13 Great New Albums Flying Under the Radar
A baker’s dozen of curated record-mendations across genres worth your attention.
We’re 10 weeks into 2026 and it’s already been a strong year for new music. A few killer albums have made their way into this newsletter already, like Ratboys and Shaking Hand, while bigger names like Gorillaz and Mitski have also delivered. We even got a new Heavenly record after an unreal 30-year gap between releases.
For the full picture, I rank every new release on my Album of the Year Leaderboard (Spotify | Apple Music), where I keep a running list of the best albums of 2026 as they arrive.
One record you won’t find on there, because it isn’t streaming, is Sturgill Simpson’s new album Mutiny After Midnight, released under his Johnny Blue Skies name. It’s available in physical form only and very much worth a blind buy.
So with the headliners covered, it’s time to dig into the albums you may have missed. Below are 12 must-hear releases from 2026 across a range of genres, plus one bonus pick from late last year that slipped past me the first time around.
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13 Great New Albums Flying Under the Radar
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music
I pulled my favorite track from each album to build this playlist. It makes for a damn fine hour of music if you ask me.
Fabiano do Nascimento & Vittor Santos e Orquestra - Vila
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: Samba Jazz
We begin in a quiet courtyard in Rio de Janeiro’s Catete neighborhood, where a young Fabiano do Nascimento first fell in love with the nylon string guitar. That setting inspired the transfixing Vila, a collaboration with trombonist and arranger Vittor Santos, who leads a sixteen-piece orchestra across these lush samba jazz compositions. Now well established in the Los Angeles jazz scene and releasing music at a remarkable pace (12 albums this decade!), Nascimento reaches a new peak here. Vila is a springtime record that glows with warmth.
Ovven - Gnawing At The Cord
Get Vinyl: Blue
Genre: Alt-Country
Alex Farrar is on one of those runs where his name in the credits is enough to press play, and the Asheville producer delivers again on Gnawing at the Cord, the debut from Nashville-by-way-of-Chicago songwriter Owen Burton, who records as Ovven (pronounced “oven”). Produced, mixed, and engineered by Farrar, the record leans into the countrygaze lane he’s helped shape with artists like Wednesday and Fust, pairing Burton’s wry songwriting with slide guitars and fuzzy shoegaze textures. It’s a confident debut that expands the sound Farrar’s circle has been refining for the last few years.
Telenova - The Warning
Get Vinyl: Red and Black Marble | Black
Genre: Indie Pop
Telenova’s second full-length The Warning is what I wanted last year’s The Clearing from Wolf Alice to sound like, a dreamy synth-pop record that actually sticks the landing. The Australian trio dip further into that bag here, with Angeline Armstrong’s voice a perfect match with the ethereal melodies.
The album is shaped by a difficult period, as bandmate Josh Moriarty relapsed after nearly a decade of sobriety and spiraled in a way that began pulling everyone down with him, an experience that sits at the core of the lyrics and gives the whole record higher stakes. The result is extremely replayable and has already worked its way into my top five of the year so far.
Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Get Vinyl: Deep Ocean Blue
Genre: Trip Hop
Puma Blue, the alias of South London’s Jacob Allen, takes his biggest swing yet on Croak Dream, a smoky, late-night record that combines dark, gothic R&B with trip hop. Think Jeff Buckley’s falsetto over Portishead beats. For me, this was a grower. After each spin, I bumped it higher on my leaderboard, discovering more catchy hooks each time until it revealed itself as a true no-skips record.
Blackwater Holylight - Not Here Not Gone
Get Vinyl: Red | Clear
Genre: Doomgaze
Let’s keep the spooky vibes going, though it’s not nearly as terrifying as the bloodbath on the cover might suggest. Portland trio Blackwater Holylight return with Not Here Not Gone, a blender of heavy psych, shoegaze haze, and thick stoner rock riffs. Sunny Faris’ sultry vocals gives the record a nice push / pull between menace and melody. As drummer Eliese Dorsay describes it, “some songs we’re the predator, and some songs we’re the prey.” The first half leans into the band’s doomgaze side with darker, heavier grooves, before the back half loosens up into something dreamier and more expansive.
Abronia - Shapes Unravel
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: Desert Psychedelia
We stay in Portland to hear Shapes Unravel by Abronia, a six-piece band that feels excessive on paper with two guitars, pedal steel, tenor sax, bass, and a massive drum that sounds like it could knock over a wall, but it all comes together into this psych-heavy swirl.
The pedal steel snakes through thick guitars and slow-building rhythms that feel closer to a film score than a traditional rock record. It reminds me of the 70s band Babe Ruth, that same kind of muscular, mystical rock.
Angel Du$t - Cold 2 The Touch
Get Vinyl: Red
Genre: Melodic Hardcore
Baltimore’s punk lineage runs deep, and Justice Tripp has been at the center of it for the past two decades. The Trapped Under Ice frontman formed Angel Du$t back in 2013 with friends from the Turnstile orbit, and while the lineup has shifted plenty since then, Tripp remains the constant. On sixth album COLD 2 THE TOUCH, he swings back toward hardcore after a few poppier detours, packing 26 minutes with a mix of punk, beatdown, indie, and grunge. It’s a quick, punchy listen that’s never boring.
.idk. - e.t.d.s A Mixtape by .idk
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop
The best hip-hop album I’ve heard this year comes courtesy of James Aaron Mills, aka .idk., with e.t.d.s. A Mixtape. The first thing you’ll notice here is the insane guest list that includes No I.D., Black Thought, KAYTRANADA, Madlib, RZA, Pusha T, MF DOOM, and DMX on the first posthumous feature approved by his estate. .idk. holds his own with the heavy hitters over production that balances dusty beats with bouncy instrumentals.
Some context to appreciate the record more: Mills was sentenced to 15 years at 17 for armed robbery and served three, teaching himself how to rap while inside. The shadow of that “what if” timeline, still behind bars until 2025, hangs over the whole project.
YĪN YĪN - Yatta!
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia
Dutch quartet YĪN YĪN returns with their fourth album Yatta!, doubling down on their tasty blend of disco, funk, surf, and psychedelia. Think Khruangbin on steroids; it’s equal parts danceable and hypnotic, the kind of record that works whether you’re moving or zoning out. There may not be a funkier album all year.
Momoko Gill - Momoko
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: Vocal Jazz
Momoko Gill steps out on her own with Momoko, a debut that pulls from her jazz, electronic, and singer-songwriter instincts. Momoko is a musician’s musician who’s been on the London scene for awhile. You can tell she’s a drummer first, the grooves lead everything, and her layered vocals kind of float in and out like she’s building the song in real time. The standout is “When Palestine Is Free,” which pulls in a 50-person choir and brass section that turns the whole thing into this massive, communal moment. Certainly one of the best debuts of the year and here’s hoping she’s around for a long while.
Alice Costelloe - Move On With the Year
Get Vinyl: Black
Genre: Indie Rock
If there’s a tearjerker on this list, it’s Alice Costelloe’s Move On With the Year. The former Big Deal songwriter trades fuzzy rock for more fragile affair, built on delicate piano, airy synths, and a dreamlike haze a la Beach House. The songs deal with trauma, reflection, and the slow work of moving forward. It lands somewhere in that Angel Olsen and Julia Holter lane, emotionally raw but light enough to not push you away.
Caterina Barbieri & Bendik Giske - At Source
Get Vinyl: Silver | Black
Genre: Ambient
Caterina Barbieri and Bendik Giske’s At Source is what happens when a modular synth and a saxophone speak the same language. The Italian electronic composer and Norwegian saxophonist lock into four long extended pieces where twinkling, swirling synth patterns meet Giske’s skronky but controlled playing. It’s technically an EP, but at over 30 minutes and this complete, I’m adding it to the AotY leaderboard, my newsletter, my rules.
Blood Cultures - Skate Story: Vol. 1 (2025)
Get Vinyl: Red
Genre: Synth-pop
Let’s end with a late 2025 release I completely missed. Blood Cultures is an anonymous band, black hoods, masks, the whole thing, and their fourth album doubles as the soundtrack to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 game Skate Story.
From what I can tell, Skate Story is about a crystalline demon who’s given a skateboard by the Devil, and if they skate to the moon and swallow it, they earn their freedom. This is demon-doing-ollies music, baby! 📢 📢 📢
I threw this on during a run and tracks like “Emptylands” and “Unarchiver” had me levitating. Just great vibes front to back, and now I’m excited to dig into their back catalog.
Hey friends, thanks for tuning in! I’d love to hear what you’re currently spinning; drop your favs in the comments or reply to this email.
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Until next time,
Jared
Yatta! has been one of the albums that has surprised me the most this year. I think "the kind of record that works whether you’re moving or zoning out" is a perfect statement about it. I had it on while I was painting a bedroom last weekend, and it was perfect.
Hey Jared, probably being a bozo as can’t see it, how can I send you something for yer ears/ consideration on yer Substack?