We’re now six months into 2026, and there have been some jams released. Let’s talk music, friends. This is certainly not exhaustive, but just some notes on some records that have really caught my ear so far this year.

Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

If you’ve talked to me at all in the past few months, you knew this was gonna be here, so let’s just get it out of the way up front. I’ve been a fan of Slayyyter since a friend suggested a song off her first proper album, Troubled Paradise, to me. It was an uneven album, but it blended hyperpop and 2000s dance pop in a way I found appealing. Since then, her craft and my fandom have only grown, and it’s great to see what Slayyyter herself has called her last big swing at making it really connect with people. I didn’t think the album could surpass Starfucker for me, and I was gravely mistaken. The album is gorgeous and ugly and tender and abrasive, often within the same song.

If the “brother album” she’s teased comes out this year, I’m going to be absolutely insufferable.

The Saddest Landscape - Alone With Heaven

I’ve been waiting ten-plus years for this album. TSL’s previous full-length, Darkness Forgives, dropped in 2015, and in terms of new music it’s been silence since then. Apparently they’ve been working away at this album for years, including recording some with Steve Albini before his passing. Across sixteen tracks, they deliver their brand of emotional post-hardcore, allowing the songs to explore and wind before explosions of catharsis. An appearance from Julien Baker on the standout “This Invisible Hurt” evokes obvious comparisons to their eternal “Imperfect But Ours” off You Will Not Survive, and both are seminal works.

Every album from this band feels like the last one we’re gonna get, and if they were to call it a day here, it’s a hell of a swan song.

Angel Du$t - COLD 2 THE TOUCH

Listen, Angel Du$t rules. This album is sick, some of the band’s finest work. I had the opportunity to see them play a free show at Baltimore Soundstage earlier this year, and the new songs absolutely rip live. As you’d expect. Justice Tripp makes music that sounds great on record, but absolutely soars when experienced in a room full of energy.

Obviously Baltimore’s beloved Turnstile is getting a lot of attention outside of the city and hardcore, but these fellow TUI alums deserve just as much attention for their unique take on hardcore.

Joyce Manor - I Used to Go to This Bar

On one hand, the old joke is that every Joyce Manor album is the same: a handful of ten to twelve songs, each clocking in at a tight 2-3 minutes. And that’s structurally true, but within those confines, the band has continued to grow and evolve while continuing to make Joyce Manor albums. Find a lane and stick with it, I suppose. The sing-along hooks are huge, especially on opener “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” and the album (and possibly career) highlight “All My Friends Are So Depressed.”

If you’d told me, while I was obsessively spinning their eponymous album 15 years ago, that this band would not only last but thrive for a multi-decade career, I’d have laughed. I’m glad to be wrong.

Coming Soon

Now for some forthcoming records I’m stoked to dig into when the time comes:

• Quicksand - Bring On the Psychics
  Quicksand has never been my favorite Walter Schreifels project (that would be Rival Schools) but the tracks released so far are really doing it for me.

• Jazzy - Peace & Patience
  Jazzy is one of my favorite singers/DJs/producers working in house right now, and I am beyond excited for her debut full-length. Dance music like this doesn’t usually make for great albums, being more of a singles game (Jackie Hollander nearly made the above list for “High on You”) but I’m looking forward to what she (and presumably the Belters Only crew) does with the format.

• Ceremony - Tell Me Your Dream
  Oh hell yes. Ceremony is back, and the two songs we’ve gotten so far have them pulling back into a more rockin’ direction, it seems.

• Hew - Your Version
  I love football, etc., so anything Lindsay Minton does will have my attention.

• Madonna - Confessions II
  Man, I loved the hell out of Confessions on a Dance Floor back in college. Relistening to it now, it’s not a solid as I remember, but the highs are still killer. I think 20 years of Stuart Price has seen him wear out his welcome for me, but despite that, what we’ve heard so far is very promising!

• Carly Rae Jepsen - Day & Night
  I mean come on.

What have you been into? What’s coming down the pike that has you excited about the rest of this year? Get at me!