Drowned in Soundcloud

Drowned in Sound's podcast returned in 2023 and we've had an incredibly busy 2025 interviewing musicians like Idlewild, Maximo Park, Enter Shikari, The Linda Lindas, Sofia Isella, Mynabirds, Kadjha Monet, Mary Spender and many more.

We've also been making space for campaigners and activists, running projects and being part of movements to address class inequality, youth access to music, misogyny, the climate crisis, and corporate over-reach that impacts fans.

We aim to empower music fans and create space for conversations that music journalism often covers but rarely provides solutions to the issues.

Season 5 kicks off in January 2026 with conversations with DiS favourites Kelly Lee Owens, Gazelle Twin, and the podcaster behind over 500 episodes of 101 Part Time Jobs speaking to musicians about their side hustles.

#IndependentMusicMonday’s Tracks of the Year: 2016 Edition

Every Monday throughout 2016 we have compiled the week’s best new releases. We’ve featured over 1000 tracks, which you can find compiled in our Archive Spotify playlist.

It’s been a real joy rummaging through the new releases from Independent labels throughout this year, and I hope that this best of the year playlist featuring 70 of my favourites gives you a taste of some of what a great year it has been. LISTEN to the IMM tracks of the year playlist on Spotify here.

Track of the Year: ‘Three Sides of Nazareth’ by Nicolas Jaar

A pummelling beat and children chattering and tiger-growlin’ greets you at the start of this almost ten-minute masterpiece. Jaar has seemingly thrown his downbeat hyper-dub trunk off a cliff and whilst diving behind it into the infinite abyss he’s managed to make one of biggest floor-fillers of the year. If anyone was going to soundtrack a Party in the Sky, with lightning flickering at your feet, then you could bet Jaar would do it. Of course, it remains a production masterclass with the slinky, snarling, super-smart, shape-shifting, almost philosophical exercise. It’s a voyage that revels in making your synapses shake as much as your hips, but boy oh boy, if this isn’t one of the songs of the year then you better hurry up and tell me what is better than this utter bliss. “I found my broken bones by the side of the road…”

Tracklisting

Nicolas Jaar - Three Sides of Nazareth Jean-Michel Blais - Nostos (feat. BUFFLO) Snow Ghosts - Undertow School Of Seven Bells - On My Heart El Perro Del Mar - Breadandbutter Junior Boys - Over It Primal Scream - Where The Light Gets In (feat. Sky Ferreira) Eagulls - Lemontrees FEWS - The Zoo Future Of The Left - Animals Beginning With a B Sløtface - Sponge State The Kills - Doing It To Death Kate Jackson - Metropolis The Duke Spirit - Wounded Wing Innerspace Orchestra - One Way Glass Guy Andrews - Paganism Pet Shop Boys - The Pop Kids - Radio Edit The Dandy Warhols - STYGGO Marissa Nadler - Janie in Love Jesca Hoop - The Lost Sky Minor Victories - A Hundred Ropes Nils Frahm - Chant Julianna Barwick - Same Fear of Men - Island ANOHNI - Drone Bomb Me Animal Collective - FloriDada Radiohead - Daydreaming Ulver - Moody Stix Fiona Brice - Dallas Hammock - Dissonance Garbage - Even Though Our Love Is Doomed Sleigh Bells - Lightning Turns Sawdust Gold The Avalanches - Frankie Sinatra (Extended Mix) Soulwax- Heaven Scent (feat. Chloe Sevigny) Shearwater - Radio Silence Amber Arcades - Fading Lines The Raveonettes - This World Is Empty (Without You) Angel Olsen - Intern Melanie De Biasio - Blackened Cities Hilary Woods - Sabbath Julia Jacklin - Pool Party Wild Beasts - Big Cat Femme - Light Me Up BadBadNotGood - Confessions Pt II (feat. Colin Stetson) Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - A 1000 Times Lost Under Heaven - I&I Tim Hecker - Castrati Stack Agnes Obel - Familiar Jenny Hval - Conceptual Romance C Duncan - Like You Do Warpaint - New Song Black Honey - All My Pride Eluvium - Fugue State Dead Light - Blooms Sharon Van Etten - Not Myself The Anchoress - Long Year (Acoustic Version) Hannah Lou Clark - It’s Your Love Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Jesus Alone Merchandise - Lonesome Sound Flock of Dimes - Everything Is Happening Today Daughter - The End The Blow - Think About Me Austra - Utopia Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross & Gustavo Santaolalla - Before the Flood Worriedaboutsatan - This Restless Wing (feat. Vincent Cavanagh) Lucy Claire- Kawaita Tsuki / The Barren Moon (feat. Yuri Kono) (worriedaboutsatan Remix) On Dead Waves - Blue Inside The Moonlandingz - Black Hanz (Radio Mix) Gruff Rhys - I Love EU New Order - Singularity - Erol Alkan’s Extended Rework

LISTEN to the IMM tracks of the year playlist on Spotify here.

Johnny Jewel (Chromatics), Radiohead, Daughter, Dead Light, Dillinger Escape Plan, Enter Shikari, Paul Draper (Mansun), and lots more on this week’s #IndependentMusicMonday

Every Monday the editor of Drowned in Sound compiles a playlist celebrating the best new releases from Independent labels. The concept is a little like those New Music Friday playlists that you might be aware of, but on a Monday, and with no major labels.

Each week, we compile 20-50 new releases from independent labels and independent artists. Some tracks arrived online in the past few days, whilst others are cuts from albums that were released on Friday. You can submit tracks by emailing [email protected].

Track of the Week

‘Remorse’ by Johnny Jewel

Founder of the Italians Do It Better label, and the producer/force of nature behind the roster (Chromatics, Glass Candy, Symmetry, and Desire), Johnny Jewel has kept us waiting for Dear Tommy (the follow up to the incredible Kill For Love) but he’s become pretty reliable at delivering a glorious movie soundtrack every few months since his blockbuster success doing the bulk of the music for Drive. 'Remorse’ is a stunning piece that opens the score to HOME, a new Belgian movie, directed by Fien Troch.

Listen Now

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You can also subscribe to the playlist on Deezer, YouTube and more services - including AppleMusic - are coming soon.

This Week’s New Additions

Johnny Jewel - Remorse The Orb - Sex (Panoramic Sex Heal) Daughter - The End Dead Light - Pale Fire The Notwist - Close To The Glass Radiohead - Down Is the New Up Jagwar Ma - Give Me a Reason Paul Draper - Friends Make The Worst Enemies The Dillinger Escape Plan - Symptom of Terminal Illness Male Bonding - Visible Girls Newmoon - Head Of Stone Enter Shikari - Hoodwinker Black Marble - A Million Billion Stars Franz Ferdinand - Demagogue (30 Days, 30 Songs) Jamie Lidell - How Did I Live Before Your Love Swet Shop Boys - Zayn Malik Kuedo - Under The Surface Douglas Dare - Greenhouse C Duncan - Like You Do R.Seiliog - Cloddio Unterdach Solar Bears - After Yesteryear Nils Bech - Too Little Too Late Pangaea - More Is More to Burn Au/Ra - Concrete Jungle Lisa Mitchell - Warriors Powell - Jonny [feat. Jonny] MONO - Requiem for Hell The Lemon Twigs - How Lucky Am I? The Temper Trap - Lost - HONNE Remix Fink - Wheels Holly Macve - No One Has the Answers Bloom - Shout Anna Of The North - Us (Acoustic) Of Empires - Baby Darlin’ Sugar Cloud Nothings - Modern Act Nolita View - Runaways George Cosby - Glamour Nervous - Lagu Angsa Hippo Campus - Boyish Pyke - For a While American Wrestlers - Hello, Dear Moby and The Void Pacific Choir - I Wait For You The Well - Skybound Oozing Wound - Everything Sucks, And My Life Is A Lie Sleaford Mods - TCR Zeds Dead;Charlotte OC - Symphony Crystal Fighters - Good Girls The Naked And Famous - Last Forever

ICYMI - Listen to: 50 Finest Tracks of the First Half of 2016

Miss something? Browse the archive playlist on Spotify.

Marissa Nadler, Warpaint, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, Honeyblood, Roisin Murphy, and lots more on this week’s #IndependentMusicMonday

Every Monday the editor of Drowned in Sound compiles a playlist celebrating the best new releases from Independent labels. The concept is a little like those New Music Friday playlists that you might be aware of, but on a Monday, and with no major labels.

Each week, we compile 15-30 new releases from independent labels and independent artists. Some tracks arrived online in the past few days, whilst others are cuts from albums that were released on Friday.

Track of the Week

‘Give Me Your Gun’ by Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler has always had a way of haunting everything she touches. Her voice is rich with its own ghostly wisp whilst her melodies swirl and swirl until time stands still like a frozen waterfall. She’s one of the most consistently brilliant musicians in the world and we’re lucky to have her. Those of a fragile disposition should investigate her new EP of home-recordings Bury Your Name (out now on Bella Union) and her entire back catalogue at your peril, as it’s quite likely you’ll get utterly obsessed and begin to forget that other music exists.

Listen Now

Subscribe on Spotify

You can also subscribe to the playlist on Deezer, YouTube and more services - including AppleMusic - are coming soon.

This Week’s New Additions

Marissa Nadler - Give Me Your Gun Petrels - Terra Nullius Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - A 1000 Times Temples - Certainty Honeyblood - Sea Hearts Merchandise - Lonesome Sound Beach Slang - Spin the Dial NxWorries - Lyk Dis Warpaint - Heads Up MADEIRA - Come on Thru Flock of Dimes - Everything Is Happening Today Negative Gemini - Real Virtual Unison (Fake Edit) Róisín Murphy - Whatever Lucius - Pulling Teeth Archive - Driving In Nails - Guy Andrews Remix Kamera - Ventoux - Throwing Snow Remix Junk Son - Picture - Ghost Culture remix Tender - Violence Alice Jemima - Dodged a Bullet - Bodhi Remix JONES - Indulge - HONNE Remix How To Dress Well - What’s Up Archy Marshall - Swell Meadowlark - Headlights Happyness - Friend of the Revolution Terry - 8 Girls LVL UP - She Sustains Us Skinny Girl Diet - Lazy Eye Scarlet Rascal - Strange Every Time I Die - C++ (Love Will Get You Killed) Boxed In - Shadowboxing True Widow - Theurgist Stick To Your Guns - Universal Language God Damn - Again Again Flyying Colours - Long Holiday Pixelord - Operator Michael Nau - Maralou Holy Sons - Robbed and Gifted Ilya Beshevli - Tears of a Tiger - Taken From Night Forest Tad - Stumblin’ Man - Remastered Attila - Ignite

ICYMI - Listen to: 50 Finest Tracks of the First Half of 2016

Miss something? Browse the archive playlist on Spotify.

#9: From ANOHNI to Bat for Lashes - Best of Q2 2016

April, May and June 2016’s finest album releases are considered and evaluated by Drowned in Sound founder Sean Adams and Absolute Radio’s Danielle Perry. The show kicks off with Amber Arcades and ends with Fiona Brice, and there’s plenty more including Minor Victories, Ala.ni. ANOHNI, Bat for Lashes, Fiona Brice, Black Honey, Minor Victories, Marissa Nadler and we chat about more stuff too.

Please note: this show was recorded the day after Brexit. Sorry for the delay on this podcast going live, we had issues with our Spotify uploader but it’s now up there as a playlist with full tracks too, and on all the podcatcher websites with audio clips amongst the chatter.

Tracks played on this episode

‘Fading Lines’ by Amber Arcades 'All My Pride’ by Black Honey '4 Degrees’ by ANOHNI 'Cherry Blossom’ by ALA.NI 'Give It Your Worst’ by False Advertising 'A Hundred Ropes’ by Minor Victories 'Janie in Love’ by Marissa Nadler 'In God’s House’ by Bat for Lashes 'Echo of Creation’ by JAMBINAI 'Berlin’ by Fiona Brice

PODCAST

Furnaces by Ed Harcourt (Dir. Matt Mahurin)

Ed Harcourt says: “Meet Furnaceman and his claw of despair. He loves Trump, oil & money. Probably adores guns and hates your God too. Whattaguy.”

Furnaces is the new single taken from his brand new album Furnaces out Aug 19th through Polydor. The record was produced by Flood and Ralph Steadman has done the cover art.

Minor Victories, FEMME, Cate Le Bon, and lots more on this week’s Independent Music Monday

Every Monday the editor of Drowned in Sound compiles a playlist celebrating the best new releases from Independent labels. The concept is a little like those New Music Friday playlists that you might be aware of, but on a Monday, and with no major labels.

Track of the Week

Few things are quite as ferociously pink as South London’s finest DIY-popstar FEMME. In fact, her record cover’s backdrop is so luminous that you feel as if you’ve just glanced at the sun. It’s this sense of dazzling you that she also does with her hooks, and there are none finer, shinier and more unforgottable than the chorus of ‘Fever Boy’, which is a certified BANGER. The track became an instant-sensation when it hit the web a few summers ago, generating several million streams across the globe and setting her on a path which has led to her eh-O! & wuh-oh! filled debut album, Debutante, which is out now.

New Tracks from Forthcoming Albums

This week, super-group of sorts Minor Victories, featuring members of Mogwai, Slowdive and Editors, have revealed a new slice of symphonic-rock (y'know, big sky-scratching riffs and everything about the track cranked somewhere between tease and epic!). The past seven days also saw a new track from Baby Strange who NME named their new band of the week, with the Glasgweigan-trio releasing a riff-riddled single from their debut album which is coming on September 9th. There was also the return this week of The Invisible, another taste of the forthcoming Fear of Men album and an indie-pop dittie from Oscar.

New Album Releases

Friday April 15th was the eve of Record Store Day, which was perhaps a quiter Friday than normal for album releases, but you can sample tracks from new releases on this week’s playlist.

Recommended Album of the Week: FEMME Debutante (Tape Music)

Suuns Hold/Still (Secretly Canadian) John Carpenter Lost Themes ii (Sacred Bones) Cate Le Bon Crab Day (Turnstile)

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Eagulls, Primal Scream, Lucy Claire, Emmy The Great and lots more on this week’s Independent Music Monday

Every Monday the editor of Drowned in Sound compiles a playlist celebrating the best new releases from Independent labels. The concept is a little like those New Music Friday playlists you might be aware of, but on a Monday, and with no major labels.

Track of the Week

This week’s track pick comes from a new EP of collaborations by the neo-classical leaning Lucy Claire, which is available from her bandcamp. It’s a remix by those ghost-soundtracking, Adam Curtis favourites, worriedaboutsatan. The duo have created a pulsing and pulsating rework that will soothe even the calmest of minds.

New Tracks from Forthcoming Albums

Following the immense comeback track featuring Sky Ferriera, Primal Scream continue to tease their forthcoming Chaosmosis, which is released on Friday through the Ignition label. The new Primals tune ‘I Can Change’ sounds dreamy, as if they’ve slithered out of a museum of psychedlia and into a screening of Life On Mars, then turned on the recording equipment.

This week, Eagulls also revealed a new slab of throbbing guitars in the form of 'Skipping’ from their forthcoming album Ullages, which is out on Partisan in May.

Also on this week’s playlist there are tastes of upcoming albums from emo-electronicists Into It. Over It (fans of Death Cab/Postal Service, you’ll be wanting to check their new record on Brace Yourself out!) and a new tune from new band from former Wu Lyfe-r LUH (Mute) who featured on the playlist a few weeks ago and has a debut album on the way. There’s also a track from Dee Dee from the Dum Dum Girls’ new solo project Kristin Kontrol (Sub Pop) plus Mt Si (Cascine), Lonely The Brave (Hassle), Roman Flugel’s remix of Shit Robot’s (DFA) new track featuring yer man from Hot Chip plus a song from the debut EP by indie-popsters Dream Wife, who look set to have a cracking debut album in them, in due course.

New Album Releases

Friday March 11th saw the release of the following notable new albums, which you can sample a track from on this week’s playlist:

Emmy The Great Second Love (Bella Union) Lucius Good Grief (Play It Again Sam) The KVB Of Desire (Invada) Blancmange Commuter 23 (Blanc Check)

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The Kills, M83, Yeasayer, Ry X, Fear of Men, and lots more on this week’s Independent Music Monday

Are you new to our playlist? Welcome along if so.

What we do is make a playlist every Monday of the best new releases on Independent labels. It’s a bit like those New Music Friday playlists, but on a Monday, and with no major labels (except a few fall in the grey area of being distributed in some countries by major labels, but it all gets a bit complicated….).

The playlist consists of 50 songs hand-picked by the editor of Drowned in Sound, about 20 or so new additions each week. These are both tracks/singles added to streaming services in the past week or from albums which were just released. Expect everything from melacholic pianos to Scandi-pop bangers via gritty hip-hop and deathly metal riffs.

New Tracks from Forthcoming Albums

The Kills don’t appear to have lost that vampiric bite since they went away. ‘Doing It To Death’ slipped online last week alongside confirmation of the duo’s new album Ash & Ice (pictured above) on June 3rd through Domino Records. Watch the video and pre-order your copy here.

This week, Fear of Men’s haunting 'Island’ arrived from Jessica Weiss’s forthcoming album Fall Forever. Apt for this playlist, she described the track as an “anthem to independence”. The new album is out on the 3rd June, through the Kanine label. and you can order a special limited edition golden vinyl edition from her website.

Also this week we had the slighty bonkers first taste of the new album from M83, another teaser from the forthcoming Yeasayer album plus tracks from Joey Bada$$, El Perro Del Mar, Innerspace Orchestra, RY X, Explosions in the Sky, Hammock, Haelos, YILA, The Dandy Warhols, The Boxer Rebellion, Guy Andrews, Cate Le Bon, Aurora, Lonely The Brave, Junk Son, and Bodhi plus a Disclosure remix of Flume’s 'Never Be Like You’.

New Album Releases

Friday March 4th saw the release of the following notable new albums, which you can sample a track from on this week’s playlist:

Wussy Forever Sounds (Damnably) Anna Meredith Varmints (Moshi Moshi) Låpsley Long Way Home (XL) M. Ward More Rain (Bella Union) Polica United Crushers (Memphis Industries/Mom+Pop) Yndi Halda Under Summer (Burnt Toast/Big Scary Monsters) Fatima Al Qadiri Brute (Hyperdub) Wintersleep The Great Detachment (Dine Alone) Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm Trance Frends (Erased Tapes) The Coral Distance Inbetween (Ignition)

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You can also subscribe to the playlist on Deezer, YouTube and more services - including AppleMusic - are coming soon.

‘Popular’ by The Anchoress.

Alongside running Drowned in Sound, three years ago I started an artist management company. Having run the Drowned in Sound label (born out of desire to turn my enthusiasm into more than pixels), and dabbling in helping out acts in the past, it seemed like the next logical step. In the past few years, I’ve learnt a lot more about the machinations of the music industry than probably at any other time I’ve been involved in The Biz.

It’s called Sex Panther by Odeon. It’s illegal in nine countries… Yep, it’s made with bits of real panther, so you know it’s good.

A photo posted by Ed Harcourt (@edharcourt) on Oct 9, 2015 at 1:31pm PDT

Ed Harcourt

I’ve been working with songwriter of (ill) repute, Mr Ed Harcourt. I set-up CCCLX to manage him and release the recorded-in-an-evening-at-Abbey-Road album Back Into The Woods (Listen: Spotify, Apple Music), which did rather well. So well in fact that Burberry invited him to perform at their fashion week shows in London and Shanghai, then comissioned him to write a song especially for their festival campaign.

Ed has nearly finished his 7th album with the Flood (who’s an absolute genius, and has produced most of my favourite albums, including records by NiN, PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode and more!) and he’s just signed to Polydor - currently home to some of the biggest and best acts in the world, including Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, Years & Years, Carly Rae Jepsen, The 1975 and lots more. The album is nearly done and will be out sometime in 2016. Ed is currently writing and producing Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s new album, playing piano for Marianne Faithfull across Europe, has recently joined The Libertines for their Glastonbury & Reading headline performances, and is co-curating a special Lee Hazlewood evening at the Barbican in London on Oct 25th (details).

The Anchoress

I recently took on my second management client: The Anchoress. NPR’s Ann Powers described her as “Wales’s (much more explicitly feminist) answer to Lana Del Rey.” The Guardian recently spoke to her about being a polymath as she’s got a PhD, a book about epic poetry out on Bloomsbury, performs with Simple Minds and lots more.

The Anchoress just signed to Kscope, and her debut album Confessions Of A Romance Novelist will be released on Jan 8th 2016. A first taste of the album hit the web a few days ago, and it has already been covered by The Quietus, TheLineofBestFit, GodIsInTheTV, LouderThanWar, and lots more. In fact, 'Popular’ is so - errrr - popular that it’s currently in the top 5 of the Hype Machine. If you like the idea of a modern twist on Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, then you’ll love it. We’ll soon be announcing the first single from the album.

Episode 3

15 Years of Music Blogging with Rockfeedback’s Toby L

To celebrate 15 years of Drowned in Sound and 15 years of Rockfeedback, Toby L who founded the music website, concert promoter and TV show Rockfeedback, chats to our hosts Absolute radio’s Danielle Perry and Drowned in Sound founder Sean Adams (@seaninsound).

The conversation covers a range of topics from the struggles of turning a hobby into a job, promoting gigs, and running labels as Toby also founded the Transgressive label, which is home to releases by Foals, The Antlers, Regina Spektor, Alvvays, Songhoy Blues and many more.

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After a break of almost 7 years, the DiS podcast is back.

I roped in some old friends (Metric were signed to the DiS label for a brief period of time) to join me as special guests for this pilot show. We chat about their new album Pagans in Vegas and its follow-up which they’ve been recording on the road, plus Danielle Perry from Absolute Radio, and DiS’ Marc Burrows help me to predict who might win at tomorrow night’s AIM Independent Music awards… And we chatted a bit about how bonkers it is that Bowie is doing the score for the Spongebob musical.