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 Wednesday, January 14, 2026.

Kim Gordon – ‘NOT TODAY’

Sonic Youth co-leader Kim Gordon has announced a new album, PLAY ME. It finds her reuniting with Justin Raisen, and the new single ‘NOT TODAY’ pairs a krautrock beat with the crystalline vulnerability of Gordon’s voice – a palpable shift from her last two solo efforts.

Flea – ‘Traffic Lights’ [feat. Thom Yorke]

Flea has reunited with his Atoms for Peace bandmate Thom Yorke on ‘Traffic Lights’, a warm, flickering jam from his upcoming album Honora. “Deantoni and I played what became ‘Traffic Lights’ the first day,” Flea explained. “Something about it reminded me of Atoms for Peace, so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did. With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the ‘upside down’ and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherf*cker.”

WU LYF – ‘Tib St. Tabernacle’

Following their return to the stage last year, WU LYF  are back with a new single, the 11-minute epic ‘Tib St. Tabernacle’. The first taste of new music from the band, the mesmerizing track was by Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3) and conceived during informal sessions above a book shop on Manchester’s Tib Street.

Danny L Harle – Raft in the Sea [feat. Julia Michaels]

Danny L Harle has teamed up with Julia Michaels for ‘Raft in the Sea’, an intimate yet pulsating preview of his debut album Cerulean. “I was incredibly honoured to work with Julia – she does not need to do anything for anyone,” Harle said of the collaboration. “I initially met her during a Dua Lipa session, and my jaw literally dropped when I heard her sing this idea in the room. I heard something in her voice that I’d not heard in her own music. In a similar way to working with MNEK, I wanted to bring out the rawness and melancholy of her voice. When we were making this song, I asked her, ‘Can you just be sad?’ And she said, ‘For you Danny, I will.’” Her performance is just incredible.”

Crooked Fingers – ‘Haunted’ [feat. Sharon Van Etten]

Crooked Fingers have tapped Sharon Van Etten for a soaring new single, ‘Haunted’, which is taken from their forthcoming album Swet Deth. “This summer after returning from tour, I was ready to take a breath and focus on family – but then an email appeared in my inbox from legendary Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers,” Sharon Van Etten commented. “Taking a breath I clicked on it and when I heard the song I knew I needed to make time for it. He commiserated with the work / life balance and was patient as I tried to find my voice in his song. Recording remotely is a blessing and a curse. I can work in my own time in my own space, but it takes a certain magic to sing with someone and being in the room is preferred to meet eye to eye… however, I closed my eyes and did take after take and sent him a few ideas, and I let him roll with whatever he preferred – and he made something quite special. I hope you all enjoy it. I am honoured to play a part in this release.”

E L U C I D & Sebb Bash – First Light [feat. MATTIE]

ELUCID, one half of Armand Hammer, has teamed up with producer Sebb Bash for a new LP, I Guess U Had to Be There, arriving March 13. Led by the hauntingly minimal, MATTIE-assisted ‘First Light’, the album features contributions from Breezly Brewin, Estee Nack, and Shabaka Hutchings.

Shabaka – ‘A Future Untold’ and ‘Marwa The Mountain’

Shabaka Hutchings has detailed a new album, Of the Earth, which is due for release on March 6. Along with the announcement, the London jazz luminary has unveiled two tracks, the meditative ‘A Future Untold’ and the busier ‘Marwa The Mountain’. “D’angelo’s 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,” Hutchings shared in a statement. “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.”

Ratboys – ‘The World, So Madly’

There’s countless songs about what a mad, wild world we live in. But living “in the world so madly,” as Ratboys’ Julia Steiner puts it on the band’s new single? That’s a fun poetic twist. ‘The World, So Madly’ is taken from their forthcoming LP Singin’ to an Empty Chair. “Looking back at my voice memos, I recorded the original idea for this song on January 1st, 2023,” Steiner recalled, “and it feels like a song of new beginnings: we recorded it almost entirely in the morning throughout the sessions, and the lyrics focus on making peace with big life changes, and really with the ever-changing nature of life in general. I was thinking a lot about certain events unfolding in the news at the time, but I wanted to keep the lyrics open, so that anyone can listen and find their life in the song.”

waterbaby – ‘Memory Be a Blade’

waterbaby has announced her debut full-length, Memory Be a Blade, out March 6 on Sub Pop, sharing the lovely title track along with the news. It reminds me of Sling-era Clairo, but the interwining strings and piano, along with waterbaby’s voice, swim in their own delicate world. Violinist Oliva Lundberg, cellists Filip Lundberg and Kristina Winiarski, saxophonist Sebastian Mattebo, and trombonist Hannes Falk Junestav contributed to the record. “Many of the songs came to mean very different things than what I had thought when writing them in the first place,” waterbaby recalled.

Cut Worms – ‘Windows on the World’

Cut Worms, the project of Max Clarke, has announced a new LP, Transmitter, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy at Wilco’s Loft studio. It’s slated for release on March 13. The breezy new single ‘Windows on the World,’ features Tweedy on electric guitars and bass and Glenn Kotche on percussion. “The stories in these songs are equal parts innocence and experience—dealing with the ecstatic moments of being freshly enamored with the world as well as the isolation and seclusion that can come after,” Clarke commented. “On view are the unseen inner sanctums of quiet daily life—the private worlds that people inhabit, where they don’t or can’t let anyone else in. It is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but it does seem prevalent here, rooted in the mythos of rugged individualism and the idea that each person must be strong enough to make it on their own or die.”

Beverly Glenn-Copeland & Elizabeth Copeland – ‘Harbour (At Hotel2Tango)’

Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Elizabeth Copeland have released a heartwarming new single, ‘Harbour (At Hotel2Tango)’. It’s a duet reworking of Glenn-Copeland’s 2023 track for their forthcoming record Laughter in Summer, and it’s accompanied by a live video capturing a sold-out performance at London’s Hackney Empire in October 2025.

Tōth – ‘Easy’

Tōth – Alex Toth of Rubblebucket – has previewed the forthcoming And the Voice Said with an anthemic new single, ‘Easy’, whose video features Mei Semones. “This song is an homage to overcoming self hatred,” Toth explained. “It’s maybe the simplest and most punk Tōth song I’ve ever released and it almost didn’t make the record. But Caroline [Rose] was like ‘are you kidding me this HAS to be on the album!’ When I was recording this in my apartment and screaming, ‘I’m easy’ at the top of my lungs, my neighbor knocked on the door to make sure I was ok.”

Ulrika Spacek – ‘Picto’

Ulrika Spacek’s restless new single, ‘Picto’, is the final offering from their forthcoming album EXPO.“There is no better way to describe the process other than fun,” the band shared of the process behind it. “It felt great to be working as a collective again and ultimately the music we were making felt fresh. There was a lot of optimism about what music we would make after working on this song and lyrically it celebrates making art as a collective as opposed to constant individual expression.”

Cashier – ‘Like I Do’

Lafayette, Los Angeles band Cashier have signed to Julia’s War Recordings, marking the announcement with a propulsive new single, ‘Like I Do’, from their debut EP The Weight. “This one is more of a piece of generic rock,” bandleader Kylie Gaspard commented. “We kind of wanted to make our own version of that sound. The lyrics are very simple, just about two people figuring each other out, what feels right when you’re unsure of a scenario, and navigating another person’s energy.”

spill tab – ‘Suckerrr’

spill tab is back with a slinky new single called ‘Suckerrr’, which is, in her words, “about being completely crazy about someone who seems not to care (</3) but knows you’re obsessed and loves playing that game… And for some reason, you keep going back to it… :////”

Dirt Buyer – ‘Bulls**t F**k’

Dirt Buyer has shared another blistering, dreamy cut off Dirt Buyer III. “It’s really angry,” Joe Sutkowski said. “It’s about feeling like a square peg. And dealing with trauma—it’s the angry part of processing feelings.”

Plantoid – ‘Ultivatum Cultivation’

Plantoid have shared ‘Ultivatum Cultivation’, a jittery offering from their upcoming LP FLARE. It arrives with a psychedelic video shot by Natalie Kerr in the British countryside.

Lucy Rose – ‘Scared of Loving Wild Again’

Lucy Rose’s heartfelt new single, ‘Scared of Loving Wild Again’, was written in collaboration with Leif Vollebekk and songwriter/producer Gabe Simon, and inspired by words of encouragement from girl in red and Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett. “At a time in my life where I felt so unsure of how I was going to write music again,” she reflected, “or be brave enough to feel again, a group of kind and hugely talented musicians, kicked my arse into gear and gave me the reinforcement I needed to not only write ‘Scaring of Loving Wild Again’, but to feel like I could write another record which I have already started work on.”

Tanya Tagaq – ‘Foxtrot’

Tanya Tagaq has announced her new album, Saputjiji – out March 6 – with an unsettling single featuring vocals by Damian Abraham (Fucked Up). The record also features contributions from Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), Kevin Hearn (keys/synths), Patrick O’Reilly (electric guitar), and Celina Kalluk (vocals).

Isabel Pine – ‘Wolves’ and ‘A Flickering Light’

Isabel Pine, kranky’s newest signing, has announced a new album, Fables, to be released on February 27. Two tenderly enveloping pieces from the project, ‘Wolves’ and ‘A Flickering Light’, are out now. Pine began recording at home using a basic audio setup along with a cello, viola, violin, and double bass, as well as making field recordings of natural sounds in British Columbia. She then decided to move into nature to record, curious about “how it would sound if I recorded outside entirely, with the natural reverb and sounds of the environment in the recording from the very beginning. The rustling of the leaves or a raven’s beating wings were as integral to the music as whatever I played.”