BTS to Mitski: Best new music this quarter

Editor’s note: Bono and gang are still rocking out, taking shots at autocrats and despots across the world. K-Pop fans rejoice; the Bangtan Boys are back in town after a military-enforced hiatus. Will Kanye (sorry, “Ye”) find his mojo again now that he’s renounced Nazism? Bangla rock pioneers Fossils going as strong as ever, while singer-songwriter Mitski is back in form. Maybe weird, shrieking guitar feedback sludge by a couple of weirdos playing in haunting darkness, is more your pace? Or some dancey dhik-chik by Bruno Mars?

All that and so much more in this, our roundup of all the essential and inessential music releases—new and upcoming—from the first quarter of 2026, along with a special playlist for you.

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Tragic Magic by Mary Lattimore and Julianna Barwick

January 16

Float inside a cloud and fly away with this angelic new record as company. Mary Lattimore’s fragile plucks of the harp lay the background to the gentle, dreamy vocal melodies of Julianna Barwick, soaked in reverb and warmth. Hope and a sense of wandering whimsy underpin this tender debut collaboration, a great escape from all the despair around us.  

Don’t Be Dumb by ASAP Rocky

January 16 

Mr. Rihanna himself—rapper ASAP Rocky—released his fourth studio record earlier this year after a fairly long absence. It’s a collab-heavy record that, while inconsistent and a bit padded at times—has plenty to offer. It has its lazy moments, per The Guardian, but retains a sense of flair and charisma you’d associate with ASAP Rocky. “…it feels brash and fleet-footed, excising Testing’s ponderous avant garde samples and experiments with singing, and reigniting some of the fiery, shit-stirrer attitude that animated Rocky’s 2013 major-label debut, Long.Live.A$AP.”

BUCK WILD by Karshni

January 28 

Pune-based Karshni’s debut album exists in a haunting, almost anxiety-inducing space, attacking its subject. The music is dynamic and instinctual, incorporating uncomfortable, sometimes even jarring sounds, to build a disorienting sonic experience. It’s loud, it’s soft, it’s confrontational, it’s angry, it’s intentional. 

Fossils 7 by Fossils

February 13

Kolkata’s hard rock pioneers Fossils released their seventh record this February, titled Fossils 7, to incredible success. The Bangla band—with an irresistible knack for anthemic choruses and finely arranged rock ’n’ roll—have been around since the late ’90s, persevering through the changing landscape of non-film music in India, and remain as hard-hitting as ever.

Prizefighter by Mumford & Sons

February 20

Some good old family-friendly folk rock by, for better or worse, the masters of the craft. Mumford & Sons, critically lauded and ceremonially mocked, have continued to stomp, clap, and strum that damn guitar with a purpose. Prizefighter, released this February, has received largely positive reviews for its insistence on earnest self-expression. As The Independent wrote:

Though there have been times when critics have tired of Mumford & Son’s big, fraternal hug schtick, there’s no doubting their sincerity. And in these troubled times, it feels like a fool’s luxury to choose cynicism over their tuneful vulnerability and endorsement of united humanity.

Days of Ash by U2

February 20

Bono’s angry again. And why wouldn’t he be? In February, the Irish rockers released a sharp, politically and emotionally charged EP featuring five songs and a poem by Yehuda Amichai. Days of Ash, their first release since 2017’s Songs of Experience, sees the band collaborate with Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia as well as Ed Sheeran, as Bono directs his ire at all manner of ongoing geopolitical nonsense. The songs focus on high profile killings across the world. He commemorates in song: Renee Good, mother of three killed by ICE; Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, killed by an Israeli settler in 2025; 16-year-old Iranian protester Sarina Esmailzadeh, allegedly killed by Iranian security forces. The band does have a longer, rather more hopeful record in the works. But, as Bono said:

These EP tracks couldn’t wait; these songs were impatient to be out in the world. They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation. […] because for all the awfulness we see normalized daily on our small screens, there’s nothing normal about these mad and maddening times and we need to stand up to them before we can go back to having faith in the future. And each other.

Nothing's About to Happen to Me by Mitski

February 27

A contrast to her last album, This Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, beloved singer-songwriter Mitski’s eighth album is everything a fan would love about her music—and more. The record combines her alternative tendencies with her Americana style, leaning into the theatrical and the imaginative. To no one’s surprise, the lyricism is poetic and moving, and the music swells and swoops, keeping the listener nodding along—and sometimes even staring into the distance and shedding a tear.

The Romantic by Bruno Mars

February 27

Time to take things to the dancefloor and break into a jig of some sort, with The Romantic, the first release in a decade by pop sensation Bruno Mars (of, among others, ‘Uptown Funk’ fame). The music is appropriately bouncy, a serviceable pastiche of all the pop music Mars is inspired by and paying tribute to. Pitchfork called it “risk averse”, stating: “…his genre parroting comes off more as wedding reception slop than an exciting comeback.” Oof. But also:

The benefit of every Mars album is that it goes down smooth; it’s algorithm-friendly, easy listening that neither overstays its welcome nor feels like a burden when it pops up on every pre-made Spotify playlist. Mars’ voice also remains pitch-perfect.

The Mountain by Gorillaz

February 27

For those not in the know, the central conceit of Gorillaz is that they are a “virtual band” comprising four fictional members up to no good. Brit-rock icon Damon Albarn is the musical brains of this much loved project, which he started with artist Jamie Hewlett back in ’98. The Mountain (parvat in Hindi, styled on the album cover in Devanagari script) has a whole lot of India in it; it was recorded here, it features Hindi language in the album, the music draws from Indian classical traditions. Anoushka Shankar is on it, as are Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash and Ajay Prasanna. Rolling Stone India has the full scoop:

Visually, the Gorillaz gets even more colorful and immersed in Indian motifs, from Russel dressed like a member of the Hindu Jea Band Jaipur and Murdoc levitating like an ascetic on the river ghat, to song titles being translated into Hindi and written in the Devnagari script while being released as singles. In another promo shot, there’s a multi-headed figure looming over the band.

Deadline by Blackpink

February 27

After a brief break for the members to head off on solo adventures—which only made their star rise—K-Pop stars BLACKPINK returned to regular programming this February with a short, five-song EP called Deadline. There’s a departure here from standard K-Pop tropes here, signalling the shift in the sound of this now global pop genre. Pitchfork wrote of Deadline: ”By abandoning K-pop in ways that their generational peers (and successors) have not, and opting to cycle into the proverbial Western pop machine, BLACKPINK position themselves far away from the group they once were.”

Make-Up Is a Lie by Morissey

March 6

With the glory days of the Smiths long behind him, and a public image that has taken quite the beating over the past few decades, Morissey’s cultural cache has, let’s say, dwindled somewhat. The man was a hero to the misfits and outliers of society; through a steady stream of invective, embracing the very worst kinds of bigotries around, he has set about shredding every bit of his legacy. But perhaps the music still retains the voice that charmed an entire generation? We’re not holding our breath, honestly. “It’s rife with boring instrumentals and clunky lyrics that indulge Morrissey at his most frustratingly gauche,” writes Paste Magazine. But perhaps there’s still some nostalgia to be mined here, on his 14th solo record.  

No Signal by Dolorblind

March 6

Desi composer and producer Dolorblind has a new EP out, called No Signal, where he deals in the currency of nostalgic attachment and his relationship with technology. Easygoing rhythms lay down the foundation for swirling melodies that have a familiarity, a kind of recall value to them, as Dolorblind plays around with genre and sound with a gentle restraint.

Trying Times by James Blake

March 13

Trying Times is, in James Blake’s own words, “a commentary on the relentlessness of modern life”; we can relate, Mr. Blake. The British producer and composer’s music resides in that sweet spot where it’s involved, often swivelling, but never obstructive, blending his sensitive falsetto and R&B-infused delivery with sparse beats and ambient textures. For the lead single, ‘Death of Love’, he’s worked with London Welsh Male Voice Choir, and put out a strangely hypnotic video.

Play Me by Kim Gordon

March 13

Kim Gordon’s second act in rock ’n’ roll, after Sonic Youth disbanded over a decade ago, has been richly rewarding for fans of the art rock trailblazer. Play Me, her third solo record, has Gordon once again placing rhythm front and centre, with her trademark raspy vocals adding a sense of mystery and purpose to the music. In her words: “We wanted to do it really fast. It’s more focused, and maybe more confident.  I always kind of work off of rhythms, and I knew I wanted it to be even more beat-oriented than the last one.”

Arirang by BTS

March 20

Mark your calendars, dear friends, for the Bangtan Boys are back in business. Their 10th studio album (and their sixth one entirely in Korean), Arirang, releases on March 20, and it’s bound to bring with it a massive storm courtesy the loyal and committed ARMY and just the general air of excitement and optimism that runs through the K-Pop world. This is their first release in three years—a lifetime in idol years, but BTS aren’t your regular idols, are they?—following a hiatus the band took so that the members could complete their compulsory military service. They’ve just released the list of 14 songs to be featured on the record, which is a sort of retelling of their story till date, from their debut in 2013 to global superstardom to now, their 10th chapter.

Creature of Habit by Courtney Barnett

March 27 

Aussie sing-talk extraordinaire Courtney Barnett, with her whimsical stream of consciousness delivery hovering over curiously magnetic melodies, returns to action with Creature of Habit, her new record. She moved to Joshua Tree in the US and pretty much drowned herself in the desert for this album: “It nearly drove me mad. But now I love this album. I love the songs. I really love how it all sounds. And that is a very good feeling: that there’s not even a little regret on there.”

Bully by Ye 

March 27

Former Nazi Ye (and formerly known as Kanye West) has (yet again) set a release date for his long in the works record Bully. In January, Ye declared—in a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal—that he is neither a Nazi nor an antisemite, apologising for the hateful comments he’d made about Jewish people in the past. It’s been a turbulent decade or so for the rapper who, while phenomenally gifted at his craft, has really been stretching the art vs. artist dilemma to its limits with his frequent, obnoxious outbursts, messy politics, and sporadic hate speech. Bully, which releases on March 27 (at the time of writing), has been delayed several times, with multiple songs from the record having already been released across two Eps and a short film directed by him. He’s also scheduled to perform for the first time in India, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on March 29. 

Sunn O))) by Sunn O)))

April 3

Things are about to get weird and uncomfortable. Sunn O))), the American drone/doom/dark ambient/mental/noise/something duo, release their 10th album in April this year. It’s their first on the renowned Seattle label Sub Pop. The album was recorded in a converted barn in a forest, and features—alongside loads of shrieking and shivering guitar sludge, synths, and bass—a lot of field recordings from the recording process. And while the band’s music can, on the surface, feel unnerving and impenetrable, there is an undeniable sense of euphoria underneath all the guitar fuzz.

Kammerkonzert by Squarepusher

April 10

It’s hard not to shiver vigorously to Squarepusher; it’s primal, physical music. The blip-bloopy rhythms that glitch out every few beats, the slick as all hell basslines that loom large over each song, the tightly knit production. The frantic shaking to the beat is inevitable. The new album, Kammerkonzert, is set to release on April 10 via pioneering alt-electronic label Warp. 

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Listen to the playlist of all these new releases here.