December 2025
There is so much good music being made in Austin that it can be hard to keep up. To help you stay on top of it, we’ve pulled together some of the best new releases from local artists. Here is the new Austin music you need to know from Big Bill, LP Giobbi, and more. Hear all of these songs on-air at KUTX 98.9 or online at KUTX.org.
Big Bill – “The Money Store”
Released via TODO Records
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Do you like your social commentary with a huge dollop of absurdity? Big Bill released their new album, Sick Myth, at the end of November,and the track “Money Store” is an excellent example of the biting, angular art rock the band has been perfecting for the past decade. The song follows the sad saga of someone injured in a workplace accident and the series of increasingly bad decisions that follow. That might not sound like the makings of an earworm but Big Bill manages to have you singing along to the chorus by the end of the song’s short three minutes.
LP Giobbi and House Gospel Choir – “Figure it Out”
Released via Yes Yes Yes Presents
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On “Figure It Out,” internationally acclaimed DJ and beatmaker LP Giobbi teams up with the London-based vocal group House Gospel Choir, known for their combination of house music and gospel. The track kicks off with LP Giobbi’s signature piano before swelling into a classic house beat with the choir’s uplifting message culminating in the mantra, “I might bend, but I won’t break.” The release comes hot on the heels of LP Giobbi’s first performance with a vocal group, when she brought the SoCo Women’s Chorus on stage with her at this year’s Austin City Limits Festival.
Starflake – “Come Clean”
Released via Escondido Sound
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The brainchild of Bright Light Social Hour’s Jackie O’Brien, Starflake amps up the groove on their latest single, “Come Clean,” with layered synths and brilliant percussion from fellow TBLSH veterans Zac Catanzaro and Juan Alfredo Rios. Hand drums weave in and out of snares and cymbals that pan left to right before dropping out completely and reemerging with Jackie’s spaced-out vocals. The end result is a trippy, blissed-out funk jam that has us eager for more. Bright Light Social Hour fans should definitely keep this one on their radar.
The Opera – “Thrasher”
Self Released
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The Opera’s debut EP, I Want This To Last, was released only a few months ago, and the six-piece experimental punk outfit is already back with two new tracks. “Thrasher” dives head first into the grimey, disjointed beats that we were introduced to earlier this year, with vocalist/songwriter Tyler Dozier’s vocals prowling around the edges, repeatedly prodding the synths and drum machines into a frenzy. Imagine if Aphex Twin and Karen O got together and dialed up the gloom, and you’ll get a sense of the brooding intensity on tap. It’s a hard one to pin down but definitely some of the most exciting music coming out of Austin at the moment. Looking forward to more in the new year.
