The Best New Music by Colorado Musicians Released in September

As the season of death and rebirth begins, Colorado artists focus on the present and look toward the future with new music.

From funeral doom to moody emo, and whatever the hell Horse Bitch is doing, discover some of the best new music released in September here:

Horse Bitch
UVA
You’d be hard-pressed to find another band in Denver that’s having more fun than Horse Bitch.

The five-piece calls itself “emo honky-tonk,” but that silly tag doesn’t properly incorporate everything Horse Bitch brings to the table, and stage, including a violin and pedal steel guitar.

A rowdy punk-rock energy permeates all of the group’s output, but Horse Bitch plays whatever it wants, as evidence on new album UVA, released independently on September 5. On UVA, Horse Bitch jumps between some surprising genres, like on the track “Mountain Climbing,” which is an amped-up Irish jig, and the sea-shanty melody of “Pirate Ride.”

Nothing is off limits, musically or lyrically, here, so such songs as “Sex Bot” and “Can we talk about the sexual tension (right now) [on this airplane]” just make sense. Whatever you want to call it, Horse Bitch does it like no one else.

Whisper States
Whisper States
Chad Molter has spent the last thirteen years as a social worker in Boulder, where he ran a local homeless shelter and currently serves as the executive director of Harvest of Hope Pantry, a low-barrier food pantry that distributes free food to anyone in need. But before moving out West from D.C., Molter kept busy in influential post-hardcore bands Faraquet and Medications, both of which were signed to legendary hardcore label Dischord Records.

Now Molter is back with a new solo project, Whisper States, and a self-titled debut album, released on September 6 via Trap Set International, the independent label started by musician, composer and podcast host Joe Wong, who also appears on the record.

The multi-instrumentalist’s ten latest tracks, including stand-out songs “Death in the Country” and “Vinegar Sunset,” are a mix of indie-pop, Americana and folk — a refreshing direction for the Molter.

A Place For Owls
“broken open seed” and “a tattoo of a candle”
It’s emo season. Denver crooners A Place For Owls know that, so the group dropped two singles independently this month, “broken open seed” (September 6) and “a tattoo of a candle” (September 30), to get you in the mood.

Ben Sooy (guitar and vocals), Nick Webber (guitar, keys and vocals), Jesse Cowan (drums), Ryan Day (bass) and Daniel Perez (guitar and vocals) are preparing to release how we dig in the earth, the band’s second album since 2020, on November 1, so the twofer serves as an appetizer of things to come.

The first new song, “broken open seed,” is more somber, Midwest emo, while “a tattoo of a candle” is cheery and optimistic, a sneakier kind of emo where the lyrics don’t necessarily match up with the upbeat music, yet both are still fun and soothing.

Porcelain Twin
“California Sunshine”
Porcelain Twin may be newcomers to the Denver indie-rock scene, but the quintet is already making a splash. After releasing EP Crickets in January, the group shared new single “California Sunshine” independently on September 13 (which also happened to be Friday the 13^th).

The brooding song “explores the weight of missed chances and failed relationships,” drummer Zach Aedo explains. It’s one of those tunes perfect for driving around aimlessly and pondering what you’ll do next with your life.

Porcelain Twin (what a great name, by the way) is Aedo, Sam Hooks (rhythm guitar and keys), Zach (drums), Jared Cummans (lead guitar), Gage Collins (vocals) and Eric Mai (bass). A Craigslist post brought the five musicians together in 2023, and they haven’t looked back since. Expect more new music coming soon, too.

Luna Sol
Vita Mors
Denver bluesy stoner rockers Luna Sol kickstarted fall with new album Vita Mors, released on September 20 via Ripple Music.

Vocalist and guitarist David Angstrom, drummer Zeth Pedulla, and bassist Doug Tackett expel some seriously fuzzed-out jams on the record’s fifteen tracks, including the twenty-plus-minute hidden track, “Time Moves On (With Space),” so don’t turn it off too quickly.

The offering, Luna Sol’s third since forming in 2014, also gives off some serious spooky vibes on such songs as “Black Cat Callin’” and “Evil (Is On The Rise),” which makes it a good one to spin in preparation for Halloween. Plus, the title, Vita Mors, is a Latin saying that roughly translates to “Life and Death.” You've got to love this time of year.

Shepherd
SHEPHERD
Denver doom trio Shepherd put out a monolithic debut record on September 20, as the independent self-titled is nine tracks of crushing stoner-doom and post-metal that proves when it comes to this type of heavy music, most of the time three players is all you need.

Guitarist and vocalist Holden Sims, drummer Nathan Bilodeau, and guitarist Austin Garrett are no strangers to dispelling such levels of loudness ever since sharing their initial singles in 2019 and EP First Hand a year later.

But the album is the most fully realized version of Shepherd to date. On songs such as “Backfire” and “Headless Horse,” the three-piece flexes volume and intensity, while “Phylactery” and “To The Stone” are more prog, post-rock tomes, all of which Shepherd navigates well, and thunderously.

Strangers Only
“I Don’t Know How to Feel Right Now”
Not much is known about the up-and-coming Denver band Strangers Only, which seems fitting given the group’s name. But the five-piece’s new single, “I Don’t Know How to Feel Right Now,” which was released independently on September 20, is so damn catchy it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows the faces behind the pop-punk outfit.

With only three songs shared on streaming services since last year, Strangers Only is quietly gaining a following, as “Nowhere Else – Stranger’s Version” has amassed nearly 31,000 streams since it was shared in March. Moving forward, it’s definitely a group to keep an eye out for.

Elder Grown
“Parachutes”
Paul Hoffman describes his first skydive experience as a literal leap into fear. But after returning to terra firma, the exhilarating thrill inspired the Elder Grown drummer and vocalist to write a new single, “Parachutes,” released independently on September 28.

The song “talks about facing your fears, but also coming to terms with the idea that fear will always exist within us and around us in some form,” Hoffman explains. “Whether it is fear of the unknown, fear of making a mistake, or fear of being your authentic self, this song explores all the facets of fear and the growth that occurs when one faces them.”

For the past decade-plus, the Durango band of brothers — Paul’s sibling John Hoffman (bass, vocals, guitar and keys), Guillaume Metz (guitar, vocals and bass), Sam Kelly (saxophone and vocals) and Brandon Clark (keys, vocals, guitar and bass) — have made a merry mix of funk-rock and hip-hop, and “Parachutes” continues in that vein.

Drune
Hornn
Denver’s own sons of sludge Drune treated doom fans to a crushing new independent EP, Hornn, on September 30. While only two songs, the title track and “Old Earth,” guitarist and vocalist James Cook (who currently lives in Portland), bassist Austin Pacharz and drummer Patrick Haga create an engrossing auditory journey complete with harsh noise and funeral doom laced with an apocalyptic theme.

“Hornn seeks to answer questions of our relationship to a growing saturation of technology, the human body’s inevitable melding as an interface for it, and the role of violence to release our analog bodies,” the band explains. “These questions unfold in the story of a nightmarish alternate ending to our own existence, where a greater race of aliens comes to reclaim the harvesting machines they built long ago — humans.”

We’ll just leave it at that.

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