Tyler Childers has been playing “Oneida” live in concert intermittently for years, but he’s never released a recording until now. You can see why people have been anticipating this one. It’s a story about falling in love with an older woman — perhaps a fellow musical artist — only to be blocked from seeing her by “the bro at the door.” Childers tells this story in three quick verses and a beautiful chorus, dropping just enough details to let our brains fill in the rest. The arrangement here is gorgeous, the performance impassioned. Anyone who’s been waiting for a studio “Oneida” has to be thrilled. —Chris

After performing as a member of Implodes, Don Caballero, and Slint’s touring lineup, Matt Jencik decided it was time for something new: Music with a focus on vocals. He teamed up with Madeline Johnston, the Denver musician who makes dreamy slowcore as Midwife, for their upcoming album Never Die. The record, Jencik has explained, is about wishing your loved ones could live forever. But nowadays, the phrase “only two things in life are certain: death and taxes” seems to carry an extra weight.

“Only Death Is Real,” Jencik and Johnston’s latest single from Never Die, begins as a meandering contemplation of the human life cycle. “Only death is real,” Johnston coos, the final word bolstered by the sudden heavy buzz of a single electric guitar note. It doesn’t sound too downcast or defeated, however, instead ringing like a useful, matter-of-fact reminder of life’s futility. Maybe that’s the best way to think about death. —Abby

You don’t want the bubble to burst. When the bubble bursts, you’re fucked. That’s the bad thing about the bubble: Generally, you don’t realize you’re in one. You think you’re succeeding. You think things are going in your direction. When everything stops working, you feel like Wile E. Coyote skidding off a cliff and standing in mid-air — just one split-second to recognize your doom. On “Bubble’s Gonna Burst,” the great Philly punks Dark Thoughts sound like the Roadrunner, gleefully pointing out your precarious situation through the magical medium of Ramones-esqe two-minute hook-bash. They make that bubble-pop sound a whole lot more fun than it will be in real life. —Tom

Did Perfect 100 just release the song of the summer? “Sunday” is the first tune from Andrew Madore’s new Brooklyn-based band, and it has been stuck in my head since it came out a few days ago. It’s loud and scrappy, yet just as catchy and pretty, especially during the big but simple chorus: “Thinking about you/ And talking about you too/ Starts to bring that feeling/ Of Sunday afternoon.” The indulgently distorted guitars bring to mind bands like Dinosaur Jr. or the Swirlies, and who doesn’t love that? Perfect track, thank you Perfect 100. —Danielle

Goddamn, what a song. With the latest single from Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, Ethel Cain has delivered a noir synth-pop ballad extraordinaire. On “Fuck Me Eyes,” Hayden Anhedönia paints a vivid portrait one killer line at a time: “She’s got her hair up to God, she’s gonna get what she wants” one minute, “She’s no good at raising children, but she’s good at raising Hell” the next. Very early on, you feel like you know this character, and Anhedönia’s vocal performance makes them deeply sympathic. But even if the lyrics were entirely vacant, “Fuck Me Eyes” would be a masterpiece of mood, texture, and dynamics. Every crisp downbeat, shimmering keyboard riff, and distortion-bombed power chord hits hard. Together they add up to a song that soars like an all-consuming cloud, intimate and personal and sprawling and epic all at once. —Chris