... is my personal favorite female black metal vocalist! And I love this video! My total dream girl! lol. I think she recently put out a new album too!
Yup! Just dropped last week! Here's the album premiere...
What August 21, 2026 releases will YOU lie about to all your friends and acquaintances to get them to spend money they don't have on things they don't need or want?
This is one of "those" weeks, at least for me — there's a lot of alt/rock/pop releases, but few (if any) of the artists involved are "household names," nor would I personally get excited about any of them under normal circumstances. So I'm not going to name a "pick of the week" this time around, simply because I can't recommend any one of these albums over all the others. I'm not saying they're all bad, just that there isn't one really, really good one.
To start with, there's Weezer's new "Gold Album," which is being called a "return to form" and even a throwback to "vintage Weezer," whatever that means. (I did like some of their earlier stuff.) Based on what I've heard I'd have to agree, so that's good. There's also the new LP by The Afghan Whigs called Soft Control; I've never been a big fan of theirs, but I've never really disliked them either, and this album sounds pretty much the same as they've always sounded, so... not bad? There's also a new album from the Mystery Jets called A Hole To See the Sky Through. It's their tenth LP, and it continues their career-long progression from a fairly unsophisticated 2000s indie-rock band to an anthem-heavy, Muse-like Britrock/stadium-rock act that continues to be relegated to 1,500-seat venues rather than stadiums. (I've always liked them too, just not enough to actually buy their records.)
Meanwhile, Natalie Merchant has a new album of children's music, in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Children's Theatre, called Cabinet of Wonder. I'll admit it's not quite as good as Tigerlily, but if I were a five-year-old, I'd probably pick this over most of her other stuff. Elsewhere in crossover-land, actor Anthony Hopkins is releasing a new album of orchestral works called Life is a Dream, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Philharmonia Orchestra. It's his first album since 2012's Composer, and some of you will recall that 2012 was also the year his movie Hitchcock came out, except that was about Alfred Hitchcock, not Robyn Hitchcock, so of course nobody went to see it.
On top of all that, there's a new B-Sides 'n' Rarities compilations from Toyah "Mrs. Fripp" Willcox called Revelations. I liked the first two or three Toyah albums from back in the early 80s (The Blue Meaning was a big favorite), but how many Toyah collectors are out there really? Unless you can get at least a few thousand people to kick themselves in the butt because they bought all the singles and obscure V/A compilations when they first came out, only to have them now be rendered obsolete, I just don't see the point.
Now, as for the stuff I might actually want to hear...
Chelsea Wolfe, The Dark
This is probably the best album being released this week, but it's not one of her more interesting, "out-there" efforts. It's almost more folk than folk-rock, and I don't believe there's any black metal involved at all (though I haven't heard the whole thing yet). Still, she usually makes good records, and by all accounts this is one of them. The only problem here, again based on what I've heard so far, is that it sounds too much like a Marissa Nadler album — and since she isn't as good a singer as Marissa Nadler (very few people are), it's probably not the direction she should have taken. But who knows, it'll probably win a Grammy or whatever and I'll look like an idiot, not that I don't now.
Julia Holter, Materia
In case you're not familiar with her previous material, Julia Holter's music is airy, ethereal, dreamy, and subtle to the point of sometimes being insubstantial, like a beautiful cloud that looks like it might bring rain but then disappears over the horizon, never to be seen again (and yes, I came up with that analogy myself!). The only real problem I have with her is that she sometimes recycles old ideas, and rarely (if ever) ventures out of her safe-zone to do anything discordant, weird, or energetic. This album is as airy, ethereal and dreamy as anything she's ever recorded, maybe more so, so her fans should like it even if I'm less than stunned by it. It's pretty much in keeping with everything else that's coming out this week, at least from my perspective.
Stefano Guzzetti, In a Strange Place
I've been making silly remarks about this guy on this thread for a while now, but he actually is one of Italy's finest film composers. Most of his albums (there are over 20 now, if you include the soundtracks) have just been him on piano and synths, along with a string quartet and occasional orchestra, but recently he's taken an interest in pop music and collaborating with shoegaze bands and 4AD people. YAY! Last year's album with Lilies on Mars, Shine, clearly demonstrated that he's no one-trick pony, and this album of covers shows that he has pretty good taste in pop music too, plus he's got collaborators like Emma Anderson (Lush), Ian Masters (Pale Saints), Paula Frazer (Tarnation), and Dominic Appleton (Breathless; Appleton also sang on two of the three This Mortal Coil albums). So yes, I'm looking forward to hearing this, but no, I don't expect it to be as good as last year's Emma Anderson solo LP.
Squirrel Flower, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going
Ella "Squirrel Flower" Williams is an almost-folk-rock guitar-pop singer who's originally from Boston, but is now based in Chicago. This is her 6th studio album, she likes to use distortion pedals, and she has a beautiful voice with just the right combination of "lilting" and "timeworn." What's not to like? At first I assumed she chose the name "Squirrel Flower" because when you look up "Squirrel Power," you get a bunch of articles about how squirrels are the leading cause of electrical outages. But apparently I was completely wrong about this.
Hey, Nothing, Hound
This is a fairly conventional-sounding male/female indie folk-rock duo from Duluth, Georgia whose two members are named Tyler and Harlow (though they might now be a quartet, actually). As many of you know, Duluth is close enough to Athens to be... a problem. Tyler and Harlow both sing lead vocals, and while I naturally prefer Harlow to Tyler because Harlow is a female singer and Tyler isn't, they both seem quite talented. As for what they look like, well... let's just say "atypical" and leave it at that, please.
Black Marble, Life in Small Spaces
When bands operate in the synthpop genre these days, there's a tendency to add terms like "retro" and "80s new wave" to their descriptions. (Even when they're based in Brooklyn.) Sometimes this is fair and well-deserved, but in this case, I don't think so — yes, the sounds are mostly analog synths and older drum machines, and I don't like the singer's voice (I also don't hate it, it just lacks depth and style is all). But it still strikes me as fairly contemporary despite all that, and unlike previous Black Marble releases, there are guitars involved. So this gets a thumbs-up, even if I can't give it more than a 70 or so on the 1-100 scale.
Grandmas House, Baby You're a Winner
Here's the debut album from a four-piece girlpunk band from Bristol. Lead singer Yasmin Berndt sounds just like Courtney Love after smoking ten packs of cigarettes, so... how can that be bad? It can't! The songs are mostly just okay, though. It's the kind of record I want to like more than I ultimately will.
Lambchop, Punching the Clown
You've all heard of Lambchop, an alt-country/folk/blues-rock act from Nashville formed around bandleader/singer/songwriter Kurt Wagner. This is the 17th album from them, and from what I gather it's not particularly upbeat. Also, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon is involved this time around, along with possibly the rest of Bon Iver, though it's not clear to what extent. (They probably just made sandwiches.)
Grace Potter, Trespasser
You might know her better as the lead singer of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. (Apparently she's no relation to Harry Potter, the children's book character.) It's good blues-rock, and perhaps some of the finest blues-rock being produced today! Not that I would know.
Keb' Mo', The Breakdown
Now, this is actual blues from an actual bluesman, so blues fans should take note. The thing I've always liked about Keb' Mo' is that he's always played real Southern-style Delta blues with mostly-traditional instrumentation, but without limiting himself to "traditional" songwriting approaches or archaic, minimalistic production and recording techniques. That's why he's completely changed everything up for this album, writing and recording simple tunes with just his solo voice and an acoustic guitar — because he knew I liked the earlier stuff.
Brandon Flowers, Thrasher
I'd been studiously ignoring The Killers my entire life for being (I mistakenly thought) just another conventional alt-rock/indie rock band. All this time, with me thinking that! This is basically a Bruce Springsteen pastiche, dressed up as a country LP — are all their albums like this? (And by extension, Flowers' too, since I think he's the lead singer.) Apparently some reviewers seem to think so. Mind you, it's not a bad "country-inflected" Springsteen pastiche. I wouldn't want to be completely dismissive or anything.
Sondre Lerche, Acrobats
Norwegian indie-pop singer Lerche is a big star in Scandinavia, and he's always been a very good songwriter, with a voice reminiscent of Al Stewart's and a style that's just quirky and clever enough that people don't think he actually is Al Stewart. In the past, he's occasionally tried working in genres other than straight-up pop music, including jazz and hard-ish rock. But on this, his 11th studio album, he's not really doing that.
The Tremolo Beer Gut, Ask Not What The Tremolo Beer Gut Can Do for You
Here's a mostly-instrumental surf-rock band from Copenhagen, because why not? You can surf in Denmark. I'm not even kidding. I mean, sure, we're not talking big tubes or anything, but it's better than Lake Michigan.
The Lazy Eyes, Cheesy Love Songs
No false advertising here — these are in fact cheesy love songs by a rather cheesy band, bordering on tweepop, with one of those nasal-voiced tenor singers who are perfect for this kind of music. The songs are catchy enough, but I'll probably want to listen to this in sections of just two or three songs at a time (and with frequent breaks), so that I don't get too much of a "sugar high."
Moon Attendant, Dum Evol
Big Potato Records is one of my favorite record labels, but this album, which I would have to describe as "light psychedelic pop with sub-par vocals," probably isn't going to rocket to the top of the "Big Potato List."
For good or ill, next week looks a lot like this week. There are new albums from Interpol, Sara Bareilles, Dinosaur Jr., and the Linda Lindas, plus a live album from Pulp, a posthumous LP from Prince, and even a posthumous live album from Bob Marley & the Wailers, but nothing that's going to make me want to drop everything and stop blathering on like I'm doing right now.
Last edited by MadhattanJack on 08/23/2026 02:02; edited 2 times in total
Afghan Whigs! I flat-out worshiped them in the '90s and always wanted to just be even half as cool as Greg Dulli but tbh haven't listened to their stuff in ages. It just hasn't been as good. That's definitely what I'll throw on first. I'll let u know how it compares to their 90s stuff.
And then definitely Julia Holter, maybe?
And based on your write-up, and being a Boston-to-Chicago transplant myself, I'll have to check out squirrel flower. Have u ever heard of the Squirrel Girl comic-book character? My oldest daughter loved the squirrel girl comic book run during the 2010s. Really funny stuff.
Last week I mostly listened to that Phoebe Bridgers album. Still a formless entity in my head as far as thoughts go.
And based on your write-up, and being a Boston-to-Chicago transplant myself, I'll have to check out squirrel flower. Have u ever heard of the Squirrel Girl comic-book character? My oldest daughter loved the squirrel girl comic book run during the 2010s. Really funny stuff.
That's a Marvel character, isn't it? I guess I've heard of her, but generally speaking I'm not big on superhero comics/movies — nor am I especially "squirrel-friendly," if you know what I mean.
(I myself do not know what I mean. Lots of them seem to live in my backyard, though.)
As for the Squirrel Flower LP though, I'm OK sticking with my original "almost-folk-rock guitar-pop" tagging attempt... but having heard the whole album now, the "almost" is probably unnecessary. (Also, the word "pop" may not be appropriate either.) The second half of the LP is very melancholy, maybe even genuinely sad if you read along with the lyrics. So TBH this actually sounds more like a Marissa Nadler LP too, just a little poppier (which isn't saying much), and not as heavily-produced or melodramatic-sounding as, say, Weyes Blood, or earlier Chelsea Wolfe for that matter... though I guess it's in the same ballpark tonality-wise. Definitely a "rainy day" album, substantially more so than her previous material. I can still recommend it, but I'm concerned I might have given folks the impression that the album is happier and more fun than it is.
What August 28, 2026 Releases are YOU? What exactly are YOU? Is YOU the True YOU?Or merely an artificial construct created by the "Big Tech" oligarchs to replace you as part of their evil plot to seize total control of the world?(I mean, that's what I am, so...)
So... first off, I should apologize for last week's failure to include the new/not-new album by The Cramps,Gravest Gravy. I incorrectly assumed this was just another collection of early demos that had already been widely bootlegged, since these were the same Alex Chilton studio sessions that produced Gravest Hits. But... many of these tracks haven't been widely bootlegged, and maybe not bootlegged at all. When the tapes were shelved back in 1977, people thought The Cramps were just another weird punk-adjacent novelty act and simply had no idea as to how great they were. The important thing here, though, is the way they were shelved — we're not sure if they used plastic, metal, or wood shelving, or what other items were kept next to the tapes in question (thankfully, nothing magnetic), but whatever they did, it kept people from making low-generation copies, or maybe just any copies, period, for 49 years. Still, these tracks are very raw-sounding, and it's obvious why they chose "Human Fly" as the first single, but if you're like me and got into them early on then you probably need this album.
This week turns out to be a "sentimental journey" of sorts, as I didn't really see a lot of new stuff from my favorite sort of pop/rock artists, whereas there's an unusual amount of not-necessarily-new stuff from older, not-so-faveworthy artists. (An unusual amount of new metal stuff this week too, but I can only do so much, as you know.)
If we go sort-of chronologically here, we've got a new LP from Engelbert Humperdinck, Faithfully, consisting mostly of covers of adult-contemporary and classic/soft rock tunes — it's about what you'd expect, but unfortunately he'll be competing with William Shatner for the "trying-to-be-cool old guy" demographic and he's going to get crushed. Still, Humperdinck is better-preserved than Shatner; he's 90 now, but doesn't look a day over 75. (Is it all plastic surgery, or do they have drugs now that they're not telling us about?) Then there's Gerry Beckley, the lead singer of 70s mellow-rockers America, with an album of new/original stuff called Merciful. His voice hasn't changed a bit, so he probably could have released it as an America album and gotten away with it, but considering who's in power these days, I guess people would have been too embarrassed to buy it...? Also, pop/Americana/folk-rock stalwarts the Jayhawks are back with a new LP called Sanctuary Park, produced by Bob Ezrin, who also produced their Smile LP back in 2000. (You probably thought they'd all retired, right? That's the gerontocracy for you. They will never fucking let go...) It's more of the same from them, but that's not necessarily bad unless you were chained up for nearly two years in one of those underground sex dungeons where they play Jayhawks albums non-stop for 24 hours a day to make you "compliant." (Why do they do that in those places, anyway? I've never understood the whole sex-dungeon "mindset.")
And speaking of sex dungeons, there's also a new John Vanderslice album called Focus — he's been getting more into electronic stuff lately (among other things), but most of that stuff has been instrumentals-only. On this album, the guitars are back, and now he's singing again too, apparently because his wife Maria is writing the lyrics for him. Good for her! Meanwhile, highly-talented (but not very exciting) folk/pop/soul singer Sara Bareilles (who writes her own lyrics) has a new album called Good Grief, which is of course lovely, and Train is back with another LP called Mad Dog in the Fog. As with all Train albums, I'll be going well out of my way to avoid listening to it.
The Estate of Prince, aka the "Prince Vault," is releasing an album called Timeless, which is either the second or third posthumous Prince album (depending on how you count them), and the first to be released under the Vault's new "management team." Seven of the tracks are previously unreleased. They're saying there would have been more of these albums by now if it hadn't been for the Netflix deal made by the previous management team, which gave Netflix exclusive access to, and evidently veto power over the release of, the "hundreds" (or "thousands" depending on who you ask) of Prince tracks in the Prince Vault while they made a hard-hitting docuseries about Prince that was later shelved because it was... hard-hitting. Again, no word on whether they used plastic, metal, or wood shelving for that one, but in any event, you're probably better off checking out the new album by Erykah Badu & The Alchemist instead, entitled Before The World Blows, simply because Erykah Badu is involved. (There's also a new "half-posthumous" album called Dillagence II from still-living Busta Rhymes and the late J Dilla, but Erykah isn't on that one either.)
That leaves just a handful of albums of new, original material by artists in my so-called "wheelhouse," and though I'm tempted to say this is another week in which there's nothing I can genuinely recommend, I guess that would be "jerkwad behavior" on my part. So instead I'm going to recommend two albums.
Interpol, This Mirror Weighs A Ton
It's not their best album ever, but I'd say it's a lot better than 2022's tedious The Other Side Of Make-Believe, and at least as good as 2018's Marauder, which I'd say is probably the best of their post-2007 stuff so far. (Turn On the Bright Lights, their debut LP, remains in the BEA Top 100 so I assume most of you reading this are familiar with their discography.) Needless to say, they're probably never going to be consistently harsh, edgy, urgent and "angular" again like they were 25 years ago, but they still write pretty good songs and Paul Banks still sounds like Paul Banks, which is to say he still sounds like a hybrid of Joy Division's Ian Curtis and Kitchens of Distinction's Patrick Fitzgerald. So hey, why not check it out. What's the worst that could happen? (Don't answer that.)
Sunstinger, Spare Me the Rapture
This is the only legitimate shoegaze album (i.e., not just somethingelsegaze, like pants or suspenders) being released tomorrow that I've seen, though I could have easily have missed one, or possibly two. These guys are from Scotland, and they've got the classic sound pretty much down, though they do more LOUDquietLOUD stuff than the OG shoegazers used to do back in the 90s. There's also some question as to whether this is their first or second LP, since they expanded their 2021 EP Beyond the Frame from four tracks to eight in 2024 for what they called the "US Edition." (There's also a 5-track EP from 2024 called Worthless). Actually, this album has only 6 tracks, so maybe they just prefer not to "go on," like I'm doing right now. Anyway, good record, best new thing I've heard in at least a month, but only if you like shoegazers.
Dinosaur Jr., There Near
This album, on the other hand, sounds a lot like the "old" Dinosaur Jr., except that they never actually stopped sounding like the old, loose, lo-fi, sometimes-fun Dinosaur Jr. — whenever they wanted to make records that didn't sound like Dinosaur Jr., they went off and made solo albums or got together with other people to make them. So despite being together for over 40 years now, they still sound pretty much the same, which in their case is probably a good thing.
The Linda Lindas, Gotta Get Out(Amazon link)
One of my favorite all-women punk bands ever, but... are they pop-punk now? Not entirely, but they do have Paramore's Hayley Williams guesting on a track, so they could be moving in that direction. I guess I wouldn't blame them, really.
Ty Segall, Chrome
This guy's albums tend to sound pretty much the same to me, but I like this one more than usual for some reason. It's fairly upbeat and fun-sounding this time — again, more so than usual — but still has plenty of fuzz to go around. It sounds a bit like the Dinosaur Jr. album, actually.
Starter Car, Afterlife
This 70s-influenced indie rock band from London (by way of Glasgow) just barely makes the list because they write catchy guitar-pop tunes. It's their debut LP, their sound isn't particularly grab-worthy (there's too much alt-country going on for me to really like them), and their singer isn't particularly distinctive, but they should appeal to a fair number of people as long as they don't get involved in some sort of nefarious sex-abuse scandal or come out publicly supporting Nigel Farage.
And just to wrap up a few loose ends...
Don't Be Fooled Again Dept.: There are two new-looking albums by A Certain Ratio this week, Force Majeure and The Joy of Sextet, which are in fact "reimaginings" of their 80s albums Force and Sextet. I wouldn't say they're deliberately trying to pass these off as "new original material," but it's ACR, so how would we even know? They were probably the least interesting of all the Factory Records bands during the Manchester post-punk era — there, I said it — so none of us are likely to remember anything of theirs from 40 years ago. (I certainly don't.)
Masked Band Dept.: Not much this week except for Nephila, from Sweden, whose new album Huldra is a lot like what ABBA would have sounded like if they'd ever taken the trouble to buy a distortion pedal. They also look a lot like what ABBA would have looked like if Benny & Bjorn had worn masks the whole time, which is to say "even more weird and sexist." Not recommended!
Live LPs and Comps of Note:Pulp has a live album, helpfully entitled Live!, which was recorded at the O2 in London last year, and since that's a big cavernous venue it doesn't sound all that clean/clear, but it's not bad. Bob Marley & The Wailers also have one called Roots, Rock, Reggae: Live At The Hammersmith Odeon, so that one should sound a little nicer if only because of where it was recorded. Meanwhile, Velocity Girl is releasing a "retrospective" compilation of everything they released prior to signing with Sub Pop, simply entitled 1989-1992. (It's only 12 tracks.) Crimson/Bowie guitarist and solo artist Adrian Belew is supposedly releasing a box set of his stuff from that exact same period on the exact same day, by the way. Coincidence? I don't think so!
Next week (Sept. 4): Another one of "my type of" bands, Soft Science, has a new album called Sand coming out, and there's also new stuff from Arab Strap, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Lily Seabird, and Lulu — yes, that Lulu, plus the rescheduled album from Kasabian. After that it's the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, so hardly any releases there (releasing albums on 9/11 anniversaries is considered unlucky in the music biz, if not disrespectful), but on Sept. 18 all hell breaks loose. Even Colin Moulding from XTC has new material (though it's just a single, in his case). More on all that stuff later... something to look forward to, at least! 😄
And you should definitely check out a few issues of Squirrel Girl even though you're not into comics. The writer & creator - Ryan North - has a similar sense of humor to you I think!
Thanks for pulling all of this together MHJ. It's a great public service that you are providing
Thanks! One of the main reasons I got involved here in the first place was that I thought it would help me keep up with new album releases, and that seems to have worked, so this is just a way to "give back," I guess. 😄
Then again, if I'm the only one doing this (for now), maybe there's a possibility that people might accuse the site of being biased against new releases from metal, hip-hop, country, jazz, and Tiktok-based AI-assisted hyperpop artists, if only because I'm not really into any of that stuff — at least not enough to track the new releases. (Not that anyone has actually complained.)
Also, I forgot the new album by the Allah-Las (the post-punk/psych instrumentals band from LA), Sirenas. I don't exactly love them or anything, but all their other albums are listed here and their self-titled debut album is ranked at 10,643, so I probably should've mentioned it.
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