THE 10 TOP INDIE SONGS YOU NEED IN YOUR EARS THIS WEEK

The countdown to the Fourth of July is on, but this year, I won't be watching any fireworks or losing myself to any questionably greasy food comas. No, this year, my day will consist entirely of staying home and streaming Hamilton on Disney+. Don't even act like the soundtrack doesn't slap! Anyways, before all of that, it's time for the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Top Indie Songs. Just grab your AirPods Pro (Spatial Audio, baby!) and check out the following tracks from Arca, Curtis Waters, Bright Eyes, and much more.

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ARCA (FEAT. ROSALÍA) – KLK

Arca and ROSALÍA coming together was never not going to be an event worth tuning into, but the avant-pop auteurs have completely outdone themselves on “KLK.” Lifted from Arca's recent album KiCK i, “KLK” is a big, bold, bombastic reggaetón banger that never lets up, with ROSALÍA's flamenco trill effortlessly riding Arca's groundshaking sub-bass.

CURTIS WATERS – SYSTEM

On his previous single “Stunnin',” Curtis Waters was all sunny nonchalance, but the rising artist is done with being cool, calm, and collected on his latest single “System.” “I'm boutta fuck the system up,” snarls Curtis on the synthy punk slapper – a call to arms to not simply rage against the machine, but fully tear it down. You in?

BRIGHT EYES – MARIANA TRENCH

There's no one who captures the anxious experience quite like Conor Oberst. The Bright Eyes frontman continues to transform his fried nerves into something beautiful on “Mariana Trench” – a lush, sprawling march that thrums with apocalyptic doom as Conor sings of societal collapse. Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was is out August 21st.

DOMINIC FIKE – CHICKEN TENDERS

Dominic Fike is striving for pure pop transcendence on “Chicken Tenders.” The Florida native has already come close with previous singles like “3 Nights,” but the 24-year-old is setting his sights even higher with “Chicken Tenders” – an ascendant ode to everything luxe that readily pairs chugging guitars with Dominic's golden croon. Song of the summer?

LIZA ANNE – I WANNA BE THERE

Liza Anne is a master of grungy radiance. On “I Wanna Be There” – the latest single to be unveiled from the Georgia artist's forthcoming album Bad Vacation – Liza cranks up the resplendence several notches, with guitars shimmering like distorted heat mirages in the distance as the 26-year-old sings about losing a lover to their own internalized pain.

JOCKSTRAP & INJURY RESERVE – ROBERT

British experimental two-piece Jockstrap are mangling the rules of music on the bizarro Wicked City EP cut “Robert.” A collaboration with Arizona rap trio Injury Reserve, it's a blistering hip-hop banger with a twist, with frontwoman Georgia Ellery's pitch-shifted vocals degrading like toxic metal over a scrap heap of sounds and samples. Weirdos unite.

JEAN DAWSON – CLEAR BONES

Jean Dawson just keeps on getting better and better. Fresh off the release of the incendiary “Policía,” the rising artist returns with the dreamy, sun-soaked “CLEAR BONES.” It hears Jean fluidly melding late-90s alternative with early-00s indie, with the song coming topped off by an existential soliloquy that's very much of the modern age.

BEST FRENZ, JASON SUWITO & JOYWAVE – UGLY ENDING

Introducing Best Frenz, a brand new duo comprising of Jason Suwito (Sir Sly) and Daniel Armbruster (Joywave), who are making their debut with “Ugly Ending.” It's a throbbing low-end banger that prowls along like a beast hungry for its next victim, with synth bass pulsating beneath the two-piece as they surge toward a chorus that borders on the biblical.

SAMIA – FIT N FULL

Having recently debuted with “Is There Something in the Movies?,” Samia is back with the gleaming “Fit N Full.” “I tried to write this from the perspective of the person I wanted to be instead of the person who stares at her reflection in the window of Veselka,” says the New Yorker of the cut – a coruscating chugger about body image that remains positively defiant.

NEW WEST – BALENCIAGA

Every once in a while, a song comes along that leaves you completely covered in chills. “Balenciaga” by New West is one such song. The mysterious collective are delivering a dose of pop spirituality on their latest single – a divine declaration of love that makes use of gospel choirs to build to the heavens like a long-lost George Michael gem. Shivers.

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Photo by Blake Barlow on Unsplash

Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.