are so few that capture the possibility of sex, the stupid and hallucinatory delirium of attraction so strong that it can take over your brain. That's what billy woods does on "Misery." Kenny Segal's production turns jazz instrumentation -- acoustic bass, hazy horns, snares hitting at unpredictable intervals -- into lurching brain-fog. Losing himself to the sensory flood, woods goes full stream-of-consciousness, finding himself stuck on certain details: "She laugh from her stomach, I love it." It's an evocative snapshot of the moment of terrible clarity. You can ruin your life chasing that feeling, but if you never feel that feeling, are you even alive? —Tom
Matt Berninger - "Bonnet Of Pins"
Many have responded to "Bonnet Of Pins" by declaring it better than anything on the last few National albums. I suggest those people revisit "Space Invader" / "Eucalyptus" / "Quiet Light" before making such bold claims, but the sentiment rings true. Whereas a lot of the National's recent music has lacked a certain zip, the lead single from Matt Berninger's next solo album comes out of the gate brimming with momentum. Berninger's familiar croak is back in Alligator mode here, and the female backing vocals buoy him more artfully than anything on I Am Easy To Find. The band sounds refined yet vibrantly alive. When that horn section kicks in — woo! It almost feels like Berninger studied the War On Drugs while touring with them last year and said, "I want to try that." It's working big-time here. —Chris
Lady Gaga - "How Bad Do U Want Me"
Lady Gaga has always been a bit of a rebel. Even in her most outlandish moments, there’s always an authenticity to her eccentricity, despite it making her the target of endless criticism and jokes in her early career. If we’ve learned one thing from her career arc, it’s that if she ever does try to tone herself down, it doesn’t last long. Gaga is certainly not toned-down on “How Bad Do U Want Me,” a centerpiece of her new album Mayhem. Over an interpolation of Yaz’s 1982 track “Only You,” she’s skeptical that the man she’s interested in might have his mind on another woman who’s the textbook definition of a good girl. But instead of trying to be a good girl herself, Gaga’s making sure this man knows what he’s in for should he choose her. How bad does he want her now that she’s no longer just the woman of his dreams?: "I'm here to kiss you in real life/ 'Bout to cause a scene." It’s not a woe-is-me wallowfest — it’s Gaga setting an ultimatum. That’s why even when she’s in love, she’s still a free bitch, baby. —Abby
Charmer - "Arrowhead"
Charmer are back and more emo than ever. After a few years gone dormant where even the band members didn’t think they’d release new music, they returned this week with “Arrowhead,” a blast of caffeinated, emphatic pop-punk that picks up right where they left off. "Cursed me, I fell in love with morning blues," vocalist/guitarist David Daignault shout-sings over walloping guitar hooks on the final verse, like he’s been waiting forever for this moment. "Everything is leading me right back to hating you/ Slowly on all the ones and twos/ Follow my directions as you tie your homemade noose." It’s their usual formula with a fresh approach, and it feels like a breath of fresh air (albeit an existential one). —Abby
Feeble Little Horse – “This Is Real”
Sometimes a band emerges from nowhere, blows everyone away, and then disappears. Such is the case for Feeble Little Horse, whose two albums — 2021’s Hayday and 2023’s Girl With Fish — rocked the indie world with their idiosyncratic chaos. After the second LP, the Pittsburgh group shared a statement canceling their tour and intimating an indefinite hiatus as a result of being overwhelmed by their success. Now they’re back with “This Is Real,” and they’ve still got the juice. “This Is Real” starts as an innocent, twinkly indie rock song before exploding into nu-metal madness without any warning. From there, Feeble Little Horse take the common quiet-loud song dynamic to another level, ricocheting between tame and tumultuous, until Lydia Slocum goes from singing to screaming while questioning reality. It’s a hell of a way to return. –Danielle
