Well, Belgian singer Angèle has a new album coming in October.
Instinct.
It's about time.
Way overdue.
She also released the album cover for her third album....
If you look closely you can see the covers of Brol and Nonante-Cinq in there
This single was released last week in conjunction with the official album announcement. A very large rolling gazing ball much like the one she is holding on the album cover makes a prominent appearance.
It's a really upbeat dance-pop song. I like where this album is going.
Énola Bédard is, first and foremost, a dancer. She went viral on TikTok in 2020 because of her dancing prowess. She performed alongside Shakira as a dancer at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final halftime show.
But she's also a singer, and this, her latest single, was co-written by her, Taet Chesterton and producer Tannergard,
But let's face it. The song is dance-forward.
Also, she's from Quebec. She may be going by Enola Bedard on her web page and on Spotify. Sher name is Énola Bédard. Big difference.
I was not a fan of Gracie Abrams. If I heard "It's So True" one more damn time, I was going to delete Spotify.
OK, that's overstatement. But still.
I was not looking forward to listening to Daughter From Hell, her new album. But, you know, I'm listening to 2000 albums in 2 years, so, yeah. I did it.
And I actually really liked it.
This was the second single from the album and shares its name with the title of her tour in support of the album. It is, like the rest of the album, co-written by her and deeply reflective.
She has not yet had a lot of chance to play the song live - but she did when she appeared on BBC's Radio 1. Honestly, you can see in her face that it is deeply personal and reflective.
This is both the easiest and hardest one of these I've had to write. On one hand, I think we all know that Dolly Parton is one of the kindest and most influential country artists in history. I don't need to espouse about her impact on people, her advocacy and active giving to the cause of literacy, or the fact that you are greeted by Dolly when you enter Tennessee!
No, seriously.
But this is also hard because the loss is so great.
No, I instead choose to honor her in the way she would have intended - with this 2003 song that wasn't a hit but it perfect for today.
Let you think she did this just for vinyl - no, she brought the fire to the performance.
Dolly Parton will be sorely missed in the music industry, by her family, by Tennessee, and by music fans everywhere. She's with her Carl Dean now.
Frankly, I want you to enjoy this video and the 360 degree experience it is, so we're doing this first.
Gelli Haha's Switcheroo was one of my favorite albums of 2026.
"Switcheroo is a chaos record in the best way: jagged indie rock, synthy detours, sudden hooks that feel like tripping over a hidden step. It sounded like 2025’s attention span in album form, and I kept coming back to it whenever I wanted something that felt restless and playful but still weirdly, deeply emotional."
"Also, the red aesthetic really pops." - Literally me
"Bounce House" was a huge reason why I liked that record so much. It was fun, it was bright, and yet, it still had surprising hooks.
Here's the non-immersive version of the video, by the way.
I've written about Gelli Haha before. And when I did, I said she had not played as Gelli Haha much. That has changed, dramatically. In fact, the stage show is a whole..... thing.
From the KRCW studios.....
...to the MUCH smaller KEXP studios.....
....to this random club in San Francisco.
It's always consistent, and fun, and bouncy, and RED.
This was almost a Special Edition, and it really should be.
You see, Shelly Fabares, a musician who was best known as an actress - most notably on The Donna Reed Show - passed away yesterday. She was 82, and her acting career was long, with starring roles on several shows.
Her debut single was "Johnny Angel", and it actually debuted on The Donna Reed Show. It reached #1 in 1962, and did spark a sequel single, "Johnny Loves Me", a lesser hit in its own right. But this, her first single, was her biggest.
By the way, Glen Campbell is the guitarist on this song. Just thought you might like knowing that.
Her newest album, Detour, has been called her debut album. It's not - but that's the level of step forward this album is for the Grammy Award winning artist.
It took a long time for Republic Records to release this album (allegedly) but it was worth the wait because it was SO GOOD.
This is one of my favorite songs from this album.
This was a theme week. Did you guess the theme?
If you did, you can listen to this "Brutalist" demo version which is really great. If you didn't, go back and listen again.
Since well before her 2022 debut album Preacher's Daughter, Ethel Cain has been a fast-rising songwriting star. This song, from that album, is a fiercely anti-war song....
There's very little I can say about Jane Remover that hasn't been assumed already.
Born as a twin in 2003, they really loved Mario Kart growing up. I hear they are also avid watchers of Family Guy.
Yes, that is their preferred pronoun, and we're going to respect that here. Deal with it.
They are also a quickly-growing prolific musician who releases albums under many names - including leroy, under which they released an album this year.
This song is from the Jane Remover 2025 album Revengeseekerz, which is really good. I hope you will enjoy it.
Despite being so heavily electronic, they do perform live, and are touring this year. Here's a great performance of this song from this year in New York. I always like pointing out when the audience is singing along, and this is one of those times.
At age 82, Beverly Glenn-Copeland released his latest album, Laughter In Summer, which was recorded by him and his wife (who is singing here) as he was dealing with a dementia diagnosis. As someone in the YouTube comments of this video said far better than I ever could, "I'm sad for his diagnosis but so very happy for him being able to still enjoy his moment like this."
I chose a live performance of this song, which I also hope to see at the Polaris Gala in September, because I wanted to show the raw emotion and the love between this man and his wife.
It's what she calls a stage name - but it's who the songwriting credits on this song. So it's her name.
April is underscores, a persona she's been releasing music under since 2013 (it's still on Soundcloud if you're interested. I was). She was doing dubstep back then - and she was 13. It is absolutely crazy to me that someone so young could have been making such rich music by herself back then.
Well, she's still underscores, and in 2026, she released her 3rd album, U. Honestly, I didn't quite get it at first - but critics loved it from the start, and it grew on me hard. This was one of the singles from that album, and it is an energetic masterpiece.
underscores is also brilliant at marketing. Her lyric video for this song doubled as a choreography version. Her music is tailor-made for TikTok and she wisely positioned it as such.
And this is why she is on the verge of emerging from the underground and hitting the mainstream.
Lest you think a dubstep artist can't BRING IT live. She does.
There are very few posts I've been looking forward to posting lately.
This song - from Australian rapper/musician Genesis Owusu - is one that I very much have. It's frenetic, energetic, and in-your-face. From his album REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE, which has been a huge hit in his home of Australia,
The entire album is a political statement and this song is no exception.
As intense as the song is in its studio version, it's more so in a live version.
I have always thought of aespa of a version of BLACKPINK if you brought them from Temu.
With their new album LEMONADE I don't think that anymore. Without even mentioning that it's better than BLACKPINK's latest album, this is a more distinctive version of the group - and they have found a harder edged, in-your-face sound.
Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it pleasing, fun, and easy to dance to? You betcha.
Do they perform it live at Lollapalooza last week? Kinda.
Nia Archives released her new album Emotional Junglist last month..... and very quickly after its release was included on the 2026 Mercury Prize shortlist. I've listened to most of this shortlist, and let me tell you, they got the inclusion of this one RIGHT! It is excellent.
It didn't take long to realize this was a very special - and explicit - album.
This song, co-written by the artist (whose real name is Dehaney Hunt, so if you go hunting on Spotify for the credits, you know I'm telling the truth), Ethan P. Flynn and Livvi Franc, is a fast-paced exciting song, as is the rest of the album. It does not give you a break - and yet still stays cool and mellow.
You know, I thought Darling Buds Day was gonna die years ago.
And, yes, while I jokingly say that I'm the reason the Darling Buds got back together, I know that's not really true.
What I did NOT have on my bingo card was NEW Darling Buds music in 2026..... a whole new album called Same Sun / Same Sky, which was their first full length album in 34 years!!!!
And it's really good! I'd put it among their top four albums. (IYKYK)
So, yeah, guess we're gonna keep this going. And I'm really happy about that, because they are a great band and they have shown appreciation for what we're doing here. We couldn't have picked a better group to celebrate.
And now, I have enough material to actually post about the Darling Buds on a day other than May 6th.
The Cramps were an influential but not well known band.
Until, that is, Wednesday Addams danced to the song.
Yeah, I know. You saw this on social media with a different song. This is what they ACTUALLY played in the episode. And the song - along with the series - gets credit for reviving goth subculture among Gen Z, as its feature was a huge hit.
The song, a cover of a Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads single from the 1960s, was recorded by The Cramps in 1981 for their album Psychedelic Jungle. It became one of their best known songs.
But, rather than watching Jenna Ortega performing to the song, I feel like you should see how Lux Interior (yep, that was his stage name. Don't worry. No one named their kid Lux Interior) performed it live.... which was wild as heck.
