release radar '26: april, part one

Holy shit, how is Q1 of 2026 already coming to an end?

I started this music blog to push myself to repair my damaged relationship with music - a journey which I've been on since the middle of 2023, after I noticed an alarming pattern in my Spotify usage that made me quit the app cold turkey. I wanted to go back to my roots: listening to whatever music I could find, document my discoveries and share it with the void in lieu of using a private journal.

I've tried out aoty and record.club, and I appreciate those apps for what they are, but dedicated music sites aren't as 'fun' to me as music blogging. There's no rankings here unless I decide I want to do them. I'm stoked by my commitment to this hobby, and so thankful to those of you who take your time to read it! It feels great to de-compress after work and spend a few minutes writing these posts. This month I think I hit around 5k words which is absolutely crazy!

In this issue: Static Dress featuring Underoath (crazy?!), Thundercat, Tiffany Day, Enter Shikari, Tiga, Olivia Rodrigo, Nine Inch Noize, Tokyo Shoegazer, Basement (again?!), Kehlani, all new Posh Isolation (and why you should close down your record label in order to continue making music together), and more!

Yeah. April is a big one, let's dive in.

Nostalgia Kills - Static Dress ft. Underoath

If you've followed me for at least a week then you've probably seen me ramble about how much I love Static Dress. They're seriously one of the best UK based alt-rock/post-hardcore/metalcore bands on the circuit right now, and they're finally gaining the traction they've always deserved.

But Static Dress featuring Underoath? What a full circle moment this one is. If you've never listened to Underoath before, They're Only Chasing Safety , Define The Great Line , and Disambiguation are excellent albums to start with if you want to give them a spin before listening to Nostalgia Kills, because their influence absolutely oozes through every second of this track.

Nostalgia Kills starts at high adrenaline from the get-go with a heavy momentum that keeps pushing forward. These riffs are fucking sick, bringing post-hardcore nostalgia into the modern era, elevating the genre in a way Static Dress are so ridiculously good at. They don't just sound like they're re-hashing the past, and all of that lies within their production.

I also love that Static Dress knew exactly what lifelong Underoath fans like myself asked the second we heard about Nostalgia Kills: will it include both Spencer and Aaron on vocals? Abso-fucking-lutely. Every vocalist on this song is giving it their all. Static Dress know their audience well and they never do things by halves. Nostalgia Kills is hands down the greatest Underoath feature in existence.

Static Dress will release their new album, Injury Episode on May 29th, just mere days after I see them open for Loathe (!!!) on their debut Australia tour. I cannot wait to hear the album now that the band has broken free from their shackles and now have a bigger budget and more creative control than ever before.

The trajectory this band is right now is absolutely nuts, and in my heart, they are the greatest modern rock band in the entire world.

Check out their self-directed music video below!

Halo - Tiffany Day

Check out Tiffany Day's new album, HALO, when you get the chance. Sound of the summer.

Seriously though? I'm really loving this resurgence in EDM-focused pop music with earnest lyricism. Day's sense of melody is incredibly strong and brings a rich, 'full' sounding scope to her music without losing the intimacy of her subject matter. You can dance to it, but you can also waste hours rotting away to it behind the computer screen in the solitary confines of your room.

I'm actually so shocked at some of the harsh words I've seen about Day's rise in popularity because her take on bedroom pop and electroclash is ridiculously fun, and her output so far reminds me of the era where artists like Uffie and Charli XCX uploaded bangers to myspace.

The sound of tomorrow & today is being pioneered by Tiffany Day and her contemporaries such as underscores, Jane Remover, Slayyyter, oklou and Ninajirachi, yet there are so many people who still aren't ready to accept that. The k-pop industry is, though. You'll probably see a collaboration with Yves in the not-so-distant future.

NO SKIPS!

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Distracted - Thundercat

Hoo boy, this was one of my top 5 most anticipated albums of the year, so going into this was a little bit intimidating.

Here's the thing about Thundercat: he is such an incredible musician that a decent, albeit slightly underwhelming, album by him is still leagues beyond what anyone else can create.

As much as it pains me to say it, Distracted doesn't match the height or brilliance of Drunk (and perhaps, even for a genius like Thundercat, that's a high bar to beat), but it's still a well-produced, consistent album with a perfect run-time that makes it easy to put on repeat for another hour or two.

Distracted has a more mellowed-out vibe to it than what I was initially expecting to hear. With that said, it's far from lacking in the groove department and packed with enough bass-slapping funk that really makes you admire how versatile a bass player can be, when given the opportunity to shine.

Thundercat's lyricism is deeply entwined with his odd-ball sense of humour; self-deprecating, insanely witty, and endearingly nerdy too; his ability to convey vulnerability through goofy lyrics paired with some of the frantic, complex basslines is something no one else can do.

Distracted is an emotionally scattered record. Thundercat grapples with expressing his vulnerability when it comes to love, grief and everyday monotony, all of which becomes more apparent upon subsequent listens. There's a lot more hidden anxiety and complexity beneath the surface of these songs that I'll need more time to explore - and that is exactly what I've been doing ever since this album came out. I've probably given this a spin at least twice a day ever since it came out, I can't get enough.

The stand-out track for me is Walking On The Moon, a soulful jazz song with breezy lyrics and a hint of melancholy that will make you feel like you're floating through space. As soon as I heard it, I knew this would be an instant classic in Thundercat's catalogue and the high praise for this song is incredibly justified.

Distracted is really solid jazz/neo-soul album that will age like fine wine, and I highly recommend it to anyone that wants something easy to wind-down to. I'm beyond excited to hear some of these new songs on the tour which is only three weeks away!

Lose Your Self - Enter Shikari

"Enter Shikari dropped a surprise album in 2026? Sure, what the hell." - me when I saw this turn up on my record club feed. As a former emo-kid-turned-semi-functioning-alternative-adult, it is my duty to see this one through because I wore the hell out of my limewire burned CD of Take To Your Skies in primary school.

The title track, LOSE YOUR SELF, opens the album with a nu-metal inspired sound, which took me by complete surprise. I'm not going to lie, that alone had me seated for the rest - I thought this album was enjoyable from the start. Lose Your Self is a conceptual album that prioritises cohesiveness over chart-friendly singles. This one is for the arts, folks.

Granted, haven't listened to Enter Shikari in over a decade, so I can't claim to know if their sound has evolved or stagnated, but I didn't go into this expecting them to like their twenty-something year old selves. Rou Reynolds' vocals sound bloody fantastic, it's almost like he hasn't aged a day in the studio.

Even after all these years, Enter Shikari refused to compromise their identity and have once again proved as much, with hard-hitting lyrics about political injustice, capitalism, climate change and health insurance.

Should we start calling Enter Shikari a Brit-pop band? Get in the comments.

Drop Dead - Olivia Rodrigo

GUTS had me in an absolute chokehold when it came out and I'm extremely curious about Olivia Rodrigo's venture into synthpop territory.

Drop Dead is super catchy and sweet! I thought the lyrics were really charming as well and would resonate a lot with her audience. I'm a huge fan of 80s music and synth-pop so I really have no complaints here, I'm all for seeing a different side to Olivia Rodrigo's musical inspirations.

I'm super keen for her new album since I've been kicking myself over the past year for missing out on her Guts tour. Hopefully the stars align for me to see her in the future as she's one of my favourites out of the current generation of fresh, young pop girls!

Hell For A Basement - drug bug

I tuned out of the indie-folk/slacker rock world for many years as the local market became so oversaturated and so few bands were reaching the same height and appeal for me as artists such as Sebadoh, Pavement (my goats), Modest Mouse, Devandra Banhart, early Mitski, MJ Lenderman, AJJ, just to name a few.

I've never listened to drug bug before, and I was floored upon my first listen. Hell For A Basement really blows so many indie releases out of the water, with instrumentation that sounds both clever and refreshing. I haven't yet embarked on a deep dive into the lyrics on this album, but I've enjoyed what I've heard so far.

Please check this one out and consider adding it to your next bandcamp Friday wishlist!

HOTLIFE - Tiga

Crispy drums and tasty synthesisers, with a dash of self-deprecating humour plastered all over the artist notes on the bandcamp page? Yep, that's a Tiga album for you, and no one blends acid house and electroclash quite like he does.

But does it live up to the decade long hype? I'm not sure yet.

Tiga's albums are always growers for me. They're always a lot more complex than what they initially seem. HOTLIFE doesn't beat around the bush though. Not a single featured artist here feels wasted as Tiga brings a highly curated selection of famliar faces including Boys Noize and Matthew Dear, with some fresh blood like FCUKERS, MRD and Maara for those who are truly 'in the know'.

As the title suggests, HOTLIFE is a fun, sexy, and energetic album that wants to get your blood pumping on the dancefloor. Friction, Cherry, and Ecstasy Surrounds Me were the stand-out tracks on this album for me. I also wasn't expecting to hear an INXS sample on Need You Tonight, but wow, that was a welcome surprise.

Tiga is a world-class DJ from the indie sleaze era who somehow remains quite niche in comparison to his peers. If you ever get the chance to see him perform a set, you'll see what I mean.

Nine Inch Noize - Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize

I'm an unapologetic live album enjoyer (I actually have a post sitting in my drafts about why that is!), and Nine Inch Noize sadly didn't bring this iconic tour to my country. Like many other fans who missed out, I'll take whatever I can get at this point, even if this isn't remotely the same as hearing it live.

Nine Inch Nails are one of top ten bands of all time and I've loved them my entire life, but I try to stay the fuck away from other NIN fans because I'm frankly exhausted by their constant doom and gloom over the lack of studio album.

Yeah, I'm a little exhausted by the sheer onslaught of Trenticus soundtracks, but I also don't go out of my way to listen to them, let alone force myself to watch movies that don't really interest me. But honestly, Nine Inch Noize is an impressive feat, and between this and the Tron: Ares soundtrack, Nine Inch Nails have 'still got it.

Unfortunately, Closer has been remixed to death at this point (by Trent himself, no less) that injecting it with that signature Boys Noize grit still doesn't do anything for me at this point. Honestly, I think my favourite remix will always be the the creepy Precursor version from the opening credits of David Fincher's Se7en.

On the other hand, Heresy is an outstanding track with sultry vocals by Filipino goddess herself, Mariqueen Maandig Reznor. The Warning was one of the better songs on Year Zero, and greatly benefitted from this remix; you could even call the line "so much potential, or so we used to say" a prophetic vision now. The new rendition of How To Destroy Angels' Parasite is pure filth, blending the aggression of 90s NIN with the technical finesse from their Hesitation Marks era.

What was it that Charli XCX said recently about bringing rock music back to the dancefloor? Well, I think Nine Inch Noize beat her to it there.

Bloom - Not For Radio

I wasn't expecting to hear new music from Not For Radio anytime soon, but this is a really cute dream-pop EP. I wonder if these were b-sides that didn't make the cut for Melt, or if they're new songs to tide us over until the next era. Either way, Maria's vocals are absolutely captivating and atmospheric, with Ache being the stand-out track for me.

Remains - Tokyo Shoegazer

Speaking of atmospheric vocals, you always know it'll be a good year for shoegaze fans whenever when Tokyo Shoegazer releases a new album. Kyoko Sahara has one of the greatest voices on the scene, and Remains contains some of her strongest performances to date.

Wisteria is such a jaw-droppingly beautiful song that absolutely explodes into something both haunting and melodic. The drums on this track are loud, in comparison to how they are typically compressed/subdued to blend with the rest of the band on most shoegaze songs.

Haze is an extraordinary wall of sound that balances a heavy soundscapes with light, yet bone-chilling vocals. I'd prefer to let the rest of the album speak for itself, but the closing track brings the album full circle, well and truly solidifying why this Tokyo Shoegazer's longevity is held in high regard.

If there is any noisy band who has managed to help heal the wound in my sick brain that Sonic Youth left behind (legends say I'm still recovering from the great Gordon-Moore divorce), I'd put Tokyo Shoegazer on that list. This is a band who really understands how to fill a room with their sound in a simplistic, yet enjoyable way.

Remains is some of the finest shoegaze you'll hear all year. No skips whatsoever. You can never go wrong with going into Tokyo Shoegazer album on a whim, so kick back and relax to this one.

Something Good / Contrails - oqbqbo & Scandinavian Star

It's always a good time when there's a new release from artists in the Posh Isolation sphere! I think I'm finally understanding why Loke Rahbek and Christian Stadsgaard let the sun set on their cult indie record label .

Over the past year, their artists remain just as busy as ever, collaborating with each other in different forms, whether that means DJ sets across Europe, releasing new music, or performance art...they appear to be more liberated than ever before, with no real structures in place. Just good, old-fashioned, heartfelt collaboration between people who love each other.

oqbqbo & Scandinavian Star (Malthe Fischer from Lust for Youth) are one of my favourite electronic music duos out there right now. Fischer is a ridiculously talented producer, yet he remains so relatively unknown. I'm not sure how else to describe how they make such cold music feel like a tender embrace, but love and community defines everything they touch, and their music is incredibly poignant.

If you're interested in ambient soundscapes, icy synths, elegiac choral pads, and samples of field recordings, then I couldn't recommend oqbqbo & Scandinavian Star's catalogue enough; such elements are key features of Scandinavian Star's production, but oqbqbo brings a a touch of playful warmth to his atmospheric soundscapes.

It's also my duty to humbly recommend checking out Loke Rahbekh's solo project, Croatian Amor , if you love this type of electronic music that adds a dash of spoken-word poetry and strange samples that turn the mundane into something otherworldly.

And of course, the best lo-fi avante-garde solo project turned eurotwink post-punk meets euro-pop trio turned dance-pop duo band in the entire world Lust for Youth , for more of that signature Scandinavian Star production.

Fidelity - yaya bey

Fucked around and found out as yaya bey said - this is the first album of hers that I've listened to and I thought it was charming! Fidelity contains a mixture of r&b, neo-soul, jazz hip hop, and d&b. Her supple vocal style might not work for those who prefer less vocal experimentation in favour of stronger, vocally-forward r&b. The airy, almost off-beat quality to Bey's singing helps distinguish her from other artists, allowing more focus on the instruments.

I'd recommend this as easy listening to anyone looking for something to unwind to in the evening.

A Matter Of Time: The Final Hour - Laufey

This is a deluxe edition re-release of Laufey's incredible 2025 album, A Matter Of Time, adding five new songs, each of them showcasing the utter brilliance of Laufey's songwriting abilities.

Madwoman is such a funky, theatrical, bosso nova/jazz-pop track that reminds me so much if IU's Modern Times era with an incredible instrumental break that really was the cherry on the top for this song.

But there's something about the utter despair throughout I’ll Forget About You (In Time) that really broke me, so much that I couldn't put it into words, and is some of Laufey's finest work to date.

Head Alight - Basement

When the hell did Basement manage to find the time to crank out all these music videos whilst they were on tour?! I also wasn't expecting them to release four singles with music videos in such rapid succession, but they really weren't playing when they said they're finally back!

Head Alight has all of the elements of a Basement song - catchy hooks and vulnerable lyrics - but it is quite surprising how romantic this song initially feels. Basement are no strangers to songs about yearning just as any other band from the emo wave of that post-hardcore, post-grunge/alternative rock movement.

I recently read an interview where vocalist Andrew Fisher, recently explained that Head Alight was in fact, originally a love song, but the rest of the band offered a different perspective, interpreting it as “a more universal look at the idea of someone’s soul or essence being so powerful and beautiful you can’t look away."

The new album, WIRED, is out on May 8, and I could not be happier. This is the best time in the world to be a long-term Basement fan, and I hope this brings them a new wave of fans to come.

Your Favorite Toy - Foo Fighters

At some point you just have to ask yourself if the foo will finally fight back?!

Well-oiled mediocrity, I'm not sure what else people expected. It's a Foo Fighters album, nothing more, nothing less. It works for those who love this style of commercial rock.

May I please have a brand new Them Crooked Vultures album before it's too late...?

Kehlani - Kehlani

Whew, what an incredibly stacked list of collaborators! This album is a love letter to 00s contemporary r&b, and includes one of Kehlani's best songs, folded. It started out strong for me, but sadly I felt increasingly underwhelmed and eventually bored as it stretched on.

I wish I could jump on the hype train for this, but I don't enjoy it as much as I do her previous work. Kehlani's voice is outstanding, there's no denying that, but for an hour long record, I was hoping for some bolder, more experimental tracks to help keep me engaged.

Favourite tracks: folded, Back and Forth (ft. Missy Elliott), Cruise Control.

Revenant (ft. NOWHERE2RUN)- Loathe

This is song is so fucking filthy that I dont even know where to begin with it? For so many years I've felt a little frustrated or bored with how ubiquitous a lot of the popular metalcore bands sound but this gave me so much hope in the genre.

I mean, a Loathe track featuring members of Code Orange? Yeah, that's an absolutely nasty combination. I love how noisy and absolutely deep-fried this sounds, with the vocals buried so heavily under the instruments.

I wonder what the rest of the album will sound like, or if they traded clearer production for more a more distorted, experimental sound. Either way, I'm all here for it.

...hospice - Static Dress

And we're bookending the April with another Static Dress single, and this is the band at their finest My Statical Romance. This is straight up an emo rock-ballad, and I am completely here for it.

'...hospice' marks a huge sonic departure for the band, trading breakdowns for emotional intensity. Even though I utterly adored their previous singles,'Nostalgia Kills' and 'human props', this song really blew me away because it is so unlike their previous material.

I've said for years that Static Dress are going to be THE number one UK band to watch, and their upwards trajectory over the past year only confirms it for me. This band is constantly evolving and moving against the grain

I also highly recommend this recent interview with Kerrang! which really dives into their mindset as a band, how they promote their music in a world that heavily favours the algorithm, and their inspirations behind the record. Olli Appleyard remains one of the most refreshing frontmen on the scene in a long, long time.

Static Dress: “I want us to be the ultimate escapism band”

As Static Dress unveil their long-awaited new album Injury Episode, in the world-exclusive first interview, mainman Olli Appleyard meets Kerrang! for a…

This is such an exciting time for me as someone who has supported this band since day one. I'm finally seeing them live for the first time ever on their debut Australia tour supporting Loathe. I'm in the final stages of preparing my present for them - a compilation of fanart I've made over the last few years - and also buy out their merch store.

I can't wait to write about the show, because I can't help but feel the next time they visit here they'll be playing a much bigger venue, and there's always something special about seeing a band on the brink of breakout success at a small intimate venue with only a handful of fans.

Coming up in part two...

Philosophical debates such as 'does anyone know if we still have k-pop tomorrow?' and 'to nugu or not nugu?', waxing poetic about Taemchella, the epic highs and lows of Neo Culture Technology, and all-new Yves, T.O.P, AKMU, XNGHAN&XOUL, ILLIT and more!

See you soon!