From bold debuts to charity compilations, 2026 so far has been anything but quiet in the music world. Across indie, alternative, pop, rock and the spaces in between, the mitb. team has rounded up the albums that have stayed with us the most so far.
‘Masquerade’ / Cardinals
Released 13th February via So Young Records
★★★★★
Mia Tobin Power
Released 13th February via So Young Records
★★★★★
Mia Tobin Power
On their ambitious yet earnest debut album, Cork alternative rockers Cardinals deal in contrasts: dark and light, artifice and vulnerability, personal pain and widespread violence, restraint and uncontrollable emotion. The accordion is at the heart of ‘Masquerade’, elevating every song and helping Cardinals reach the greater meaning they yearn for.
‘Death in the Business of Whaling’ / Searows
Released 23rd January via Last Recordings on Earth
★★★★☆
Sam Russo
Another win and gut punch for fans of heartbreaking, melancholic music: Searows delivers a deeply moving sophomore album filled with emotional lyricism, vivid imagery and unhurried melodies that make you listen through all nine tracks in one go. ‘Dearly Missed’ and ‘Photograph of a Cyclone’ are must-listens, each carrying his signature sound while creating completely different worlds for listeners.
‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ / Slayyyter
Released 27th March via Columbia Records
★★★★☆
Sam Russo
From top to bottom, Slayyyter’s ‘WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA’ is an intense culmination of pop, punk, and electro-pop. This high energy album is packed with 14 tracks that defy the complacencies of an everyday pop singer. Arguably the grittiest of the songs, ‘YES GODDD’ blows out speakers with heavy bass and synthesisers, transporting the listener into an underground club that you hope to stay in until way past sunrise.
‘bitknot’ / feeble little horse
Released 26th May via Saddle Creek
★★★★☆
George Barker
90s slacker-rock processed by a Windows 95 system: feeble little horse's anticipated follow-up to 2023’s ‘Girl with Fish’ doubles down on vocalist Lydia Slocum’s wispy demeanour and mulls over love, jealousy, and 21st-century existentialism with hazy, post-chiptune instrumentals orchestrated by producer-instrumentalist Sebastian Kinsler.
‘Singing for fun’ / Eilish Constance
Released 5th June via Golden Child
★★★★★
George Barker
On the cusp of stardom, 17-year-old songwriter Eilish Constance produces her most tender work yet, articulating girlhood like a Sofia Coppola protagonist. Hyper-intimate, doe-eyed lines are juxtaposed against swirling, warped folktronica instrumentals and angsty, emo-tinged gang vocals. It's coming of age as we’ve never heard before.
‘Magazine’ / YHWH Nailgun
Released 11th June via 4AD
★★★★☆
George Barker
An album that could only be made in 2026: YHWH Nailgun’s 11-minute tour-de-force of post-industrial and math rock pulses and groans like the last breaths of a grieving, mechanical behemoth. Frontman Zack Borzone’s primal moans weave around blown-out, liminal guitars and throbbing basslines - leaving no sonic space for listeners to think.
‘Be Sweet To Me’ / Violet Grohl
Released 29th May via Republic Records
★★★★★️
Beth Hibbard
Violet Grohl is making a name for herself and bringing '90s alternative music back with her. Grohl’s debut album features themes of early adulthood, anxiety, love and the paranormal, paired with an authentically ‘90s alternative-rock backing. The album’s final song, ‘Plastic Couch’, even features drums by Shane Hawkins, son of the late Taylor Hawkins.
‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ / Olivia Rodrigo
Released 12th June via Geffen Records
★★★★★
Jack Smith
A departure and tonal shift from the sounds of 'Sour' and 'Guts', Olivia Rodrigo captures being in love in your 20s with an experimental-sounding record, and even a cameo from Robert Smith.
‘Cruel World’ / Holly Humberstone
Released 10th April via Polydor
★★★★
Jack Smith
This is an album in which Holly Humberstone really comes of age. The album is dazzling and a great follow-up for the singer-songwriter.
‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.' / Harry Styles
Released 6th March via Erskine/Columbia Records
★★★★
Jack Smith
In one of the most anticipated albums of the year, Harry Styles returns with a departure from the sounds of ‘Harry's House’ and ‘Fine Line’. This album is a dance-pop and romance extravaganza made for the disco hall.
‘HELP(2)’ / Artists For War Child (Various)
Released 6th March via War Child Records
★★★★☆
Keir Shields
With the world in the same disarray as 30 years ago, it’s remarkably bittersweet that another ‘HELP’ for War Child has been commissioned. Featuring an all-star cast of up-and-comers and established acts from the jaunty B-side of The Last Dinner Party’s ‘Let’s Do It Again!’ to the staccato menace of Cameron Winter's ‘Warning’, ‘HELP(2)’
'Vol. II’ / Angine de Poitrine
Released 3rd April via Spectacles Bonzaï
★★★★☆
Keir Shields
Following a viral KEXP performance, the microtonal aliens of Khn and Klek exploded onto the internet like a polka-dotted nightmare. With more hype than ever, ‘Vol. II’ showcases their ever-changing time signatures, snaking through the dizzying hiss of ‘Fabienk’ to the vaudevillian bounce of ‘Utzp’ while giving themselves permission to have fun with their artistry. An antithesis to AI, Angine de Poitrine have planted their flag as the most bizarre hype band of all time.
‘I know you’re hurting, everyone is hurting, everyone is trying, you have got to try’ / Joshua Idehen
Released 6th March via Heavenly Recordings
★★★★☆
Keir Shields
Taking the crown of the wordiest album title of the year, Joshua Idehen brings us a message of unrelenting optimism carved from years of features and struggles. Moving from peppy house on ‘This Is The Place’ to anguished breakbeat on ‘Whatever Comes’, Idehen’s debut is a weather-worn, world-beating plea for us to dance through the pain and be a bit kinder to each other.
‘Look For Your Mind!’ / The Lemon Twigs
Released 8th May via Captured Tracks
★★★★☆
Hollie Panrucker
The sixth album from the D’Addario brothers is a phenomenal marriage of classic '60s pop with modern lyricism. They draw heavily from the melodies and harmonies of The Beach Boys and The Beatles to deliver a record that perfectly balances a sense of nostalgic charm with contemporary touches.
‘Elsewhere, Always’ / overpass
Released 5th June via Communion Records
★★★★☆
Olivia Newby
Rising indie-rock stars overpass released their first full-length album 'Elsewhere, Always' in June of this year, the ten-track record serving as a mark of sonic progression from their earlier classic indie nostalgia to a mature and more defined alternative-rock sound. Reaching #5 on the UK Albums Chart, the Birmingham-born band have officially established their place in the indie-rock scene with this release.
‘Do That Again’ / Malcolm Todd
Released 5th June via Columbia Records
★★★★☆
Kelsey Catherine Walker
Malcolm Todd's latest album release is the perfect blend of smooth vocals and playful lyricism. This album draws inspiration from idols of the R&B and indie scene, such as Steve Lacy and Mac DeMarco. However, Todd puts a youthful, poppy and slightly provocative spin in his approach.
Compiled by Samantha Hall
Image: 'Masquerade' Official Album Cover
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