Indie Basement: Best Albums of 2026 So Far (Q1)

Indie Basement is a weekly column on BrooklynVegan focusing on classic indie and alternative artists, “college rock,” and new and current acts who follow a similar path. There are reviews of new albums, reissues, box sets, books and sometimes movies and television shows, not to mention lists like this one.

After what felt like a very long, very cold winter, spring is here and the first quarter of 2026 is behind us. While this year has not been so great in many ways, on a musical level we’ve already gotten so many fantastic records. I picked 21 albums of the 90 or so I reviewed in Indie Basement in January, February and March. This list includes many indie vets, some all-stars of this column, a few debut albums, a couple supergroups and one compilation.

As always, this is not trying to be a definitive, all-encompassing list of the best albums of 2026 so far — despite me calling it that in the headline — but instead just one guy’s opinion of his favorites. It’s also too early in the year for me to start ranking stuff, so this list is alphabetical by artist. Hope you discover something you haven’t heard yet.

I’ve also made a playlist with two songs from every album that you can listen to. Head below for that and the list of Indie Basement’s Best Albums of 2026…

INDIE BASEMENT: BEST ALBUMS OF 2026 SO FAR (Q1)

Alexis Taylor – Paris in the Spring (Night Time Stories)

“Sometimes an audience wants to be told, what is this?” says Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. “Be ready to be surprised, to find something new in music, and let the music resonate with you.” That’s good advice in general and also a perfect preface to Taylor’s sixth solo album and first in five years. Most of his previous five have very much been “solo albums,” sounding like one man working on his own — often with just a guitar, piano, or synthesizer — and decidedly far from the clubby pop he makes with Hot Chip. Paris in the Spring is a little different, though: heavy on collaborations, often richly produced, and not afraid to get dancey, while never fencing itself into one style or sound. It is, however, quite good. Still more chill than any Hot Chip album, Paris in the Spring is powered by beats, grooves, and some very affecting songwriting. Taylor has always been an extremely empathetic artist, and he’s in very fine form here. Who else could title a thematically complex ballad “MP3s Can Make You Cry” and be sincere about it? “No good at streaming ’less the tears stream down my face,” he sings, wrapped in swirling strings and effervescent vocoder harmonies courtesy of Air’s Nicolas Godin. “Stream of consciousness is still my favourite place.” Paris in the Spring also has a number of first-class pop songs, as well as a number that will move you. Paris in the Spring is full of wonderful surprises that move both your body and your heart.

—

Bibi Club – Amaro (Secret City)

Montreal’s Bibi Club — Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque (Plants & Animals) — made one of 2024’s best albums with their second longplayer, Feu De Garde, but they may have bettered it with Amaro. It’s an evolution of that album’s signature sultry, melancholic sound — a windswept mix of shoegaze, jazzy tropicalia, and vintage synths and drum machines — that this time leans into dancier grooves inspired by early-’80s minimal wave. It’s a tantalizing combination that makes them feel even more singular. The template is set on opener “Infinité,” built on a ticking rhythm box and rolling, arpeggiated bassline before Adèle’s breathy, mysterious vocals enter the scene. Then comes Nicolas’ distinctive guitarwork, spinning delicate, interlocking spiderweb patterns, hazy atmospherics, and occasional bursts of noise. Amaro’s title track leads with guitar before that electronic rhythm section kicks in, turning it into an undeniable hazy banger complete with a festival-worthy drop. There are also heady, krautrock-leaning songs like “A Different Light” (featuring Helena Deland) and “Les Vagues,” the skronky, urgent “George Sand,” the sinister “Washing Machine,” and the spooky, ethereal “Cérémonie” and “Le château.” Thematically, grief and loss thread through the album, but Nicolas told Melt FM that ultimately the vibe they were aiming for was release and liberation: “You’re in ancient ruins and you can dance your life away, with people dancing all strange, every generation mixed.” Welcome to Club Catharsis.

—

Bill Callahan – My Days of 58 (Drag City)

“Lou Reed was waiting for me, all dressed in white,” Bill Callahan sings about a death dream that opens his new album. “I said Lou Lou Lou / What is this place that you took me to… He looked me deep in the eye / Gave me that warm handshake / And said, It’s cool / Baby you just got to let it ride / Into a dwarf star or a black hole or someone else’s soul.” Thank goodness for Bill Callahan, who has been making wonderful, poignant, and often very funny music for three decades. His latest album, My Days of 58, is another gem — a laid-back, loose rumination on mortality and grief (there’s a lot of that going around) spurred by the death of his father, a cancer scare, and his 60th birthday looming on the horizon. As usual, he approaches it with his warm, empathetic style, an ear for dialogue, an eye for telling details, and a knack for slipping in non sequitur zingers — like that Lou Reed cameo in “Why Do Men Sing?” Gentle horns enrich the album’s appealing arrangements, and the production offers plenty of headroom in the stereo field so you can fully chew on his words, which land whether you’re in his demographic or not. “And now my biggest fear is not the dying,” he sings later. “My biggest fear is that I’ll stop trying to be the man I’m supposed to be.” It’s a simple line, but in Callahan’s hands it feels profound — clear-eyed about the inevitable, but still invested in the ride.

—

Buck Meek – The Mirror (4AD)

We are in dark times, but on The Mirror, Buck Meek is finding joy and hope. It’s a treacherous route to take — one filled with potential treacle and empty calories — but he hits the right note more often than not, whether it’s an intimate love song or capturing a magic moment while caregiving for a family member with dementia. It’s a brave album in many ways, one that somehow makes you feel better about the world without ever sounding forced or cheap. These songs come from the heart and land in the same place. What makes The Mirror especially compelling, beyond Buck’s wonderful songwriting, is the production by his Big Thief bandmate James Krivchenia, who brings his interest in synthesizers, ambient music, and sound design into the arrangements. Modular synths were set up to be triggered by the organic instruments — drums and guitar — as they were played live, which in turn triggered even more synthesizers. That may not be the most elegant explanation of what’s happening, but the result is a richly layered, deeply rewarding listen.

MORE: I talked to Buck on the February 23 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Cardinals – Masquerade (So Young Records)

Hailing from Cork, Cardinals are not the first band to mix post-punk and alt-rock with traditional Celtic elements, but rarely does it feel as natural as it does on their debut album. Singer-guitarist Euan Manning says they purposefully avoided “diddly eye” music but otherwise had no restrictions on their style. Despite being a very young band — both in time together and in age — Cardinals seem to have their sound fully cemented on Masquerade, an extremely assured album that’s miles ahead of their already terrific 2024 self-titled EP. The strongest Irish element on Masquerade is swagger — an unfakeable quality that’s in abundance, whether it’s on their swoonier, poppier material like “St Agnes,” “She Makes Me Real,” or the title track, or their darker, angstier songs like “Barbed Wire,” “Anhedonia,” or “The Burning of Cork,” which owes a little to Nirvana. Those sides of the band are neatly divided across the two sides of Masquerade — envisioned as a vinyl album — which has been expertly sequenced. Finn Manning’s accordion and brother Euan’s character-filled lyrics and impassioned delivery tie it all together. Ireland has been a hotbed of talent recently; Cardinals are not the “next” anything — they’ve already carved out their own unique and compelling path.

MORE: I talked to Cardninals’ Finn Manning on the February 16 episode of BV Interviews.

—

The Cribs – Selling a Vibe (Sonic Blew / PIAS)

Selling a Vibe is The Cribs’ ninth album, their first in six years, and further proof of their resilience and distinctive sound: perfectly shambolic guitars, melodies that pull from the earliest days of rock n’ roll, and their signature use of a spirited “Whoa-oh!” to punctuate a chorus. What’s heartening about The Cribs is both how little they’ve changed and how good these songs still sound. “If Our Paths Never Crossed,” “A Point Too Hard to Make,” “Summer Seizures,” and “Distractions” are all classic Cribs songs, brimming with that Jarman brothers je ne sais quoi, and could’ve appeared on any of their ’00s-era albums. Producer Patrick Wimberly (ex Chairlift) adds a little synthy gloss but otherwise doesn’t get in the band’s way, though it’s a surprise to hear tenor Francisco Morales vocalizing operatically on “You’ll Tell Me Anything.” It’s jarring the first time, but it works. Lyrically, Selling a Vibe touches on nearly everything the band have been through and what’s kept them together, closing with what may be their new signature song, “Brother’s Won’t Break,” which has all three Jarmans singing in unison: “All that our roots did was just trip us up / But there’ll never be any shame / For the things that we would never change.” Long live The Cribs.

MORE I talked to The Cribs on the episode of January 26 episode BV Interviews.

—

Dry Cleaning – Secret Love (4AD)

“Rocks in my dreams / Use some bread to dip / I want you, your boots.” Florence Shaw’s lyrics and delivery feel like being privy to an interior monologue as she goes through her day, where serious thoughts, deep realizations, and witty observations are interrupted by remembering you need to buy onions and pay your electric bill. Such is the way Shaw and Dry Cleaning — a band who claim they formed by accident and sometimes still can’t believe they’re still going — have done things from the start, and they’re clearly doing better than they ever expected, including a Grammy win for 2022’s Stumpwork (best album package for its awesome, if divisive, cover art). For their third album, they tapped Cate Le Bon as producer who encouraged Shaw to break out of her dry, droll sprechgesang and actually sing, and “Joy,” the final track on Secret Love, is a great example of that. Shaw’s spoken-word delivery is still there, as she mixes worries about the world with text from a book on the history of food and drink, but now it’s almost as if she’s humming to herself along the way, keeping time as the rest of the band lays down a slashing, melodic post-punk backing. And are those harmonies we hear? Joy indeed.

MORE: I talked to Dry Cleaning on the February 2 episode of BV Interviews.

—

EXEK – Prove the Mountains Move (DFA)

After a decade of taut, paranoid post-punk records on labels like Castle Face and W.25th, Australia’s EXEK have landed on DFA for their seventh album. The permafrost had already begun to melt on 2023’s The Map and the Territory, and Prove the Mountains Wrong feels almost bucolic in its verdant melodies and arrangements. “Working on new music took a distant backseat to raging with friends,” EXEK architect Albert Wolski says of the album’s origins during Australia’s strict COVID lockdowns where he learned to appreciate Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow and Robbie Williams. “Krautrock and dub were still in my DNA, but the music that I started to make was perhaps a little more lighthearted, and perhaps a bit more emotional.” Don’t worry, Prove the Mountains Wrong does not sound like Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow, or Robbie Williams — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but this is by far EXEK’s friendliest, catchiest batch of songs to date. This is still EXEK, however, so everything remains just a little on edge. Instead of evoking The Pop Group and This Heat, these songs feel closer to the poppiest moments on Wire’s 154, Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, and Be Bop Deluxe frontman Bill Nelson’s solo work. One of the best new underground bands of the last decade, EXEK continue to surprise and improve while staying wonderfully weird.

—

Heavenly – Highway to Heavenly (Skep Wax)

Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey are British indiepop royalty, having made music together for 40 years across various cultishly loved groups. But they’re best known for their ’90s-era band Heavenly, whose mix of sweet janglepop melodies and often serious lyrics was dismissively labeled “twee” by UK journalists, but embraced in the US by both the riot grrrl scene and what Beat Happening/K Records founder Calvin Johnson dubbed “The International Pop Underground.” Heavenly came to a sudden end in 1996 when drummer — and Amelia’s brother — Matthew Fletcher took his own life. The surviving members carried on as the also-great Marine Research, but there was something uniquely special about Heavenly’s four albums and run of singles. During the pandemic, the band found a whole new audience when “P.U.N.K. Girl” and “Me and My Madness” became viral hits on TikTok, and the singles compilation A Bout de Heavenly further fueled interest. Heavenly reunited for a London show, which snowballed into sold-out dates in the UK and US…and a new album.  Highway to Heavenly is as lively and pointed as their ’90s material, standing confidently beside their previous albums while feeling neither like a manufactured antique nor a “hello, fellow kids” play to new fans. Highway to Heavenly isn’t Remember When. It’s a brand-new, wonderful chapter.

MORE: I talked to Amelia and Rob on the February 9 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Hot Face – Automated Response (Speedy Wunderground)

London trio Hot Face’s debut album opens with a song titled “Defenestration,” which is one of those words — like “triskaidekaphobia” — that I’m not sure why I know what it means, or why there’s a word for it at all. It means “the act of being thrown out a window,” and in this case it’s a perfect introduction to an album that starts with a smash and keeps flying through its breakneck 10-song, 25-minute runtime. Their snarling style is rooted in early UK punk (The Damned, The Adverts), by way of the ’00s rock revival (The Hives, The Libertines), and Automated Response ripples with electricity. That’s partially due to how Automated Response was made. Speedy Wunderground owner and indie megaproducer Dan Carey stumbled upon the band and, while at a festival in Amsterdam, pitched them an idea: record the album live to tape in three takes, with the final take performed in front of a live audience. Then came a twist — he later called to say he’d secured time at Abbey Road Studios the following week. They indeed bashed it out in a day, with Carey manipulating the sound live and leaving in any blemishes. Automated Response barrels ahead with a tightly curated tracklist where songs flow into each other like a relay race played with hot rods. The punk bashers — “Cavern Killer,” “Bumble Been,” “Red Fuzz” — hit the hardest, but more nuanced cuts like “Sinnes” and the title track keep things dynamic. Designed with the live show in mind, the album is wildly effective — and should sell a few concert tickets in the process.

—

Ladytron – Paradises (Nettwerk)

“There’s an itch we never scratched,” Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt says of this new single and the Liverpool electro vets’ upcoming eighth album. “Despite our origins in the DJ world, we never actually made a ‘disco’ record. Albeit, ‘disco’ in our context has a somewhat different meaning.” Ladytron have always had an eye on the dancefloor, but they’ve usually played it cool. On Paradises, the band’s eighth album, they loosen up and have some fun, digging into a variety of late-’80s and ’90s dance styles across this 16-track double LP. You feel the difference most on “Kingdom Undersea,” which adds a little early-’90s baggy/Madchester to the equation — Inspiral Carpets come to mind — and the song’s staccato, housey piano riff almost makes them sound like a different band, at least until Helen Marnie’s distinctive vocals enter. It’s also a rare duet with Hunt, whose ’80s goth-leaning delivery makes for one of the most refreshing and unusual Ladytron singles in years. There’s a lot of late-’80s / early-’90s acid house DNA on Paradises, too, from the plonky, percussive synths on “I Believe in You,” “Free, Free” and “Death in London” (very A Guy Called Gerald), to the 808 State-style rolling bass and electro handclaps of “I See Red” and “Metaphysica.” Melodically, this is still very much a Ladytron album, but they’re working with a new, more colorful box of crayons.

—

Lande Hekt – Lucky Now (Tapete)

Former Muncie Girls singer/guitarist Lande Hekt just keeps getting better with each solo album. Her third long-player is loaded with shimmering janglepop indebted to Flying Nun kiwi pop, Heavenly, The Pastels, Dolly Mixture, and other music you could call “twee,” which also matches Lande’s cardigan-clad style on the album’s artwork. That word is generally used as a pejorative, but Lucky Now is the best kind of twee — full of fantastic songs and confident performances that are winsome and thensome. Lande made the album with producer Matthew Simms of MEMORIALS (see elsehwere on this list), who really nails the sound here — keeping her voice, harmonies, and melodies at the center, while the instrumentation remains appropriately sweet but not without muscle and moments of swirling atmosphere. It would be hard to make a bad record with songs like “Favourite Pair of Shoes,” “A Million Broken Hearts,” “My Imaginary Friend,” and the soaring title track. With Lucky Now, Lande is on par with The Beths and Alvvays.

—

Mandy, Indiana – URGH (Sacred Bones)

Valentine Caulfield, vocalist for Manchester-based band Mandy, Indiana, is French, and most of her lyrics are in her native tongue. You don’t need to speak the language to get the gist on URGH, a guttural title that needs no translation: she and her band are mad as hell. Even more than on their 2023 debut album, this quartet are wound up and ready to go off. Industrial music is still at the heart of what Mandy, Indiana do — it not only sounds like it was made in a factory, but also with a factory — and the record opens with what sounds like a drill being burrowed straight into your skull. Caulfield shrieks (here translated into English), “Abandon! All hope! Because tonight! I’m coming for you!” Across the album’s 11 tracks, all manner of clanks, crashes, and klaxons provide percussion alongside the wallop of actual drums. This isn’t just a jackhammer assault on your senses, though. In addition to flexing their muscles, Mandy, Indiana are also expanding their range. URGH is angrier, harder, and more visceral — but also more nuanced. URGH isn’t exactly I’d call an easy listen, but it’s never less than compelling as this unique band hone their craft and sharpen their swords.

—

MEMORIALS – All Clouds Bring Not Rain (Fire Records)

“We have a wide palette between us, our ‘sound world,’” Matthew Simms says of what he and Verity Susman had in mind for MEMORIALS’ second album. “We knew we wanted harpsichord and vibraphone.” Instead of opting for computer plug-ins to mimic those instruments, they sought out studios that actually had them on hand, which led them to rural southwestern France and London, in addition to their own studio in Kent, England. Can you hear the difference? On All Clouds Bring Not Rain, you can feel it. While still very much within that well-defined “sound world” — a mix of ’60s psych by way of ’70s Düsseldorf and Cologne, verdant folk, dub, and their own previous groups (Susman led Electrelane; Simms was in Wire and It Hugs Back) — MEMORIALS have expanded their reach. Not just harpsichord and vibraphone, but also rich vocal harmonies, tape-loop delay, and a wide array of vintage instruments that don’t get dusted off much anymore. All Clouds Bring Not Rain is an amazing headphone album, but it sounds even better on a proper stereo, with some distance between your speakers and, ideally, a room lit only by lava lamps. But even on earbuds, the grooves, vintage textures, melodies, drones, and voices on this wonderful album will transport you there.

MORE: Listen to my conversation with MEMORIALS on the March 16 episode of BV Interviews.

—

The New Pornographers – The Former Site Of (Merge)

Carl Newman has always been the kind of lyricist who seemed to go more by feel than meaning — like clever refrigerator-magnet poetry or, in his own words, “non-representational art.” On The New Pornographers’ 10th album, however, Newman has put a lot more care into his words, which are still clever and cool. “Now I’m trying to paint landscapes,” he tells us. “I’m trying to be like the Flemish Masters.” When Newman sings “First comes love, then comes pity / Then it’s terminal velocity” on “Ballad of the Last Payphone,” you know just what he means. When he’s singing about a satellite circling Saturn on “Spooky Action,” you know what he means. When he’s having “Bonus Mai Tais” with a friend who’s dying of cancer, you know what he means. “This time I wanted every lyric to count,” he says. The lyrical step up is not the only thing that makes The Former Site Of such a treat, but it’s a big part of it. Sonically, it’s unlike any record the Canadian group have made before, letting synthesizers drive the songs instead of just adding accents and hooks. When more traditional instruments do appear, they’re often used in unusual ways — like the mandolin all over “Votive,” played closer to post-punk, almost New Order, than its folk origins. This could be The New Pornographers’ mellowest album, but it’s not listless or dull. Whatever it is — a new wave of creativity or something to prove — Newman has his mojo back, and The Former Site Of is the best New Pornographers album since Brill Bruisers.

MORE: I talked to Carl Newman on the March 30 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Plantoid – FLARE (Bella Union)

Brighton trio Plantoid made a strong impression with their 2024 debut album Terrapath, which mixed genres with wild abandon and refused to be constrained by labels. Well, maybe one genre united them all: “prog.” It was the kind of record where fans of Primus, Yes, Porcupine Tree, and Faith No More could find common ground. They’re now back with their second album which, at first glance, looks like more of the same — complete with a Stonehenge-esque rock formation and ancient runes on the cover. But the proggiest thing about this one is the album art. FLARE finds Plantoid focusing their sound into something less gangly. “While making FLARE, we did knowingly acknowledge that our sound had been very erratic,” says drummer Louis Bradshaw. “We never stayed on anything for too long. Before going into writing this album we wanted to slightly redefine what we were doing — it’s less directly proggy. It strays from that sound a bit, while retaining that character.” Make no mistake, Plantoid’s dazzling musicianship and love of unusual time signatures are still very much on display, but these nine songs feel like tentacles working in tandem, mixing skronky math rock with passages of jazzy, ethereal beauty. FLARE is somehow both further out and more grounded than their debut. Where you once had to give them credit for their chops — even if it was giving you whiplash — this album is a genuinely impressive, enjoyable listen.

—

Sleaford Mods – The Demise of Planet X (Rough Trade)

“It’s Captain Cook from the planet / I still don’t know what the fuck I’m on about.” Who knows what to think these days? Certainly not Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson, who already declared the end of England on the duo’s last album, UK Grim, and now finds himself in what he calls a literal post‑apocalypse. Despite the title, The Demise of Planet X doesn’t make giant proclamations about the state of things — just sharp observations, peppered with creative, apoplectic swearing as only Williamson can deliver, and set to some of Andrew Fearn’s catchiest backing tracks yet. Williamson remains an equal‑opportunity heckler, cutting down MAGA men one minute (“Flood the Zone”) and performative lefties the next (“Elitist G.O.A.T.”). There’s also “Bad Santa,” which takes direct aim at Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, and others by name. He doesn’t spare himself either, admitting to his love of online shopping on the dubby “The Unwrap,” despite the album’s many anti‑consumerist rants. Williamson has gone through anger management (and even made friends with former object of ire IDLES), and says he’s in a good place these days — but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left that deserves his vitriol. The album also boasts an impressive list of guest vocalists. Aldous Harding appears on the DIY indie jam “Elitist G.O.A.T.,” while actor Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones) goes toe‑to‑toe with Williamson on a seriously formidable verse on “The Good Life,” which also features Irish duo Big Special on the hook. The most surprising and satisfying appearance, though, comes from Sue Tompkins of Scottish cult band Life Without Buildings, delivering one of her first vocal performances in over 20 years on the album’s most addictive track, “No Touch.” The light touch of Fearn’s production and Williamson’s increasing self‑effacing humor don’t dull Sleaford Mods’ sharp stick. Instead, in the face of daily world events that would’ve felt like broad parody a decade ago, The Demise of Planet X still hits hard — without making you feel worse.

MORE: I talked to Sleaford Mods Jason Williamson on the January 23 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Station Model Violence – Station Model Violence (Anti Fade / Static Shock)

Daniel Stewart (Total Control who are currently inactive) formed Station Model Violence in 2024 with Buz Clatworthy, who also records as R.M.F.C. Clatworthy’s guitar style goes a long way toward making the band — and their self-titled debut — not just a Total Control clone, even if there’s plenty of shared DNA. Along with the incendiary, angular shredding, he leans heavily on 12-string guitar, adding a chiming, jangly shimmer to these hard-hitting songs. In that sense, he recalls Daniel Ash, and there’s more than a little Bauhaus here; Stewart’s voice can easily slip into that same menacing, melodramatic mode. Station Model Violence is heavy, darkly glam, melodic, psychedelic, punishing, and hypnotic. It’s the kind of record where you put it on and immediately think, “Oh yeah, this is the stuff.” It absolutely rips. You might want to head straight to “Heat,” the band’s first single, built on a descending riff and tom-heavy drumming that just keeps building, adding hooks along the way. It’s eight minutes long, but the groove is so strong it could go on for 80 and you wouldn’t get bored. The whole album is different shades of grey — sometimes nearing black, sometimes shining bright and white-hot — with enough textural variety (hello, saxophone) to captivate across its perfect 38-minute runtime. Sure, new Total Control album would be nice, but having Station Model Violence instead is no compromise.

—

Ulrika Spacek – EXPO (Full Time Hobby)

London art-psych band Ulrika Spacek have always had a collage-like approach to their music, taking ideas from jam sessions and using them as raw materials for fully formed songs. On their fourth album, however, they’ve taken that concept one step further, sampling themselves to create a personal “sound bank” from which they built beats and skeleton ideas that the band then fleshed out by playing overtop. Ulrika Spacek aren’t the first rock band to use a method like this, but in their skilled, creative hands, it’s resulted in their best album yet — full of memorable songs while paving all manner of new side streets on their unique roadmap. One way to describe what they’re doing on EXPO is to “Build a Box and Break It,” which also happens to be the title of one of the album’s most striking, immediate tracks. The beat is a little reminiscent of Portishead’s “Strangers,” but the band soon pushes it into rock territory while keeping things surreal and cinematic. Bandleader Rhys Edwards’ wavering falsetto only adds to the song’s eerie charm. There are moments on EXPO where they incorporate drum-and-bass, jungle, and other electronic styles in ways that recall Dummy-era Portishead, Björk’s Homogenic, and Kid A-era Radiohead — but it’s all made by the same band on the same album. That said, it still sounds undeniably like Ulrika Spacek, with their distinctive swagger, swooning melodies, and interlocking guitar lines. Ulrika Spacek remain one of the most unique rock bands of the current era, and EXPO is a stunning showcase of what they’re capable of.

—

Various Artists – HELP(2) (War Child UK)

Thirty years ago, many of the biggest names in the UK indie/alternative world (plus Johnny Depp) recorded new songs for HELP, a compilation album that benefited the War Child charity. It was a high-concept record, with artists given just 24 hours to record a song and deliver the finished product, and the album was released by the end of the week. Now, with wars raging all over the globe, War Child have put together another HELP to benefit children caught in the line of fire. This time the process worked a little differently, with producer James Ford coordinating a week of sessions at London’s Abbey Road Studios and assembling a lineup of artists that rivals — if not betters — the original compilation. With so many talented people in the studio at the same time, including a bunch of ringer musicians helping out everywhere (Johnny Marr, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Blur’s Graham Coxon), there’s a lot more cross-pollination on HELP(2). There were also plenty of children on hand, singing in a backing choir and interviewing the musicians for a documentary by Oscar-winning director (and ’90s music-video innovator) Jonathan Glazer. With Ford overseeing the whole thing, there’s a little more cohesion here, though it’s still a sprawling collection (23 songs!) featuring originals, covers, surprising collaborations, and a few tracks not recorded at Abbey Road. Pretty much everyone Ford has worked with over the last decade is here, including longtime collaborators Arctic Monkeys, who kick off HELP(2) with “Opening Night,” their most rock-oriented song in ages and the closest they’ve ever come to sounding like Steely Dan (I’m here for it). There’s also Pulp’s “Begging for Change,” which nearly appeared on last year’s More and might be the most rocking song they’ve ever recorded — glammy and gritty, with patented Jarvis Cocker sexy whispering and spelling, not to mention the best “Hoo! Ha!” exclamations since Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Welcome to the Pleasuredome.” Both are fantastic.There’s so much on this album — Beth Gibbons! Fontaines DC covering Sinead! Greentea Peng & Ezra Collective! Young Fathers! Big Thief! — that a review can start to feel like a list, and I’m not going to go through every song but there’s a lot to dig into here. It all supports a worthy cause, and there’s more than enough great material to justify actually buying it. Sadly, the cause it supports remains just as relevant 30 years later. HELP(2) if you can.

—

Whitelands – Sunlight Echoes (Sonic Cathedral)

“A few people on Reddit have been complaining about the state of shoegaze singers,” says Etienne Quartey-Papafio of London band Whitelands, “but I think that’s where Whitelands shines.” It’s hard to argue with that. Etienne says listening to Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter changed the way he sang after releasing the band’s 2024 debut, and he’s definitely not your average shoegaze frontperson. Born in Ghana before moving to the UK and discovering Slowdive, Etienne notes that people often assume he’s in a reggae band — but his powerful vocals are one of the most striking things about Whitelands and their excellent second album. While initially lumped in with the new shoegaze scene — and still signed to Sonic Cathedral, a label that focuses heavily on the genre — Sunlight Echoes finds them taking flight into pillowy dreampop territory. Some use “shoegaze” and “dreampop” interchangeably, but no one would confuse the gossamer beauty of “Songbird (Forever),” resplendent in swirling strings, with My Bloody Valentine or even Slowdive. Whitelands still pull off a loud-quiet-loud trick, though, via Etienne’s vocals: beautifully breathy in the verses, then going full-throated technicolor in a knockout chorus that practically demands you close your eyes and sway as it envelops you. Alongside Deary, Whitelands are the most exciting thing to happen to shoegaze in a while — even if they’ve already escaped its confines.

—

Winged Wheel – Desert So Green (12XU)

This “experimental super-band,” featuring members of Tyvek, Spray Paint, Matchess, plus Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and more, were born out of the pandemic, with songs made long-distance as members added parts almost Exquisite Corpse–style before eventually becoming a formidable live band. New album No Island (their third) was also recorded remotely by the core quartet of Fred Thomas, Whitney Johnson, Cory Plump, and Matthew J. Rolin, but you can feel their symbiosis as if it were hammered out live after a six-week tour in a rehearsal space. Heavy on dark vibes and smoldering, drony jams, Winged Wheel ride a storm cloud formation across the horizon, churning up a gothy choogle that could appeal to fans of Joy Division, The Grateful Dead, Neu!, and Cocteau Twins. These creations allow the members to stretch out and explore, world-building as they play off one another — equal parts creepy, alluring, and dissonant.

—

Here’s the Best of 2026 So Far playlist in Apple, Tidal and Spotify forms…

Looking for more? Browse the Indie Basement archives.

And check out what’s new in our shop.