Dry Cleaning

London post punk band Dry Cleaning are kicking off 2026 with a new album.  Check out the strange and trippy "Hit My Head All Day" below and pre-order the "Secret Love" LP here from 4AD.

U.S. Girls

Maybe it's just me, but i swear that Meg Remy's U.S. Girls project almost sounds like a completely different band with every new album.  That trend continues with the upcoming "Scratch It" LP.  First single "Bookends" is a sprawling, at times almost sultry mix of soul, pop, rock, and psychedelia that's as good of a jump on point as any other track the artist has ever released.  It has a little bit of everything.  Dig on it below and pre-order the record here from 4AD.

Maria Somerville

This morning, Irish artist Maria Somerville announced her upcoming new album "Luster," much to the delight of yours truly.  I'm a big fan of the hushed drone and folk of 2019's "All My People," and the added dreamy synth atmospherics preset on new tune "Garden" hit just right.  Check the track out below and pre-order the LP here from 4AD.

Maria Somerville

It's been over five years since Irish artist Maria Somerville released her excellent "All My People" LP, and i'd say a whole lot has happened since then.  But now she's back with new, floaty track "Projections."  Here's hoping a new album is imminent.  Check the track out below and download it here from 4AD (as appropriate a landing spot for this artist as i could think of).

cumgirl8

One of the gnarlier named bands i caught last week was the noisy New York punk band cumgirl8.  They brought a real fuck you attitude to their set that i loved.  Check out their latest single, "Glasshour" below and download it here from 4AD.

U.S. Girls

Next month we see the release of the latest album from U.S. Girls.  "Bless This Mess" was written and recorded while Meg Remy was pregnant with and then became mother to twins.  There's an alt-rock meets R&B kind of thing going on, and it's pretty groovy.  Check out "Futures Bet" below and pre-order the record here from 4AD.

Jenny Hval

Experimental artist Jenny Hval has released a string of interesting music over the last few years, both as a solo artist and earlier this year as part of the duo Lost Girls.  And now she's got a new single and has signed to new label 4AD.  Check out "Jupiter" below, a track that starts as a gentle, R&B influenced pop song and ends in cosmic drone.

Bing & Ruth

New York's experimental ambient ensemble Bing & Ruth recorded their latest album "Species" out in the dust and desert of West Texas.  The atmosphere lends itself handily to the artist's minimalist sounds.  To me, i can see the rolling white dunes of the Monahans sand hills listening to the soothing Farfisa organ on "I Had No Dream."  Blue skies that go on forever, light touching everything.  Listen below and grab the new LP here from 4AD.

Becky and The Birds

The best i can describe "Do U Miss Me" from Becky and The Birds, is kinda warped, lo-fi, R&B pop.  Whatever you want to call it, it's got a way of burrowing into your brain and hanging out there for a while.  Listen below and get the single here from 4AD.

U.S. Girls

Good news everyone!  It looks like March will bring us a new album from U.S. Girls.  The band seems to been continuing their exploration of soul and disco on the new record, and this time around are joined by E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons.  Nice.  Anyway, pre-order "Heavy Light" here via 4AD and watch the video for "Overtime" below.

Grimes - So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth

Finally getting around to listening to the latest track from Grimes, the floating and ethereal "So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth."  Yep.  Sounds like Grimes.  The upcoming "Miss Anthropocene" LP is out in February on 4AD.  Listen to the new single below.

Holly Herndon

Berlin's Holly Herndon just released a new album of weird, frenetic, electro-pop to rattle your brains to.  Listen to "Eternal" below and grab the new "PROTO" LP here via 4AD.

Aldous Harding

New Zealand folk singer/songwriter Aldous Harding has one of those strange and almost mystical voices that makes her sound both otherworldly and entrancing.  It's a haunting but soothing coo that feels of the earth and far away.  New album "Designer" is out in April on 4AD.  Pre-order it here and watch the video for "The Barrel" below.

Beirut

Way back in the mid-aughts, a goddamn lifetime ago, i was really taken with the horn-infused indie folk rock of New Mexico artist Zach Condon and his project Beirut.  Those early records had an Eastern European beer hall vibe that just worked for me, a sound both melancholy and celebrative, and wholly endearing.  A decade plus and a few releases later, i kind of moved on to different sounds and niches, but the band's latest, "Gallipoli," brings back those horns, and i am here for it all day long.  Listen below, and get the album of the same name here from 4AD.

Deerhunter

Somehow i missed that there's a new Deerhunter record headed our way next month.  Not sure how that flew over my head as the band has been one of the most consistent indie rock bands for over a decade.  Anyway, new album "Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?" drops on January 18th from 4AD.  Pre-order it here and watch the video for the psych-tinged "Death in Midsummer" below.

Grimes - We Appreciate Power

While she has certainly been doing her best to turn me away from her particular brand of pop music this year (i'm sorry, but hanging around Elon Musk and defending his hubris and bullshit, much less dating that gremlin makes you a dipshit), "We Appreciate Power," the latest jam from Grimes is an absolute banger.  Featuring an assist from pop artist HANA, the song takes Grimes's usual quirky, freaky pop music and pairs it with some industrial oomph.  Watch the video below and be on the lookout for a new album sometime in the near-ish future.

Gang Gang Dance

It's been seven years since we last heard from Gang Gang Dance, their "Eye Contact" LP being one of my favorite records of 2011.  Well, a lot of shit has happened since then, but judging by "Lotus," the airy, new wavey first single from upcoming album "Kazuashita," they haven't lost a step.  Listen to the song below snag the record in June on 4AD.

U.S. Girls - Velvet 4 Sale

U.S. Girls' "Mad As Hell" is easily one of my favorite songs of 2017, a grooving, disco jam, and as i suspected, a new album is on the horizon.  "A Poem Unlimited" is due in February on 4AD, but you should totally watch the video for album opener "Velvet 4 Sale" below.  It's a slinkier affair, with some 70's detective show horn accompaniment, and all about abuse.  My feeling is that from this cultural sea change moment we currently have in progress surrounding the inevitable outing of sexual harassers and abusers, we are going to hear a lot of important music coming out from women artists.  Listen to them.  Pay attention.

U.S. Girls - Mad As Hell

No word yet on a new album, but we've got an excellent new single from pop deconstructionist U.S. Girls with the disco-flavored "Mad As Hell."  Watch the superb video below.

The Lemon Twigs - Night Song

It looks like glammy rock duo The Lemon Twigs are back with some new music later this year.  Listen to "Night Song" below and be on the lookout for the "Brothers of Destruction" EP in October on 4AD.