Albums You Might Have Missed So Far in 2026

It’s hard to believe that 2026 is already 25% in the rear view. It could be the pace that news happens now—there’s probably been 47 world-changing headlines in the time it took you to open this email—but years just fly by now. And because the normal world moves fast, the music world also feels like it flies by: Every week, there’s dozens of new albums to listen to, some you forget by the time Monday morning rolls around, others lingering in your streaming queue for weeks until you finally find time to listen. It’s more possible than ever for music to fall through your ear’s fingertips.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help: Below you’ll find six albums from this year you might have missed from 2026 so far. The year’s biggest musical story so far as been how little of a uniting story there’s been: in 13 weeks, we’ve had 11 different number one albums on Billboard’s Top 200. Three of those albums—one each by Morgan Wallen, Bad Bunny, and Taylor Swift—might be from 2025, but the point remains: This year has had a revolving door of big albums that are huge for a week or two and move down the charts. These albums didn’t have that fleeting success, so they need more attention than ever before.

Ratboys: Singin’ to an Empty Chair

Part therapy session, part big-hearted indie rock ballads, Ratboys’ sixth album is this year’s most beloved indie darling release, an album you can see receiving the Geese treatment in 2026 and beyond. All it would take is TikTok seizing on a song like “Just Want You to Know the Truth,” a song that has lead singer Julia Steiner unspooling bon mots line by line. If you like heart-on-sleeve rock music, this one’s for you.

Shabaka: Of the Earth

After a self-imposed exile from the saxophone, and a newly self-formed record label after years on Impulse Records, multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchings latest solo record is a self-produced mix of beats, spiritual jazz, indie rap, and music that feels like riding through the screensaver from Microsoft XP. This is the year’s best jazz album to beat so far.

Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine

For years, Courtney Marie Andrews has felt like indie country’s best kept secret: the former Jimmy Eat World sidewoman makes Emmylou Harris-esque folk country that ages like fine wine. Her 2026 album, Valentine, is her first in almost four years, a live-to-tape album that is equal parts funny, wrecking, and beautiful. Megan Moroney’s Cloud 9 went to number one; if you loved that album, you’ll love this one too.

The Scythe: Strictly 4 The Scythe

An Avengers-meetup of the who’s who of underground rap, The Scythe is a group masterminded by Miami’s Denzel Curry—the most underrated rapper of the last 10 years—and featuring A$AP Ferg, TiaCorine, Smino, Juicy J, BK theRula and more. It feels like a Three 6 Mafia circa-2000 mixtape, and features more flows, punchlines, and beat changes than any eight-song album has any right to. A$AP Ferg is the MVP; he’s best when he’s a one-verse-per-song rapper, and here every time he appears it’s electric.

Yahritza Y Su Esencia: Metamorfosis

If Bad Bunny doesn’t take a victory lap this year—he deserves the time off!—my money is on there finally being a major chart breakthrough for Musica Mexicana, the traditional corridos genre that is immensely popular on streaming services in the Mexican-American community, but hasn’t crossed over in a major way like Bunny has for Puerto Rican trap. Peso Pluma’s album from Christmas with Tio Double P—DINASTIA—was my pick for an album that might crossover, but now I’m betting long on Metamorfosis, the debut LP from Yahritza y Su Esencia. A rarity in the Musica Mexicana genre in that their lead singer is a woman, the sister-and-two-brothers-band has been quietly building a reputation through a series of well-received EPs that don’t hold a single candle to the greatness of this album. It’s sad, haunting, and features the best songwriting the barely-out-of-their-teens group has ever delivered. It’s an arrival as much as it is an album.

Charlotte Day Wilson: Patchwork

If you like experimental pop music, Charlotte Day Wilson is your favorite artist’s favorite artist. For close to a decade, she’s been bending pop, jazz, R&B, electronica, and ambient music into a unique blend that is entirely her own, which is why she’s on this list and not touring stadiums. Her new EP Patchwork is a sauntering work of improvisation, tightly coiled production, and music that could soundtrack dream sequences in an Emerald Fennell movie.

--Andrew Winistorfer