{"id":54910,"date":"2026-01-05T17:39:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/the-55-most-anticipated-albums-of-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T17:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:39:56","slug":"the-55-most-anticipated-albums-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/the-55-most-anticipated-albums-of-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The 55 Most Anticipated Albums of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Danny L Harle: Cerulean<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 13<\/p>\n

On his first album in five years, Danny L Harle continues to plunder pure aural ecstasies of dancefloors past and drag them kicking and screaming into the 2020s. In a collider of trance, progressive techno, and various rave tendrils, the British producer draws guests including Caroline Polachek, PinkPantheress, Oklou, Dua Lipa, and Clairo into a dance-pop maelstrom inspired, he says, by Andrei Tarkovsky\u2019s Stalker<\/em>, Philip Glass\u2019 Einstein on the Beach<\/em><\/a>, the video game series Dark Souls<\/em>, and late Renaissance composers like Claudio Monteverdi and Thomas Tallis. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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Daphni: Butterfly<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 6<\/p>\n

Dan Snaith\u2019s first Daphni album in four years presents multiple new personalities to live under his Caribou alter-ego. \u201cDaphni music is still music that I\u2019m making primarily for the purpose of playing in my DJ sets,\u201d Snaith says of the Cherry<\/em><\/a> follow-up in press materials. \u201cThe majority of the tracks on this record I do play regularly in my sets. But then there are a bunch\u2014slower, weirder\u2014that I don\u2019t usually play\u2026 or wait\u2026 maybe the point is that I\u2019d only play them in the right club.\u201d Butterfly<\/em>, in a sense, is an invitation to that club\u2014a portal into a carnival in the deepest recesses of his, and your own, mind. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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Death Grips<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Writing and recording of our next album is underway,\u201d Stefan \u201cMC Ride\u201d Burnett and Zach Hill wrote<\/a> on Instagram this past November, alongside pictures of an empty recording studio. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to the new Death Grips record.\u201d Needless to say, so is every music nerd on the internet considering the band\u2019s most recent album of experimental glitch rap, Year of the Snitch<\/em><\/a>, came out way back in 2018. \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n\n

Dry Cleaning: Secret Love<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 9<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t give up on being sweet,\u201d a line from the closer of Dry Cleaning\u2019s Secret Love<\/em>, would ordinarily sound like a too-strong dose of indie-pop naivety. Paired with the droll paranoia and sinister, scrappy riffs of the south London band\u2019s third album, it sounds more like the desperate cry of a revolutionary at the gallows. Amid the record\u2019s sly hooks and Cate Le Bon-produced adornments, Florence Shaw fills Secret Love<\/em> with unimpressed assessments of capitalist bloodlust and manosphere encroachment, each observed with a twist of deadpan wit and a gallows laugh. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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Dry Cleaning: Secret Love<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

GENA (Liv.e & Karriem Riggins): The Pleasure is Yours<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 27<\/p>\n

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Karriem Riggins is one of music\u2019s most versatile drummers, blending elements of jazz, hip-hop, and soul into warm, unshakeable grooves. Liv.e is a wiry, shapeshifting vocalist behind 2023\u2019s acclaimed Girl in the Half Pearl<\/em><\/a>. On The Pleasure is Yours<\/em>, the duo\u2019s first official album as GENA\u2014the name is both an acronym (\u201cGod Energy, Naturally Amazing\u201d) and a reference to Gina, the character Tisha Campbell played on \u201890s sitcom Martin)<\/em>\u2014the two artists\u2019 styles fit together like jagged puzzle pieces. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Geologist: Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 30<\/p>\n

Geologist aka Brian Weitz has spent\u00a0decades recording and performing with Animal Collective and releasing one-off projects (like last year\u2019s collaborative album A Shaw Deal<\/em><\/a>); now, he\u2019s set to release his first proper solo album. The record\u00a0foregrounds the unique and underutilized instrument known as the hurdy-gurdy and promises a psych-y, eclectic, improvisational kaleidoscope of sound. (It\u2019s also got an impeccable title, named after a phrase Weitz estimates he said \u201conce a day for probably four thousand days in a row\u201d before giving up the habit.) Recorded at Asheville\u2019s Drop of Sun Studio, it also features a wide range of contributors\u2014notably, Weitz\u2019s Animal Collective bandmate Dave Portner (aka Avey Tare) and his son, Merrick Weitz. \u2014Marissa Lorusso<\/p>\n

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Geologist: Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Gorillaz: The Mountain<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 27<\/p>\n

For their ninth studio album, Gorillaz once again turn to a slate of collaborators for inspiration and guest verses, populating the fictional world of its cartoon characters with real-life depth and personality. The Mountain<\/em> boasts everyone from Sparks on \u201cThe Happy Dictator\u201d to Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey on \u201cDamascus,\u201d along with appearances from Dennis Hopper, Johnny Marr, Idles, Kara Jackson, Bobby Womack, Black Thought, and Anoushka Shankar. As that diverse assortment of guests suggests, the album ranges widely in sound and word, with lyrics in Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. Propped up on the peak of the namesake mountain, Gorillaz look out at the world and try to decipher what\u2019s coming up the trail. \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n

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Faces<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Fifty-three years is a long-ass time to wait between albums but \u201870s rock staples Faces\u2014who initially disbanded in 1975 and have performed sporadically over the years\u2014promise they still have the juice. Remaining members Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones have been writing together on and off since 2020, with Stewart telling<\/a> the Telegraph<\/em> in 2021 that the band had recorded some \u201cextremely worthy songs\u201d (\u201cWe will get it finished, I promise\u201d he said, about a new record. \u201cNo other band sounds like us.\u201d) Jones followed Stewart\u2019s pledge with a 2025 confirmation that Faces had recorded 11 new tracks, most of which will appear on the next album. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Flea<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Flea seems like the kind of guy who would already have a half-dozen solo releases under his belt. But the forthcoming album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers\u2019 bassist is actually his first. Lead single \u201cA Plea\u201d blends Flea\u2019s slap-heavy bass riffs and peppy trumpet section with lyrics about America\u2019s sordid affairs: \u201cIs the ugly coming, and the guns? (Civil War, Civil War) \/ Is the army coming, blotting out the sun? (Civil War, Civil War).\u201d Still, Flea maintains he has no interest in \u201cthe act of politics.\u201d \u201cI think there is a much more transcendent place above it,\u201d he said in a statement, \u201cwhere there’s discourse to be had that can actually help humanity, and actually help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world.\u201d \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Heavenly: Highway to Heavenly<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 27<\/p>\n

Some three decades after their last LP, Heavenly are back with an album to prove their sporadic reunion tours<\/a> are good for more than a nostalgia kick. In accordance with the twee-pop rulebook written in their past life as C86<\/a> darlings Talulah Gosh, Highway to Heavenly<\/em> summons a whirlwind of romantic glee and righteous rage to combat a new wave of macho orthodoxy. \u201cScene Stealing\u201d laments manosphere influencers; \u201cPress Return\u201d derides triumphalist technocrats; and the album at large makes the case that, while the heroes and villains have different names, the passions that fueled the band\u2019s golden era still blaze as bright as ever. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n\n

Jessie Ware<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Jessie Ware\u2019s fittingly titled That! Feels Good!<\/em> was stacked with enough disco grooves and triumphant hooks to fuel a Studio 54 reboot. Here\u2019s what we know about the follow-up: It features Barney Lister and Karma Kid; Ware\u2019s friend Coleman Domingo has heard some of it<\/a>, and track number 12 sounds<\/a> like \u201cMinnie Riperton decided to walk in another Garden of Eden\u201d and \u201cGollum [but] slightly more attractive.\u201d I have no idea what Ware means by that so we\u2019ll just have to wait and see if she returns to her dancefloor comfort zone or pivots elsewhere. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Jill Scott: To Whom This May Concern<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 13<\/p>\n

Before she took a decade-long break from music, Jill Scott was releasing some of the century\u2019s most confident R&B, ushering in a new era for the genre and paving the way for everyone from SZA to Summer Walker. On \u201cBeautiful People,\u201d the first taste of Scott\u2019s long-awaited new album<\/a>, the Philly native dips back into her early-era spoken-word delivery to describe a kind of love that conquers all (\u201cOur love is bigger than time or race \/ Our love canceled mountains\u201d). \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Joyce Manor: I Used to Go to This Bar<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 30<\/p>\n

Pop-punk is the genre of youth\u2014until, eventually, it isn\u2019t. As Joyce Manor stare down the end of their 30s, they\u2019re savoring every last drop of rambunctiousness and flippancy through an increasingly opaque lens of nostalgia. Though I Used to Go to This Bar<\/em> is despondent in title, the trio\u2019s seventh full-length album is playfully irreverent and chipper, continuing the feel-good riffs that have steadily defined their nearly 20-year-long run. Produced by Bad Religion\u2019s Brett Gurewitz and following 2022\u2019s 40 oz. to Fresno<\/em><\/a>, Joyce Manor\u2019s latest effort suggests youth doesn\u2019t have to be wasted on the young. \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n

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Joyce Manor: I Used to Go to This Bar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 16<\/p>\n

Tragic Magic<\/em> is a work of \u201cmusical telepathy,\u201d says Julianna Barwick of her latest collaboration with the harpist Mary Lattimore. Recording in Paris after leaving Los Angeles during the devastating 2025 wildfires, the duo amassed analog synths and harps from the Mus\u00e9e de la Musique collection, composing songs that by turns harness the epic scale of classical and choral music, the tingling textural play of ambient, and, in the Vocoder-spangled rush of highlight \u201cStardust,\u201d something akin to analog space pop. Also among the seven songs are a response to the wildfires, \u201cMelted Moon\u201d; a vaguely medieval set piece composed by Roger Eno<\/a> (\u201cTemple of the Winds\u201d); and a disarmingly earthy cover of Vangelis\u2019 \u201cRachel\u2019s Song.\u201d \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

KMRU: Kin<\/em><\/h2>\n

Prolific sound artist Joseph Kamaru<\/a> sent the demo for Peel<\/em>\u2014his 2020 collection of nervy, cavernous field recordings\u2014to three record labels. Only one, Editions Mego<\/a>, replied. This year, Kamaru makes his official return to the innovative imprint with Kin<\/em>, a six-track release he began recording in 2021, in his native Kenya. The idea behind Kamaru\u2019s second Mego drop initially came from conversations with the label\u2019s founder Peter Rehberg about what a Peel<\/em> sequel might sound like. But Kin<\/em> promises a turn toward something knottier,\u00a0like its first offering, \u201cWith Trees Where We Can See,\u201d an enveloping hug of drone fuzz. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n

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Ladytron: Kingdom Undersea<\/em><\/h2>\n

March 20<\/p>\n

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Electroclash is back. Well, sort of. The new album from Y2K stalwarts Ladytron\u2014best known for the immutable 2002 single \u201cSeventeen\u201d\u2014has far more in common with Pet Shop Boys<\/a> or their namesake Roxy Music<\/a> than it does the likes of Fischerspooner<\/a>. Paradises<\/em>\u2019 grand, new romantic pop accomplishes something far more impressive than easy nostalgia-baiting: meaningful artistic growth for a group who, over two decades into their lifespan, could\u2019ve coasted into one-hit wonder status several times over. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n\n

Lana Del Rey: Stove<\/em><\/h2>\n

Not every Lana Del Rey album announcement is a serious proposition; here\u2019s looking at you, Rock Candy Sweet<\/em> and White Hot Forever.<\/em> Now we have Stove,<\/em> previously known as Lasso<\/em><\/a> and then The Right Person Will Stay<\/em><\/a>. Hopefully, there will be at least one song inspired by Del Rey\u2019s alligator tour guide husband. \u2013Walden Green<\/p>\n\n

Lucinda Williams: World\u2019s Gone Wrong<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 23<\/p>\n

Lucinda Williams, who once took six years between albums in the mid-1990s, is currently in the midst of an unprecedented late-career streak. World\u2019s Gone Wrong<\/em> forgoes the rollicking E Street shuffles and actual Springsteen features of 2023\u2019s Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart<\/em><\/a> in favor of roots rock, blues, and dirt-caked road songs. That Williams continues to go toe-to-toe with her idols\u2014for example, duetting with Mavis Staples on a cover of Bob Marley\u2019s \u201cSo Much Trouble in the World\u201d\u2014is simply the latest proof that she deserves to be counted among them. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n

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Lucinda Williams: World\u2019s Gone Wrong<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2<\/em><\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Confessions on a Dancefloor<\/em><\/a> stands as the last great Madonna album, so a prospective sequel will carry with it the hopes and dreams of anyone who\u2019s spent the last 20 years burning prayer candles with her face on them. To her credit, Madge has retraced her own steps by reuniting<\/a> with Stuart Price, who produced the original Confessions<\/em>. If and when Confessions on a Dancefloor<\/em> 2<\/em> materializes, only then will we know for sure whether it\u2019s a fifth-decade career coup or just another Hard Candy<\/em><\/a>. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n\n

Makthaverskan: Glass and Bones<\/em><\/h2>\n

April 3<\/p>\n

Makthaverskan have plugged their guitars right back into their hearts for the follow-up to 2021\u2019s F\u00f6r Allting<\/em><\/a>. Still overspilling with ferocious melancholy, vocalist Maja Milner hoists the beloved Gothenburg alt-rockers out of post-punk lows and into raptures of jangle-pop joy, as on lead single \u201cPity Party,\u201d about a love so volatile it threatens to immolate your identity. As is the band\u2019s custom, the lyrics might evoke despair, but the furnace of hooks and harmonies suggests total emotional overload is its own kind of salvation. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n\n

Mandy, Indiana: Urgh<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 6<\/p>\n

The Manchester and Berlin-based musicians behind Mandy, Indiana know the allure of a French accent could make just about anyone succumb to immense pressure, pain, or pleasure. Above distorted, wailing guitars and thundering electronic beats, they used their 2023 debut I\u2019ve Seen a Way<\/em><\/a> to reveal it feels good, actually, to fall under that spell of the pursuer. On Urgh<\/em>, the quartet amp up that post-punk paranoia and flick on the strobe lights, turning the cramped space into a cacophonous lair where even vocalist Valentine Caulfield\u2019s hollering will spike your skin with goosebumps. \u201cIf you hide\/You won\u2019t escape me,\u201d she sings in French on lead single \u201cMagazine.\u201d Let the hunt begin. \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n

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Massive Attack<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Despite not putting out any new music since 2020<\/a>, Massive Attack have seen their star rise throughout this decade. Chalk it up in part to the Gen-Z trip-hop revival, and in part to the band\u2019s willingness to put their money where their mouth is politically. Last year, they joined<\/a> the exodus of artists leaving Spotify in protest of its CEO\u2019s investments in military AI tech, as well as the ongoing No Music for Genocide<\/a> cultural boycott of Israel. \u201cFrom next year we will release a cache of work created in the recent past,\u201d Massive Attack wrote on social media in November. Further details remain scant, but if you\u2019re planning to stream the album, a switch to Apple Music may be in order. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n\n

Megadeth: Megadeth<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 23<\/p>\n

Megadeath\u2019s origin story is thrash-metal folklore: After getting fired from Metallica, singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine founded his own pioneering rock outfit. Forty years later, the flying V-wielding frontman has decided to break the band up after one final album and tour. \u201cWe have done something together that\u2019s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again,\u201d he said in a statement. Megadeath\u2019s last release, the self-titled Megadeath<\/em>, includes some gnarly cover art starring mascot Vic Rattlehead; the fittingly shred-heavy \u201cLet There Be Shred\u201d; and a full-circle cover of Metallica\u2019s \u201cRide the Lightning,\u201d the 1984 single Mustaine has a co-writing credit on. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n

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Morrissey<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Leave it to Moz to make news without new music. Since his most recent album, 2020\u2019s I Am Not a Dog on a Chain<\/em>, the singer-songwriter was dumped<\/a> by BMG, claimed<\/a> he was selling the rights to the Smiths, and cancelled<\/a> shows due to online death threats and his own medical issues. He also had to shelve two completed albums\u2014Bonfire of Teenagers<\/em> and You’re Right, It’s Time<\/em>\u2014though at least one appears to finally be on the verge of release. After signing with Sire Records<\/a> in December, Morrissey shared a tracklist to an untitled project without further comment. Whether the songs are from one of the already-announced LPs or a different one remains to be seen. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

The New Pornographers<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Last spring, the New Pornographers were nearing completion of their 10th album when their recent drummer, Joe Seiders, was arrested for and pled guilty to felony possession of child pornography. The Canadian indie rock supergroup immediately kicked Seiders out of the band and reached out to revered session musician Charley Drayton to remake Seiders\u2019 previously recorded drum parts. Bandleader A.C. Newman describes the follow-up to 2023\u2019s Continue as a Guest<\/em><\/a> as a \u201cnarrative-driven\u201d story that deals with accepting loss, ranging from a friend\u2019s death to American democracy. Newman never undermined Seiders\u2019 horrific charges, but he did realize how the album\u2019s themes beat him to the jump of that reckoning. As Newman put it to Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a>, \u201cIt was dark, weird, and confusing… So when this happened, there was a part of me that went, \u2018Of course this shit is happening. Why would something good happen?\u2019\u201d \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n\n

Nothing: A Short History of Decay<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 27<\/p>\n

When someone writes the book on shoegaze and dream-pop, A Short History of Decay<\/em> would be a great title. On their fifth album, Philadelphia\u2019s Nothing packs in the tremolo, breakbeats, and swooning, My Bloody Valentine<\/a>-shaped melodies. Still, it\u2019s frontman Domenic Palermo\u2019s gore-laden lyrics that cut through the haze, a tether to both his own struggles with substance abuse and to the emo and hardcore scenes of his home city. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n

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Nothing: A Short History of Decay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Olivia Rodrigo<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Olivia Rodrigo may not have announced, formally teased, or really told us anything at all about her Guts<\/em><\/a> follow-up, but you\u2019d better believe it\u2019s coming. The barest of hints\u2014like her onstage giveaway of her G-U-T-S rings at her tour\u2019s final concert, signaling the era was well and truly over\u2014had already sent the stan hive mind into overdrive, even before she told Nylon<\/em><\/a>, in a recent interview, that she was \u201chaving a lot of fun dreaming things up\u201d for a \u201cbusy year\u201d in 2026. Plentiful other allusions<\/a> suggest the wait may not be too painful; the long breadcrumb trail, sprinkled throughout 2025, gives the impression OR3<\/em> is just waiting to burst out of her. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n\n

Paula Kelley: Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out<\/em><\/h2>\n

March 27<\/p>\n

A founding member of Drop Nineteens<\/a>, Paula Kelley rejoined the Boston shoegaze band in 2023, when they parlayed TikTok virality<\/a> into a comeback and a new album<\/a>\u2014their first in 30 years. Kelley\u2019s first solo LP since 2003 is, likewise, of another time; she described the record\u2019s lead single, \u201cParty Line,\u201d as \u201cSpiritualized with Telescopes doing the vocals.\u201d Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out<\/em> could pass for a long-lost twee pop LP dug out of a milk crate: a little dusty, but not the least bit dated. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n

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Paula Kelley: Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Peaches: No Lube So Rude<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 20<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a horny little fucker,\u201d Peaches declares on \u201cFuck Your Face,\u201d the lead single from her first album in over a decade. Talk about an understatement. Other track titles on No Lube So Rude<\/em>, her Kill Rock Stars debut, include \u201cHanging Titties,\u201d \u201cFuck How You Wanna Fuck,\u201d and the less explicit yet somehow more vulgar \u201cPanna Cotta Delight.\u201d Peaches\u2019 return to music coincides with a cultural moment that\u2019s desperate for a shock to the system, and she\u2019s just the service top for the job. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n

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Peaer: doppelg\u00e4nger<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 16<\/p>\n

After nearly seven years, New York-based songwriter Peter Katz and his band return with doppelg\u00e4nger<\/em>. The group\u2014which also includes bassist Thom Lombardi and drummer Jeremy Kinney\u2014broke through with its third album, 2019\u2019s A Healthy Earth<\/a>:<\/em> a clever, math-y indie-rock meditation on quotidian indignities. 2020 lockdowns caused an unintended hiatus, but Katz eventually found himself returning to and refining his songwriting. The resulting record contains ideas from the band\u2019s earliest days that sit along recent compositions: \u201cIt really feels like a different person wrote the first song versus the last song,\u201d Katz has said. \u201cIn some ways that is what [doppelg\u00e4nger<\/em>] is about: Literally changing over time, then looking back to see how different you were.\u201d \u2014Marissa Lorusso<\/p>\n\n

Peter Gabriel: o\/i<\/em><\/h2>\n

December<\/p>\n

Peter Gabriel continues his inquiry into various future fascinations on O\\I<\/em><\/a>, the mirror image of his 2023 record, I\/O<\/em><\/a>. Like its predecessor, the new album is being released one song at a time, each with a \u201cDark-Side\u201d and \u201cBright-Side\u201d version, on the full moon and new moon of each month, lining up a full album for the end of the year. Thematically, the Genesis<\/a> alum says in press materials, they reckon with \u201ca period of transition like no other, most likely triggered in three waves: AI, quantum computing, and the brain computer interface.\u201d But the soul of the music remains Gabriel\u2019s unfettered celebration of the mushy bits of human life. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n\n

Ratboys: Singin\u2019 to an Empty Chair<\/em><\/h2>\n

February 6<\/p>\n

Not only do Chicago stalwarts Ratboys continue to fine-tune their approach to the genre with each record, they also sound increasingly inspired. Maybe the therapy exercise behind Singin\u2019 to an Empty Chair<\/em>\u2019s title is to thank for how revitalized Ratboys sound on their sixth LP. Julia Steiner pushes herself from power-pop harmonies on \u201cAnywhere\u201d to frantic, pent-up yells on \u201cLight Night Mountains All That\u201d that land like someone fighting to regain control of their life again. Ratboys may be humble Midwesterners with good intentions, but don\u2019t underestimate how calloused their fists are or their willingness to fight for a lasting earworm. \u2014Nina Corcoran<\/p>\n

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Ratboys: Singin\u2019 to an Empty Chair<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Robyn<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Robyn albums take time: the Swedish pop-star\u2019s scintillating floor-fillers are dense with the stuff of life, not to mention seemingly endless nights spent out on the dancefloor. Since the release of 2018\u2019s Honey<\/em><\/a>, she became a mother and remained a prolific collaborator, all while giving her new record, supposedly titled Sexistential<\/em>, plenty of time to gestate. Recorded with her longtime collaborator Klas \u00c5hlund, the 2025 single \u201cDopamine<\/a>\u201d harkened back to the chrome-plated bangers of Body Talk<\/em><\/a>\u2014as well as the woefully underrated Do It Again<\/em><\/a> EP. Based on the new songs Robyn debuted<\/a> at a New Year\u2019s Eve concert, she can still capture the same high. \u2014Walden Green<\/p>\n\n

Rostam<\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

Rostam Batmanglij made his production bones recording evocative, airy pop-rock as a member of Vampire Weekend and later for a coterie of acclaimed artists (recent credits include Carly Rae Jepsen, Samia, and Haim). But the multi-instrumentalist is a gifted solo artist in his own right, with two successful albums under his belt: 2017\u2019s dreamy Half-Light<\/em><\/a> and 2021\u2019s jazz-inflected Changephobia<\/em><\/a>. We don\u2019t know much about Batmanglij\u2019s just-announced third album, arriving this year, only a title (American Stories<\/em>) and a hint of what\u2019s to come (more slide guitar<\/a>). \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 16<\/p>\n

Sleaford Mods survey their kingdom of the Midlands on The Demise of Planet X<\/em>, asserting their triumph at the frontline of the decade-plus boom of Quietus<\/em>-core UK shouter-songwriters. Lining up alongside several fellow alternative national treasures, the duo solicits a music video from Andrea Arnold and vocals from Life Without Buildings\u2019 Sue Tompkins on the Arab Strap-via-Neneh Cherry confection \u201cNo Touch<\/a>,\u201d and\u2014why not?\u2014a verse of maniacal bars from Gwendolyn Christie on the hear-it-to-believe-it lead single \u201cThe Good Life<\/a>.\u201d \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The Soft Pink Truth: Can Such Delightful Times Go on Forever?<\/em><\/h2>\n

January 30<\/p>\n

The title, of course, is a slice of black humor: You can count on Drew Daniel\u2014the Soft Pink Truth main brain and one half of the electronic trickster duo Matmos\u2014to take a sober view of the wretched state of world affairs. But, like its title, Can Such Delightful Times Go on Forever?<\/em> injects a note of upside-down humor and lavish indulgence into the conversation. Presented as a queer refuge from an authoritarian and genocidal timeline, the album doubles as a showcase for a multinational array of string players, whose sighs, swells, and quivers\u2014arranged by Daniel in a style reminiscent of the composer John Adams\u2014lend movie-soundtrack scale to his flurrying compositions. \u2014Jazz Monroe<\/p>\n

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The Soft Pink Truth: Can Such Delightful Times Go On Forever?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Steve Lacy: Oh Yeah?<\/em><\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

It feels like light years since Steve Lacy\u2019s \u201cBad Habit\u201d ruled the summer. Now the guitarist and singer is readying his third album. The project is still mostly shrouded in mystery but in a recent Rolling Stone<\/em> cover story<\/a>, Lacy teased the title, Oh Yeah?<\/em> (\u201cthe question mark is important,\u201d he said) and its first single, the jungle-inspired \u201cNice Shoes.\u201d He also said he would not drop another project \u201ctill yall go appreciate<\/a>\u201d his last one, Gemini Rights<\/em>, so go ahead and rack up those streams now. \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n\n

Sublime: Till the Sun Explodes<\/em><\/h2>\n

TBA<\/p>\n

It sounds like a marketing exec\u2019s nostalgia-induced fever dream: Jakob Nowell, son of late Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell, fronts his dad\u2019s band at Coachella 2024. Thankfully, it all worked out, with Jakob sounding every bit his father\u2019s son. Now the younger Nowell will carry on the Sublime legacy with a new album, their first release in three decades. Lead single \u201cEnsenada\u201d checks all the boxes: a reggae-and-ska-infused rhythm, lyrics about Southern California and strippers, the word \u201cstoked.\u201d As Jakob recently told People<\/em><\/a>, \u201cThere’s no worse feeling than hearing a new record from a band that hasn’t released anything in a hundred years, and it\u2019s just so different.\u201d \u2014Alex Suskind<\/p>\n<\/div>\n