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PRESS PLAY: New Albums out September 2026

By Eric Schuman
PRESS PLAY: New Albums out September 2026
PRESS PLAY
Leon Bridges | photo by Joshua Kissi, courtesy of the artist

Wake me up when September ends… because I don’t want to sleep on these newly released albums!

Teaming up with members of UK funk combo Jungle, Leon Bridges exudes tropical warmth on the breezy Happiness Anytime; the tracks recall the Texas singer’s previous collaborations with Khruangbin. Sabrina Teitelbaum has been on a restless streak since her debut release as Blondshell in 2023; Violins takes lyrical cues from Leonard Cohen’s poetry and Stephen Malkmus’s abstraction.

Aspiring to get back to his long-running (and ever-expanding) project’s roots, Anthony Gonzalez embraced intimacy and imperfection for M83’s tenth album, I Wrote You a Letter. When Julia Jacklin first arrived in Melbourne, she discovered a vibrant local music scene centered around a pub called The Gem; her fourth LP, also called The Gem, was recorded in a space above that early career launchpad.

For Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez, the highlands of the Ecuadorian Andes provide ample musical inspiration; their third album as Hermanos Gutiérrez, Los Ojos Del Cóndor, conjures a liberating feeling of flight. Another sibling combo, BAILEN, weathered a near-catastrophic car accident (sister Julia and the trio’s parents walked away without a scratch) and emerged re-energized on the self-produced SWIM!!!.  

Genre-hopping songwriter Joy Oladokun fuses folk music with African motifs on Hope is a Heavy Thing; nods to Paul Simon and King Sunny Ade sit alongside homages to Bob Dylan and J Dilla. Meg Lui’s distinctive voice can be heard on recent albums by John Legend and Sufjan Stevens; Stevens himself produced Instant Validation, the debut from the Hudson Valley-based singer.

Listen for spotlights on new records like these (and more) every week on the XPN Morning Show and Indie Rock Hit Parade.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Leon Bridges –
Happiness Anytime

CHECK OUT: “Light the Way”
“Talk it Over”

Blondshell – Violins

CHECK OUT:
“Heart Has to Work So Hard”
“Violins”

M83 –
I Wrote You a Letter

CHECK OUT: “Blister Sunrise”
“Heart Motion Foto”

Julia Jacklin – The Gem

CHECK OUT:
“Get Away from Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon)”
“The Hardest Thing”

Hermanos Gutiérrez –
Los Ojos Del Cóndor

CHECK OUT: “Canto Andino”
“Los Ojos Del Cóndor”

BAILEN –
SWIM!!!

CHECK OUT: “SWIM!!!”
“Send Me Off”

Joy Oladokun –
Hope is a Heavy Thing

CHECK OUT: “Kind”
“Sage”

Meg Lui –
Instant Validation

CHECK OUT: “Elvis Queen”
“Dreams”

The PRESS PLAY-list

FURTHER LISTENING

Adult DVD – Adult DVD, AJJ – Dirty Old Power, Bill Scorzari – Sidereal Days (Day 2), Brother Bird – The Lodge in Miller County, The Catburgers – Galasheils, The Decemberists – Live Home Library Vol. 2, The Family Business LTD – The Family Business LTD, Forest – Swan Dive, Gooseberry – Simple Sucker, Ian Noe – Canyon Falls Trailer Band, Index – Vis Interiae, Iron & Wine – Hen’s Teeth (Deluxe Edition), Jules Reidy – Clerestory, Karina Rykman – Late Checkout, Maddie Zahm – Everything All the Time, Oh He Dead – Vertigo, Penelope Isles – 3, Porch Light – Hush, Protomartyr – Hotel Usona, The Reds, Pinks & Purples – True Love Daydream, Renny Conti – Split Second, Starcleaner Reunion – Umbrella, Sunken Man – Sunken Man, tankerlow – SLAGROOM, Tom Morello – Everyone Gets Everything They Want 

PRESS PLAY Back Catalog

Need some new music to hype yourself up for XPNFest weekend? Here’s your preparation playlist…

After the neon-lit duology of Colors and Hyperspace, Beck returns to his Mutations/Sea Change/Morning Phase troubadour mode for Ride Lonesome; the album was recorded with many of the same musicians who performed on those favorites. beabadoobee wrote the material for her fourth LP, Pylon, while on tour for 2024’s This is How Tomorrow Moves; the ‘90s rock-influenced set features contributions from members of Paramore, Turnstile, and the 1975.

Divided across two stylistic halves, Carly Rae Jepsen’s Night and Day is an ambitious collection that showcases the Canadian star’s range. Neil Young reaches an impressive milestone with the release of Second Song; his second outing supported by The Chrome Hearts is the legendary songwriter’s 50th overall studio album.

Hope is the Thing with Feathers, the fifth solo release by Rhiannon Giddens, sees the folk preservationist celebrating with friends and family from as nearby as Nashville and as far away as Europe and Africa. Though still cloaked by his signature mask, Orville Peck does not shy away from detailing his hard-fought journey to sobriety on the rough and rowdy Mule.

Since the release of her last album a mere two years ago, Philly-rooted Lizzy McAlpine made her debut on Broadway (Floyd Collins) and in film (Only What We Carry); this activity has clearly sparked her creativity as the songs on Angel are some of her strongest to date. With friends from Wilco and Dr. Dog in the fold, longtime XPN favorite Nicole Atkins makes a lavish return on DRAMA; her first release since 2021 arrives via the venerated Sun Records label.

Dragonflies is a new collaboration between Dhani Harrison and producer Nigel Godrich; their self-titled album grew out of a series of idea-sharing sessions around Harrison’s Innerstanding in 2023. Manchester singer Xenya Genovese made a strong impression at this year’s NonComm with her moody rock outfit Freak Slug; her second full-length, Amulet, uses mystical medieval imagery to explore contemporary trauma.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Beck –
Ride Lonesome

CHECK OUT: “Ride Lonesome”
“In the Night”

beabadoobee –
Pylon

CHECK OUT: “Sun Has Set”
“Memories”

Carly Rae Jepsen –
Day and Night

CHECK OUT: “After All”
“Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor”

Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts
– Second Song

CHECK OUT: “Second Song”
“Casting Me Away from You”

Rhiannon Giddens –
Hope is the Thing with Feathers

CHECK OUT: “Carolina Rain”
“Freight Train”

Orville Peck –
Mule

CHECK OUT: “Already Gone”
“Too Little, Too Late”

Lizzy McAlpine –
Angel

CHECK OUT: “The Light in the Painting”
“Ugly Things”

Nicole Atkins –
DRAMA

CHECK OUT: “When the Night Falls”
“Singing in the Mirror”

Dragonflies –
Dragonflies

CHECK OUT: “Slower”
“Setting Sun”

Freak Slug –
Amulet

CHECK OUT: “Girl, Intentions”
“If I Could”

FURTHER LISTENING

Actress – Radical Frame, Adam Rudolph – Invisible Threads, Agnes Obel – The Meaning of Flowers, Anthrax – Cursum Perficio, Babehoven – I See Them, I See Me, Be Decent – Now’s the Time, The Bernadette Maries – Soft, Big Benny Bailey – Business Spice, Biita Houdei – This Bed Was Made for Me, Boy Harsher – Get Mean, Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves – Dedicated to You, Cartel – Learning How to Cope, Cor de Lux – Year of the Horse, Dave Stewart – The Way it Was Back Then, David Bowie – The Shel Talmy Recordings, Deep Glens – Carver, Deniz Cuylan – For Luca,The Drin – I Lost My Way for Centuries, Echo & the Bunnymen – Apples for Isaac, Elliott Skinner – How Far We’ve Come EP, Emma Ruth Rundle – These Killing Time, Empress Of – Dream House, Frankie Rose – Hila, henry o henry – Apocrypha, Holy Pinto – Wedding Season, Jake Xerxes Fussell – The Old Beloved Path, Jawdropped – Secret to Spare, Katie Pruitt – Fools for the Fleeting , King Falcon – Bloom EP, Kristin Hersh – Sugar on Blackstone, Madska – More Than Dramatic EP, The Mary Wallopers – Paddywhackery, O.A.R. – Three Tinted Windows, Old Joy – Why Burn Bridges You Can Live Under, Perennial – Modernism, Phil Collins – Face Value (Full Value), Post Sex Nachos – Big Bad, Railcard – Two Steps at a Time, Ratboys – Singin’ to an Empty Chair (Deluxe), Rodrigo y Gabriela – OurHome, Roger Clark Miller – The Green Man, Roger Taylor – Violence Insane in a Beautiful World, Ruby of Thanks – Before You Turn into a Dog , Seasick Steve – The Last Season of America , Semiratruth – S!M, Seth MacFarlane – Seth MacFarlane Sings the Muppets, The Sinseers – Love Stories, Slothrust – What They Grow in the Garden, Son Lux – Out Into, Son Rompe Pera – Marimbazos De Oro, St. Paul & the Broken Bones – Proxy EP, Susanna Hoffs – The List, Team Dresch – Furthermore, Wasia Project – Nocturne, Wednesday – Bleeds (Deluxe), Wendy Bevan – Alone with the Unknown, Winter – Romantix Mixtape EP 

Another week, another assortment of exciting new albums to enjoy. Lucky you!

Seeking renewed inspiration, Amelia and Nick from Sylvan Esso relocated from North Carolina to Los Angeles, only to be met with wildfires and landslides; the comedy and tragedy of everyday life plays out on their fifth studio LP, Ow ∞. For many years, This is Lorelei was the slyly prolific side project of Water from Your Eyes’ Nate Amos; under the radar no more thanks to a series of high-profile collaborations, Amos embraces the spotlight on The Singer in My Band.

Appalachian-born, Nashville-based Angela Autumn has toured with Bonny Light Horseman and Langhorne Slim; her sophomore release, Believer, is a collection of psychedelic folk rooted in mountain traditions. Bloc Party have never been shy about showing their new wave influences; Alpha Games, their seventh LP, brings those touchstones full circle with production by MTV-era icon Trevor Horn.

Recruiting friends like Brandon Flowers and Lori McKenna, The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon throws a Garden State party on his fifth solo offering, Not Bad for New Jersey. A handful of words is hardly adequate to sum up the nearly 60-year career of Haruomi Hosono; the Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder’s 23rd solo album, Yours Sincerely, showcases a creative curiosity that’s rare amongst artists a fraction of his age.

Any release by Ibibio Sound Machine is guaranteed to be an instant mood booster; in that respect Chopping Mountain is no different, but the London octet uncorks more and more joy with each outing. Following an excursion into rhumba music and time spent working on a farm, Pokey LaFarge returns to wry, rootsy blues on the self-released Rent Money.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Sylvan Esso –
Ow ∞

CHECK OUT: “Hot Slob”
“Concrete Glen”

This is Lorelei –
The Singer in My Band

CHECHECK OUT: “Billy Came Back”
“Oh No Now My”

Angela Autumn –
Believer

CHECK OUT: “Heavy Tobacco”
“Electric Lizard”

Bloc Party –
Anatomy of a Brief Romance

CHECK OUT: “Coming on Strong”
“Love Bombs”

Brian Fallon –
Not Bad for New Jersey

CHECK OUT: “Not Bad for New Jersey”
“Better Before”

Haruomi Hosono –
Yours Sincerely

CHECK OUT: “Note on Mothership”
“Sincerely”

Ibibio Sound Machine –
Chopping Mountain

CHECK OUT: “Concept of Love”
“Return to Sender”

Pokey LaFarge –
Rent Money

CHECK OUT: “Rent Money”
“The Thing”

FURTHER LISTENING

Ann Peebles – Tellin’ It (50th Anniversary Edition), Bobby Wayne – The Way to San Quentin, Bonobo – Distance in Static, Chrome Sparks – Ball of Light, Eli Paperboy Reed – Getting There, Friko – Something Worth Waiting For (Expanded Edition), George Benson – A Tribute to Nat King Cole, Halfway Up a Jagged Hill – HUAJH, HUG – HUG, Locust – Spectral+, Mal Not Bad – SOPHOMORE, The Meffs – Business, Nate Mercereau – Fantastic Thoughts, Nicole McCabe and Savannah Harris – All Together Now, Pitschouse – Nothing New, Pretty Sick – Anarchy, Shudder to Think – Who Sent You? EP, Slow Pulp – Melodie, The Tubs – Hard Life, Twilark – Never Learned the Tide, Valerie June – Brighter Blue EP

Do you remember! The first albums released in September…

Few performers appear to have as much fun onstage as Nick Carpenter; the Nashville troubadour’s sixth LP as Medium Build, King of Having Fun, lives up to its exuberant title. Still riding high from the breakthrough success “Labour,” Paris Paloma returns with The Fatal Flaw, examining the intersections of love, art, and human connection.

Stunning vistas in the Greek Isles were the backdrop for the writing of Karaoke Bar, the seventh album by Australia’s preeminent folk-pop siblings, Angus and Julia Stone. Prima is the debut album from rising Slovak sensation ADÉLA; she cites American television, specifically Hannah Montana, as formative in her desire to achieve pop stardom.

Multi-disciplinary Austrian artist Sofie Royer reflects on her own adventures (and misadventures) on the witty and sleek before/after. On Spiral Bound, their full-length debut, New York’s Diary make revved-up jangle pop that’s equal parts sweet and sour.

A pair of notable re-imagined albums are also out this week: To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut, Ben Folds Five have unearthed a ‘Shelved First Attempt’ at the record, which was tracked in Philly with producer Dave “Stiff” Johnson. Reworking the songs from last year’s Fatal Optimist into not-quite-acoustic arrangements, Madi Diaz offers up an ‘UN-unplugged’ edition that recasts the material in unexpected ways.

PRESS PLAY on these new releases

Medium Build – King of Having Fun

CHECK OUT: “Home Depot” “Armor”

Paris Paloma – The Fatal Flaw

CHECK OUT: “Good Boy” “Miyazaki”

Angus & Julia Stone – Karaoke Bar

CHECK OUT: “Karaoke Bar” “Monroe”

ADÉLA – Prima

CHECK OUT: “Ain’t in LA” “KGB”

Sofie Royer – before/after

CHECK OUT: “Cowboy Mouth” “Sesquicentennial”

Diary – Spiral Bound

CHECK OUT: “Keep Comin’ Up” “Drive It”

Ben Folds Five – Ben Folds Five
(30th Anniversary Edition)

CHECK OUT: “Underground”
“Philosophy”

Madi Diaz –
Fatal Optimist (UN-unplugged)

CHECK OUT: “Heavy Metal”
“This is How a Woman Leaves”

FURTHER LISTENING

A. Lee Edwards – Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. II, Angelo Badalamenti – Blue Velvet Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Reissue), Anne-Claire – Do You Dream of Me Too?, Arab Strap – Half-Told Tales, Bayonne – Filters, Black Bananas – Bad Bunch, Chat Pile – Who Loves the Sun, Dexys Midnight Runners – LOVE, Ellie Goulding – I Know Too Much, Faux Real – Poison Time, Futurebirds – Far Out Country, The Go – Free Electricity, Hannah Cole – Switchbacks, Late Again – I Dreamt I Was Awake EP, The Mars Volta – Lucro Sucio; Unfinished Business, Melissa Auf Der Maur – BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings, Mick Harvey & Amanda Acevedo – Psychedelia in White, Mort Garson – Mother Earth’s Plantasia (Reissue), Movements – Happier Now, Mykki Blanco – Little Feet, Natalie Imbruglia – Algorithm, Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs – case/lang/veirs (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), Noah Hill – Ok ok now, Pete Fij – Up’s the New Down, Personal Trainer – Human Assholes, Phillip Phillips – Let’s Go Far: Vol. 1 EP, PUREST FORM – RESISTANCE EP, Rebecca Black – Age of the Exhibitionist, Soft Science – Sand, Sova – Alight!, Stick Men – Let’s THRAK Again, The Thermals – Under Crushing Rain, Todd Slant – What’s Up, Yusuf / Cat Stevens – Buddha and the Chocolate Box (Reissue), Various Artists – Sergio Mendes Tribute

Still not enough new music?? For previous editions of PRESS PLAY, click HERE.

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