Reviews

Gorillaz travel to India with The Mountain, their ninth studio album. It's a transportive, immersive experience that excites and surprises, making it their best release in over fifteen years. Kong - 2026 Gorillaz, the virtual project of Blur's Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, took to India for their new album, The Mountain. Before the making of their ninth studio album, the duo each lost their fathers and were looking for enlightenment and a way to grieve their los

Wak'a is a smart, gorgeous addition to the duo's debut album from last year. Continuing to preserve the Aymara history through their music, Los Thuthanaka are still making incredible music that's not like anything you've ever heard. Los Thuthanaka - 2026 There's nothing else like last year's release of Los Thuthanaka, a record that's so chocked full of different sound effects, layers, and compressed to oblivion that it's hard to decipher what's going on even on the tenth

Fifteen years later, Manchester's WU LYF return with a second album. A Wave That Will Never Break is anthemic, triumphant, moving, and one of the year's best releases. WU LYF - 2026 "World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation" is what the acronym of the Manchester-based musical group, WU LYF, translates to. Pronounced "woo life," WU LYF magically appeared and dissipated both within a short span of time. Initially formed in 2008, the band seemed to appear out of nowhere years l

On Play Me, Kim Gordon's third solo album and collaboration with Justin Raisen, Gordon's bold direction with hip hop beats, sample heavy instrumentation and industrial noise is pushed even further and has become even more solidified. Matador - 2026 Kim Gordon is one of the most celebrated and notable guitar shredders, poets, and fashion icons to come out of the 1980's and 1990's with her major contributions to Sonic Youth. Since Sonic Youth's disbandment in 2011, Gordon

The Tuareg group's new tenth album, Hoggar, continues to be a delightful collaborative effort that highlights what makes the Tinariwen still so great and essential. Guest contributors include Sweden's José Gonzalez and Sudan's Sulafa Elyes, among others. Wedge - 2026 The musical collective known as Tinariwen originated from parts of Mali and Algeria almost fifty years ago and are still cranking out fantastic records to this day. They first started releasing studio albums

Needle Guy is a clubby highlight reel of Dylan Brady's abilities to make oddball bangers, more or less. It's a fun hang. Dog Show - 2026 When it comes to all things hyperpop or anything remotely interesting within the realm of electronic, hip hop, and pop music, Dylan Brady might be involved in some capacity. He formed the duo 100 gecs with Laura Les in 2015, popularizing the hyperpop genre. They released albums like 1,000 gecs and arguably the best album of the decade s

20 years later, Nate Ruess and Sam Means reignite The Format with Boycott Heaven . The songs are punchy, larger than life, and instantly fun. Vanity Label - 2026 The Format are a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists and songwriters Sam Means and Nate Ruess. They initially started in the early 2000's, making power pop and indie rock music with sharp aims towards the strife and unfairness within music industry, hence The Format's name and their first single, titled "Th

On his fourth studio album, the electronica and dance tropes that Harry Styles pulls from come off as both watered down and dull, lacking punch or vibrancy. Columbia - 2026 Harry Styles, the British singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and fashion icon, has been quite the intriguing figure in pop music over the past decade. Ever since he decided to go solo due to the boy band One Direction's demise, he's been by far the most talented and successful one of the group

Pulling in Cate Le Bon as a producer, Dry Cleaning have expanded their sound by adding even more color and style into their resume. There are more infectious grooves, pretty melodic palettes, and Florence Shaw has more of an emphasis on singing this time around. 4AD - 2026 Dry Cleaning have been one of the UK's brightest, most head turning groups since the late 2010's. Their first couple EP's sparked enough buzz to get signed to acclaimed veteran indie label 4AD, where t

With his solo debut Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights? , Animal Collective's Geologist has turned to the hurdy gurdy as his main instrument. This results in a colorful, expansive soundscape ranging from graceful beauty to an explosive ferocity. Drag City - 2026 The psychedelic, experimental Baltimore based band Animal Collective has had many offshoots over the years from their four members, but the least amount of material has to be from Brian Weitz, aka Geologist. Outsi