your 20 records of 2026.

A Sul QUER QUER QUERPortuguese

Cláudia Sul's debut album, on Cuca Monga, produced by her. Twelve tracks between jazz, bossa nova, samba and bedroom pop, with everyday objects and street sounds in the mix. It's about grief and carrying on; "Gin", "Tela" and "Metáforas" were the singles.

Adult DVD Adult DVD

A Leeds six-piece, released on Fat Possum. The single "Cowboy On Aisle Three" came from a trip to Lidl that got out of hand. Twelve tracks after the EP "Next Day Shipping" (2024). They've already played the Great Escape and SXSW — pure party energy.

Fat Possum

Agnes Obel The Meaning of Flowers

Six years after Myopia and now on Deutsche Grammophon. Twelve songs written, recorded and produced alone in Berlin, about pregnancy and metamorphosis. Dedicated to her daughter.

Deutsche Grammophon

Alabama Shakes I Must Be Dreaming

A decade after Sound & Color, Brittany Howard's band returns with throat-shredding psychedelic soul. More grit than polish. "I Feel Hope Coming" gives you chills.

Island

Aldous Harding Train on the Island

Her fifth record and first in four years, again with John Parish, at Rockfield Studios in Wales. Sparse, strange folk, with harp, pedal steel and Seb Rochford on drums. H. Hawkline sings on "Venus in the Zinnia".

Ana Lua Caiano Devagar que a vida é curtaPortuguese

Her second, again on Glitterbeat, after Vou ficar neste quadrado (2024). Adufe, bass drum and bagpipes with electronics and loops, now with more piano and wind instruments, in fifteen songs about death, exhaustion and the illusion of having more time. The title is something her grandfather used to say.

Andy Stott Late Loop

No bass, no reverb, just a delay. The Manchester producer set himself limits and wrote songs, with the voices of Alison Skidmore and Elaine Howley. His first album since 2021.

Modern Love

Angine de Poitrine Vol. II

The second from the duo from Saguenay, Quebec, two years after Vol. 1. Six tracks in about 37 minutes, led by "Fabienk". The session they recorded for KEXP has passed 16 million views.

Arab Strap Half‐Told Tales

Arlo Parks Ambiguous Desire

The Avalanches No Bad Memories

31 tracks and more than 20 guests: Karen O, Panda Bear, Jamie xx, Mike Patton, Carly Simon. Advertising, nostalgia and collage in overdose, with a sci-fi film on the side. Over the top on purpose.

Polydor

Baleia Baleia Baleia Outra Vez ArrozPortuguese

The third from the Porto bass-and-drums duo, on Saliva Diva, and their angriest. For the first time there are guests: Scúru Fitchádu, Evaya and a choir of more than 25 voices on "Antifa ao contrário é otário". It isn't on Spotify, where they pulled their catalogue in January.

Basement WIRED

The fifth from the Ipswich band and their first in eight years, back on Run For Cover. Fuzzy alternative rock with choruses made for singing along, produced by John Congleton. The title track almost didn't make the record.

Basht. Poor Advice

An Irish debut of noise-rock, punk riffs and the Catholic Church at its centre. "Keira Knightley" is the poppiest single. Noise with a sermon.

beabadoobee Pylon

Fourth album and the loudest of the lot. Sonic Youth, Helium and Dinosaur Jr. dripping from the guitars. Isolation, nostalgia and obsession in her early twenties. Bea Laus is back, and angry.

Dirty Hit / Interscope

Beatriz Pessoa Muito maisPortuguese

Her first on Cuca Monga: light, bright pop with jazz, MPB and salsa in it. She read Rita Lee's autobiography while recording, and it shows. Femme Falafel joins on "Ai quem me dera" and Guilherme Gomes, of Napa, on "Espanta".

Beck Ride Lonesome

Seven years after Hyperspace, the longest gap of his career. His fifteenth album, in the line of Sea Change and Morning Phase. Produced by him, mixed by Nigel Godrich. The week's best critics' score.

Capitol

Benjamim Crónicas do Monte ZeusPortuguese

Luís Nunes's fifth, back to guitar and a band after the synths of As Berlengas (2024). Eight songs, with irony, about work, everyday love and collective exhaustion, co-produced with João Correia. Lena d'Água sings on "O Fim da Greve".

Big Sleep Holy Show

Black Sea Dahu Everything

The Black Wizards Force Majeure & The Acts of GodPortuguese

Their first since Reflections (2019), now on Hassle Records. The Porto trio swap doom for a leaner, fuzzier rock, recorded in five days. "Killing The Buzz" and "Loose" were the singles; the latter puts a synth up front for the first time.

Blondshell Violins

Sabrina Teitelbaum's third album, less than 18 months after the last — a dizzying pace. Between delicacy and hardness, generational anxiety and complicated relationships. "Two-Fried" is co-written with Samia. She grows record after record.

Partisan

Boards of Canada Inferno

Thirteen years after Tomorrow's Harvest, the Scottish brothers return on Warp. Eighteen tracks and about 70 minutes that run as a single piece, harsher and darker than before. They announced it with VHS tapes mailed to fans and a symbol postered in cities around the world.

Bonobo Distance in Static

Eighth album on Ninja Tune, co-produced with Dave Sitek. Arooj Aftab, Nilüfer Yanya, Joy Crookes and Ichiko Aoba drop by. Simon Green says it may be the last for a while.

Ninja Tune

Boy Harsher Get Mean

Darkwave signed to Atlantic — yes, you read that right. Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller split up in 2024 and kept touring. Twelve tracks recorded in eight different places.

Atlantic

Bruno Pernadas unlikely, maybePortuguese

His first since Private Reasons (2021), which closed the pop trilogy, on Pataca Discos. A transitional record, he says: nine compositions between jazz, dub, reggae, samba and hip hop, recorded in the summer of 2025. "Steady Grace" and "Juro que vi túlipas" were the singles.

Calcutá Soon After DawnPortuguese

The first full-length from Teresa Castro, the voice of Mighty Sands, on Ovo Estrelado. Ghostly folk and ambient music, with guitars, harmonium drones and electronics, co-produced by Cláudio Tavares. Almost all in English; it closes in Portuguese with "Eterno Retorno".

Caroline Rose Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall

Produced by John Congleton, after a record made in GarageBand on a phone. Eleven songs about outsiders, and "Chow Mein", trying to be cool with everything going wrong. Raises the bar.

SUCK Records

Cassete Pirata A SombraPortuguese

Their fourth album of originals, in the band's tenth year, produced by António Vasconcelos Dias. Guitar pop-rock, with irony, about polarisation, intolerance and a burned-out society. "Abismo", "Sou Gente Outra Vez" and "Viola no Saco" were the singles.

Cat Soup Come In, Thank YouPortuguese

The follow-up to you only 180 (2024), from the instrumental quintet from Porto. Six tracks in over 43 minutes, conceived as a single piece, with the saxophone of Gabriel Nery, who joined after a jam. The album launch is at RCA, in Porto, on 18 December.

Chaka Khan Chakzilla

Chalk Crystalpunk

The Belfast duo's debut, after the Conditions trilogy of EPs. "Crystalpunk" is their own name for what they do: post-punk, techno and rave with guitars. "Béal Feirste" is the most political track; "I.D.C." was the first single.

Chat Pile Who Loves the Sun

The Oklahoma City band's third, on The Flenser, recorded by the band themselves. Heavy noise rock, more melodic this time, about climate collapse, dead-end work, AI and hoarded wealth. "Deep Blue" sounds, they say, like Chat Pile doing a Billy Squier song.

chest. Happy, Broken

Ciarán Róisín

Ex-Bearface, ex-BROCKHAMPTON, solo debut on Ninja Tune. Funk, Prince and D'Angelo, with production that brushes against Burial. Recorded in a cabin in New Jersey. The voice that closed their records now opens his own.

Ninja Tune

Converge Love Is Not Enough

Their eleventh and their shortest: 31 minutes. Just the four of them, no guests, recorded by Kurt Ballou at GodCity in Salem. After Bloodmoon with Chelsea Wolfe, it's a return to lean, fast hardcore.

Cult of Luna In the Shadow of Your Shadow

Tenth album from the Swedes, one of the darkest of their career. Joe Duplantier (Gojira) and David Eugene Edwards (Wovenhand) as guests. Post-metal about loss and old traumas. Weight and feeling.

Cut Worms Transmitter

DEADLETTER Existence Is Bliss

Dealema 96 ao InfinitoPortuguese

Their first record since Alvorada da Alma (2013), in the thirtieth year of the group from Porto and Gaia. Ten self-produced tracks, starting in 1996 and looking ahead. Manel Cruz sings on "Beijos e Balas" and Ace on "HIP HOP".

Death Cab for Cutie I Built You a Tower

Dev Lemons hunting what we already killed

Second album: eleven tracks about the end of a relationship, produced by Emmett Kai. Intimate R&B, distorted guitars and screams on "another word you say". Start with "eat the pavement".

DIIV ZIRP!

Fifth album, produced by A.G. Cook. They asked him for Screamadelica-style remixes; he chose to go on tour with the band instead. Their brightest record yet, with My Bloody Valentine in sight.

Fantasy

Dinosaur Jr. There Near

J Mascis keeps doing exactly the same thing, and thank goodness. Endless solos, distortion bursting at the seams, melodies hidden in the noise. Original line-up intact for almost 40 years.

Jagjaguwar

DJ Dahi Black Boy (Alternative)

The producer behind half of Kendrick's discography steps out under his own name. Guests: Kendrick, Childish Gambino, Moses Sumney, Vince Staples. "How To Pray" justifies the whole record.

ALTER

Django Django Doveland

Sixth album, recorded in the German countryside with Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand) and Polly Ester. Grief, memory and a town that may never have existed. Hak Baker among the guests.

Clouds Hill

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

The Londoners' third and their first without John Parish: Cate Le Bon produces, and they met her through Jeff Tweedy. Recorded in the Loire Valley, with around twenty songs cut down to eleven. Florence Shaw still talks over bright guitars; Tweedy plays on "My Soul / Half Pint".

The Durutti Column Renascent

Vini Reilly's first record of new material in sixteen years, with Bruce Mitchell on drums. It began in 2017 and was made without hurry, often in his kitchen in Manchester. "For Friends Everywhere" reworks 1980's "For Belgian Friends" with an orchestra.

Echo & the Bunnymen Apples For Isaac

Twelve years of silence and the brightest record they've ever made. Clem Burke, of Blondie, on drums — he died before it came out. Start with "Brussels Is Haunted".

BMG

Editors Surface, Echo & Sound

Eels Cookie Happened

Mark Everett's 16th album starts from a Cookie Monster idea: don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. "Cap In Hand" sounds like a weary apology. Melancholy with a crooked smile.

E Works / Play It Again Sam

Elder Through Zero

Their first since Innate Passage (2022), after a hiatus. Six tracks of psychedelic, progressive heavy rock, self-produced in Berlin, where the band now lives. The title track runs nine minutes and deals with mortality and solidarity with the dead.

Emma Ruth Rundle These Killing Times

Sixth album, on her own label and with a full band again. Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe), Gina Gleason (Baroness) and Marissa Nadler join her. She wanted to make a hopeful record. She managed it.

Errant Child

Emmy Curl Pastoral 2.0Portuguese

The follow-up to Pastoral (2024), which won her the José Afonso Prize, twenty years into her career. Trás-os-Montes tradition with electronics, and the first time she sings in Mirandese. "Encanto" and "Incerteza" use poems by her great-grandfather, Alberto Miranda; there's also a Fausto cover.

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist Before the World Blows

The collaboration people spent years asking for. Her voice over his dusty loops. Guests: Steve Lacy, Westside Gunn, DRAM. "To The Moon (Plan C)" is gold.

Control Freaq / Young

Expresso Transatlântico Trópico ParanóiaPortuguese

The second from the trio of Portuguese guitar, electric guitar and drums, after Ressaca Bailada (2023). For the first time there is an outside producer, Paulo Furtado, The Legendary Tigerman, and the record was made between Serra da Estrela, Foz do Arelho and Brotas. "Avalanche" and "Flor Trovão" led the way.

Ex:Re Save As

Elena Tonra of Daughter returns to her solo project eight years on. Memory, overthinking and the places we run to. Fabian Prynn producing, 4AD releasing. "Radio Station" is the way in.

4AD

Ezra Collective Here Because of Hope

Fourth record from the Mercury winners, in three movements: Africa, the Caribbean, London. Pa Salieu, Lila Iké, Leona Lewis, and Letitia Wright narrating. Jazz to fill venues.

Partisan Records

Fantastic Cat Cat Out of Hell

Fat Dog Cancel Me (I'm Tired)

Second album from London's most frantic band. Electro-punk, art-pop and space country on the same track. Born of a tour that left the band wrecked. Can you keep up?

Domino

Fcukers Ö

Feldup Towards Happiness

The week's best listener score. The Frenchman went into a proper studio for the first time, with a band, and came out with paranoid post-punk with a Windmill accent. Start with "Cover My Ears".

Talitres

FINE Jazz Dreams

Second album from the Danish producer, made alone: produced, recorded and mixed by her. Thirteen songs put together as a dream collage, with "Everything in the Shade" at the piano. Non-linear.

Escho

Fontaines D.C. Dopamine Chamber

Fifth album, darker and more synthetic: trip-hop, goth and synth-pop, with Rosalía on "Where Is Gone?". Grian Chatten looked for inspiration in Venice, Vienna and Sicily. The end of the world has never sounded so addictive.

XL Recordings

Forrest Nolan Indie Movie Soundtrack

Born in 1998, also known as Ponyboy FTO. Pop-rock, noise pop and garage that sound like an indie film soundtrack. "thank you i guess" is the way in.

Friko Something Worth Waiting For

Fruit Bats The Landfill

Genesis Owusu REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE

The Australian's third, after Smiling with No Teeth (2021) and Struggler (2023). Produced by Dann Hume and recorded between Wales and Sydney. "Pirate Radio", "Death Cult Zombie" and "Stampede" were the singles.

Getdown Services Massive Champion

The second from Josh Law and Ben Sadler, friends from Minehead who started the band in lockdown. Electro, funk and disco to dance to, with lyrics about death, insecurity and childhood. "I Can't Die Like That" was the first single.

Gilla Band Pugnello

Produced by bassist Daniel Fox: the band's most personal record, about Dara Kiely's grief for his father and a schizophrenia diagnosis, in industrial noise and disfigured pop. The week's best critics' score.

Rough Trade

Glockenwise Vale tudo para chegar a algum ladoPortuguese

The sixth from the Barcelos band, on their own label, Vida Vã, after Gótico Português (2023). Rock in Portuguese about postponed futures and whether we are going anywhere at all. "Guerra do Caulino" recalls the conflict in Barqueiros, in the 1980s, over kaolin mining.

Gorillaz The Mountain

Their ninth, and the first on the band's own label, Kong. Largely recorded in India, with Asha Bhosle, Anoushka Shankar, Sparks and Johnny Marr, and sung in six languages. It's a record about death and grief, with archived vocals from Tony Allen, Bobby Womack and Mark E. Smith.

Greg Freeman All Set The Bone

Third album, recorded fast in a Hollywood studio amid moving house, grief and tension. Garrett Linck and Sam Atallah are back. A record that, in his words, has to be frightening.

Transgressive/Canvasback

Gurriers Nobody's Coming To Save You

Second album, after the debut "Come and See" in 2024. The name comes from Dublin slang for street kids. Noise-rock that now draws on post-punk, grunge, alt-dance and experimental hip-hop. "Drones" sounds like Radiohead with Massive Attack.

Play It Again Sam

HAAi DIGITiSE

New album on Mute, conceived as a DJ set that lasts all night. With Pat Alvarez, Skybreak, James Messiah and a Colombian children's choir. A dance floor with soul.

Mute

Hammok When Does This Place Become Our Scene

The Haunted Youth Boys Cry Too

Iceage For Love of Grace & the Hereafter

The Danes' sixth and their first in five years. Recorded in a week, with barely any overdubs, at the same Swedish studio as Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014). Rawer and more direct, led by "Star" and "Ember", with a cover painted by Elizabeth Peyton.

Interpol This Mirror Weighs a Ton

First record on Partisan, with Andrew Wyatt producing. Less ice, more room to breathe. Kessler's guitars still draw the same nervous figures. "See Out Loud" is the peak.

Partisan

J. Bernardt Wild Swim

Jalen Ngonda Doctrine of Love

His second on Daptone, after Come Around and Love Me (2023). Falsetto soul with analogue instruments and stacked harmonies, somewhere between Motown and Stax. Ten songs; the title comes from his church roots and the idea of acting out of compassion.

James Blake Trying Times

Jess Williamson A Mile South of Heaven

Produced by Shooter Jennings, recorded at Sunset Sound, in Hollywood. Country without the posturing, written after leaving Los Angeles. Joan Didion is in there too. Goodbye, LA.

New West

Jim James Wowed Out

The My Morning Jacket frontman goes solo, on ATO. Art pop and neo-psychedelia, falsetto floating over everything. "Home (Green)" is almost eight minutes of drift. A late-afternoon record.

ATO

Johnny Marr The Age of Everything

Fifth solo album, the most "cathartic" by his own account. Ten songs about overstimulation, led by "Spin". The ex-Smiths man still has plenty of guitar to give.

Julia Jacklin The Gem

Fourth album, produced by Robert Muinos, two years after "Pre Pleasure". About the fine line between independence and isolation — when protecting yourself from someone becomes sabotage. "Walk On Me" is the record's emotional high point.

4AD

Kelela new avatar

Her third record, on Warp, after Raven (2023). R&B rebuilt with shoegaze, grunge and electronics, looking back to her years in the Washington, DC indie scene. PinkPantheress sings on "The Bridge"; "Idea 1" was written while she was reading Octavia Butler.

Keo Put A Smile On For Me

Debut album from the London band that already has plenty of loyal followers. It's lo-fi nu-grunge and alt rock, between 90s grunge and early Radiohead. Finn and Conor Keogh, Keo's founders, lived in Portugal for part of their teens, and Finn says he writes better when he goes back.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Alien Metal

KNEECAP FENIAN

The West Belfast trio's second, produced by Dan Carey on analogue synths. Rap in Irish and English about Mo Chara's terrorism charge (dismissed), Gaza, the language and fame. Radie Peat of Lankum and Kae Tempest appear; "Irish Goodbye" is the one that hurts most.

The Koreatown Oddity Purdy

Fourth album on Stones Throw. Fatherhood, partnership and a child's logic, from knights in battle to tending the lawn. Unconventional, deeply human rap.

Stones Throw

Kurt Vile philadelphia’s been good to me

A love letter to his city, recorded mostly in his basement in Mount Airy. Fuzzier than usual, with analogue organs and the same lazy shimmer as ever. The cover is a William Eggleston photograph; "Chance to Bleed" was the first single.

Lambchop Punching the Clown

Their first since The Bible (2022). Kurt Wagner heard a song of just banjo and voices on the radio, discovered Appalachian lined-out gospel singing and built the record around it. Recorded in three days at Justin Vernon's studio, with Vernon on banjo and Ryan Olson producing.

Lime Garden Maybe Not Tonight

The Brighton four-piece's second, produced by Charlie Andrew. Synth-heavy indie-pop that follows one night out from start to finish, written after all four members went through break-ups. "23" opens the record and came from a dream.

The Linda Lindas GOTTA GET OUT

Los Angeles punk, now on Reprise with Carlos de la Garza producing. Hayley Williams joins on "Closer". Short riffs, shouted choruses, zero fat.

Reprise

Lip Critic Theft World

Their second, after Hex Dealer (2024), produced by the band. A fan stole the singer's identity, convinced the songs hid a scavenger hunt; instead of suing, they recorded him and built the album around it. Eleven tracks of electro-punk in 31 minutes.

Loathe A Stranger to You

Six years after I Let It In and It Took Everything, the Liverpool band return with fourteen tracks produced by guitarist Erik Bickerstaffe. Metal, dream-pop and post-hardcore on one record, with mechanical riffs and breakbeats. Olli Appleyard of Static Dress sings on "Block of Flats".

M83 I Wrote You A Letter

Anthony Gonzalez's tenth album, released on his own Other Suns. After the grand scale of "Fantasy", now more intimate territory — several tracks don't even have vocals. "Opera" is almost an imaginary room made of organ. An essential name in French synth-pop.

Other Suns

Mães Solteiras Puxa-VidaPortuguese

The second in nine months from the supergroup with members of PAUS, Linda Martini, Men Eater and Adorno. Thirteen tracks in 27 minutes, faster and closer to hardcore, about work, precarity, housing and office talk. There's a cover of Zeca Afonso's "Era de Noite e Levaram".

Mães Solteiras Vamos ser brevesPortuguese

Man/Woman/Chainsaw Cannonball

The debut from the South London six-piece, who started out when they were sixteen. Shoegaze guitars, violin and pop melody, between a whisper and real weight, produced by Margo Broom and Seth Evans. "Nosedive" was the single that got played on BBC 6 Music.

Mandy, Indiana URGH

The Manchester band's second, and their first on Sacred Bones. Industrial, noise and dancefloor, with Valentine Caulfield singing in French and billy woods on "Sicko!". Two members had surgery while it was being made, and you can hear it.

Manuel Fúria Verde VenenoPortuguese

Number 100 in the FlorCaveira catalogue, recorded bit by bit between 2023 and 2025, produced by João Eleutério. Fourteen tracks for dancing at the end of the world, with synths and funk guitars, recalling New Order and Happy Mondays. The words of "D.A.D.S.E.P.D." come from Saint Augustine's Confessions.

MAQUINA. Body TransmissionPortuguese

Techno, EBM, noise rock and industrial punk played by a trio of drums, bass and guitar, on Fuzz Club. Ten tracks, shorter and more written than before, co-produced with Hugo Valverde. Barcelona's Dame Area join on "dança"; "simulation" is their first fully instrumental track.

Margarida Campelo Música de ElevadorPortuguese

MARO SO MUCH HAS CHANGEDPortuguese

All in English and recorded in Brazil, in the only three free weeks of a 2024 tour. More acoustic and cosier than Lifeline, about turning 30, gratitude and loss. One of the songs is for her grandmother, whom she calls the love of her life.

mary in the junkyard Role Model Hermit

The London trio's debut, produced by Oli Bayston, after the EP This Old House (2024). Sparse art-rock with cello, viola and violin, about solitude, past lives and the company of animals. "Crash Landing" grew out of harmonium drones.

Michael Kiwanuka FUDGE

Fifth album, recorded before the stroke that kept him off stage in 2025. Self-produced with Joe Connell, with Dom Monks producing later and Rosie Danvers on strings. "Love In My Heart" is the moment not to miss.

Polydor

midwest, post death past curfew

From Seattle: 13 tracks, more than 20 collaborators and six months of writing across several countries. Emo, folk and experimentation on a record that gathers stories from childhood to adulthood. Heavy, but worth the time.

RIV Editions

Miguel Araújo Por fora ninguém diriaPortuguese

Eleven songs about separations, from a partner, a friend, other things, recorded in his home studio between 2023 and 2025. He played everything himself except the harmonica. The title comes from a line in "Meia Vida", which opens the record.

Miguel Marôco DesgraçaPortuguese

Mike D Thank You

The Beastie Boy makes a record on his own: experimental hip-hop crossed with neo-psychedelia, produced by Carter Lang. Thirteen short tracks, humour intact, nothing to prove.

Fontana / Capitol

Milhanas SurtoPortuguese

Her second, after De Sombra a Sombra (2023): twelve songs about freedom, imperfection and the wonder of being alive. Poetry is still at the centre, now with the cinema of Godard and Bergman supplying the images. João Paulo Esteves da Silva plays on "Se Eu Pudesse Chorar".

Mirror Realm A Journey Through the Mirror Realm

Mitski Nothing’s About to Happen to Me

Her eighth record, and she insisted on a rock band: louder and more aggressive than the last one. Eleven songs in 34 minutes, with an orchestra recorded in Los Angeles. The story is of a woman shut away in an unkempt house; "Where's My Phone?" led the way.

Modern Woman Johnny’s Dreamworld

MØL Dreamcrush

The third from the Aarhus band, on Nuclear Blast. Blackgaze: blast beats and harsh vocals against shimmering guitars, in Danish and English. Written in a hard stretch, but with the decision to make a hopeful record. "Garland" was the first single.

Momoko Gill Momoko

My New Band Believe My New Band Believe

Neil Young Second Song

Album number fifty. Recorded at Shangri La with Lou Adler producing, seven semi-acoustic tracks. Two of them written in the 60s and never released. The title track runs to almost twelve minutes.

Reprise

Neurosis An Undying Love for a Burning World

Nothing a short history of decay

Nothing But Thieves Stray Dogs

Produced by Dominic Craik, three years after the number one "Dead Club City". Between nu-metal, grunge and stadium rock, testing Conor Mason's vocal range. "American Confidence" sums up the approach well. A British band on form.

Olivia Rodrigo you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love

Her third, again with Dan Nigro, and her most experimental, she says. It follows one relationship from infatuation to the end, in two halves. "Drop Dead" went straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with a video shot at Versailles.

The Olivia Tremor Control The Same Place

A 27-track double album, the third and last from the Athens band. Started around 20 years ago by Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart, finished by their Elephant 6 friends. Psychedelia as a farewell.

Elephant 6 Recording Company

Opus Kink The Sweet Goodbye

Oso Oso an exchange of information

Sixth album and the first release on Feral Twin, the label set up by Hop Along's Mark Quinlan. It all started with a phone call. 12 tracks of indie rock and emo with choruses to sing out loud.

Feral Twin

Ovrkast. STRIKING

East Oakland rapper and producer, 18 months of work, 12 tracks. Jazz, samples, Madlib and Dilla in the DNA, with Kendrick and Jay-Z as a compass. The Bay Area speaking softly and hitting hard.

three times LOUDER

Penelope Isles 3

Third album, four years after "Which Way to Happy" — in the meantime, siblings Jack and Lily Wolter made solo records. Recorded on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, 30 km from the nearest shop. "Moonwalker" is the high point, dream pop with shoegaze.

Bella Union

Phoebe Bridgers Lost Weekend

Her first solo record since Punisher (2020), with boygenius in between. Folk about grief and badly digested fame, centred on her father's death in 2022. "Lost Boys" was the first single; Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus sing backing vocals.

PISS you made me / skin on linen

A Vancouver four-piece, debuting on Sub Pop. Punk with the density of grindcore, samples of Andrea Dworkin and Toni Morrison and uncompromising rage. One of the best-rated records of the week.

Sub Pop

Pretty Sick Anarchy

Sabrina Fuentes returns on Dirty Hit with Oscar Scheller producing. Indie pop, shoegaze and rap in the same place, crystalline synths and distortion that hurts. Start with "City Kid".

Dirty Hit

Protest the Hero Within

Protoje The Art Of Acceptance

Protomartyr Hotel Usona

Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT) producing, now on Domino. A decaying hotel as a metaphor for social decline and spiritual emptiness. Brass and keys finally central, not decoration. Start with "The Old Hotel".

Domino

Queens of the Stone Age Perfecth

Ninth album, a concept record about the unglamorous side of love. Cinema and trains at the start, Kyuss in the middle and Dave Grohl on drums at the end. No ballads, and still intimate.

Rachel Chinouriri I think I spoke too soon

Second album from the Croydon singer: synth-pop and pop-rock with 80s beats and memories of nights out gone wrong. "Broken chair" and "Crash the car" are the highlights. A record for sad party people.

Radio Free Alice What's In Between

Debut from the Australians: new wave produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National), with Rachel Brown of Water From Your Eyes on "Big Ideas". They have already opened for Geese. Catch them early.

Atlantic

Rapaz Ego Fazer as PazesPortuguese

Ratboys Singin’ to an Empty Chair

Raye THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.

Her second, after My 21st Century Blues (2023): seventeen songs in four "seasons", moving from darkness to light. Cinematic pop with jazz, big band and orchestra, and with Hans Zimmer and Al Green among the guests. "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" was the first single.

Remi Wolf Mud

Third album, made between Electric Lady Studios, in New York, and Joshua Tree. After a retreat with friends in Big Bear, a record she herself calls purifying. Skewed pop, with depth.

Island

Rex Orange County Dream Fatigue

Co-produced by Mustafa and Dylan Wiggins, with Brendan Yates (Turnstile), Dev Hynes, Daniel Caesar and Taylor Skye (Jockstrap). Bedroom pop with an all-star cast.

Rita Vian LIGA DURA

Russian Circles Nine

Ninth record, honest title. Chicago instrumentalists on Sargent House, building post-metal cathedrals without a single sung word. "Eluvial" is eight minutes of weight and beauty.

Sargent House

Salvador Sobral A flor do recomeçoPortuguese

A record made entirely of new songs by Brazilian writers: Adriana Calcanhotto, Arnaldo Antunes, Chico César, Marcelo Camelo, Marcos Valle, Tim Bernardes. Recorded in São Paulo with local musicians, produced by Marcus Preto and Tó Brandileone. The title comes from a poem by Eveline Sin set to music by Chico César.

saoirse dream grimdark

From hyperpop to heavy emo: eight songs about grief, rage and collapse. Catherine Egbert trades the shine for distortion. An internet cult favourite finding its way to guitars.

Lauren Records

Sara Correia TempestadePortuguese

Fado produced by Diogo Clemente, with eleven songs written only by women. Poems by Florbela Espanca and Sophia sit next to lyrics by Carolina Deslandes, Márcia, Aldina Duarte and A Garota Não. "Avisem Que Eu Cheguei" led the way.

The Selva Mistérios negrosPortuguese

The fifth from the trio of cello, double bass and percussion, all with electronics, now with Pedro Oliveira. Eight instrumental pieces recorded at the OSSO studios in February 2025. The starting point is the Furna do Enxofre, a volcanic caldera on Terceira island.

Shabazz Palaces It's A Style Sport

Ishmael Butler's eighth album, on Sub Pop. Kassa Overall and Thaddillac among the guests, "Ahh World (I Won The Alpha Bet)" as the calling card. Hip-hop from another planet, with swagger.

Sub Pop

Skepta The Fork and Knife

First solo album in seven years. Rave, sound system culture and what it means to be British and the son of Nigerians. Suggs and Chase & Status on "Innocent Smile".

Big Smoke/Epic

Slow Pulp Melodie

Third album and the first on ANTI-. Between the expansiveness of Yard and the fog of Moveys, with Elliott Kozel producing. Fewer guitars, more ideas. Stereogum's album of the week.

ANTI-

Smag På Dig Selv This Is Why We Lost

Spanish Love Songs Future Nausea

12 tracks on Pure Noise, in the mould of a big Born in the U.S.A. rock record. Major key, political anger. The singer says it's the least sad thing they've made. Get ready to sing along.

Pure Noise

Steven Wilson Requiem for a Village

Ninth solo album, folk horror in a village outside time. David Tennant narrates, Andy Partridge (XTC) wrote the narration. Analogue synths only, imperfections on show. Welcome to the village.

Fiction Records

Summer of Hate Blood & HoneyPortuguese

A double album from the Espinho band, on Tee Pee Records, in two halves. "Blood" is the dark one, with Sufi music, dabke, raga and drone over punk rhythms; "Honey" is the sunny one, more pop. Almost all in English; "Além" is the only song in Portuguese.

Teenage Fanclub Do Not Dare To Dream

The 90s power pop stalwarts reach their 13th album, recorded on a remote island with the usual harmonies and a healthy distrust of "dare to dream". They played a Crowdmusic show in 2023 and we haven't forgotten them.

Merge

This Is Lorelei The Singer in My Band

Nate Amos lands on Matador and swaps bedroom pop for luminous alt-country. Recorded at home, with his father on banjo and his sister on vocals. The warmest record he has made.

Matador Records

Travo WastelandPortuguese

The Braga band's first on Fuzz Club and the heaviest thing they've made, with more synths and more metal. Written in a month of rehearsals and recorded in Porto with Jaime Arellano. Each song starts from a section of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land; "Burial" was the first single.

Tren Go! Sound System Gentrified Flat MusicPortuguese

Twenty years of Pedro Pestana's solo project, from Porto. Without his rehearsal room he moved the work home, where you can't play loud: less looped guitar, more samples, drum machines and sequencers. Six instrumentals; "Falling UFOs" is a seventeen-year-old song.

Trêsporcento Já não posso ficar aquiPortuguese

truck violence The weathervane is my body

The Tubs Hard Life

Their debut on Merge and the Welsh band's sharpest record. Owen Williams turns romantic wreckage into virtuoso jangle-pop choruses. Break-up songs that sound like a party.

Merge Records

tummyache Repeat in Reverse

Twisted Teens The Holy Cross Tigers

New Orleans duo, third album this year alone and their Sub Pop debut. They call it their Blood On The Tracks. Ragtag, nostalgic, with the sour sweetness of a love that's over. One to play straight through.

Sub Pop

Ugly The South Façade

Debut from the Londoners after the EP Twice Around The Sun. Three years of songs written as a group, recorded in Wales and finished in London. Balázs Altsach producing, "Marina" to start with.

underscores U

Her third record, and her most pop: nine songs she wrote, produced, mixed and mastered herself. Recorded in 2025 on a portable setup, city to city, while on tour. The cover is the Stonestown Galleria mall in San Francisco, her home city.

Unsafe Space Garden O Melhor e o Pior da Música BiológicaPortuguese

The Guimarães six-piece, on gig.ROCKS!, with psychedelic rock, prog and pop, and disco and funk along the way. Humour and absurdity carry heavy themes: depression, loneliness, collective memory. "Ser Humano" has a match-style commentary by journalist João Ricardo Pateiro and "Mais Uma Voltinha" the choirs of the Moreira de Cónegos senior university.

Vaiapraia AlegrigrigriaPortuguese

A record of remixes of Alegria Terminal, made by artists Rodrigo Vaiapraia has met over the years. It began as a more electronic, dancefloor idea and ended up freer. There is also a version in Spanish.

Velhote do Carmo TRANSPARENTEPortuguese

Vince Staples Cry Baby

Warning Rituals of Shame

Twenty years after Watching From a Distance, a cult doom classic, Patrick Walker's band returns with five long, very slow songs. Recorded in a 140-year-old church in Southport. It's about guilt, shame and failure, but above all love.

Wasia Project Nocturne

Debut album from siblings Will Gao and Olivia Hardy. Classical training twisted into art pop, soul and trip-hop, with the record growing darker as it goes. It starts in the street and ends at home.

AWAL

Westside Cowboy It Goes On

The debut album by the Manchester four-piece who won Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Competition in 2025. They call it "Britainicana": alt-country with a northern English accent, recorded in Leeds. "Pin Up Boys" made it to Jimmy Fallon's show.

Wishy Nature's Pill

Second album from the Indianapolis band, again produced by Ben Lumsdaine. Half recorded live, in a single room in Los Angeles. Sugar-coated dream-pop with grunge in the mix. Have you heard "Lovesick" yet?

Winspear

Yard Act You’re Gonna Need a Little Music

The Leeds band's third, and the first recorded with everyone playing in the same room, between Leeds and Los Angeles. Produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen. They wrote more than 50 songs and kept eleven, rougher and more cynical; "Redeemer" was the first single.