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 Friday, August 13, 2026.
Tinashe – ‘Melatonin’
Don’t let the title fool you: ‘Melatonin’ is a nervy, kinetic dancefloor rager. It’s the latest preview of Tinashe’s new album Popstar, following ‘Too Easy’ and ‘Crash Out’. Ricky Reed, Zack Sekoff, and Nightfeelings co-produced the track, which is accompanied by a 91 Rules-directed video.
Dummy – ‘Full Spectrum Dominance’
Dummy’s Emma Maatman describes ‘Full Spectrum Dominance’, the lead single from their just-announced album, as a “Technofeudalism bop,” elaborating: “Tech billionaires are treating AI like the new Alchemy, using it as a source of power and magic. This supposedly soon-to-be all-powerful technology could not exist without harvesting all of humanity’s intellectual property and collective work. ‘Prima Materia’ is the building block of all alchemical matter, so in the canon of the song, we humans are the Prima Materia.” Guitarist Joe Trainor added: “I was trying to make something just heavier, and we joked it was our nu metal song, during the recording we added the tambourine that gives it a more dancey vibe, Deee- Lite meets Deftones.”
Starcleaner Reunion – ‘Lay on Plastic Moment’
Starcleaner Reunion have dropped ‘Lay on Plastic Moment’, a sumptuously dreamy single from their debut album, Umbrella. The track comes paired with a video directed by Siân Lathrop and Patrick Drummond. “I wrote the lyrics to ‘Lay On Plastic Moment’ to lovingly document my complex transition back to a once familiar place – New York,” vocalist Jo Roman explained. “This was a city I strongly identified as home for the majority of my childhood, until my family and I had to move away. Coming back to New York in 2023 was at first exciting, but finding my grounding here was something that proved to be difficult. So, I spent my time re-navigating familiar corners of the city, and although it was sometimes melancholic, there were always reminders that I can overcome whatever sadness I had around that time. I wanted to highlight glimpses of fluttering hope, finding regrowth in a small apartment, in my tiny room.”
Erykah Badu and the Alchemist – ‘Witch Doctor’
Sorry, we don’t have an album title yet … reads the Bandcamp page of Erykah Badu and the Alchemist’s upcoming project, but today it get a release date: the joint album will be out August 28. The pair also shared a predictably woozy new single, ‘Witch Doctor’.
Gurriers – ‘Nothing Happens Twice’
Dublin’s Gurriers have previewed their upcoming album, Nobody’s Coming to Save You, with the clangorous ‘Nothing Happens Twice’. Accompanied by a Thomas James-directed video, it follows the equally existential title track.
Mastodon – ‘In the Ruins’
‘In the Ruins’, the latest track from Mastodon’s new album Marrow Deep, was inspired by the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene, particularly upon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders and his family. The storm severely flooded their home and destroyed personal belongings while the band was also grappling with the passings of founding member Brent Hinds and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor’s mother Michele Lawrence. The new track arrives with a video by animation and VFX studio, Hey Beautiful Jerk, who commented: “The initial inspiration for Frank and the concept for ‘In The Ruins’ came to me when I was in the ER for 10 hours with the worst eye infection of my life. The pain was so bad it felt like my eye was revolting and wanted to escape my head. I had just talked to Brann about the meaning of the song and how it was inspired by his and Troy’s recent losses. The expression ‘picking up the pieces’ came to me and I sketched a very rough version of Frank on my phone, capturing the idea as fast as I could before my eye wanted to escape my face once again.”
Current Joys – ‘HOLE’
Current Joys – the solo project of Surf Curse drummer Nick Rattigan – has announced a new album, ROSEBUD, arriving November 6. The hooky lead single ‘HOLE’ is out today alongside a Davis Stewart-directed video.
Genital Shame – ‘I Want to Die Before You’
Genital Shame, the solo project of musician Erin Dawson, has signed to the Flenser for a new album called Wellness Plan. It’s led by the discombobulating single ‘I Want to Die Before You’, whose “You,” according to Dawson, “refers to both a literal person and a metaphor: the white blood cell.” During the making of the album, Dawson encountered old microscopic footage of white blood cells searching for viruses. “I love the idea that even if you struggle with and mask a deep self-hate, there’s something microscopic inside you voting for your continued, healthy existence— even if you feel like you don’t deserve it,” she commented. “It’s also about the idea that as beautiful as that image is, it’s still not quite enough.”
Medium Build – ‘In My Gut’
Medium Build has unveiled a new single, ‘In My Gut’, taken from his forthcoming album King of Having Fun. “I wrote this song with one of my favorite artists, Annika Bennett,” singer-songwriter Nick Carpenter explained. “We were exchanging stories about our childhoods and the way our parents handled conflict. Harping on the way our fathers performed toughness or avoided hard conversations. We explored how we inherited these traits and the new ways we meet conflict in our own lives. I still don’t really know what this song is about, but I think it’s my favourite.”
