In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on May 8, 2026:
Aldous Harding, Train on the Island
Welcome to Aldous Harding’s island. You’re free to leave anytime you like, but the New Zealand artist is happy to show you around. There are no palm trees here; just the one tree that she used to climb, presumably as a child. Forget about the sensation of floating on the ocean blue; instead, lose yourself in questions like, “When I hit the ocean I was only a spark/ Who brought me up the stem with no love in their heart?” You’ll have to get by eating rocks and plants, but you can dance just to dance. You can get together with friends once in a while, but in the end, of course, it’s just you and your reflection. “I have met my sleeping self/ Things she knows keep me around/ I hope I’m more than I think about,” Harding sings towards the end of her insular yet inviting new album, Train on the Island, which follows 2022’s remarkable Warm Chris. Read the full review.
Broken Social Scene, Remember the Humans
Broken Social Scene are back with their first album in nine years, Remember the Humans. As majestic and expansive as it is soothing, the LP reunites the Canadian supergroup with David Newfeld, producer behind their seminal albums You Forgot It In People and Broken Social Scene. “His production suits the chaos of our songwriting so well…he’s got a childlike energy that is really contagious, when you get a piece of music that he loves, Oh my God, he’s bouncing like a little boy,” the band’s Charles Spearin reflected, adding, “There’s a different kind of honesty in this record, we’ve had success, we’ve lost friends, we’ve lost parents, we’re at this ‘what happens next?’ stage in life.”
MUNA, Dancing on the Wall
MUNA offer their polished, carefree take on disco and new wave on Dancing on the Wall, their first album in four years. “We’re excited to finally release our fourth album… thank you to everyone who has been with us since day one and welcome to those of you who are just joining us. you’re right on time,” the band reflected in a press release. “this is an album about love, heat (literal and metaphorical), horniness, and heartache, grounded in the here and now as we experience it. we hope it makes for good company, wherever you are.”
Fire-Toolz, Lavender Networks
Angel Marcloid has released a new Fire-Toolz album, Lavender Networks, via her new label home, Warp. The frenetic, mind-melting LP features guest contributions from Zola Jesus, Brothertiger, Nailah Hunter, Lipsticism, as well as Marcloid’s wife, Sling Beam, and sister, Liverfire. It was previewed by the tracks ‘Balam =^..^= Says IPv09082024 Strawberry Head’ and ‘And Where Is the Heart? I’ve Searched My Entire Home’, and also includes track titles like ‘Kiss the Bladed Cat, Find Ways to Stretch Time’ and ‘The Ocean Gratitude Cylinder Peace Necklace Lemonade Flying Free’.
Guttersnipe, Extinction Burst!
Guttersnipe – the Leeds-based experimental duo of Uroceras Gigas and Tipula Confusa – have followed up 2016’s My Mother the Vent with another hellish, uncompromising record titled Extinction Burst!. “Me and (Confusa) were a couple for a bunch of years, so we got very, very close to one another,” Gigas explained in our Q&A. “We got to experience each other in a way that was extremely vulnerable and intimate. I’m always looking at (their) hands and facial expressions. It’s much easier when you are looking at each other. I’m following it very directly. We are attuned to each other’s psyche.”
Lykke Li, The Afterparty
Lykke Li has released a new album, The Afterparty, which she says is her last. The follow-up to 2022’s EYEYEYE was primarily recorded in the singer’s hometown of Stockholm, with the backing of a 17-piece orchestra and what she describes as “apocalyptic bongos.” “I find that we’re in an era where everyone is talking about, ‘My higher self.’ Fuck that,” Li said of the record. “This is an album dealing with your lower self: your need for revenge, your shame, despair, all of it.”
Cola, Cost of Living Adjustment
Cola expand on the jittery, piercing post-punk sound of 2024’s The Gloss with their new record, Cost of Living Adjustment. The Montreal trio produced and arranged the record in its entirety, with each member writing material separately before convening in the studio to put the songs together. That division of labour has always been part of Cola’s collective intuition, but another one of their goals with the new LP was to have the melody guide the lyrics, without compromising their inherently poetic bent.
Loraine James, Detached From the Rest of You
Loraine James’ new album is billed, somewhat cheekily, as her “IDM pop star” effort. Following 2023’s Gentle Confrontation, it features contributions from Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Anysia Kim, Tirzah, Sydney Spann, Miho Hatori, and more. “I’m using my voice a lot more, and putting it higher in the mix than I usually would, I guess I’m growing some confidence,” James said in press materials.
Other albums out today:
Namasenda, Limbo; Olof Dreijer, Loud Bloom; sadie, Better Angels; Croz Boyce, Croz Boyce; Alabaster DePlume, Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue; Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, & The Rajasthan Express, Ranjha; Carla J. Easton, I Think That I Might Love You; Deb Never, ARCADE; Basement, WIRED; Frozen Soul, No Place of Warmth.
