NPR Music - The best 2026 albums we've heard so far

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

We look ahead to some of the albums we’re most excited about for the new year, from sure bets like Dry Cleaning and Beverly Glenn-Copeland to rumored releases from some pretty big names.(00:00) Intro(01:26) Dry Cleaning: “Cruise Ship Designer,” from ‘Secret Love’(05:03) Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: “Perpetual Adoration,” from ‘Tragic Magic’(07:48) Ásgeir: “Smoke,” from ‘Julia’(12:27) Joyce Manor: “All My Friends Are So Depressed,” from ‘I Used To Go To This Bar’(17:45) Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “Laughter In Summer (with Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland),” from ‘Laughter In Summer’(21:06) gobbinjr: “Just a dream,” from ‘crystal rabbit moon’(24:59) Danny L Harle, Oklou & MNEK: “Crystallise My Tears,” from ‘Cerulean’(28:08) August Ponthier: “Handsome,” from ‘Everywhere Isn’t Texas’(31:14) Mumford & Sons: “Rubber Band Man (with Hozier),” from ‘Prizefighter’Support the show by leaving a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And tell a friend!Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Sheldon Pierce, welcome. Hello, Robin. How was your break? Oh, that was pretty good. Yeah? Yeah, I feel like I always need that last week and a half to hit reset on my brain for the new year. I always take that time to, like, consume art that I haven't, like, spent time with in a long time. Because, you know, in the flow of new music, you just listen to new music a lot.

Yeah, no, I mean, I've said this before whenever I have time off, and I listen to music. I'll pick some album I haven't listened to in 20 years or whatever, and I'll think, oh, you're right, yeah, I really like music. Yeah. I forgot. Turns out there was some good stuff they came out with before this year. But that two weeks, I'm like, I always feel myself sort of like getting fried near the midpoint of December.

Yeah, definitely. Oh, I need a hard reset in order to like get me psyched up. And so sometimes you need a refresher that it's like, yeah, you know what? Art is really awesome to watch and listen to and appreciate. Yeah. And so now I feel great. I'm ready to jump into stuff for 2026. Have it all ruined for you again.

Well, it is all songs considered. I'm Robin Hilton, Sheldon Pierce, here. And it is our 2026 preview. We're looking as far out into the new year as we can at this point, at the new albums. We're looking forward to. Let's start with the band Dry Cleaning. They've got a new album coming out. This week, it's one of the earliest releases of the new year.

It's out on January 9th. The album is called Secret Love. I'm a cruise ship designer. I'm striking while the iron is hot. I'm making the most of a bad situation. Cruises are big business. I don't personally like them, but I need to serve a useful purpose.

I desire very much. A place in society. So designing cruise ships is my pastime I'm my living I'm my challenge Designing cruises is for me a privilege And a lesson Need to do it all the time

I've brought in a lot of post-punk To this show before I'm a big fan of post-punk And there is something about this band That it feels like quintessential post-punk to me I think a lot of it is maybe Florence Shaw's voice who we are hearing now the front person for dry cleaning, there is just something so acerbic, something so dry,

but something so piercing about the vocal performances on dry cleaning songs. I think that is the charm for me. It's going to rub a certain kind of person the wrong way. Yeah, I mean, if you're not a fan of the whole like speak singing, sort of droll, sort of emotionally disconnected kind of. Maybe this isn't for you. But I mean, they're one of those bands that for me, they feel like they've been around forever. And I think it's because they have such a classic sound.

Yeah. But I mean, you know, and their fans are very devoted in a way that might make you think of maybe more veteran bands. But, I mean, they only put their first album out in 2021. Yeah. And then I had a follow up in 2022. Those were very informed and shaped, I think, by the pandemic and early post-pandemic era. And for this one, they're kind of stepping out of their usual work. flow and trying some new things.

Yeah, I think they worked with producer Kate LeBahn on this one. So cool. It's like a match made in heaven. It's kind of weird. You wouldn't expect that partnership. But, I mean, Kate LeBond, like, a producer du jour, right? One of the great sort of studio minds that we have. I think to your point, like, this feels like a studio record in a way maybe the other two

didn't. Maybe that's a result of the way that things were over the course. of the pandemic and recording conditions and how difficult it was to make a record during that period. Maybe it's just a natural evolution of this band, Record 3, sort of really understanding who they are and what they want to do with their songs. But I'm like, cruise ship designer feels like a pretty good example of what is happening throughout this record. It is just so sharp, so funny, so on edge. Like, it feels like every member of this band is like locked in and knows exactly what they want dry cleaning to be.

I think this might be my favorite record of theirs so far. Yeah. And I think this matchup between great producer, great band, finding the same wavelength has, like, taken them to a new level. So dry cleaning, the album, Secret Love. That's the name of the album. That is out, again, January 9th, so that one's coming right up. What else?

I'm going to jump in with what is probably my favorite. album to start the year and it's coming up pretty soon. It's from Juliana Barwick and Mary Latimore. It's out January 16th and it's called Tragic Magic. Yeah, this one is one that I was really excited about as well. I mean, you put Julianna Barwick and Mary Latimore in the same sentence and I'm fully on board. Yeah, your eyes get wide. Yeah, the very prospect. It's the kind of pairing where you're like, I can't believe this hasn't happened all right. Yeah. Like, I mean, Mary Latimore, obviously, great harpist, Julianna Barwick, electronic music producer, who often loops her own vocals, both very crystalline and ethereal musicians who seem to operate on the same plane. And lo and behold, here we have this album that proves the overlayer of their two styles is a perfect match. I mean, yeah, their musical language complement each other, I think, really, really well,

but they also seem to lead each other in really nice directions. It fit together so beautifully. I read that they recorded this pretty quickly, like, in less than a couple weeks or something. Yeah, their sessions were improvised. They started in Paris shortly after the Los Angeles wildfires, and still reeling from the wake of that tragedy, they were bonded in, performance. Well, the song we've been listening to is called perpetual adoration. And again, it's from the album, Tragic Magic. And you don't have to wait too long for that one. It's coming

out on January 16th. Well, I want to go to an album that's coming out from the Icelandic singer Auskir, an artist we've been following on the show for a good while now. He did a tiny desk a number of years ago. He has, if you don't know his work, he just has an incredibly memorable voice like somewhere between a tenor and a falsetto but really gorgeous I guess you would call his music maybe folk pop he gets a little bit into

electronica he's got a new one coming a new album coming in February called Julia and this is the song Smoke She used to tell me which way to go if I was standing on a dividing

roll quiet whisper for me Just the second his voice comes in, he's one of those singers. I say this every now and then with certain singers, like the first note they sing, everything's instantly better. Yeah, I mean, this was a new experience for me. I was not familiar with his work before. The voice really is magical. It really is a special voice, which is interesting because I read that this record was the first upon

which he thought about writing lyrics for himself. Previously, he's worked through translators and with the poetry of his father, and this is foregrounding his lyrics. Were you feeling like a transition from previous work to this one? It's not super noticeable. It's not like, oh, okay, clearly now he's doing his own lyrics. Okay. And I think maybe that's in part because, I mean, he does get into some more personal topics.

you know, he's a little more vulnerable on this album. He's revealing a bit more of himself. But at the same time, he channels it all through this fictional character, Julia, which is the name of the album. And this fictional character is sort of a stand-in for like a mother figure or a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend or even maybe just that inner voice. He had to give some sort of external name to it and identity, I think, to channel all this through. I also read that it was sort of scary for him to put himself out there like he does on this album. And so it kind of tracks that maybe he needed to find some creative way to sort of deliver it so that it's not too, I don't know,

it doesn't expose himself too much or something. I don't know. I was going to say there is something almost meta about the songs that I've heard from this record, including Smoke, where it's like Julia often feels like the personification of, his inner guide, and you can hear him sort of trying to navigate that relationship with himself. Yeah. There's the outer him who has been performing his music this whole time, obviously. And now there is something inside of him that is trying to unite his inner voice with that outer voice that sings.

Yeah. And sometimes you need an intermediary. I mean, when you've got a voice like he has, you can do just about anything you want. Right, right. There's sometimes. It certainly simplifies things, right? Because on the front end, there's not a lot of work left to do. Right.

I mean, yeah, like here's a menu. If you could just sing this, I think we'll be good. But, I mean, and he's an incredible craftsman. He's an incredible musician. So it's not remotely surprising to me that he pulls this off as well as he does, but really, really beautiful. Again, it's called Julia, that song, Smoke, from Ausgir, and that is spelled

A.S.G. E.I.R. And again, that is out February 13th. So normally when we do one of these preview shows, we talk about how there are just, there's so many albums we could talk about

more than we could ever fit on a single show. Like this time last year on our preview show, we were talking about F.K.A. Twigs, the weekend. Sharon Van Etton,

Japanese breakfast, Jason Isbell, Lucy Day Kiss, perfume genius, tons more. And this year, at least at this point, not so much.

I did a lot of poking around and emailing people and calling people trying to get kind of an inside line on different things and I wasn't able to confirm much more than kind of what we already know and there have not been a ton of really, really, really big, massive releases announced yet for this year.

But there are a bunch of albums bouncing around in the rumor verse. I think there's a very good chance we're going to get a new Robin album this year. Also, a very good chance. We're going to get a new, you know, a con album at some point this year. People are talking about maybe we're going to get that rock album from Beyonce this year. I don't know if you've been reading about that. Yeah, it seems like it's probably coming.

Also, I think Olivia Rodrigo, maybe Phoebe Bridgers. Again, these are just rumored albums, though. I feel like there's probably a pretty good chance with these. I also saw the XX is working on new material. We might get something from them. And death grips. Did you see the death? I did not see that. Not in a million years have thought death grips would be coming back with a new album this year,

but they announced that they are working on a new one. It would be their first album in something like eight years. The guys in BTS have all completed their military service. Yeah, they're back. They announced recently

their fifth album will be out in March and they'll be going on a world tour. What else are you kind of eyeball in? Lana Del Rey. Lana Del Rey. That was the first one I was about the list. I mean, stove, as it has been allegedly called, has been sort of in the offing since last year. There's talk of maybe Bjork releasing something in 2026.

Courtney Barnett has been sort of. And it's been a minute. Yeah, it's been a while. Again, all rumors, we can't confirm very much at this point. But let's go to another one that we do know about. Joyce Manor. Joyce Manor has a new album coming out at the end. end of January. It's called, I Used to Go to This Bar. So this song from I Used to Go to

This Bar is called All My Friends Are So Depressed. This is a band. I know, no, I'm curious to hear what you think. This is a band that I think is, it's like the sum is greater than the parts. Okay. For me, like, there are a lot of individual elements or hints of things in their music that I don't always go for. It's a little bit new wavy here and there, not always my thing, especially in the guitars and some of the rhythms. There's a kind of sanded down quality to their sound in a way. I don't know how it's to describe it. It's not overproduced.

It's not like too slick, but very pristine, almost sanitized. And again, I'm talking about how these are, they're just little hints of these things here and there, which is why I say when they put everything together, I really love it. Right. Yeah, no, I think a lot of that is a fair assessment. I think, I mean, they're California punk. There's a sunniness to it, a brightness that is maybe giving it a more polished sheen, I think.

But, I mean, I love the thrust of it. I love its tensions of, I mean, depression, but also, like, there's a lightness to it. It zips along. I mean, that certainly is a selling point for me. I mean, I don't really honestly even have to listen to this. If you just tell me the album's called, I used to go to this bar, and the song is called, All my friends are so depressed. All right, I'm in.

Yeah. You get the gist, right? It's all right there, and I love it. And, I mean, that's, I mean, that's always how their albums are never longer than 30 minutes. Like, you can sit with them very quickly. They breeze by. But I like that about this music. Joyce Manor, I used to go to this bar, is out on January 30th.

What else you're looking at for this year? Yeah, I'm going to shift gears a little bit and pick out the new album by Beverly Glenn Copeland. It's called Laughter in Summer. It's out February 6th. I want to hear the title track. This is so beautiful. Yeah. And such a moving story behind it as well.

Yeah, really powerful. Beverly Glenn Copeland was diagnosed with dementia in 2024. and this record was created with his wife, Elizabeth Copeland, who also is a poet, but produced because his faculties are diminishing and have been diminished in recent years. It feels like they're trying to record some last thoughts, get them on the page in a certain sense before it's too late. And also there's like a real dialogue happening between them in real time, sort of. of like trying to remember shared moments.

That's what this song, Laughter and Summer, is about. Yeah, I read that he wasn't even sure he wanted any lyrics on the song at all, but he was inspired by a simple afternoon sitting with his wife by a lake, listening to the Loons, and they just capture it so beautifully on this song. Like, there's this line that he repeats through it, Laughter in Summer, How I Remember, June through September, here with you. That just absolutely killed. I mean, it's really powerful.

And Elizabeth Copeland has said that there seems to be like a strengthening of like the heart of the artist even as he sort of is starting to lose some of what makes him him, which has been a devastating process for the both of them, obviously. But there is like still the core of the person there and the artist and the power of that voice. And everything that happens on this record is built around that. Yeah, what an amazing place to land when you're going through something like that. He's 81 years old, really beautiful, really inspiring. I mean, all these songs, honestly, would be very stirring and gorgeous, regardless of the story behind him. Yeah, you don't have to know what is happening behind the scenes to appreciate just how beautiful this record is. Yeah, it really is.

Laughter in Summer, again, is the album out February 6th from. Beverly Glenn Copeland, and we were listening to the title cut. Do you know the singer that goes by the name Gobbin Jr.? Do you know Gobbin Jr.? I was not familiar with Gobbin Jr. before this. Yeah, so this is the project of Emma Whitmer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. She's originally from Wisconsin from Madison. And just, you know, she makes very lo-fi, very DIY songs, a little idiosyncratic, a little whimsical. I don't know. Are those trigger words for you? Winsical in hideous. No, you're speaking my language, man. Okay, good. I mean, the minute you mention the word whimsical to my wife, she's out. Okay.

Like, I'm not watching that movie. No sense of whimsy whatsoever. No whimsy. Okay. Well, Emma Whitmer, as Gobbin Jr., put out her debut album in 2015, had a follow-up in 2018, and then that was pretty much it.

Has not really released any new music of her own since then, until now Gobbin Jr. has a new album coming out in April. It is called Crystal Rabbit Moon, and the first single that we're getting from it is called Just a Dream. I actually haven't heard the whole album yet,

but this song... Yeah, no, I haven't heard the whole thing, but this song has a bit more going on in it than some of her earlier stuff. She's trying some new sounds. There's a lot more synths on it. I hesitate to say that it's more expansive because it's still pretty cozy and DIY,

but she's mixing it up a little bit. Yeah, I was going to say, like, how would you sort of classify the music that she was making before this? I don't know what. Is it Dream Pop? A dream pop crossed with freakfolk or something? I don't know. I mean, it's really just her own thing, just her own little bedroom musings, you know, in a way. It kind of has a twin pixie vibe to it.

I don't know if you clock that, but it might just be because her voice reminds me a little Julie Cruz on this. Okay, yeah. I don't know, but there's also a hint of surrealness to it. Yeah, I was just, I had surreal written down right here. I'm like, there's something very, I mean, I think of most like dream pop music as like drifting into the cloud of sound. But this, the sense, they have this, like, buzzing quality. Yeah. It really is whimsical.

Some of it is like almost like springloaded in this amusing way. I mean, and this song is literally about a dream and sort of like dream logic and like carrying that into a relationship. Yeah, I really, really love what I've heard so far. Gobbin Jr., and that's all one word, G.O.B.B.I.N.J.R., the album Crystal Rabbit Moon coming out in April, April 10th. Let's go to Danny Harrell. Danny L. Harle, a British producer and electronic artist. His name might not be instantly recognizable to a lot of people, but he has worked with a lot of artists. I am sure people do know Pink Panthers, Tame Impala,

Dua Leipa, he's worked with. He's got a new album coming out also in February on February 13th. It's called Cerulean. This night I was crying. Did you hear? Oh, was it all for nothing? Crystalized my team.

Frangest power. This is exactly Danny L. Harle, if you know anything about his music, obviously PC music veteran. Big time into trans music, into Eurodance. His debut album in 2021, Harle Corps, was about bringing the club to the internet, essentially. So you know exactly what you're getting with the music that he makes. And I think if you are into, like, thumping dance music, this is the record for you. But it's more than that, I think. I'm, I, I, I think what works for me so well, and we talk about this a lot with the dance music I tend to gravitate towards,

which is it's not just hitting you over the head with pure escapism, four on the floor, club music. It gets big, but it never overwhelms you, and it kind of, it's still a little inward looking. It kind of straddles a couple of different universes. Like there's a threat of wonder. Yeah. I think in awe that sort of runs through this music in a way. It's not just for the body. Yeah. There's no one thing happening in his music ever, ever, I think.

But it also never loses sight of what he is really after, which is like a euphoric, full-thrusted feeling. Like, it is still wondrous, like, large music. Like, it's not a choir record. No, yeah. I mean, there are moments. There are quieter moments. Right, it does retreat into itself, but you would not mistake it for anything.

other than a dance album listening to it. Right. So again, the album is called Cerulean from Danielle Harle, and that is out February 13th. There is another release also out on February 13th, kind of a busy release day, that I know you were excited to talk about. Yeah, I want to talk about the debut album

by the singer-songwriter August Pontier. It's called Everywhere Isn't Texas, and I want to listen to Handsome. August Pontier pretty much new to me. I've really heard the name, and that's about it, but I really, really love this. Yeah, the first thing I wrote down when I listened to this was Sapphic, Sabrina Carpenter, and that feels a bit reductive, but the components are all there,

like this savvy blend of, like, indie pop and country, biting sort of humorous lyrics, and then the sort of, like, eased out voice that feels like almost delivered with a sigh. Yeah, I mean, there's a sturdiness to their voice in a way, but also lovely. Yeah. And the music, I don't know, it's nice and breezy. Yeah. It's really working for me.

Yeah, there's a real lightness to it. It feels fun. There's an ease to it. And that's interesting because this record is kind of about how your hometown was a difficult place to grow up, but also coming to terms with the fact that a lot of your identity is tied up in that no matter what. But if you love yourself, you've got. you have to love at least some of what it made you. I mean, it's just the title.

Everywhere is in Texas. I mean, I think that's a brilliant title because it's such a simple but effective reminder that maybe the life you're living in whatever trouble you've been going through, like it won't always be that way. Yeah. Or this isn't necessarily the way it is everywhere, right?

I mean, things get better. It's not you. It's the circumstances or maybe the place that you find yourself in. Yeah. I don't know. it's really potent, a lot wrapped up in that. Yeah, it really is sort of the perfect title

and the perfect kind of statement to make about yourself as you are introducing yourself to the world, right? I mean, this is their moment. So August Pontier, that album, Everywhere Isn't Texas again, is out on February 13th. One more that I want to play, and we can go out on this. One of the bigger releases that we do know about at this point, at least big for some people,

is a new one from Mumford and Sons. It's called Prize Fighter. This is an interesting one for me because they're a band, you know, they came up as part of the whole stomp-clap, hey phenomenon in the mid to late 2000s. And I don't know what you think,

but I think that's a sound that peaked very quickly and ultimately had a pretty short tail. Yeah, that's fair. And also, it wasn't for me. I can say that. confidently and honestly. It was for me, but only for a very, very, very short time.

And I think kind of like everybody else. And I'm not sure why it had such a short tell because a lot of people really love that sound and a lot of people still really do. But I mean, like we saw over the summer with Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, I don't know why the song came back up. It's 15 years old. But, you know, the song Home got completely dragged over the summer as being quintessential hipster cringe. Yeah, well, it got unfairly, I would say, brought up in a conversation of the worst songs of all time. Yeah, let's everyone just relax here. Yeah, yeah, let's take a step back.

Nowhere near that. Let's chill, please. But, you know, I don't know. I feel like that the whole stump clap tag maybe has dogged Mumford and Sons for a while. But I don't know. I've spent some time with this new album, and I think it's pretty warm. wonderful. Can you tell me what it is your hearing in this one that is going to completely allude you otherwise? Yeah. Well, you know, there are some of those big group sing-alongs. It is pretty

anthemic in places, very acoustic. There's banjo. All of the tell-tale signs that you might be, I don't know, that maybe you just make you want to turn it off instantly. But I think to dismiss it as maybe overly earnest or cringe or whatever it is that turns a lot of people off is pretty cynical in some ways. I feel like if you sit with this music, I don't know, there's real community in it. There's real joy, almost euphoric joy. And these are good things, Sheldon. They are good. They are good things. I would say I am cynical. And I wouldn't even say I have necessarily been turned off by the earnestness of this music. I just, the charms of it have sort of alluded me. And I don't know why.

I want to know what specifically it is about the components that really draw people in. Because I think a lot of the things that you have described are present in a lot of other music that I think of as more robust, more intricate, more complicated, more ambitious. And so I guess I'm just curious what draws people in. I think this music is very evolved and intricate and, you know, exquisitely produced and performed. They are incredible musicians. I think Marcus Mumford has a really powerful moving voice. I think all of those things are in there, but if you don't like your euphoria and sense of community delivered with a banjo, then maybe this isn't your sound. But I think there's a realness to the way these songs are recorded, especially when you get everyone together, singing together.

It sounds like a captured moment in somebody's living room or something. It doesn't feel manufactured to me. It feels very real. And yeah, maybe earnest, but honest. And I connect with it. And I was really surprised by how much I love this album. The song I want to play, I don't know if I said the, did I say the name of the album? The album's called Prize Fighter.

Yeah. And the song that I want to play is called Rubber Band Man, not to be confused with what I think are maybe a half a dozen other songs called Rubber Band Man. But it's about soldiering on, you know, even when you feel like everything is falling apart. and maybe that's what I need to hear right now. But I think it's something that a lot of people want to hear right now. I'll have to listen to find out for myself whether or not we're really back. Well, maybe you'll have a moment here. Yeah.

Again, the album is called Prize Fighter. It is also out February 13th, very busy release day from Mumford and Sungs. Again, this song is called Rubber Band Man. We'll go out on this. Sheldon Pierce, looking forward to a new year with you. Thanks as always. Yes, thanks so much for having me. For NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton.

it's all songs considered When you can't win For losing And the beggars start Choosing the chaos in your head It calls the cracks to start Showing

All knowing all glowing with the light of dying To raise The day Steady yourself And your tumbleweed words Be a street cone a preacher

Or just feed the birds But don't hold to yourself But hard mortar and stone Be a rubber blind man Make the water your bones Dying just to live