Today, War Child released a star-studded album supporting its work to aid and protect kids in conflict zones, with contributions from Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Cameron Winter, and more. Also today, Coca-Cola has released its Anthem for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which brings together Amber Mark, J Balvin, Travis Barker, and Steve Vai. That’s the music industry for you, baby. It’s a cover of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, and it’s atrocious, but you can listen to it below.
“Music for me has always been about bringing people from different countries and cultures together – and ‘JUMP’ is all about that shared energy,” Balvin said in a press statement. “From the football stands to watching at home, everyone knows that moment when emotions are high and you’re jumping for greatness. Partnering with Coca-Cola on their anthem for FIFA World Cup 2026TM felt natural – it’s about hype, energy, and creating something that feels real. This song is about celebrating life and living in the moment.”
Mark, who otherwise rarely misses, added: “Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ is one of those rare songs that transcends generations, so approaching it came with a lot of respect. Being able to honor the original while bringing a modern perspective was incredibly special. I’m excited to be part of a track that connects past and present in such an uplifting, powerful way, and I hope fans feel that energy for years to come.”
HELP(2) has the return of Arctic Monkeys and Cameron Winter’s first song since the explosion of Geese. More than thirty years after the first benefit compilation from War Child UK brought together Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, and Oasis, the James Ford-produced sequel features Pulp and members of Blur alongside a string of younger bands who have outgrown their post-punk origins, from Black Country, New Road to Wet Leg. (Oasis were a last-minute addition, too, contributing a live version of ‘Acquiesce’ as a stand-alone 7” to help the charity’s cause, which is more vital than ever – even, devastatingly, than it was just a few days ago.) The 23-track album has King Krule and Olivia Rodrigo (who once covered another featured band, Fontaines D.C.), Beth Gibbons tackling Sunday Morning’ and Anna Calvi, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya, and (recent Geese opener) Dove Ellis collaborating on an original called ‘Sunday Light’. It has every reason to exist but no business weaving all these voices together so effectively. HELP(2) would be a good album just by virtue of supporting the organization’s mission of delivering aid, education, mental health support, and protection to children in conflict zones, though I probably wouldn’t be writing about it in this capacity. But there’s something all the more poignant about everyone involved caring enough to make it a great one.
1. Arctic Monkeys, ‘Opening Night’
Is there an Alex Turner lyric that sums up Arctic Monkeys’ discography better than “Alternate realities sneak up on the sly”? It’s debatable. As the band’s first single in four years, ‘Opening Night’ is an event big enough to overshadow whatever the song had to offer. It’s strange, at this point, to get a glimpse into Turner’s surreal songwriting outside the context of a concept album, but there’s still a gravity to its dark atmosphere. If there’s truth to the rumour that it might be their last song, I can’t wait for the line “You’re a lonely little Hall of Famer” to be sung at the actual Rock Hall.
2. Damon Albarn, Kae Tempest, and Grian Chatten, ‘Flags’
Damon Albarn, Kae Tempest, and Giant Chatten trade coming-of-age memories over an arrangement – featuring Johnny Marr, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso, Dave Okumu, and Gorillaz bassist Seye Adele – that wonderfully cracks itself open. Tempest’s childlike naivety stands out as it meets Albarn’s predictably wistful chorus, like a pre-India visit outtake from Gorillaz’s recent The Mountain.
3. Black Country, New Road, ‘Strangers’
It’s not hard to trace a line from ‘Besties’ to ‘Strangers’ as Black Country, New Road lean into the twee sensibilities of last year’s Forever Howlong. But it beefs itself up with a cathartic outro as the narrator finds herself on the cusp of Hollywood success, “so close to leaving my procession behind.”
4. The Last Dinner Party, ‘Let’s do it again!’
Black Country, New Road and the Last Dinner Party’s contributions make so much sense side by side (in their current iterations, I can’t imagine riding for one group but not the other), with the latter glamming it up a bit more on ‘Let’s do it again!’. Its desperate plea for reconnection is punctuated by some especially piercing language: “Crying like butter churning/ Show me your body cut like a branch/ Dead flowers/ I’ll send them to you.”
5. Beth Gibbons, ‘Sunday Morning’
It’s easy to deliver a rote rendition of ‘Sunday Morning’ – the classic’s beautiful enough as is – but not for Beth Gibbons. The Portishead singer foregrounds its haunting nuances in a patient cover that sounds like she’s been humming it in the back of her mind most of her life, which I can relate to. Ford notably helped produce Gibbons’ 2024 solo album Lives Outgrown, which channels the same innocent maturity.
6. Arooj Aftab and Beck, ‘Lilac Wine’
The album smartly spaces out its intriguing collaborations, of which ‘Lilac Wine’ is the most enchanting. Aftab and Beck’s take on Jeff Buckley’s ‘Lilac Wine’ works in part because it allows Aftab to take center stage, and her covers never disappoint.
7. King Krule, ‘The 343 Loop’
By far the greatest oddity on the album, ‘The 343 Loop’ is also the first song on it that sounds more like a disparate outtake, a vibey instrumental in the vein of King Krule’s 2025 record A New Place 2 Drown.
8. Depeche Mode, ‘Universal Soldier’
Depeche Mode offer their take on the Highwaymen’s ‘Universal Soldier’, which might be the most chillingly pertinent cover on the album: “His orders come from far away, no more/ They come from here and there, and you and me/ And brothers, can’t you see?/ This is not the way we put an end to war.”
9. Ezra Collective and Greentea Peng, ‘Helicopters’
Dubby and hypnotic, ‘Helicopters’ wasn’t an obvious choice for a single, but perhaps it was chosen as one because it’s one of the album’s most overt protest songs. It’s also sneakily catchy, with a chorus that rises out of the smoke.
10. Arlo Parks, ‘Nothing I Could Hide’
Arlo Parks’ honest intimacy is a constant in her music but almost startling in the context of HELP(2), which only makes it more mesmerizing. There’s a bit of thematic alignment when she sings, “When we picture our daughters/ There is nothing I could hide from them,” a poignant reminder of children’s unyielding openness upholding our own.
11. English Teacher and Graham Coxon, ‘Parasite’
English Teacher and Blur member Graham Coxon (who plays a supporting role in several of the album’s tracks) retain the dreamy demeanor of the previous song, though singer Lily Fontaine’s more assertive vocals raise the momentum. “This occasion is crying,” she sings, tying back to the closing line on ‘Flags’: “I stitch a tear to my prayer and hold tight.”
12. beabadoobee, ‘Say Yes’
If Olivia Rodrigo can do a cover of Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs (more on that later), beabadoobee certainly earns this cover of an Elliott Smith song she clearly reveres. It’s lovely.
13. Big Thief, ‘Relive, Redie’
Big Thief have contributed to a fair share of charity compilations over the years, even releasing a benefit EP last year, so it’s no surprise they’re on here. It’s also not surprising, given their surely big vault of unreleased tracks, that ‘Relive, Redie’ is an older song dating back to 2020, though its conclusive bridge, “All I need is so simple,” could have been plucked from their most recent album. James Krivchenia and Dom Monks’ production spins out to imbue the song’s warm hues with richness.
14. Fontaines D.C., ‘Black Boys on Mopeds’
Sinéad O’Connor appeared on the original HELP album covering Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’, and today’s biggest Irish band carries the torch here with a doleful, stormy rendition of her song ‘Black Boys on Mopeds’. It starts off almost understated, letting the words sting – “I love my boy and that’s why I’m leaving/ I don’t want him to be aware that there’s any such thing as grieving” – before conjuring a string section that mirrors the chaos left behind.
15. Cameron Winter, ‘Warning’
Though not a single, ‘Warning’ is, for a certain kind of (annoying) indie fan (me), almost as big of an event as the Arctic Monkeys single. Swinging our attention from England to Fifth Avenue, it’s a foreboding, drumless (but certainly not percusionless – 2:22 for some real kooky shit) tune that peaks with the line, “There are plenty of people that I can very easily call who can come over here within an hour/ And do the work that must be done on your heart,” rivaling his “Doctor, doctor, heal yourself.” There’s Geese, of course, but as an actual collaboration with Ford, ‘Warning’ also acts as an interesting glimpse of Winter potentially working with a bigger producer on his post-Heavy Metal solo music. It’s certainly nothing to worry about.
16. Young Fathers, ‘Don’t Fight the Young’
Ramping up the pace is a frenetic, righteous tune from Young Fathers, as much of a freakout as ‘Warning’ but less abstruse about its message.
17. Pulp, ‘Begging for Change’
Pulp – who weren’t on the original album, but did donate the £25,000 they received for winning that year’s Mercury Music Prize to the charity – barge in with a more urgent rocker than anything on their latest album More. Damon Albarn, Chatten, Kae Tempest, and The Libertines’ Carl Barat all sing along to the chorus.
18. Sampha, ‘Naboo’
‘Naboo’ might have fit better during the album’s hazier middle-stretch, though it might have dragged it out a bit too long. Here, it serves as a welcome breather with a pretty memorable chorus: “Do we need to have a mansion just to feel we have a home?/ Do I have to have a kingdom, just to put you on a throne?”
19. Wet Leg, ‘Obvious’
As a fan of the more intimate songs on Wet Leg’s sophomore album, moisturizer, I’m glad they dug up ‘Obvious’, which nearly made it on their debut. Aside from rendering Ford a good candidate to produce their next record, it just goes to show that sweetness has always been part of their DNA.
20. Foals, ‘When the War Is Finally Done’
Perhaps no act’s relevance benefits more from its inclusion on HELP(2) than Foals, who haven’t put out new music in a while. Their ethereal, dramatic ballad is subtly textured, setting the stage for Bat for Lashes’ contribution.
21. Bat for Lashes, ‘Carried my girl’
Bat for Lashes’ work has been increasingly centered on motherhood, with her latest record, The Dream of Delphi, named after Natasha Khan’s daughter. ‘Carried my girl’ is a heart-wrenching elegy that finds her zooming out to wrestle with raising a child in a time when thousands die for nothing. “They’re all our babies,” delivered in Khan’s breathtaking voice, easily becomes one of the album’s most powerful refrains.
22. Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya, and Dove Ellis, ‘Sunday Light’
Anna Calvi brings together Nilüfer Yanya, Dove Ellis, and Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell (who’s also on the new Harry Styles album, if you can believe it) on ‘Sunday Light’, which almost sounds like an echo of ‘Sunday Morning’. Their voices blur together a little too much, until Rowsell’s stands out around the halfway point and beautifully commands the atmosphere.
23. Olivia Rodrigo, ‘Book of Love’
There’s no getting around the fact that Olivia Rodrigo is the only pop star on HELP (2), which means that Olivia Rodrigo is now on Bandcamp. But Olivia Rodrigo is not here simply to help War Child raise more money while making the album a little less tasteful. If Olivia Rodrigo was an upstart, I still can’t imagine having anything other than her cover – simple, stunning – of the Magnetic Fields’ ‘Book of Love’ close it out. Maybe because she’s the only pop star who wouldn’t oversell it. “The book of love has music in it/ In fact, that’s where music comes from,” she sings. “Some of it’s just transcendental/ Some of it’s just really dumb.” And some of it might have a chance of changing the world, just like that.
Netflix’s BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai is part of the long-running Baki franchise, one of the most popular martial arts franchises in the anime and manga world. No wonder fans are eager to catch up with the latest chapter.
The series amassed 3.4 million views in the last week and made the Top 10 in 51 countries. BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai is also the second most-watched non-English show on Netflix right now. Does that mean we should expect a follow-up?
BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai Season 2 Release Date
At the time of writing, there’s no official news about a potential BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai season 2. That said, the show premiered in late February, so Netflix may just wait a bit to assess viewership before making a decision other way.
As long as the platform gives the green light, new episodes could arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.
BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai Cast (English Dub)
Troy Baker as Baki Hanma
SungWon Cho as Musashi Miyamoto
Kirk Thornton as Yujiro Hanma
Matthew Yang King as Mitsunari Tokugawa
Kaiji Tang as Kaio Retsu
Andrew Russell as John Honer
What Is BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai About?
The martial arts anime is set in the brutal underground world of elite fighters and continues the story of Baki Hanma after his legendary battle with his father, Yujiro Hanma. With no rivals left capable of challenging them, Baki and the strongest warriors on Earth find themselves restless. They’re searching for a new test of strength.
Meanwhile, a secret scientific experiment resurrects the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi, one of Japan’s most feared warriors. Transported into the modern world, Musashi brings his unmatched swordsmanship and warrior spirit into a new era. As expected, he quickly becomes a terrifying threat to the underground fighting scene.
Musashi challenges the greatest martial artists of the present day, including Baki and other elite fighters. What follows is a clash between ancient swordsmanship and modern combat, with plenty of exciting battles along the way.
With beautiful animation and an intriguing story, the show is likely to appeal to viewers who like their anime action packed. If that’s you, BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai season 2 likely can’t come soon enough.
Are There Other Shows Like BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai?
Enjoying BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai? You might want to check out some of the other popular anime series streaming on Netflix.
A new season of Formula 1: Drive to Survive recently dropped on Netflix, and fans can’t get enough. With 2.7 million views over the past week, the show has made the Top 10 in 37 countries where the platform is available.
That isn’t much of a surprise given that the docuseries has been a hit since its debut. But do the solid viewership numbers mean that a follow-up is in the cards? Here’s what we know so far.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season 9 Release Date
At the time of writing, Netflix is keeping mum about a possible Formula 1: Drive to Survive season 9. Even so, chances that the show will continue look good. The platform sometimes waits a while before breaking the news either way.
Asked what the future has in store on a podcast, Formula 1’s director of media rights and broadcasting was optimistic.
“I think it would be foolish not to think about what comes next. I don’t believe when we started this journey that we expected to reach an eighth season. Probably a ninth, and it would be nice to get to the magical tenth. But we are definitely thinking about it,” he said.
As long as people keep tuning in, the show is likely to go on. In that case, new episodes will likely arrive in early 2027.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive Cast
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
Sergio Pérez
Kevin Magnussen
Daniel Ricciardo
What Is Formula 1: Drive to Survive About?
Ever since it premiered, Formula 1: Drive to Survive has played a major role in expanding Formula 1’s global audience. The docuseries makes the complex world of motorsport accessible for longtime fans and newbies alike.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it offers a behind-the-scenes look at each season of the FIA Formula One World Championship. With unprecedented access to the teams and drivers, it shines a spotlight on the strategic decisions and personal pressures that mark each race. Expect exclusive interviews, race footage, and dramatic moments captured off the track.
Season 8, now streaming on Netflix, chronicles the events of the 2025 Championship. If the show gets renewed, Formula 1: Drive to Survive season 9 will tackle the 2026 competition, currently warming up. We’re sure fans are looking forward to it.
Are There Other Shows Like Formula 1: Drive to Survive?
Jehnny Beth has teamed up with Faith No More’s Mike Patton, a big influence on her latest LP You Heartbreaker, You, for the new single ‘Look at Me’. Check it out below.
“When Johnny [Hostile] and I wrote ‘Look At Me’, we had this idea of a song in two parts,” Beth explained in a press release. “When Mike sent his vocals it was like choosing candy in a candy store, he had a million ideas, it was mind blowing.”
“It’s about the modern sellers of truth, who share their opinion online on how to ‘better oneself’, giving an illusion of control – but all they really want is to be the centre of attention,” Beth added. “‘Look At Me’ is a song about deceivers and the effect they have on those susceptible to the sinister luring of misleading ideology.”
Gucci Fall 2026 feels like a flashback forwards. The loud years made headlines. They also made money, the brand’s highest numbers, in fact. But Demna’s Gucci reads like a reset, a familiar one. At its most transformative, Gucci ran on clarity, and his study of ‘the Gucciness of Gucci’ implies he’s well aware, landing squarely in the Tom Ford era. Sexy was once simple, and simple rebuilt the balance sheet, which, as it turns out, is the sexiest thing of all, giving the brand room to scale into what it hadn’t yet become.
The show took place inside the darkened Palazzo delle Scintille, a former 1920s velodrome turned industrial arena, temporarily converted into something between a museum and a stage set. For the occasion, it was filled with plaster replicas of Uffizi statues, something like Gucci’s visual proof of its own ancestry. Renaissance bodies frozen in white, alongside Demi Moore, her alarmingly small dog, and Alessandro Michele, seated between Donatella Versace and Paris Hilton, watched a runway built on recalibration.
“Gucci is a brand, but it is also a shared cultural touchpoint that speaks to a wide variety of people, reflected in the range of archetypes, tastes, identities, and dress codes of Primavera: a palette of stylistic propositions for those the House already speaks to, and those I hope for it to speak to,” read the opening of the collection’s notes. The show opened with that same sense of palette cleansing, a seamless minidress in white hosiery fabric. Fluid tailoring, tracksuits, trousers that looked more like leggings, low-cut jackets, leather and lace, all followed.
The boys were all about T-shirts so tight you half-expected an artery to snap. Meanwhile, the girls could fund a small country with their sparkle. Amelia Gray in black, Emily Ratajkowski in silver, Alex Consani in gold, and Kate Moss in a backless dress that gave a good hint of her double-G G-string with 10-carats of diamonds. My personal favorite was six looks earlier, a high-collar, long-sleeve maxi embroidered in purple, green, and gold florals.
“Do you know what Gucci is? It’s not just a brand It’s a word we use to describe a certain state of mind. If you feel Gucci, it means you want to do stuff and be crazy and meet people and be, like, out there,” Demna’s 16-year-old cousin told him, Vogue shares. “I see Gucci as a person. Someone with a wild, unforgettable past and unmistakable codes. Someone fully aware of who they are. Yet restless, curious, hungry to evolve, to surprise, to be surprised, to challenge and to be challenged, to be respected, to be desired,” his show’s notes added, “It has become clear to me what my mission here really is. Above the product, Gucci is culture, it is a way of thinking and a way of being. Gucci needs to become a feeling. Gucci must become an adjective.” Seems like he got the memo, the slang too.
In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on March 6, 2026:
Harry Styles, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Harry Styles’ Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. has actually arrived. The follow-up to Harry’s House was executive produced by Kid Harpoon and features contributions from Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell and the Smile’s Tom Skinner, among many others. Mutedly paying homage to club culture, the album was previewed by the single ‘Aperture’, one of its more dynamic cuts. “The record for me is about how do I still have my experience while I’m playing it?” Styles told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe. “And that was what making the record was about for me. It was like, what music do I have to make for me to be on stage feeling like I’m in the middle of the dance floor? And it’s not like I was in the dance floor. But now I’ve made it, I actually have to separate my life again.”
“The human times have come and gone, we must accept our rule is done,” Will Oldham sings on ‘Scary Horses’, a highlight from his new Bonnie “Prince” Billy album, making it sound like a balm. The richly rendered follow-up to last year’s The Purple Bird was recorded at End of an Ear Studios in Louisville with his current tour mates Jacob Duncan and Thomas Deakin, along with Ryder McNair, Chris Bush, Ned Oldham, and Erin Hill. “This record was made closer to the Ohio River than any I’ve been involved with since 1993’s Palace Brothers There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You,” Oldham commented. “Louisville’s current-and-past vital musical community is highlighted on every song. Catherine Irwin, who sang on the BPB release Ease Down the Road, is back here on “Hey Little” and ‘Vietnam Sunshine’. Lacey Guthrie, Tory Fisher and Katie Peabody, the three front women of the band Duchess, sing together on the opening and closing songs, parallel odes to the beast that is fear.”
waterbaby’s debut album, Memory Be a Blade, is one of hushed and precious intimacy. Out now via Sub Pop, it was written and recorded in the singer-songwriter’s hometown of Stockholm, the south of Sweden, and Los Angeles with primary collaborator Marcus White. Adding a dreamy lushness to the record are violinist Oliva Lundberg, cellists Filip Lundberg and Kristina Winiarski, saxophonist Sebastian Mattebo, trombonist Hannes Falk Junestav, and flutist Pelle Westlin. “I took the mic not knowing what I’m about to do,” waterbaby remarked, “and that’s become the most honest outlet in my life.”
Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn, Fontaines D.C., Cameron Winter, the Last Dinner Party, and Big Thief are just a few of the artists appearing on HELP(2), the new War Child compilation helmed by James Ford. It arrives more than 30 years after the first, Brian Eno-cureated HELP album. “HELP(2) is more than an album,” Rich Clarke, Head of Music at War Child UK, said. “It’s a powerful example of what can happen when the music industry comes together around a shared purpose. It has united a diverse group of artists and creatives in support of War Child’s vital work with children affected by the devastating impacts of war. We are immensely grateful to all the artists and teams who have donated their voices, talent and time to support our mission to ensure that no child is caught up in conflict zones. We hope this record not only raises vital funds, but also awareness of the urgent need to turn compassion into action and do more to protect children living through war.”
Denzel Curry has a new crew, the Scythe, featuring Ferg, Bktherula, TiaCorine, and Key Nyata. Their fiery debut album, Strictly 4 the Scythe, marks the rapper’s first release since 2024’s King Of The Mischievous South, expanding his take on old-school regional rap (Memphis, Houston, Miami) while paying homage to the South’s musical legacy. “The Scythe is a family and a group,” Curry said in a statement. “We still have our respective solo careers but when we come together it’s The Scythe.”
Shabaka Hutchings has delivered the inaugural release on his new label Shabaka Records, Of the Earth. Inspired in part by D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar, the follow-up to 2024’s Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace is also marked by the Sons of Kemet and the Comet Is Coming alum’s transition from clarinet and saxophone to flute. “Brown Sugar was the first CD I bought and it sparked a lasting curiosity about the emotional possibilities allowed by the self produced and performed album,’ he explained. “This record is my celebration of freedom in creative self expression. Before the pandemic I could only play the clarinet and saxophone and knew nothing about music production (or how to play the flute), so this has been a journey of learning and a reflection on the music that’s been created as a result.”
VIAL keep amping up their sound with HELLHOUND, their latest record out on their own Trout Hole Records. Produced by Martin Cooke, the burnout follow-up retains the Minneapolis trio’s ferocious edge on singles like ‘CREEP SMOOTHIE’ while showcasing their theatrical tendencies, as on the closer ‘BLOOD RED’. It also features the previously released tracks ‘IDLE HANDS’ and ‘NEVER BEEN BETTER’.
Bory, Never Turns To Night; Mute Swan, Skin Slip; Yebba, Jean; Joshua Idehen, I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try; Nova One, how to kiss; Murkage Dave, Brut Thoughts; Gnarls Barkley, Atlanta; Mary Middlefield, Will You Take Me As I Am?; Gum, Blue Gum Way; Fletina, Terrow; Book of Churches, Book of Churches; Bosse-de-Nage, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest; Cobrah, Torn; Squeeze, Trixies; Caterina Schembri, a birch forest seen, imagined, and remembered.
If you’re planning to pre-order Pokémon Pokopia, get ready to spoil Ditto a little. Like any major Pokémon release, you can grab a bunch of pre-order bonuses, from the Ditto Rug for your in-game home to exclusive plushes, tote bags, and other goodies depending on where you place your order. Co-developed by Game Freak and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force, Pokémon Pokopia is a life simulation game for the Nintendo Switch 2 where you help a Ditto bring a lifeless world back to life by building habitats for different Pokémon, decorating spaces, and creating interactive environments.
Through crafting structures and tools, you can encourage Pokémon to settle in your world, teach Ditto new moves via interactions, and gradually expand and customize the surrounding environment. So, if you’re ready to jump in and start building, here are all Pokémon Pokopia pre-order bonuses and how you can grab them.
Pokémon Pokopia: Every Pre-Order Bonus Explained
Every pre-order of Pokémon Pokopia comes with an early purchase bonus Ditto Rug, an in-game decoration that lets you spruce up your Pokémon homes with a fun Ditto-themed flair. This bonus is available for both the physical and digital versions of the game and can be claimed through the Mystery Gift feature once you’ve played for around 30 minutes.
You’ll need your Nintendo Switch 2 connected to the internet and linked to a Nintendo Account; however, a paid Nintendo Switch Online subscription isn’t required. The Ditto Rug can also be earned through normal gameplay and must be redeemed by January 31, 2027. Beyond the Ditto Rug, different retailers are offering exclusive bonuses depending on where you pre-order.
Pokémon Center
Pre-ordering a physical copy of Pokémon Pokopia from the Pokémon Center website will give you the Ditto Sitting Cuties Plush, though availability is limited and items may be out of stock.
My Nintendo Store UK
Players in the UK can choose from a bundle on the My Nintendo Store, which includes a Ditto Reusable Mug, a Ditto Travel Bag, or a Pokopia Tote Bag, along with a digital copy of the game.
Amazon
If you pre-order from Amazon, you’ll receive the in-game flat-leaf plant decorative item, delivered via a download code sent by email. In Japan, Amazon pre-orders include both the flat-leaf plant and a wooden Ditto tray as an additional bonus.
Best Buy
If you grab a physical copy from Best Buy, you’ll receive a canvas tote bag featuring an illustration of the Kanto starters.
How to Claim Pokémon Pokopia Pre-Order Bonuses
Claiming Pokémon Pokopia pre-order bonuses is pretty easy. You can receive physical items either via home delivery or by picking them up at the store where you placed your order. On the other hand, in-game items can be claimed through the Mystery Gift feature, with the Ditto Rug claimed via the “Get via Internet” option and Amazon’s flat-leaf plant redeemed using the emailed download code.
Each bonus can only be claimed once, but no matter which store you choose, every pre-order comes with the Ditto Rug along with other goodies. And that does it for our Pokémon Pokopia pre-order bonus guide.
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, March 5, 2026.
Cass McCombs and Chris Cohen – ‘Steel Reserve’ and ‘Ignis Fatuus, Hinkypunk, Sharkfins and Ambergris’
Cass McCombs and longtime collaborator Chris Cohen have teamed up for a two-song 7″ single. ‘Steel Reserve’ is laidback and searching, while ‘Ignis Fatuus, Hinkypunk, Sharkfins and Ambergris’ is almost as fun as saying its title. “Chris composed the music, and I did the words,” McCombs said in a statement. “Our longtime friend and mutual collaborator Trevor Shimizu drew the artwork. Chris has weaved throughout my music over the years — he played guitar on my first LP, A, as well as on ‘County Line’, he co-produced Interior Live Oak, and he is a remarkable musician and songwriter. Both songs are somewhat cracked meditations on dignity. ‘Steel Reserve’ explores the bushes, hidden away. Public life has nothing to offer dignity. ‘Ignis Fatuus’ is a pirate’s treasure collected from an Earth stained with blood and madness — stolen from W.B. Yeats.”
Cohen added: “Cass and I go back to early 2000s Bay Area. I’ve always thought he was an amazing songwriter so I was very happy when he sent me lyrics. I took it as a dare, as the words were tricky and the forms unusual ones for songs, but I followed them exactly as they were. The music is my reaction to the words as I understood them. Also Cass is a killer guitar player so I had him come in and put some classical guitar on top of ‘Steel Reserve’. We both harmonize and trade verses on ‘Ignis Fatuus’ so it is our first proper duet.”
Anne Hathaway – ‘Burial’
Anne Hathaway plays a pop star in A24’s upcoming film Mother Mary, and she performs the songs on its soundtrack that were co-written by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX. Charli’s husband, the 1975’s George Daniel, also helped write and produce the new song ‘Burial’, which Hathaway sings in the trailer.
Rosa Walton – ‘Sorry Anyway’
A few months after Jenny Hollingworth released her debut solo album, the other half of Let’s Eat Grandma, Rosa Walton, has announced her own. Tell MeIt’s a Dream is led by the bright, soaring new single ‘Sorry Anyway’, which finds her singing, “If you want the lightning/ There’s gonna be thunderbolts and rain.” Walton explained: “This song is about not letting anyone hold you back, whether in a relationship or in chasing your ambitions. It’s about doing your own thing, embracing who you are, and not caring about fitting into boxes, and also trying to inspire others to have this attitude. We had fun making it – it’s the flippant, messiness that makes the song, and it was also the beginning of a new vocal style for me. I’m owning all parts of myself.”
Craig Wedren – ‘Nothing Bad’
Craig Wedren has announced The Dream Dreaming Deluxe, an expanded version of his 2024 album, due April 10 via his Tough Lover imprint. It features five unreleased tracks as well as 5-track acoustic EP. One of the bonus tracks, the whirring ‘Nothing Bad’, is out today. “In the spirit of telling a fuller (but never the whole) story – showing a little more leg, as it were – I’m sincerely excited to share The Dream Dreaming Deluxe,” W When I set out to make The Dream Dreaming,” Wedren shared. “I wanted to make a video for every song, collaborating with friends and directing/shooting/editing many of them myself. At a certain point, however, I just needed to put the thing out and move on, both creatively and life/work-wise, even though I’d only gotten about 3/4 of the way there with the visual side of things. With the deluxe release, I aim to finish the job and right all wrongs.”
Otracami – ‘Perfect Reach’
Otracami, the project of Brooklyn-based songwriter and composer Camila Ortiz, has shared a beautifully ornate single, ‘Perfect Reach’, from her upcoming album Runoff. “When it’s so dead of winter, things just need to play out in your head in a really full way,” Ortiz said of the song, which explores the feeling of being frozen in place. “Things feel so stuck that you start building out another dimension and playing things out there.”
Ronboy – ‘I Am Only Playing’
Julia Laws, the singer-songwriter and producer who records as Ronboy, has unveiled a cathartic new song called ‘I Am Only Playing’. She’s only been playing it live over recent tours, and she’ll have the chance to do so again on a run of dates supporting Matt Berninger. It’s taken from her forthcoming Get Rich EP. “I wanted to capture a parallel with the arc of the song and lyrics,” Ronboy said in a statement, “spinning and building into a sonic release of ‘I can’t keep my cool anymore.’”
Cowboy Hunters – ‘Shag Slags Not Flags’
Cowboy Hunters, the Glasgow-based outfit composed of Megan Pollock and Desmond Johnston, have released a wiry new single, ‘Shag Slags Not Flags, lifted from their forthcoming EP EPeepee. Here are some of its pretty funny lyrics: “Forty-three with a flag in her bio/ Said she hates blanks, but that is a typo/ The sexual frustration you could catch with your eyes closed / Lonely at night, so turn to a wino.”
Slow Crush – ‘Que Du Noir’ and ‘Hallowed’
Belgian shoegaze outfit Slow Crush have dropped two B-side singles from the sessions behind their album Thirst, ‘Que Du Noir’ and ‘Hallowed’. The first is especially striking. “”Que Du Noir’ is perhaps the darkest and most intense song we have ever written,” vocalist Isa Holliday remarked. “When it first took shape, I couldn’t make it through a single take without breaking down. Every time I sang the lyrics, I was overcome with emotion. It was born in Mykonos, Greece, during one of the warmest, most light drenchedweeks of my life. A striking contrast to the darkness it carries within.”
The Reds, Pinks and Purples – ‘Worthy of Love’
The Reds, Pinks and Purples have previewed their forthcoming LP Acknowledge Kindness with a lovely new song, ‘Worthy of Love’. “This album is probably about learning to live with your ghosts and trying to be alive in the present,” Glenn Donaldson commented. “There’s a certain kind of big sounding record I aspire to make, like California by American Music Club or 16-Lover’s Lane by The Go-Betweens, works that steer into the pain but become a transportational device for the listener.”
Our first Artist Spotlight of 2026 was with Jenny on Holiday, the solo project of Let’s Eat Grandma’s Jenny Hollingworth, around the release of her debut album Quicksand Heart. Her bandmate Rosa Walton sings backup on several of its songs, and in the interview, Hollingworth suggested she’d also contributed to Walton’s upcoming project, whose details have now been revealed. Tell MeIt’s a Dream will be released on June 5 via Transgressive Records, and its soaring first single, ‘Sorry Anyway’, is out today. Check it out below.
“The idea of doing a solo project was never about stepping away or doing something on my own for the sake of it”, Walton said in a press release. “It started as writing to process things and stay grounded, and it grew into something shaped by the people around me and the joy of making music together.”
About the new song, she added: “This song is about not letting anyone hold you back, whether in a relationship or in chasing your ambitions. It’s about doing your own thing, embracing who you are, and not caring about fitting into boxes, and also trying to inspire others to have this attitude. We had fun making it – it’s the flippant, messiness that makes the song, and it was also the beginning of a new vocal style for me. I’m owning all parts of myself.”
Walton co-produced Tell MeIt’s a Dream with David Wrench, who worked on the last two Let’s Eat Grandma records. (Hollingworth, on the other hand, enlisted Steph Marziano to produce Quicksand Heart.) It features contributions from guitarist John Victor, bassist Kam Khan, and drummer Elena Costa, while Hollingworth sings on ‘Prettier Things’.
“Tell Me It’s A Dream is about being ambitious and seeing enhanced beauty in the world,” Walton concluded. “It’s about striving for ultimate freedom. A lot of the attitude in these songs is about following your dreams – and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Tell Me It’s a Dream Cover Artwork:
Tell Me It’s a Dream Tracklist:
1. Heart To Heartbreak
2. Sorry Anyway
3. Taking The Roof Down
4. Wave Machine
5. When Will It All Reveal
6. Halfway Round The World
7. Prettier Things
8. July
9. Romance Is Dead On
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