April 2026
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Singing by Gia Margaret
an album where Gia uses her voice as the foreground of her music for the first time since 2018, over intimate, throbbing instrumentation that unfolds slowly.
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Reflections Vol. 3: Water Poems by Felicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou
an eerie and spellbinding work of naturalism, with whispered spoken-word that taps into the subconscious.
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+3 by Samba Jean-Baptiste
a cloudy, introspective r&b album that has the intimacy and jumpiness of a notebook full of Samba’s own creative ideas and personal thoughts.
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Forever Ends Someday by Wesley Joseph
a polished, but creatively-produced work of self-examination from the U.K. singer/rapper.
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Hyperphantasia by Lone
an album full of ebullient dance tracks that pull from and make the most of many styles - from new age (“Opening a Portal”) to speed garage (“Affinity”).
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Hell For A Basement by Drug Bug
a record full of lush, proggy emo tracks that work incredibly well. It may be shamelessly nostalgic for the 70’s, but the intro track in particular has a magnetic pull.
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Carve by Kathryn Mohr
a really interesting, spellbinding art rock release that harkens to PJ Harvey’s abrasive “Uh Huh Her.” The field recordings and sound collages that Kathryn compiles are as ghostly as the album cover, and the more conventionally-structured songs like “Cells” and “Angle of Repose” have a sludgy, muscular guitar tone that creates a sticky, claustrophobic tension with the vocals.
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Frog For Sale by Frog
a wistful indie-Americana delight from this prolific brother duo. There is truly something for everyone on “Frog For Sale,” from the 50’s rock-’n’-roll tinge of the endlessly replayable opener “Bad Time to Fall in Love Again,” to the 70’s jazziness of “Je Ne Sais Pas.”
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Wendy Eisenberg by Wendy Eisenberg
truly a gem in the oversaturated country scene! On this record, Wendy toys with traditional country and folk songwriting, through perfectly-crafted string arrangements and a playful, but sharp vocal and songwriting presence. “Meaning Business” and “Another Lifetime Floats Away” are particular standouts in how they approach memory.
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Confession by Carla dal Forno
a minimalist album that strips 80’s alternative styles like post punk and dream pop to its barest elements. Its minimalism creates a backdrop for various details - like bells and accordions - that stand out even more than they would normally. The vocals are unassuming but sweet, and breathe life and brightness into the mix, but the obsessive lyrics on the album give things an eerie, interesting edge, as well as the feeling of an unreliable narrator. Essential if you enjoy bands like “Au Revoir Simone.”
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Distracted by Thundercat
a record with absolutely everything a good Thundercat album should have: spacey production and vocals, insanely agile and virtuosic grooves, and hilarious lyrics. It just so happens that this album also has one of the best and most well-utilized feature lists I’ve seen in a minute - ESPECIALLY “She Knows Too Much,” which features the late Mac Miller. Endlessly fun, and as smooth on the years as you would expect from Thundercat!
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Our Hyper by HYPER GAL
an album that is best described with highly physical metaphors: imagine you are about to be crushed and chomped alive by a big, cartoonish, spike-wielding machine (the punishingly loud cymbals and keyboards on this album), when you are briskly saved by a glimmering, dreamlike pop star (the vocals, especially in the choruses of this album). That is basically the experience of listening to “Our Hyper,” except when the machine lulls you into an industrial trance, you realize you were in good hands all along!
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My New Band Believe by My New Band Believe
a richly detailed and theatrical solo debut from former Black Midi bassist Cameron Picton. The theatrics and chamber arrangements remind me quite a bit of BCNR’s recent output, but where BCNR tended to take their instrumentation in a 2000’s indie twee direction, “My New Band Believe” feels like pure medieval whimsy. The quick tempos on this also give it the urgency of Black Midi’s music, but the spaciousness of the arrangements give the record a much less claustrophobic sound. I enjoy it a lot - especially “Love Story,” which moves from domestic bliss to cacophonous tragedy.
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Superbloom by Jessie Ware
After starting the 2020’s with 2 highly acclaimed nu-disco albums, “Superbloom” sees Jessie elaborate on this nostalgic sound with a little more kitsch, and highly grandiose orchestration. Rather than disco, “Superbloom” harkens to 70’s soul/R&B divas, pre-”Disco Demolition”, and reaches glorious heights on the title track and “Automatic” (one of my personal favorite songs of the year so far). Elsewhere “Mr Valentine” offers a more spare, bass-heavy side of disco that calls back to ESG.
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MR COBRA by Lucy Liyou
for a very, very patient listener, this album is the most rewarding listening experience of April, fullstop. Equal parts performance art, musique concrete, free jazz, sound collage, and opera, “MR COBRA” interrogates the humiliation of revisiting trauma - in this case, Lucy’s falling in love with a predator when she was in high school. Desire, shame, and victimhood intersect with Lucy’s transness to unsettling effect. All the while, she works in references from Taylor Swift to “Rosemary’s Baby” to share (and seemingly, relive) her story.