3 new songs and 3 new albums to check out this weekend

“Julie” is a more downbeat song compared to “2468,” the lead single from Horsegirl’s upcoming album Phonetics On And On. But both tracks are sparse compared to the post-rock grit of the band’s first album, Versions Of A Modern Performance. “Julie,” in particular, feels reflective of the environment in which it was recorded: a freezing Chicago studio with no heat in the middle of winter. There’s a longing at the center of “Julie,” but it never sounds cold. Instead, its warmth comes across like two people huddled together, sharing body heat, blankets, and slightly uncomfortable silence.

The Darkness announced its eighth album, Dreams On Toast, a few months ago, accompanied by the release of its lead single, “The Longest Kiss.” Now we’ve got a peek at “I Hate Myself,” another track from the album that’s due out in March 2025. It’s a straightforward rocker about a breakup that’s entirely the narrator’s fault, and they know it. Singer Justin Hawkins describes the song as “a joyous, raucous celebration of self-loathing.” Sounds perfect for the holiday season.

“Bekhauf” is the second single from Indian folk-metal band Bloodywood after they signed with Fearless Records back in October. No word yet on a new album, but hopefully this track is a sign of things to come. The lyrics of “Bekhauf” are delivered in Bloodywood’s usual mixture of English and Hindi, with a bit of Japanese thrown in thanks to guest vocals from Babymetal. The accompanying music video is a delight, too; it feels like it could be an opening from a particularly hardcore anime.

After delaying its release by a month to get the mixing and mastering just right, Banks is releasing a full acoustic version of her debut album, Goddess, for its 10th anniversary. The release has been surprisingly low-key given the monumental success of the original version; before release day, there was no confirmation of an official tracklist or information on a physical release. The album seems to be digital-only for now, but it’s still worth checking out. If nothing else, it’ll get you hyped for Banks’ fifth album, Off With Her Head, which is due in February 2025.

Songs Of A Lost World, The Cure’s first album in more than 15 years, came out just over a month ago, but the band’s celebrating its success by releasing a live recording of the album at London’s Troxy club. Songs is already something of a late-career miracle—few bands on the cusp of entering their fifth decade manage to sound as vital and relevant as The Cure—but the live version really emphasizes just how impressive Robert Smith remains as a vocalist and musician. Video of the whole show is available for free on YouTube, but if you’re a physical media collector, there are several editions to choose from in various formats, including CDs and vinyl.

Not to turn this column into the nu-metal resurgence news corner, but A Christmas F​*​cking Miracle: 15 Covers And 15 Originals By The New Wave Of Nu Metal is yet more evidence that the largely maligned early-’00s genre is poised for a comeback. This compilation from Nu Metal Agenda is not, in fact, a bunch of covers of classic Christmas tunes and some new-nu additions to the holiday song canon, but just a collection of random covers (everything from N.E.R.D. to two different Korn tracks) and original songs by newcomers to the nu-metal scene. While we would have preferred the holiday-themed version of this album that we dreamed up in our heads, the real thing will be accompanied by a launch party in Los Angeles with a Fred Durst lookalike contest, and that’s pretty okay, too.