Our 50 Favorite Albums of 2026 So Far

We’re officially halfway through 2026, and it’s already been a fantastic year for new music. To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a list of our 50 favorite albums released between January 1 and June 30 (plus one that is technically from from December). They range from rising DIY indie bands, to indie & emo bands making great records deep into their careers, to some of the biggest current artists, to underground rap icons, to spacey metal bands, to the most talked about band of the year, and beyond. We didn’t rank them (we’ll save that for the end of the year), but read on for the list in alphabetical order.

For more, listen to us talk about the list on the new episode of our BV Weekly podcast.

Aldous Harding – Train on the Island (4AD)

“I was nine when I left my body.” Aldous Harding is one of those songwriters whose lyrics I love to pore over even when, most of the time, I have no idea what she’s actually on about. Train of the Island, the New Zealand singer’s fifth album, is full of evocative imagery while also being her most understated record yet. Like her previous three releases, Train of the Island was made with producer John Parish at Rockfield Studios in Wales, alongside regular collaborators including H. Hawkline. It doesn’t quite have the cohesion of 2019’s wonderful Designer, but its many quirky charms shine through on repeat listens and closer inspection. Stick with Train on the Island and it blossoms. [Bill Pearis]

Pick up ‘Train on the Island’ on blue vinyl in the BV shop.

American Football – LP4 (Polyvinyl)

Mike Kinsella is a master of turning unfiltered, diaristic sadness into beautiful music, and as outlined in Grayson Haver Currin’s lengthy recent GQ feature on American Football, he still has a lot to be sad about–a failed marriage, struggles with alcoholism, inner-band tension, and some very dark personal demons. As Kinsella memorably puts in on LP4 standout “Blood On My Blood,” “The story of my life is a murder mystery.” LP4, American Football’s first album in seven years and first since drummer/trumpeter Steve Lamos’ temporary departure forced the band into a two-year hiatus, is some of Mike Kinsella’s darkest, most wounded songwriting ever, and that’s saying a lot. It’s just as personal and soul-baring as his solo material as Owen, but no one could accuse LP4 of sounding like it could have been a solo album. The subject matter is matched by the band’s grandest, most majestic music yet–a far cry from the humble, skeletal approach that made their 1999 debut album so legendary. It’s even grander-sounding than 2019’s LP3, which boasted guest vocals from Hayley Williams, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, and Land of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell and the most lush arrangements of American Football’s career. On LP4, the band teamed up with producer Sonny DiPerri (who’s best known for working with Animal Collective, My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, and more) and brought in mountainous post-rock climaxes, layers of vibraphone (by longtime touring member Cory Bracken) and violin (by Ben Russell, whose credits include Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, Dirty Projectors, and The National), and even more guest vocalists, including Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, rising shoegaze artist Wisp, and American Football’s old friend Caithlin De Marrais of Rainer Maria. In some ways, it sounds miles apart from the debut album that every American Football album will always be measured up against. But in even more ways, this could not be the work of any other band in the world. [Andrew Sacher]

Pick up ‘LP4’ on goldenrod mix vinyl in the BV shop.

Angine de Poitrine – Vol II (self-released)

French-Canadian microtonal dadaist math-rock sensations Angine de Poitrine blew up thanks to a KEXP Sessions video earlier this year that’s had just about everyone on the internet asking, “Who the hell are these two polka-dotted weirdos?” Maybe not who they actually are under the makeup and costumes — people seem to enjoy the mystery — but more “Where did they come from and what kind of music is this?” YouTube is now full of videos trying to break it all down.

The hype is still crescendoing — welcome to the party, Dave Grohl — as the duo release their second album, and you’re probably either A) all in or B) ready to throw your phone into the ocean until you’re sure they won’t pop up in your feed again. You’ve also likely already heard most of Vol II if you’ve watched the KEXP session, and the studio versions don’t sound all that different. It does feel a little less otherworldly when you’re just listening, though, and not watching them make all these sounds in real time.

That said, opener “Fabienk” is a banger and the perfect introduction to the album and the duo’s signature mix of early Devo, King Gizzard, and whatever Les Claypool project you prefer. It’s a dizzying — and to some, maddening — sound built on interlocking bass and guitar riffs and hyper-precise drumming. If you make it through that one, you’re going to love the five that follow in a similarly frenetic, polka-dotted suit. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘Vol. II’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Basement – Wired (Run For Cover)

Anytime it seems like Basement are slowing down, a big comeback is always waiting around the corner. When they first broke up in 2012 right after releasing their sophomore album Colourmeinkindness, the album became a surprise hit and when they returned to the stage two years later they started playing to exponentially bigger crowds. Here in New York, they went from playing to about 50 people at their last pre-hiatus show to selling out the 1500-cap Webster Hall when they returned. Basement slowed down again after signing to Fueled by Ramen and releasing Beside Myself in 2018–an album that was reviewed well but a bit of a dud commercially, especially for the major label that released it–and their plans to go on hiatus coincided with COVID forcing every band to cease touring anyway.

When live music did return, guitarist Alex Henery was suddenly busy with Fiddlehead, the Basement/Have Heart side-project-turned-main-project that started taking off post-COVID, not to mention he was also busy as the touring photographer/videographer for Turnstile, who really started taking off around that same time. So Basement remained on pause, and as they did, another surprise breakthrough happened; Colourmeinkindness‘ “Covet” went viral on TikTok, introducing Basement to an entire new generation of listeners and making them far bigger than ever. As I write this, that song’s got over 200 million plays on Spotify and it’s always growing. And it’s not a fluke; when Basement returned to the stage again, they started playing even bigger shows (they now regularly headline hardcore festivals), and the hype for their new album Wired feels louder than the hype for any other Basement album before it. Now the album is here, and I already feel safe calling it one of their best yet.

Wired does not for a second rest on the laurels of any of Basement’s past successes. Instead, it takes a clear leap forward. It’s got sweaty punk energy, dream pop/shoegaze beauty, some Replacements-y alt-rock balladry, emo sentimentality, and some noisy off-kilter studio work that I bet producer John Congleton (PUP, Mannequin Pussy, Cloud Nothings) had a little something to do with. It sounds like no other Basement record, and yet it somehow instantly feels like quintessential Basement. As Ale Henery himself put it, “I never thought Basement could sound like this. But in my head, it’s what I’ve always wanted Basement to sound like.” [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Wired’ on coke bottle clear vinyl in the BV shop.

Beth Orton – The Ground Above (Partisan)

Beth Orton’s Weather Alive was one of my favorite albums of 2022, and she’s now back with many of the same collaborators (Shahzad Ismaily, The Smile’s Tom Skinner, and more) for an album that feels like the natural continuation down that luminous path. The Ground Above opens with its stunning title track; set against Vishal Nayak’s skittering drum pattern and a swirl of sound design-heavy production recalling late-period Talk Talk even more than her last album. Beth sits at the center with chiming Fender Rhodes and her fragile vocal delivery. It not only gets better as it goes, it deepens with repeat listens. The whole album is another subtle stunner. Orton’s voice forever sits on the verge of shattering, even at the quietest moments, and you hang on every word as they float in the center of mesmerizing arrangements that are jazzier, more enveloping, and more woozily romantic this time around. Put on your headphones for this one. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘The Ground Above’ on “cigarette curls smokey/translucent marble” vinyl in the BV shop.

Bibi Club – Amaro (Secret City)

Montreal’s Bibi Club — Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque (Plants & Animals) — made one of 2024’s best albums with their second longplayer, Feu De Garde, but they may have bettered it with Amaro. It’s an evolution of that album’s signature sultry, melancholic sound — a windswept mix of shoegaze, jazzy tropicalia, and vintage synths and drum machines — that this time leans into dancier grooves inspired by early-’80s minimal wave. It’s a tantalizing combination that makes them feel even more singular. The template is set on opener “Infinité,” built on a ticking rhythm box and rolling, arpeggiated bassline before Adèle’s breathy, mysterious vocals enter the scene. Then comes Nicolas’ distinctive guitarwork, spinning delicate, interlocking spiderweb patterns, hazy atmospherics, and occasional bursts of noise. Amaro’s title track leads with guitar before that electronic rhythm section kicks in, turning it into an undeniable hazy banger complete with a festival-worthy drop. There are also heady, krautrock-leaning songs like “A Different Light” (featuring Helena Deland) and “Les Vagues,” the skronky, urgent “George Sand,” the sinister “Washing Machine,” and the spooky, ethereal “Cérémonie” and “Le château.” Thematically, grief and loss thread through the album, but Nicolas told Melt FM that ultimately the vibe they were aiming for was release and liberation: “You’re in ancient ruins and you can dance your life away, with people dancing all strange, every generation mixed.” Welcome to Club Catharsis. [B.P.]

Bill Callahan – My Days of 58 (Drag City)

“Lou Reed was waiting for me, all dressed in white,” Bill Callahan sings about a death dream that opens his new album. “I said Lou Lou Lou / What is this place that you took me to… He looked me deep in the eye / Gave me that warm handshake / And said, It’s cool / Baby you just got to let it ride / Into a dwarf star or a black hole or someone else’s soul.” Thank goodness for Bill Callahan, who has been making wonderful, poignant, and often very funny music for three decades. His latest album, My Days of 58, is another gem — a laid-back, loose rumination on mortality and grief (there’s a lot of that going around) spurred by the death of his father, a cancer scare, and his 60th birthday looming on the horizon. As usual, he approaches it with his warm, empathetic style, an ear for dialogue, an eye for telling details, and a knack for slipping in non sequitur zingers — like that Lou Reed cameo in “Why Do Men Sing?” Gentle horns enrich the album’s appealing arrangements, and the production offers plenty of headroom in the stereo field so you can fully chew on his words, which land whether you’re in his demographic or not. “And now my biggest fear is not the dying,” he sings later. “My biggest fear is that I’ll stop trying to be the man I’m supposed to be.” It’s a simple line, but in Callahan’s hands it feels profound — clear-eyed about the inevitable, but still invested in the ride. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘My Days of 58’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Boards of Canada – Inferno (Warp Records)

Inferno is Boards of Canada’s first album in 13 years — and only their second in 21 — and the nostalgia vibes of their early classics seem to have been replaced by repressed bad memories. This is their heaviest, bleakest album to date, turning the dial from Eerie fully into Creepy. Still compelling, though. They dive deep into dark waters in a way that feels in tune with our bad-vibes, apocalyptic times while maintaining Boards of Canada’s hazy, sample-heavy, downtempo style. There are plenty of highlights: first single “Prophecy at 1420 MHz” drops a little rock grandeur into their sound; “Naraka” is one of many tracks to dabble in spiritual music from around the world; “Father and Son” turns the sliced-and-diced dialogue samples they’re known for into something decidedly sinister; and penultimate track “You Retreat in Time and Space” opens the shades, lets the sunshine in, and beckons you through the window into another time and place. Thirteen years is a long time to wait, and your mileage may vary on Inferno, but I think of Boards of Canada like a comet — they’re not here very often, but I’m always glad when they make an appearance in a galaxy near me. [B.P.]

Brown Horse – Total Dive (Loose Music)

Brown Horse are the UK’s answer to America’s current indie-country boom, and what a damn good answer they are. Total Dive is their third album in as many years, and it’s yet another instantly-satisfying record that the fans of the MJ Lendermans and Wednesdays and Ratboys and Greg Freemans and Waxahatchees of the world should not be missing out on. They share musical DNA with all of those artists, and they’ve especially got the ragged glory of Neil Young & Crazy Horse all over Total Dive. It’s the loosest, saggiest, most effortlessly confident that Brown Horse have sounded yet. [A.S.]

Buck Meek – The Mirror (4AD)

We are in dark times, but on The Mirror, Buck Meek is finding joy and hope. It’s a treacherous route to take — one filled with potential treacle and empty calories — but he hits the right note more often than not, whether it’s an intimate love song or capturing a magic moment while caregiving for a family member with dementia. It’s a brave album in many ways, one that somehow makes you feel better about the world without ever sounding forced or cheap. These songs come from the heart and land in the same place. What makes The Mirror especially compelling, beyond Buck’s wonderful songwriting, is the production by his Big Thief bandmate James Krivchenia, who brings his interest in synthesizers, ambient music, and sound design into the arrangements. Modular synths were set up to be triggered by the organic instruments — drums and guitar — as they were played live, which in turn triggered even more synthesizers. That may not be the most elegant explanation of what’s happening, but the result is a richly layered, deeply rewarding listen. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘The Mirror’ on clear vinyl in the BV shop.

Cardinals – Masquerade (So Young Records)

Hailing from Cork, Cardinals are not the first band to mix post-punk and alt-rock with traditional Celtic elements, but rarely does it feel as natural as it does on their debut album. Singer-guitarist Euan Manning says they purposefully avoided “diddly eye” music but otherwise had no restrictions on their style. Despite being a very young band — both in time together and in age — Cardinals seem to have their sound fully cemented on Masquerade, an extremely assured album that’s miles ahead of their already terrific 2024 self-titled EP. The strongest Irish element on Masquerade is swagger — an unfakeable quality that’s in abundance, whether it’s on their swoonier, poppier material like “St Agnes,” “She Makes Me Real,” or the title track, or their darker, angstier songs like “Barbed Wire,” “Anhedonia,” or “The Burning of Cork,” which owes a little to Nirvana. Those sides of the band are neatly divided across the two sides of Masquerade — envisioned as a vinyl album — which has been expertly sequenced. Finn Manning’s accordion and brother Euan’s character-filled lyrics and impassioned delivery tie it all together. Ireland has been a hotbed of talent recently; Cardinals are not the “next” anything — they’ve already carved out their own unique and compelling path. [B.P.]

Charli XCX – Wuthering Heights (Atlantic)

After altering her career and the pop music landscape forever with 2024’s Brat, Charli XCX said she’d probably be taking a break from music, and then she said her next record “will probably be a flop, which I’m down for to be honest.” These are understandable statements to make given how high the expectations for a Brat followup would be, so what did Charli do? She ventured outside of music without actually taking a break from it, and when it did come to releasing a new record, she skirted around the concept of a “followup to Brat.” She ramped up her film career earlier this year with The Moment, and now she releases a soundtrack/companion album for a different film, Wuthering Heights, an adaptation of the 1847 Emily Brontë novel of the same name, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. It’s not the score to Wuthering Heights (that’s by Anthony Willis), and some of the songs definitely appear in the film but I’m not currently sure if all of them do (probably not). Charli also didn’t score The Moment; her frequent collaborator A.G. Cook did. If Charli’s goal was to leave her fans and critics too confused to be disappointed that Wuthering Heights is her first album since Brat, she succeeded.

And your categorization of this album may vary, but I am sticking with calling it Charli’s first album since Brat. It’s an entire 12-song, 35-minute album that stands on its own, whether you’ve seen the film or not (I have not). Every track is a full-blown song with Charli singing; nothing is film score type work. Charli even called it a “concept album.” Adding to all the mystique, this is by far the most experimental album Charli XCX has ever released. It features The Velvet Underground’s John Cale and the elusive Sky Ferreira, and this is an album for the Charli XCX fans who got excited when Charli talked about how influential The Velvet Underground & Nico is. With all the dark, eerie string arrangements, it kind of sounds like a cross between Dead Can Dance and Kate Bush, and not just because Kate Bush’s debut single was also named after and inspired by Wuthering Heights the book. It also embraces these influences in a way that only Charli XCX could do. There are a few Brat-like electronic pop moments, and even the “least pop” moments sound distinctly like Charli. The artsy and the avant-garde have long been in her DNA, but she’s never embraced that side of her as fully as she does here. It feels like a gift to Charli’s own inner art rock weirdo, and a gift to the art rock weirdos who already like Charli XCX too. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Wuthering Heights’ on galaxy green/black vinyl in the BV shop.

Converge – Love Is Not Enough & Hum of Hurt (Epitaph/Deathwish)

Converge clearly have a lot of pent up energy from the 9 years they went without releasing a proper album. They released their fastest, punkiest album since the early 2000s in February with Love Is Not Enough, and in June they unveiled their second album of the year that might be even faster. In fact, vocalist J Bannon actually refers to Love Is Not Enough as “more metal leaning” while he says Hum of Hurt “leans more into being an emotional hardcore album.” I’d say both albums reinforce that Converge are one of the best hardcore bands ever, and also just one of the best and most enduring bands ever. It’s incredibly rare to hear a band sounding this fresh and this fierce 35+ years into their career, and even rarer to see a band make it look this easy. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Love Is Not Enough’ and ‘Hum of Hurt’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Cryptic Shift — Overspace & Supertime (Metal Blade)

This Leeds-based quartet wowed many of us with their 2020 debut Visitations from Enceladus, and they were unfrozen from their stasis pods back in February for a new reality-bending mission into the unknown (and unknowable). Overspace & Supertime is a death metal space opera bursting with laser-targeted riffing, eldritch dissonance unearthed by hapless xenoarchaeologists, and unstable doppler-shifted tempos that will send you reeling. As its title implies, this album is bigger and badder than its predecessor, so strap in and steel your mind. [Alex Chan]

Daniel Lopatin – Marty Supreme Original Score (A24 Music)

While I enjoy Oneohtrix Point Never albums — like his latest, Tranquilizer — Daniel Lopatin often does his best work collaborating with others, whether that’s co-writing with pop stars or working in the service of film, television, or commercials. Filmmaker Josh Safdie really seems to bring out the best in him, and the score for Safdie’s fantastic new movie Marty Supreme (their third film together) might be the best thing Lopatin has ever done. Though the movie is set in 1952, the soundtrack — from the score to the needle drops — is entirely centered in the mid-’80s, and the juxtaposition works beautifully, giving this hustler and ping-pong prodigy the air of a bright future he’s always reaching for, even when things are going wrong. (Spoiler alert: that’s much of the film.) Tangerine Dream’s score for Risky Business is a clear inspiration, as is Vangelis (Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire) in its airy layers of synth, fretless bass, pan flute, and Fairlight-era homage, while the use of percussive instruments owes more than a little to Steve Reich and plays directly into the sport that drives the film. There are also a number of collaborators here, including ambient great Larajii on zither and percussion, flautist Izaak Mills, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Synchron Choir, and Weyes Blood, who provides ethereal, wordless vocals. (Safdie himself is even credited with “sound effects” on a few cuts.) Above all, the Marty Supreme score is fun and engaging even without the film, but hearing it blast through a theater sound system makes it even better. [B.P.]

Pick up the ‘Marty Supreme’ soundtrack on clear vinyl in the BV shop.

Death Cab For Cutie – I Built You a Tower (ANTI-)

I Built You a Tower is Death Cab For Cutie’s first album for an independent label in 23 years, and it’s also their first album since Ben Gibbard & co. revisited both Transatlanticism and The Postal Service’s Give Up for a joint 20th anniversary tour. “The anniversary tours exorcised any nostalgia in our systems,” says guitarist/keyboardist Dave Depper. “We felt part of this powerful force greater than all of us and went into the studio with a sense of, how can we capture that feeling and put it into something new?” The answer to that question reveals itself all over the John Congleton-produced I Built You a Tower, which has pretty much everything you want from Death Cab. It has the pretty acoustic guitar- and piano-led songs, the mid-tempo indie rock songs, and some of the hardest, riffiest, most fidgety Death Cab songs this side of The Photo Album (“Punching the Flowers,” “Envy the Birds,” “How Heavenly A State”). It’s the Death Cab you know and love, and yet, over 25 years into their career, this band still finds ways to surprise us. [A.S.]

ELUCID & Sebb Bash – I Guess U Had To Be There (Backwoodz)

Not a year goes by without at least one Armand Hammer-related album, and after getting an Armand Hammer album and a billy woods solo album in 2025, the first quarter of 2026 gives us a new ELUCID solo album. This one was entirely made with Swiss producer Sebb Bash, and it features billy woods on the song “The Lorax,” as well as appearances from Breezly Brewin, Estee Nack, MATTIE, and Shabaka Hutchings. While not as far out as ELUCID’s last album, Revelator, it’s a very fine example of ELUCID’s ability to churn out sinister, ominous, experimental rap music and virtually never miss. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘I Guess U Had To Be There’ on transparent clear vinyl in the BV shop.

Fcukers – ‘Ö’ (Ninja Tune)

Trigger warning: “Indie Sleaze.” While the duo of Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis have embraced their party-forward image since emerging from the post-pandemic NYC Dimes Square scene, the touchstones in their music lie on the other side of the millennium, before skinny jeans and coke dens like The Darkroom opened their doors. Fcukers have more in common with Fatboy Slim and Basement Jaxx than LCD Soundsystem or Hot Chip, building songs around a single hook that burrows into your ear canal like a Ceti eel and takes over your nervous system. “Play Me,” with its nagging “I just wanna rock right now,” is their “Rockafeller Skank.” The album features a lot of producers — Kenny Beats, 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady, and Ice Spice collaborator Lily Kaplan — but apart from the lush, downtempo closer “Feel the Real,” you don’t really feel much outside influence. Which is better than a record that feels like it was made by disparate producers with their own idea of what the album should be. ‘Ö’ is slight but never less than fun, occasionally awesome, but never sleazy. And at just 28 minutes, it flies by so fast you may end up letting it loop a few times. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘Ö’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Feels Like Heaven – Within Dreams (Scheme)

One of 2025’s best punk albums was the debut LP by Stockholm band Speedway, and three members of Speedway kicked off 2026 with the debut album by another band they all play in, Feels Like Heaven. Speedway make “melodic hardcore” in a Dag Nasty/Rites of Spring/Embrace kinda way, while Feels Like Heaven make “melodic hardcore” that leans more emo and falls somewhere between Lifetime and Samiam. (For something more contemporary, it would sit nicely next to Anxious and Fiddlehead.) Just like the Speedway LP, the playing is tight, the recording is sharp, and this is immediate, instantly-satisfying stuff. It’s 10 songs in under 24 minutes, and it left me hooked and wanting more on first listen. [A.S.]

Grace Ives – Girlfriend (UMG / True Panther)

Grace Ives told New York Times that working with Ariel Rechtshaid and John DeBold on her new album Girlfriend was “the level-up that I wanted.” It’s the follow-up to 2022’s more bedroom pop-oriented Janky Star, and it’s some of her biggest-sounding material yet. She made it after getting sober, and says, “Having some personal freedom made me realize that I’m allowed to take up space—to be social, to talk about how I feel, to try new things. This album is about giving myself room to fail, to experiment, and to become more honest in the music.” [Amanda Hatfield]

Greg Mendez – Beauty Land (Dead Oceans)

Beauty Land is Philly singer/songwriter Greg Mendez’s first full-length for Dead Oceans, which he signed to after the surprise breakthrough success of his 2023 self-titled album, and on which he released the very brief First Time / Alone EP in 2024. Brevity is a very noticeable aspect on Beauty Land too–more than half of its 14 songs are under two minutes–and Greg is a songwriter who knows how to lean into less being more. It’s a gentle album with echoes of artists like Elliott Smith and Iron & Wine, and it gets heavier and more compelling with each listen. [A.S.]

hemlocke springs – the apple tree under the sea (AWAL)

hemlocke springs, the moniker of North Carolina artist Isimeme Udu, tasted TikTok virality with her second single, 2022’s “girlfriend.” Even in that light and frothy synth-pop confection, signs of her unique voice and personality were evident, and she’s only honed in on both since then. Her debut LP is a concept album about her journey to self discovery amidst a religious upbringing, and it’s also a (re)introduction to her vivid, colorful world, and a showcase of her tremendous range. She leaps between bold synth-pop on “the beginning of the end” and “w-w-w-w-w,” sinister whimsy on “head, shoulders, knees and ankles,” lush chorale harmonies on “moses,” soaring art-pop balladry on “sever the blight,” retro-futuristic grooves on “sense(is),” ’00s-inspired R&B on “set me free,” and cathartic pop bliss on “be the girl!” She takes inspiration from artists like Kate Bush, Prince, Lady Gaga, and Chappell Roan (who she opened for last year) along the way, but she really makes all those styles her own, building them out with her elaborate lyricism that’s populated by the likes of Snow White, ruffians and angels, a 73 year old man awaiting his child bride, and El Shaddai. hemlocke’s world contains beauty and danger, and visiting it an absolute thrill. [A.H.]

Hiding Places – The Secret to Good Living (Keeled Scales)

Hiding Places are currently based in Queens, New York but they’ve got roots in Asheville, NC, and their debut album The Secret To Good Living has some of the same folky, grungy DNA that their neighbors Wednesday have been bringing from Asheville to the world. Released on Keeled Scales (Buck Meek, Good Looks, etc), the record can also recall anything from ’60s psych-rock to the early days of ’90s slowcore veterans Low. With two lead singers (Audrey Keelin and Nicholas Byrne) and a slyly good knack for entrancing guitar riffs, Hiding Places cover all this ground in a way that can sound truly magical. [A.S.]

Hyd – Hold Onto Me Infinity (Cascine)

Hayden Dunham and SOPHIE were close collaborators and partners, and the presence of the iconic producer, who we lost in 2021, haunts Hold Onto Me Infinity, Dunham’s second album as Hyd. SOPHIE first premiered the audacious “Makeover” at a Washington DC set in 2016, and she’s also credited as a producer on the upbeat “Make Me Believe,” along with Hudson Mohawke, who worked on much of the album. Then there’s “Never Is Over,” with its lines, “I still see you laughing at the piano / Saying, ‘it’s okay to cry,’” which seem to directly reference SOPHIE’s 2017 single and Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides opening track. In addition to the loss of SOPHIE, Dunham’s brother was killed in a 2024 hit-and-run, and while these major losses leave traces all over Hold Onto Me Infinity, particularly in its lyrics, my main takeaway is how full of bangers it is. It starts with two of the most irresistible slices of art-pop I’ve heard all year and never lets up. “Angel” is all bright, ebullient synths and infectious melodies, while “Freak” revolves around its extremely quotable chorus, “that girl is a freak, yeah she’s just like me.” It was my early choice for song of the summer, and the album, which arrived on the eve of Memorial Day Weekend, came just in time. [A.H.]

IDK – E.T.D.S. (self-released)

Maryland rapper IDK has a reputation for expansive, ambitious albums, but he’s calling his new project E.T.D.S. (which stands for “Even The Devil Smiles”) a mixtape, and he says it was inspired by “the immediacy of 90s and 2000s mixtape culture.” “Immediacy” is a good word to describe E.T.D.S. in general, and in some ways this project hits even harder than his grander works. The ’90s / 2000s era feels like a sonic reference point here too. Pusha T of Clipse and Black Thought of The Roots bless this tape with the kinds of hard-hitting verses that they could’ve released back then. Posthumous clips of DMX and MF DOOM are worked in, and there are contributions from boom bap-era architects like RZA, No I.D., and Madlib, along with boom bap revivalist Conductor Williams and some nostalgia-inducing production from Kaytranada on the Black Thought and Pusha T collabs. Another side of the ’90s comes through on “Stigma,” a collab with drum & bass OG Goldie. E.T.D.S. isn’t beholden to revivalism though; IDK’s got a handful of modern twists in there, including an appearance on “Clover” from rising duo Joey Valence & Brae.

And even though IDK’s calling E.T.D.S. a “mixtape,” he could’ve called it a concept album. It comes out right around the same time that IDK would’ve completed the 15-year prison sentence he was given at the age of 17 had he served the entire thing–he only had to serve three years–and he says the project “confronts the reality [of incarceration] head-on, blending sharp lyricism with raw storytelling about, betrayal, spiritual conflict, and the moments that shaped me. Real phone calls with Deangelo Sneed, a high ranking Blood who saw my potential and kept me focused, serve as checkpoints throughout the project. It leans heavy on rap with touches of melody — gritty, honest, and fully transparent.” [A.S.]

James Blake – Trying Times (Good Boy)

James Blake made a much welcome return to form on 2023’s Playing Robots Into Heaven, an album that embraced his dance music roots and the atmospheric electronic pop of his instant-classic debut LP, and he keeps that going with Trying Times. Much of it recalls the eerie, echoey, minimalist songwriting of his debut, while “Rest of Your Life” gives us the version of James Blake who still loves DJing clubs and “Doesn’t Just Happen” finds him teaming up with his now-frequent collaborator Dave for the kind of downtempo rap song that only these two can make. Trying Times isn’t exactly like any other album James Blake has made, but it does largely find him in his comfort zone. And when James Blake is in that particular zone, there’s really nobody else like him. [A.S.]

Joyce Manor – I Used To Go To This Bar (Epitaph)

At this point, Joyce Manor are basically a California punk institution. 16+ years and seven albums into their career, they’ve transcended the scene and era that they came from and they’ve become one of the most distinct and reliable punk bands currently going. It’s a trajectory that’s easy to compare to Bad Religion, so it’s fitting that their latest album I Used To Go To This Bar is their first to be entirely produced by Bad Religion guitarist (and Epitaph Records founder) Brett Gurewitz, who’s been a sounding board for Joyce Manor ever since he signed them over a decade ago. Brett knows how to get the best out of a band without messing with their formula, and I Used To Go To This Bar is Joyce Manor at their best. It has a few moments where Joyce Manor spread their wings, like with the alt-country/cowpunk of “All My Friends Are So Depressed,” the Shrek soundtrack-friendly Cali alt-rock of “Well, Whatever It Was,” and the funk-punk of “After All You Put Me Through,” but most of this LP is trademark Joyce Manor and even the “different” songs sound like no other band in the world. In classic Joyce Manor fashion, it’s got no fat, with just nine songs that hover around two minutes each, and this time they even end the LP with an abrupt stop that provides the exact opposite of a grand finale. I Used To Go To This Bar is a great reminder that, with Joyce Manor, less has always been more. [A.S.]

Pick up our exclusive coke bottle clear variant of ‘I Used To Go To This Bar’ in the BV shop.

Kacey Musgraves – Middle of Nowhere (Lost Highway)

After making forays into pop, psychedelia, and stripped-back folk music, and going through a highly-publicized divorce, Kacey Musgraves has come full circle with Middle of Nowhere. It’s her most straight-up country album since she delivered the one-two punch of Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material over a decade ago, and it finds her finding comfort in solitude. (Or, as she cheekily puts it on lead single “Dry Spell,” in “loneliness with a capital ‘H.’”) It’s a return to form and a maturation all at once, and with everybody going country lately, it’s good timing for Kacey to remind the world that she’s been there, done that, and still does it very, very well. And though the lyrics often reflect the theme of solitude, some of Middle of Nowhere‘s biggest standouts are its collaborations. She sings with fellow country-singer-with-a-famous-divorce-album Miranda Lambert on–what else?–“Horses and Divorces,” and right after that song includes a big lyrical nod to Willie Nelson, the legend himself sings on the album’s very next song, “Uncertain, TX.” She also welcomes fast-rising bluegrass star Billy Strings on “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy” and Gregory Alan Isakov on “Coyote.” The guests fit as perfectly within Kacey’s original comfort zone as the lyrical innuendos and the twangy arrangements; given how effective her last few genre explorations have been, Middle of Nowhere feels like an old friend you didn’t realize you missed. [A.S.]

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Lande Hekt – Lucky Now (Tapete)

Former Muncie Girls singer/guitarist Lande Hekt just keeps getting better with each solo album. Her third long-player is loaded with shimmering janglepop indebted to Flying Nun kiwi pop, Heavenly, The Pastels, Dolly Mixture, and other music you could call “twee,” which also matches Lande’s cardigan-clad style on the album’s artwork. That word is generally used as a pejorative, but Lucky Now is the best kind of twee — full of fantastic songs and confident performances that are winsome and thensome. Lande made the album with producer Matthew Simms of MEMORIALS (see elsewhere on this list), who really nails the sound here — keeping her voice, harmonies, and melodies at the center, while the instrumentation remains appropriately sweet but not without muscle and moments of swirling atmosphere. It would be hard to make a bad record with songs like “Favourite Pair of Shoes,” “A Million Broken Hearts,” “My Imaginary Friend,” and the soaring title track. With Lucky Now, Lande is on par with The Beths and Alvvays. [B.P.]

Lee “Scratch” Perry & Mouse on Mars – Spatial No Problem (Domino)

Reggae and dub icon Lee “Scratch” Perry died in 2021 and was prolific till the end. Not unlike Tupac, there have been a lot of posthumous albums claiming to be the “final” one, and who knows which will actually be the last, but this one will be hard to top. Made with experimental German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, the bulk of the record was recorded during a whirlwind four-day session in 2019 involving a dozen musicians. It took a while for MoM’s Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma to complete the album, thanks first to the pandemic and then Perry’s death. Some things just need time to marinate and simmer, and what they’ve created is a delicious concoction with an intoxicating aroma and a complex broth with lots to sink your teeth into. Musically, many of these tracks are built on krautrock rhythms, and then things go global with horns, backing singers, flutes, a variety of synthesizers, and other instrumentation. These songs ride grooves more than they follow traditional pop structures, but St. Werner and Toma keep things engaging with inventive, trippy arrangements that feel like a tribute to Perry while moving things forward. [B.P.]

Pick up ‘Spatial, No Problem’ on yellow vinyl in the BV shop.

Lip Critic- Theft World (Partisan)

Following a hyped breakthrough album as NYC-based industry darlings is never an easy task, and Lip Critic have decided the best path forward is to up the intensity. They also say that Theft World followed a different batch of songs that the band scrapped after vocalist Bret Kaser’s identity was stolen by someone who believed there were hidden codes to a scavenger hunt contained within Lip Critic’s music. Whether or not that story should be taken at face value, it sets a perfectly demonic stage for the cyberpunk thrill ride that is Theft World. They’re still stirring the industrial/punk/hip hop melting pot of Hex Dealer on these songs, and this time they’ve got added bursts of metallic fury that remind me more of Portrayal of Guilt than any of the bands that Lip Critic were compared to in the past (which is already a musically-diverse list that includes Death Grips, Show Me the Body, IDLES, and The B-52s). It’s faster, harsher, and even more urgent–not a bad way at all to keep us on our toes. [A.S.]

Mitski – Nothing’s About to Happen to Me (Dead Oceans)

Mitski’s latest album is a concept album about “a reclusive woman in an unkempt house–outside of her home, she is a deviant; inside of her home, she is free.” Throughout the album, our narrator agonizes over losing her phone, contemplates death, rails against living in a small town, and muses over cats–the two that live with her and the one that comes into her yard. (Possibly the album’s best lyric: “It’s supposed to be my house but I guess, according to cats, now it’s his house.”) This all happens as Mitski makes her way through fuzzed-out indie rock, horn-fueled baroque pop, a little country, and a little circusy chaos. It blurs the lines between whimsical, satirical, and sincere; between realism and surrealism; between the mundane and the profound. There are traits that Nothing’s About to Happen to Me shares with 2023’s excellent The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, but as a whole, this album exists in a world of its own. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Nothing’s About to Happen to Me’ on tansy yellow vinyl in the BV shop.

My New Band Believe – My New Band Believe (Rough Trade)

Many were sad when mathy Londoners black midi broke up two years ago, but I’m enjoying the burning embers more than the original fire. At first, most of the attention focused on Geordie Greep, who burst out of the gate with his impressively wigged-out The New Sound. The band’s other singer/guitarist, Cameron Picton, kept a lower profile but emerged last year with a solo project that has since evolved into My New Band Believe. Picton has gone even further afield than Greep with MNBB, but in a more grounded way. Acoustic guitars are at the center of this pretty, lushly arranged record that at times recalls the string-laden, wildly romantic sophistipop of the ’80s. Songs flow into one another, swooping daringly with the melodrama of a film score, as Picton moves the action from Paris to Seville and then to London for a little English prog. You can’t take all the math out of him after all. Interestingly, the same day as the album, My New Band Believe released a non-LP single, “Numerology,” which was perhaps too singular a pop song to squeeze onto the album.  Picton is moving fast and it’s exciting to think where he’ll land next.[B.P.]

Neurosis – An Undying Love for a Burning World (Neurot)

When Neurosis fired co-founding co-vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly after Kelly admitted to abusing his family, it seemed like the band was done for good. “Scott had crossed a line and there was no way back,” his former bandamtes wrote, and they added that “with the heartbreak and horror we also grieve for the loss of our life’s work and a legacy that was sacred to us.” So it was a massive surprise when Neurosis actually did find a way to return last week with An Undying Love for a Burning World, their first new album in a decade. Scott Kelly remains out of the band, and in his place is perhaps the most perfect replacement possible: Aaron Turner of Isis, SUMAC, and Old Man Gloom. “NeurIsis” has already long been shorthand for the type of sludgy post-metal that Neurosis pioneered and Isis further perfected. Upon the announcement of this new album, Aaron himself said, “From the moment I first heard Neurosis over 30 years ago, I felt this was the music my heart and mind had been seeking but not yet heard.”

The pairing is so perfect that, even with the lineup change, An Undying Love for a Burning World sounds like no other band in the world. Aaron nails the balance of bringing his own flavor while fitting right in with the distinct approach that Steve Von Till, Dave Edwardson, Jason Roeder, and Noah Landis have honed for decades. Everything you want from Neurosis is there–the towering walls of sludge, the celestial soundscapes, the folky dirges, the adventurous song structures, the metal riffs with the punk ethos. The other change is that Undying Love is the first Neurosis album not recorded by Steve Albini since 1996’s Through Silver in Blood, following Albini’s 2024 death, but they teamed up with Kowloon Walled City vocalist (and SUMAC collaborator) Scott Evans, whose gritty, unfussy approach to engineering has clear echoes of Albini’s work. “We need this, perhaps more than ever, and we suspect we are not alone,” Neurosis said upon the album’s release. They’re right; An Undying Love for a Burning World is what the world of heavy music has been missing. [A.S.]

Nine Inch Nails – Nine Inch Noize (Interscope)

Anyone who went to see Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back tour has wanted studio versions of their collaborations with opening act Boys Noize. Performed from the “B-stage,” those purely electronic reworks of Nine Inch Nails songs were highlights of what was already an awesome show. They did too, it turns out. “Careful what you wish for,” joked Trent Reznor about their full-length collaboration, dubbed Nine Inch Noize, at Coachella. There is now a Nine Inch Noize album as well, which features the exact same songs, in the exact same order, as their Coachella set. But this is not a live album. Not exactly, anyway. “We recorded this album all over the place,” says Trent. “Some of it’s live, some in studios, hotels, planes, etc. We had a lot of fun revisiting these songs and hope you enjoy.” The best moments on Nine Inch Noize are the ones that push furthest from the original recordings. “She’s Gone Away” gets a significant overhaul, shifting from brooding haze to a pulsing slow jam. How to Destroy Angels’ “Parasite” goes through an even more extreme makeover, turning the sinister white-noise original into a throbbing techno banger. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” from the TRON: Ares soundtrack, gets a dub treatment, and the killer rework of “Closer” pulls a somewhat buried hook to the forefront, effectively making one of NIN’s most-played songs feel brand new. Much like the album as a whole, which is no mere remix record and stands as a worthy new addition to the Nine Inch Nails catalog.
[B.P.]

Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love (Geffen)

Is Olivia Rodrigo the coolest pop star of her generation? She’s masterfully able to capture the Gen Z/Gen Alpha pop zeitgeist while also appealing to Gen X and older Millennial music nerds, and she’s now honed this across three consecutive albums, each more mature and adventurous than the last. On You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, she’s fully in her ’80s new wave/synthpop/post-punk era, with echoes of Gary Numan (on late album highlight “Expectations” in particular), New Order, and The Cure, as well as an actual duet with The Cure’s Robert Smith on the remarkable “What’s Wrong With Me.” (One song that doesn’t sound like The Cure is the song that’s called “The Cure.” That one sounds like a Smashing Pumpkins ballad.) There’s also some ’90s indie and alt-rock (the Jim-E Stack co-produced “Purple” and the at-times-No-Doubt-esque “My Way”), as well as the Swiftian pop ballads that Olivia has tugged at heartstrings with since her first album. She’s not the only current pop star with a cool record collection, but few to none of her peers fuse the classic alt-rock canon and present-day pop stardom as seamlessly as Olivia and her longtime producer, indie rock veteran Dan Nigro, do. The 23-year-old’s lyrics are wiser and wittier than they’ve ever been, and the arrangements are some of her most complex. It makes for a progression from Sour and Guts that’s as logical as it is unpredictable. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Poison The Well – Peace In Place (SharpTone)

Poison The Well reunited at the start of the 2020s, and they’ve spent a lot of that time revisiting their game-changing 1999 debut album The Opposite of December, an album that helped invent melodic metalcore as we know it, and an album that’s been very influential on a whole new crop of young bands. (Have you heard I Promised the World?) And for how important The Opposite of December is, what’s even more remarkable is that it’s just a small piece of the Poison the Well puzzle. Each of the five albums they released during their initial run were different from the last, and when you look at their catalog as a whole, Poison The Well are just as much of an experimental rock band as they are a metalcore or post-hardcore band. That brings us to their first album in 17 years, Peace In Place, an album that touches on just about everything this band has ever done and then some. At various points throughout this immersive, ever-changing album, it finds them at their catchiest, their heaviest, and their strangest. It might be the only Poison The Well album that shows off everything this band is capable of, and it really positions them as a band that doesn’t fit neatly into any category. The most CD-era thing about it is that it ends with a hidden track (a lost art!)–otherwise, Peace In Place finds this veteran band taking a massive step forward. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Peace in Place’ on solid gold and ultra clear vinyl in the BV shop.

Ratboys – Singin’ to an Empty Chair (New West)

The prevailing narrative surrounding Ratboys’ sixth album in a 15+ year career is that they’re embracing the slow burn, the steady rise, the gradual progression. A recent Pitchfork feature on Singin’ to an Empty Chair by Nina Corcoran is titled “Ratboys Are Playing the Long Game.” In an interview by Steven Hyden for UPROXX, singer/guitarist Julia Steiner embraced comparisons to bands like The National, R.E.M., and Spoon–bands who honed their craft over a long period of time and who all have beloved albums that came as far in their careers as Singin’ to an Empty Chair comes in Ratboys’. And I have a good feeling that Singin’ to an Empty Chair will in fact go down as a widely beloved Ratboys album, because the other prevailing narrative surrounding it–a narrative I very much agree with–is that it’s their best yet.

If you’re a longtime BrooklynVegan reader, you probably won’t find this take very shocking because if you read my reviews of their previous records, you may notice that I’ve found ways to call every new Ratboys album the best Ratboys album yet. But with Singin’ to an Empty Chair, it’s even more “the best Ratboys album yet” than any Ratboys album before it. The stars really aligned for Ratboys on 2023’s The Window; it was their first written collaboratively with their current four-piece lineup, first with the perfectly-matched producer Chris Walla, and it found them perfecting their mix of DIY indie rock and alt-country right around the same time that all eyes were suddenly on indie/country crossover. It gave the band a little extra momentum going into Singin’ to an Empty Chair, which was written and recorded with the same lineup and also produced by Chris Walla (but released on a new record label, New West, after years on Topshelf), and the result is the most natural-sounding Ratboys album yet.

They’ve already released four of its 11 songs as singles, and just about any of the other seven would’ve worked as singles too, including the climactic, eight-and-a-half minute “Just Want You to Know the Truth.” From start to finish, this is Ratboys doing what they do best, and making it sound like second nature. Ratboys’ version of “indie-country” existed before it was a trend, and Singin’ to an Empty Chair finds them sounding as fresh as any band in that realm does right now. It’s one of the best indie rock albums in recent memory, and it feels like the ultimate Ratboys album–no small feat for a band that already has so many contenders. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Singin’ to an Empty Chair’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Robyn – Sexistential (Young)

Robyn’s 2018 album Honey was a more atmospheric and experimental take on her ebullient electro-pop, and over seven years later she’s back with its follow-up. The intervening years held the pandemic, but also her decision to undergo IVF and become a single mother. No longer dancing on her own, Robyn has a young child now, and a reworked version of “Blow My Mind,” originally off 2002’s Don’t Stop the Music, is dedicated to him. “It’s not cute with children,” she says. “They’re cute, but the experience isn’t. It’s very punk.” Just as punk is the title track, which has her rapping about the hormonal rollercoaster of IVF, dating while pregnant, and scrolling Etsy while breastfeeding, all interspersed with the exhortive to push. Elsewhere, she’s delivering dancefloor catharsis of the highest order: “Dopamine” is right up there among her most immediate, irresistible songs, with “Sucker for Love,” “Talk to Me,” and “Light Up” right behind it as standouts. No one else is doing it quite like Robyn, and Sexistential is another bold statement from an artist who so memorably said in the album’s press materials, “I feel like the purpose of my life is to stay horny.” [A.H.]

Pick up ‘Sexistential’ on white vinyl in the BV shop.

Roc Marciano – 656 (Pimpire/Marci Enterprises)

There’s really nobody doing it like Roc Marciano. Even though he helped kickstart the entire boom bap revival that’s thrived for the past decade or so, his music still sounds like it’s in a world of its own, especially when he’s the only one involved. And after recently releasing a handful of albums produced by other people (like DJ Premier and The Alchemist) and producing albums for other rappers (like Knowledge the Pirate and Errol Holden), Roc Marciano returns with the entirely-self-produced 656. He never sounds more haunting than over his own devilish production, with instrumentals that could fit in horror flicks and samples so vintage you can still hear the dust on the vinyl. Roc Marci’s delivery sounds just as noir-ish as his beats, and his voice is (almost) the only one you hear, besides two songs with the aforementioned Errol Holden. It’s a transportive listen for its entire 32 minutes, without a single distraction or an ounce of filler. [A.S.]

The Silver – Looking Glass Hymnal Blue (Gilead Media)

When members of Horrendous and Crypt Sermon formed The Silver for their 2021 debut album Ward of Roses, their goal was “to do something rooted in black metal sounds without being a black metal band.” That very much came through on their uniquely genre-defying debut, and now five years later they’re back with another album, and it goes even further into impossible-to-pin-down territory. There are elements of black metal, prog, post-rock, art rock, and call me crazy but maybe a little emo, but it moves around so much that it’s tough to really call it any of that stuff. It’s a real trip. [A.S.]

Slayyyter – WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA (Columbia)

Listening to the third album by Slayyyter is like finding an old iPod Shuffle from the late 2000s and letting it rip. It echoes the “indie sleaze” of Santigold, Justice, and Peaches as equally as the trash pop of Ke$ha, The Fame-era Lady Gaga, and Blackout-era Britney, and it was only a matter of time before somebody connected those dots as seamlessly as Slayyyter does on this record. It’s a collage of nu-rave synths, punk rage, hip hop swagger, pop excess, and reckless abandon. It’s an album for nasty afterparties and crying at the gas station. If you can’t feel the contact high, you aren’t listening loud enough. [A.S.]

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Sluice – Companion (Mtn Laurel)

Sluice hail from the thriving indie-country epicenter of North Carolina and share members with Fust (whose bandleader Aaron Dowdy sings backup on this album), and Sluice leader Justin Morris shares with MJ Lenderman a knack for wryly observational and referential lyricism. On opening track “Beadie” alone, he references The Wire, Joe Pera, SSRIs, and his own parents’ high school sweethearts origin story, and he pulls it all into a dream-state narrative that makes more sense than it should. On one of the album’s two nine-minute songs (“Unknowing”), Sluice marry J Mascis-worthy distortion, country twang, and vocoder vocals without ever biting off more than they can chew. The phrase “deceptively simple” gets tossed around a little too much in reviews but this album earns it. [A.S.]

Soft Curse – Liminal Ritual (self-released)

Following the sporadically-active screamo/post-hardcore band State Faults releasing one of their best albums yet with 2024’s Children of the Moon, three members of the band (vocalist/guitarist Jonny Andrew, guitarist Michael Weldon, and bassist Jef Overn) and non-State Faults drummer Dan Ford have released the debut album by a new band they formed called Soft Curse. Recorded live with frequent State Faults collaborator Jack Shirley, Liminal Ritual finds Soft Curse toeing the line between stoner doom, prog, classic metal, and melodic emo–if you can picture a cross between Circa Survive and Electric Wizard, you wouldn’t be far off. The band themselves call it “gloom metal.” Whatever you call it, it’s kickass stuff. [A.S.]

Star Moles – Highway to Hell (Historic New Jersey)

“Gone are the albums of knights and dragons,” Emily Moales wrote in the foreword to her breakthrough album as Star Moles, referring to her countless string of previous releases inspired by fantasy and medieval literature. “We’re going to Hel.” The result is Highway to Hell, a more down to earth record that’s personal, witty, and thoughtful in equal measure. It’s a brilliantly-executed folky indie rock record that simultaneously reminds me of late ’60s/early ’70s folk rock, the aughts-era indie folk boom, and the current crop of Americana-obsessed indie rockers. It’s got lines that jump out at you, melodies that stick with you, and the perfect balance between comforting familiarity and exciting newness. [A.S.]

Thomas Dollbaum – Birds of Paradise (Dear Life)

If you’re as excited about the recent boom of countrified indie rock artists as I am, then you don’t wanna miss out on Thomas Dollbaum’s sophomore album Birds of Paradise. The Florida-born, New Orleans-based artist made it with scene-leader MJ Lenderman on drums and backing vocals, and it was actually recorded before Lenderman put out his breakthrough 2024 album Manning Fireworks. Issues with Thomas’ former label caused it to sit on the shelf until Dear Life Records (home of some of Lenderman’s earlier releases) got on board and decided to put it out. Now it’s here, and it does a fantastic job of scratching that lo-fi, DIY, country indie rock itch that Lenderman and his many peers have been responsible for scratching in recent years. Thomas has also been compared to Damien Jurado, who he considers a formative influence. Like a lot of the songwriters he gets compared to, his songs are deceptively unfussy and the scenes he sets are incredibly vivid. [A.S.]

underscores – U (Mom + Pop)

In a post-Brat world, we’re seeing more and more examples of artists using hyperpop to create actual pop, and one of the best examples of that is U by underscores, who just so happens to be touring with Charli XCX later this year. Following two albums of hyperpop chaos, underscores tones down the “hyper” for an album that’s catchier, more streamlined, and still just as adventurous as her first two. It’s an album by an artist who holds PC Music and Justin Timberlake in equal regard. It also makes me think of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion in the way underscores first honed her deeply weird tendencies and then used them to create blissful pop music. It’s one of the year’s catchiest and most innovative albums in any major genre, and it’s no surprise that so many people just can’t seem to stay away from it. [A.S.]

Wendy Eisenberg – Wendy Eisenberg (Joyful Noise)

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Wendy Eisenberg (Editrix, Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, etc) has been busy as a prolific collaborator and improvisor over many years, and their new self-titled album represents a shift in direction, influenced in part by a change of scenery. They began working on it after moving to Brooklyn from Western Massachusetts, finding inspiration in the work of classic songwriters (Michael Hurley, Gillian Welch, John Prine, and Willie Nelson) and “weirdo country interpreters” (Richard Dawson, the Mekons, Joanna Newsom). “The songs are genuinely folk songs,” they say. “The production is less about seeing what the guitar might be capable of and more accepting the inherent strangeness of the languages it has spoken for the last century and a half.” They worked with regular collaborators Trevor Dunn, Ryan Sawyer, and Mari Rubio, saying “I was finally around people who accepted me. Many of the songs on this record were written in that new feeling. I wanted it to be incredibly comforting as it describes some massive changes in self-understanding and self-regard. It’s about relief.” [A.H.]

Worm – Necropalace (Century Media)

The last we heard from Florida metal band Worm was on their 2023 split with Dream Unending, Starpath, a split that’s now going to go down as one of the most pivotal moments of their career. Their half of that split saw Worm branching out from their death-doom roots into a gothy mix of extreme metal and arena rock that sounded kinda like Tribulation, and their new album (and Century Media debut) Necropalace is a full-length exploration of that same terrain. The album has six proper songs (and a short intro track), and each one is a mini epic of its own. None are shorter than seven minutes and the closing track (which features veteran shredder Marty Friedman) is over 14. It’s got prog excursions, black/death metal ferocity, classic heavy metal pomp, horror flick camp, and all kinds of twists and turns that can’t be easily summed up by namedropping subgenres. It’s equal parts catchy, heavy, mind-bending, and even patently ridiculous, and it’s an album that’ll steal your attention whether you’re a metalhead or not. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘Necropalace’ on vinyl in the BV shop.

Zach Bryan – With Heaven On Top (Warner)

Even as Zach Bryan becomes one of country music’s biggest stars, he seems more interested in the indie world than in Top 40 Nashville. He lined up MJ Lenderman, Dijon, and Alabama Shakes as support acts on his upcoming stadium tour (though Lenderman wound up cancelling), and his new album With Heaven On Top sounds as anti-mainstream as we’ve come to expect from Zach. These 25 songs are rooted in a mix of alt-country, Neil Young/Bob Dylan-style folk rock, and Bon Iver-style indie folk, and they all also sound distinctly like Zach Bryan, who at this point has developed a style that you can spot from a mile away. The whole album is somber, bare-bones, and melancholic; these are songs that could silence a room with just a voice and acoustic guitar, and sometimes that’s literally all they have, though Zach’s got some nice strings, horns, harmonica, and other embellishments on there too. If one thing is clear from Zach’s extremely prolific run of very long albums, it’s that this guy really does know his way around a song and he just can’t seem to stop churning them out. [A.S.]

Pick up ‘With Heaven on Top’ on vinyl in the BV shop.
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For more, listen to us talk about the list on the new episode of our BV Weekly podcast.

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