It’s time for Your First Listen, where we show you songs you need to discover this week!

Each week we feature five remarkable songs that you need to hear on Your First Listen on air. In case you miss them on air, you can catch up on the weekly tracks right here. Your First Listen airs every day in Indie88 beginning at 10 a.m.

Online, we expand the list with a couple more tunes. This week, we’ve gotten some amazing fresh cuts from Tim Heidecker, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Porridge Radio, Wolf Alice and more.

Check out 13 songs you need to discover this week below.

Tim Heidecker – “Punch in the Gut”

Tim Heidecker has shared a new song, “Punch in the Gut.” The track comes from his forthcoming album, High School, out June 24th via Spacebomb Records. On “Punch in the Gut,” Heidecker channeled more of a country twang. With gritty guitars and catchy melodies, the track is a perfect preview of the forthcoming album. “This one started while thinking about how Warren Zevon might approach a high school parking lot, high noon style showdown,” Heidecker explains. “But as I worked it, I recalled an incident where a friend of mine was visiting my school and was falsely accused of stealing. He was Black and it felt like profiling to me. There’s a lot of him in the song ‘Buddy’ too.”

Wolf Alice – “The Last Man on Earth (Lullaby Version)”

London, England outfit Wolf Alice have shared a lullaby version of “The Last Man On Earth.” The track comes from their freshly announced EP, Blue Lullaby, out June 24th via RCA Records. Blue Lullaby will be made up of lullabied versions of tracks from their beloved third album, Blue Weekend. “The Last Man On Earth (Lullaby Version)” is a delicate, emotional, piano-driven ballad. This new rendition of the track lets the moving lyrics take the forefront, as frontwoman Ellie Roswell is backed by a choir of vocals.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – “Dive Deep”

Australia’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are back with a new single, “Dive Deep.” The track comes from their forthcoming album, Endless Rooms, out this Friday (May 6th) via Sub Pop. “Dive Deep” comes packed with deep grooves and hook-driven guitars. With wailing melodies and brooding vocals, this track is a perfect preview of the record. “This is a simple song of devotion,” the band’s Fran Keaney explains. “It’s about if you are going to give in to love, you need to go all in, and accept that you have no control in the matter. It began as a home recording during lockdown. When we could finally get together to play it, Joe White came up with the perfect lead guitar tone. He was given full license to wail, and did so. I remember sitting by the fire, looking up at the stars, and hearing the guitar echoing all around the valley.”

Porridge Radio – “End of Last Year”

Porridge Radio have shared a video for their new single, “End of Last Year.” Alongside the release, they’ve announced their first-ever North American tour. The track comes from their forthcoming album, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky, out May 20th via Secretly Canadian. The new tune is a crashing anthem that sees Margolin’s visceral storytelling at the forefront. Lyrically, she delivers lines like, “Cut off my shoes instead of taking them off/ Cut off my hands because they’re itching so much.” Directed by Maura Sappilo, the accompanying video features stop motion animations of colourful paintings.

Jasmyn – “Cruel Moon”

Former Weaves frontperson Jasmyn has shared a video for her new single “Cruel Moon.” Today’s release comes from her forthcoming album, In The Wild, out June 3rd. “Cruel Moon” boasts dance-worthy melodies and Jasmyn’s quintessential gritty, wailing vocals. The accompanying lyric video follows an animated Jasmyn dancing along to the tune. “I wrote this song during this moment when I was so tired of staying indoors most of the time and having this pulling instinct of wanting something new for myself,” Jasmyn explains. “I felt almost like I was in an escape room with no door out. So this song was about imagining having this out of body experience where I was going outside and moving and just peeling off layers and making room for a new identity, dancing my way through the growing pains.”

Florist – “Spring in Hours”

Brooklyn quartet Florist have shared a video for their new single “Spring in Hours.” The track comes from their forthcoming self-titled album, which is out on July 29th via Double Double Whammy. “Spring in Hours” is a gentle, intimate tune with folky melodies and sweet vocal lines. The accompanying video features clips from over 125 fans from all over the world. “‘Spring in Hours’ is a love song for cycles, seasons, growth, bugs, flowers, friendship, all the atoms in the universe, the chaos that created us, and the void which everything returns to,” singer Emily Sprague explains. “Musically for Florist, it’s our collaboration as a group in full spectrum. We arranged, played, produced, and recorded the song ourselves. Often at night alongside the crickets you can hear playing along.”

Blunt Chunks – “Part of Me”

Toronto’s Caitlin Woelfle-O’Brien has shared a video for her new single as Blunt Chunks, “Part of Me.” The track comes from Blunt Chunk’s forthcoming self-titled EP, out May 6th via Telephone Explosion Records. The tune features Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning on backing vocals and piano. It’s an intimate tune with soothing melodies. “I wrote this not long after being in Berlin about realizing how the people you love are inherently a part of you and how sometimes you want them to just get out of you,” Woelfle-O’Brien explains. “But also that you desperately want them to love you right and give you all the things you need… but then you realize you have to do the self-improvement on your own.”

Marci – “Immaterial Girl”

TOPS’ Marta Cikojevic is back with a video for her new single as Marci, “Immaterial Girl.” The track comes on the heels of her freshly announced self-titled debut album, out August 5th via Arbutus Records. The release boasts pulsing synths, a deep groove, and buttery vocal lines. Directed by Chloé Soldevila, the captivating retro VHS video sees Marci decked out in a whole slew of different costumes, from cow print to a white suit. “Stuck in a trance where money and status rules the world, ‘Immaterial Girl’ wants what’s true,” Cikojevic explains. “As greed taunts her, she tries to escape the trapping of such superficial things.”

Arcade Fire – “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)”

Arcade Fire have shared a new tune, “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid).” The new track comes from their forthcoming album, WE, out May 6th via Columbia. “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” is an anthemic, uplifting tune, all about encouraging you to keep pushing forward through tough times. “So I was really just sort of thinking about my son and the world that he’s facing and how like, I was a very, very, very depressed kid, particularly in high school,” Win Butler tells Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. “I mean, in a lot of my life in general, I think that music is like my medicine in a lot of ways. But I was trying to imagine the way that I’m wired just chemically and the s**t that I’ve dealt with in my life, having to deal with that now in this era of like … and not to mention now, but like 10 years from now, whenever the f**k he’s going to be dealing with it. And it was just like, ‘Man, he’s going to need to have the thick skin and to just really be able to take a hit and have some just fortitude.’ And I don’t know, I was just sort of thinking about that and just trying to sing to him in the future or to his kids even.”

Bishop Briggs – “High Water”

Bishop Briggs recently returned with the release of her new single, “High Water.” “High Water” was written about Briggs’ sister, who was battling against the ovarian cancer that she eventually passed away from. “I still can only count on one hand, the songs that I’ve written about my sister,” Briggs says, according to Paper. “That was something that’s been really painful to do. On some days, even just writing lyrics or going into a session can be extremely difficult. And then other days where I just feel like she’s here with me.”

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – “I’m On Your Side”

Nathaniel Rateliff’s “I’m On Your Side” is a standout tune from his most recent album, The Future. The Future was recorded in frontman Nathaniel Rateliff’s Colorado studio where they wanted to shed light on diverse observations and reflect on the current times. In a press statement Rateliff revealed:

“I look at the album overall as a big question. When I was writing the record we were in the middle of a pandemic and our future looked pretty bleak. I just continue to try to write from a place of hope. Then my own neurosis, and maybe being a libra gets in the way, and I can’t make up my mind. There is this constant back and forth battle in me personally and I am sure that comes out in my writing.”

Destroyer – “It Takes A Thief”

Destroyer’s LABYRINTHITIS standout “It Takes A Thief” is definitely a must-listen. The new Destroyer album sees Bejar exploring some uncharted sonic territory. The mystic, intoxicating album opens up with the question, “Do you remember the mythic beast?” on “Tintoretto, It’s For You.” From then on, Bejar weaves peculiar images and perplexing allusions throughout LABYRINTHITIS. You can really hear that on “It Takes A Thief”

Jack Johnson – “One Step Ahead”

Jack Johnson is back with a new song, “One Step Ahead.” The track comes alongside the announcement of Meet The Moonlight, out June 24th via Brushfire/Republic Records. Johnson has made the album alongside Blake Mills. “When Blake and I first got in touch we’d send each other playlists, and over time we realized we were drawn to music that sounds effortless despite all the effort put into making it,” Johnson explains. “After a while we got a language together and I gained a trust in him that allowed me to let go, push outside my comfort zone, and get to a sound I really loved.”
Listen to our Best New Indie playlist below!