12 Finest Songs of the Week: HAIM, Moist Leg, Drugdealer and Weyes Blood, Alan Sparhawk, and Extra
Plus Alex G, Cliffords, Foxwarren, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Different Notable New Tracks
Could 30, 2025
Welcome to the 18th Songs of the Week of 2025. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, and Scotty Dransfield helped me determine what ought to make the record. We thought of over 30 songs and narrowed it all the way down to a Prime 12.
Problem 74, The Protest Problem, is out now. It options Kathleen Hannah and Bartees Unusual on the 2 covers and may be purchased from us immediately right here.
In current weeks we posted interviews with Rubbish (a digital cowl story), Ezra Furman, Florry, Sandhouse, Supergrass (in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of their debut album), Windser, Lael Neale, Samia, Sunflower Bean, and extra.
Within the final week we reviewed some albums.
Underneath the Radar subscriptions are presently 50% off, as are again points. Try the sale right here.
That can assist you kind via the multitude of recent songs launched within the final week, we now have picked the 12 finest the final seven days needed to provide, adopted by some honorable mentions. Try the complete record under.
1. HAIM: “Take me again”
HAIM are releasing a brand new album, I stop, on June 20 through Columbia. Immediately they shared its fourth single, “Take me again.”
The sister trio is Danielle, Este, and Alanna Haim. Rostam Batmanglij and Danielle produced I stop.
HAIM collectively had this to say concerning the inspiration behind “Take me again” in a press launch: “For the primary time since highschool, the three of us all discovered ourselves single. We have been going out lots; simply the three of us spending high quality time collectively. A lot in order that we’d reminisce about residing at dwelling and all of the loopy tales that occurred throughout our teenage years.”
HAIM returned in March with the brand new music, “Relationships,” shared through a music video. It was introduced as the primary single from a brand new album and one in all our Songs of the Week. In April they shared the album’s second single, “Everyone’s making an attempt to determine me out.” When the album was formally introduced they shared its third single, “All the way down to be mistaken.”
In March Danielle additionally guested on the brand new Bon Iver music, “If Solely I May Wait.”
HAIM’s final album was 2020’s acclaimed Ladies in Music Pt. III. It earned them two Grammy nominations and was additionally #3 on our Prime 100 Albums of 2020 record. HAIM have been on one of many two covers of our 2021 Protest Problem. In 2021, Alana Haim additionally starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie Licorice Pizza. By Mark Redfern
2. Moist Leg: “CPR”
Moist Leg are releasing their a lot anticipated sophomore album, moisturizer, on July 11 through Domino. This week they shared its second single, “CPR,” through a music video self-directed by the band.
Beforehand Moist Leg shared moisturizer’s first single, “catch these fists,” through a self-directed music video. It was #1 on our Songs of the Week record. Then the band carried out “catch these fists” on The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon. Then they introduced some fall North American tour dates.
Moisturizer is the follow-up to 2022’s self-titled debut album, which was the #1 album on our Prime 100 Albums of 2022 record and netted the band three Grammys. Moist Leg landed at #1 on the official UK album chart and in America additionally made it to #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart (and at #4 on the Billboard Album Gross sales Chart). Moist Leg additionally debuted at #1 on the Australian album chart. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The band’s debut single, “Chaise Longue,” was #1 on our Prime 130 Songs of 2021 record and was a viral hit.
Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers lead Moist Leg and they’re backed by Ellis Durand (bass), Henry Holmes (drums), and Joshua Mobaraki (guitar, synth). The band from Isle of Wight, England as soon as once more labored with producer Dan Carey and this time all 5 members have writing credit on the LP. Moist Leg determined to construct off the energy of their reside reveals with moisturizer. “We have been simply form of having enjoyable and exploring,” says Chambers in a press launch. Teasdale provides: “We focussed on: Is that this going to be enjoyable to play reside? It was very pure that we’d write the second file collectively.”
A giant affect on the album’s lyrics was Teasdale falling in love in 2021, which led to her writing a lot of love songs. “I assumed I used to be straight all of my life till I met my present accomplice—these love songs are about them,” Teasdale explains. “I simply discovered it a lot extra fascinating and empowering to be writing love songs the place I’m not lusting over a person—it feels just a little bit completely different.”
Learn our 2021 interview with Moist Leg on “Chaise Longue.”
Learn our 2022 interview with Moist Leg on their album right here.
Learn our rave evaluate of Moist Leg right here. By Mark Redfern
3. Drugdealer and Weyes Blood: “Actual Factor”
This week, Drugdealer and Weyes Blood shared the brand new collaborative single, “Actual Factor,” together with a video directed by James Manson. The music is out now through Mexican Summer time.
Drugdealer (Michael Collins) and Weyes Blood (Natalie Mering) reunite for his or her third music collectively, following the hits “Honey” (from Collins’ 2019 album Uncooked Honey) and “All of the sudden” (from his 2016 album The Finish of Comedy). The duo first met by probability in a studio in Oakland in 2014. “Since then, I’ve felt like she’s my musical household,” says Collins in a press launch. “I can’t actually ask for extra by way of somebody who impressed me to even get to this place in my songwriting.”
Each made their final launch in 2022, Collins with the LP Hiding in Plain Sight and Weyes Blood with the acclaimed And within the Darkness, Hearts Aglow..
Initially from the East Coast, Collins has beforehand recorded beneath the monikers Run DMT and Salvia Plath earlier than starting Drugdealer in 2016. Weyes Blood’s first solo launch was 2011’s The Exterior Room. Since then, her 2019 LP Titanic Rising and 2022’s And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow have gained international renown.
In a press launch, Collins says the music got here to be from a demo he knew was good for Weyes Blood. “Instantly I noticed that it was the proper factor to point out Nat, who I had been desirous to collaborate with once more for years. After that we began engaged on it through a number of journeys forwards and backwards throughout the U.S., and it simply turned one in all my favourite issues we’ve ever carried out.”
We beforehand interviewed Drugdealer for our Artist Survey sequence in 2016.
We’ve got lined Weyes Blood extensively earlier than, and he or she graced the duvet of Problem 71 in 2023.
We gave And within the Darkness, Hearts Aglow a rave 9/10 evaluate and the album was #2 on our Prime 100 Albums of 2022 record. Titanic Rising was #2 on our Prime 100 Albums of 2019 record. By Issa Nasatir
4. Alan Sparhawk with Trampled By Turtles: “Get Nonetheless”
Alan Sparhawk of Low has teamed up with the alt-country band Trampled By Turtles for his second solo album, fittingly titled With Trampled by Turtles and out right this moment through Sub Pop. Earlier this week the album’s third single, “Get Nonetheless,” was shared. It’s a new model of a music from White Roses, My God, Sparhawk’s debut solo album from 2024, which had a way more minimal and experimental sound when in comparison with the brand new album. Ingrid Weise directed the video.
Beforehand Sparhawk shared the album’s first single, “Stranger,” through a video. “Stranger” was one in all our Songs of the Week. Then the album’s second single, “Not Damaged,” additionally landed on Songs of the Week.
Sparhawk launched his debut solo album, White Roses, My God, simply final 12 months through Sub Pop. Sparhawk’s spouse and Low bandmate, Mimi Parker, handed away in November 2022 after residing with ovarian most cancers for 2 years. It basically put an finish to Low. White Roses, My God was impressed by Sparhawk’s grieving course of.
Sparhawk and Trampled By Turtles are each from Minnesota and had mentioned working collectively for a number of years, however lastly the timing labored out. “When the chance appears proper,” Sparhawk says in a press launch, “you leap.”
The album was recorded on the finish of 2023 at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Trampled By Turtles have been already recording there and Sparhawk got here in in the direction of the top of their session there, armed with songs in search of a house (together with some that hadn’t appeared proper for Low).
Decide up final print challenge (Problem 73) to learn our in-depth interview with Sparhawk on White Roses, My God.
Learn our My First Live performance article with Low, the place Alan Sparhawk mentioned the primary live performance he ever attended. By Mark Redfern
5. Alex G: “Afterlife”
This week Alex G (aka Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Alex Giannascoli) introduced a brand new album, Headlights, and launched the brand new single “Afterlife” with a music video directed by Charlotte Rutherford. Headlights is ready to launch on July 18 through RCA and its unveiling follows the announcement of a North American tour.
Headlights shall be Alex G’s tenth studio album, following God Save the Animals in 2022 and his movement image rating for the movie I Noticed The TV Glow final 12 months.
Alex G’s tour will start in September after just a few competition dates within the UK with Nilüfer Yanya supporting the reveals. By Issa Nasatir
6. Cliffords: “My Favorite Monster”
7. Foxwarren: “Deadhead”
8. Matt Berninger: “No Love”
9. Fashionable Nature: “Pharaoh”
10. Thom Yorke: “Dialing In”
11. Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “BOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WOLVES”
12. Ty Segall: “Buildings”
Honorable Mentions:
These songs virtually made the Prime 12.
caroline: “Coldplay cowl”
Case Oats: “Bitter Root Lake”
Ben Kweller: “Oh Dorian” (Feat. MJ Lenderman)
mary within the junkyard: “drains”
whole tommy: “Butterknife”
Whitney: “Darling”
Yumi Zouma: “Blister”
Right here’s a useful Spotify playlist that includes the Prime 12 so as, adopted by all of the honorable mentions:
