Kelela made a future classic with 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘳, read our Must Hear review

This week we've got a "Drunk in Love"-era throwback from the queen, the newest signee to one of the world's coolest labels, "a list of problems longer than The Irishman," and more. www.hearingthings.co/post-punk-wi...

Cain Culto may well be a generational artist, and we’re lucky just to hear him get there.

Malesa’s new album is like a nightmare you can’t shake, treacherous and seductive and primal in its madness

In the latest installment of our music theory column In Theory, Horse Lords talk about polyrhythm, just intonation, and conveying liberatory politics through sound

On the Hearing Things podcast, we dig into new music from Phoebe Bridgers and Tierra Whack, plus a head-scratcher from a controversial former Love Island cast member

For the latest edition of our Words Matter series, we spoke to rapper-producer, model, and skateboarder Navy Blue about how songs by Vashti Bunyan, Broadcast, and Ka inspired his latest album, the searingly reflective Sir Render

From Olivia Rodrigo's overly polished third studio album to IDK's trite suburban trap to Slayyyter's too-little-too-late copy/paste of indie sleaze, these are the Hearing Things staff's picks for the most overrated albums of 2026 (so far)

1010Benja's wild new song exists on the vast musical spectrum between human and AI, a valley of sound we’re just beginning to explore www.hearingthings.co/is-there-a-d...

"I refuse to use AI. I don’t want its sweaty little hands all over creative work. Art is an expression of being human that’s transcendent and complex, and the dumbification of that is the last straw for me. That and robot dogs."

Though 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵 is often challenging, it’s never aggro or willfully obtuse; the prevailing mood is communal optimism, a feeling I’ll take wherever I can get it these days

Seeing Catholic symbols recontextualized through Rosalía, a true artist with a goal of elevating women who are often marginalized within organized religion, was uplifting—its own kind of syncreticism within my cobbled-together, agnostic belief system

At 32 years old, New York rap staple Wiki is entering a new era. We caught up with him in Seward Park to talk about growing up without aging out, sobriety, and crafting his latest album, Ancient History

On 𝘚𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘔𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, Kelsey Lu’s strength lies in the breadth of their work

Rarely does grief manifest in a song about how nobody can tell you shit. Enter Chicago rapper Earthsignchels

If you’re allergic to fretless bass, keep it moving

This week we're bumping the new Roll Deep mixtape: thrilling, back-to-basics, grimy-ass grime from a legendary crew

DJ Patwa’s 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘉𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦—a 70-minute mixtape of Brazilian funk laced with a distinctly Arabic influence—is an instant party-starter anytime, anywhere on planet earth.

On our Waste or Taste podcast we only answer the most important questions, such as: In 2026, if given the chance, would YOU hop on a duet with Weezer?

With everything happening at once, at an extremity of volume that’s difficult to convey in writing, it’s all you can do to hold the sound of your own section in your mind. Trying to hear the whole piece is like trying to hear the whole world. www.hearingthings.co/a-symphony-f...

In a world where Olivia Dean’s easy-listening throwback soul is the hottest shit in Grammyland, Imani Imani’s bringing a bit of grit to soul-nourishing R&B for the morning after

The omnivorous queer pop star Cain Culto is becoming increasingly known as a paragon of artistic confidence: a vamping, twerking powerhouse with a sly, silver-grilled smile. But it took him a whole lot to get here:

𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤 is like if James Blake produced a Sade album that was exclusively tracked in a bottomless cavern.

This week in Five Songs, we've got two anthems for Pride Month, a Must Hear song from a rapper at the intersection of plugg and cloud rap, house music to worry to, and a slice of contemplative synth-pop described as "Frankie Knuckles meets The Boss."

MXKA’s bilingual R&B corridos are the genre mash-up we direly needed.

Turns out there's more gas left in the tank of ye old Death Cab.

Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien explains how he uses this specific instrument to conjure sublimely eerie soundscapes: “It’s just got the juju"

There should be an urgency to Vince Staples’ 𝘊𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺, his so-called rock album, but it is consistently dragged down by the tepid music at its core.

In the wake of her debut album On Everything I Love, Phoenix upstart KJade talks moving to New York, writing through the pain, and graciously bracing herself for what's next

If the most interesting thing about your song is a gossipy meta-narrative that has nothing to do with the music, you're flopping

Baton Rouge's Wakai makes melancholic jazz-rap as indebted to 2010s Chicago hip-hop as it is golden-era greats like Tribe. Read our review of his latest:

Pour one out for NYC musician and friend of the site Doug Shaw, he would have enjoyed this strange and beautiful jazz-house record.

The second album by Puerto Rican alt star RaiNao has all of the adventurousness and ambition of a classic Björk album. Read our review of 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘢́:

Mabe Fratti and Bill Orcutt’s cozy collaborative album is worthy of cult-classic status. Read our review of 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨:

This week, we've got a futuristic bounce teamup from two legends of modern music, gauzy jazz-rap, yacht rock that sneaks up on you, noise rock gone electro, and a Must Hear banger for Obama's next playlist.

A concept record about a duckling trying to take down a soul-sucking media conglomerate? Sure, sign us up.

Invocations of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘳 notwithstanding, Puerto Rican rapper Álvaro Díaz was smart to frame his new album around an omakase meal. Read our review:

As a member of Cannibal Ox, Vordul Mega was one of the most adventurous rappers of the 2000s—until he all but disappeared. After nearly two decades of struggle, he's back to claim his legacy. Read our profile of the underground icon

Through his use of 7/8 time on his new record 'Now You Exist,' the Field's Axel Willner has found a new way to grasp at infinity

“The unfortunate blessing of his departure is that we can now all go back to loving him as we first found him, without shame, despair, or complication,” wrote great critic Greg Tate when Michael Jackson died. MJ's estate is capitalizing on that belief with the biopic.

Our latest Must Hear is an album of fretless guitar, funky drum machine, rave beats, and Byzantine religious chant by an Orthodox priest in coastal Greece!

It brings us back to an Obama-era version of Drake, to a time when megalomania could still scan as charming pop-star eccentricity www.hearingthings.co/the-one-new-...

Endlessly fascinating, Walters’ book is a profoundly needed bible of queer music history in a country that is, in fits and starts, constantly on the warpath to erase LGBTQ people from public life

Myaap has helped put Milwaukee on the hip-hop map. We spoke to her for our Credit HIstory series, where she broke down purchases including meals for her girlfriend, custom sets of fairy wings, and a bustdown Tinkerbell pendant

Is "Rock Music" rock music? www.hearingthings.co/charli-xcx-a...

The long-running European fest C2C found its footing in New York City last weekend with a night of gloriously freaky beats, noise, and sex

Hiding the real Michael Jackson in the era of 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭

This interview with Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew includes thoughts on [*big inhale*]—kaleidoscopic grief, Spotify, the band's new album, recording conversations with your mom while you still can, and that time Drew was voted prom queen in high school

This week in Five Songs, we've got Must Hear stunners from artists who may not be on your radar, new music from Afrobeats' great provocateur, and more www.hearingthings.co/jpegmafias-b...

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺?, I asked myself after five straight minutes of head-nodding.