As the year progresses, we look to the future to guess at the upcoming albums from our favorite artists and pontificate as to what their new sounds will reveal. We hungrily devour press releases to look for producers and collaborators, and our eyes rest on the screens as new song are released as official singles or lyric videos. Here are a non-exhaustive list of albums that our editors have been anticipating from the first part of this year.
Människobarn by Dina Ögon
Release Date: February 6, 2026
In 2023 and 2024, Sweden’s Dina Ögon issued back-to-back albums that were among my favorite releases in recent years. The Stockholm quartet are often described as a retro-soul or psych-pop band, but there is so much more nuance going on, particularly in their inventive songcraft. Tucked into their elegant and beautifully recorded grooves are eccentric chord shifts, gorgeous harmonies, and melodic details which set them in a league of their own. Also, they sing only in Swedish. Led by its nimble title cut, Dina Ögon’s fourth LP, Människobarn, came out February 6. – Timothy Monger
Jazz Gone Dub by Gaudi
Release Date: February 6, 2026
The multi-instrumentalist/ producer spent years creating a fusion that intersects and of explores connections between jazz and dub. – Thom Jurek
The Apple Tree Under the Sea by hemlocke springs
Release Date: February 13, 2026
The early singles and debut EP from hemlocke springs harkened back to a type of early MTV-era quirkiness that we haven’t heard much of in a while — people compared the singer to Kate Bush, but I heard more Toni Basil or Cyndi Lauper. After a brief hiatus, she started releasing new singles last year, and a debut album is on the horizon in February. Going by the songs that have come out so far, the apple tree under the sea seems like it will be a bit more mature but no less theatrical and creative than previous tunes like “girlfriend” and “enknee1.” – Paul Simpson
Vital Spark [Music Of Kenny Wheeler] by Dave Holland, Norma Winstone, and London Vocal Project
Release Date: February 20, 2026
The bassist and vocalist team with the London Vocal Project in a program of late composer Kenny Wheeler’s all but underheard vocal music. – Thom Jurek
Highway to Heavenly by Heavenly
Release Date: February 27, 2026
Although I was admittedly late to the group, I latched onto this pillar of late-’80s/early-’90s indie pop at a point when I was in an alienated, injured state of mind, maybe even more so than in my teens (when they were actually making records). Their disarming 1993 anthem “P.U.N.K. Girl” went on repeat-play and remains one of my favorite songs. Even still, I can only imagine the excitement of OG fans and twee folk when it was announced that they were returning this year with their first album in 30 years. Despite knowing that members remained active in other projects over the decades, I needed proof of life, and they delivered it in spades with lead single “Portland Town,” a bop about wanting to belong that I ranked as my favorite single of 2025. They’ve since followed it up with the musically elated and lyrically regretful “Excuse Me,” with its vintage “ooh-oohs” and repeated “Messed up again” also hitting home. The rest of the album arrives on February 27. As Heavenly leader and Skep Wax Records co-founder Amelia Fletcher wrote on a thank-you note with my recent Bandcamp t-shirt order, “Stay riot twee!” – Marcy Donelson
Of the Earth by Shabaka
Release Date: March 6, 2026
Written, performed, produced and mixed entirely by Shabaka, the recording centers on the alto flute, while also returning to saxophone. – Thom Jurek
Something Worth Waiting For by Friko
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Chicago’s Friko stormed their way to the top of my 2024 year-end list with a debut album that burnt brighter than any this decade; it’s no surprise, then, that their 2026 sophomore, Something Worth Waiting For, is top of my watchlist this year. Recorded last summer with veteran producer John Congleton (Erykah Badu, Lana Del Rey, Swans, among others), the set was teased earlier this month via folksy lead single “Seven Degrees,” ahead of an April release. The group’s best work soars like a beach flare and is unapologetic in its tenderness; here’s hoping they’ve crafted something that can live up to its ambitious title. – David Crone
13 by White Denim
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Indie prog jam noodlists White Denim have always been a bit of an outlier in whatever their genre is. Their stuff is too tuneful and hook-oriented to be strictly a jam band, too technical to be raw indie rock, and too electrified to be folk, but somehow they make it work. Possibly enervated by Geese‘s recent avant kookiness, the lead single “Lock and Key” starts with a sound clash, and evolves into a brash and wild guitar blast honestly reminiscent of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (and that’s about the highest compliment I can give anyone). Here’s to hoping the rest of the record follows suit with uptempo raves and their precision start-stop song structures. – Zac Johnson
In Times of Dragons by Tori Amos
Release Date: May 1, 2026
There’s only one album I need to hear this year and it’s Tori Amos’ upcoming 18th (!!!) album In Times of Dragons. Judging by the available PR, it’s slated to be politically-charged to reflect the current state of the U.S. Here’s hoping it leans more toward the anger and bite of American Doll Posse or the sweeping scope of Scarlet’s Walk versus the relatively tempered Native Invader. – Neil Z. Yeung
