There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Thursday, May 21, 2026.
Vince Staples – ‘White Flag’
Vince Staples has previewed his new album Cry Baby with ‘White Flag’, a dazed, despairing song about racial inequity. It follows lead single ‘Blackberry Marmalade’, and the whole record is out June 5.
Kelsey Lu – ‘Comfort’
Kelsey Lu has unveiled ‘Comfort’, a tenderly expansive single from the forthcoming album So Help Me God. It follows earlier cuts ‘Running to Pain’, the title track, and ‘Better Than That’ with Sampha.
Matilda Mann – ‘The Fig Tree’
“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose,” Sylvia Plath wrote in The Bell Jar, a metaphor that serves as the main inspiration beind Matilda Mann’s new single. ‘The Fig Tree’ leads the singer-songwriter’s sophomore LP, Kismet, and arrives alongside a Ben Harris-directed video.
Opus Kink – ‘The Sweet Goodbye’
Brighton post-punk outift Opus Kink are gearing up for the release of their debut album, The Sweet Goodbye, and today they’ve shared the jagged, theatrical title track. Frontman Angus Rogers introduced it as such: “A man sings a lullaby to his love, his heart’s instrument, his medium of choice on the eve of their parting. Tomorrow they will bid one another goodbye but not before delivering a last message to the world that made them. The big man once said parting is such sweet sorrow… lift the pen, turn the peg, climb the clocktower, take aim, give everything.”
Pinkshift – ‘When We Were Friends’
Pinkshift have unleashed an anthemic new single, ‘When We Were Friends’, along with a self-directed video. “This song was just called ‘Friends’ for the longest time,” the group shared. “It’s a story about getting kicked to the curb when there was a new relationship in my friend’s life. I wanted to share a story about how valuable friendship is, even though we might take friendships for granted. It’s easy to fall into the trap of watering romantic relationships that are exciting and new and leaving your friends out to dry, assuming that friends will always be there. But your friends who have been there with you through everything deserve the same love, attention, and care you would give someone new.”
Petey USA – ‘Kiss the City’
Petey USA is back with a new single, ‘Kiss the City’, which mixes heartland rock songwriting with colourful drum programming and synths. “This song is about the exhaustion of the city grind and a fantasy of dropping everything to live off the land, free from money and obligation. But freedom without people just turns into loneliness,” Petey explained. “In the end you come running back, not because the city got any better, but because you need community more than you need to escape.”
Wiki – ‘Park’
New York rapper Wiki has announced a new LP, Ancient History, out June 12, with the hazily pretty ‘Park’. The record features production from the Alchemist, Nick Hakim, Navy Blue, Laron, Mount Kimbie under his Dom Maker moniker, and MIKE as dj blackpower alias.
Jordan Patterson – ‘Just My Friend’
Jordan Patterson, an LA-based songwriter and producer recently signed to Secretly Canadian, has announced her first release for the label. The Songs From a Valley Girl EP is out June 19, previewed today by the emotive single ‘Just My Friend’, which is accompanied by a sweet live performance video.
Quicksand – ‘Crystallize’
Quicksand have shared a new single, ‘Crystallize’, from their forthcoming album Bring On the Psychics. It comes paired with a video from director Jesse Korman.
Widemouth – ‘Raincoat’
Widemouth’s debut album, No Gasoline, arrives in just over a week, and today the Chicago band have released a gorgeous single from it called ‘Raincoat’. It’s accompanied by a clip that “could be construed as a music video,” per the YouTube description, “but very little planning went into this. So it’s just a video.”
