2026 Q2 Check-up
Do you need some help keeping up with all the music?
We’re halfway through the year! This isn’t meant as a reflection of my 2026, but as of now Isaiah Rashad’s IT’S BEEN AWFUL has easily been my most listened to album thus far.
While my “need to listen to” list may be about ten miles longer than the list of projects from this year I want to hear, I’ve still been tracking some great releases that have stood out to me since we last checked in.
You gotta hear these:
A bunch of project recs below. Updated all these songs into the running 2026 playlist with every song from all 2026 newsletters.
Victoryland’s second album My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It has one of my favorite songs of the year so far on it, and the project earned them a support slot on some upcoming shows with LCD Soundsystem!
Lime Garden make songs that feel large about moments that feel small, on their album Maybe Not Tonight.
Kid Sistr’s second EP American Teenage Prophecy is a firecracker of anthemic indie pop.
Seasoned artist Kacy Hill teamed up with her roommate Tessa DeNicola to make a fun dreamy pop debut as Girlfriend, Wife with God Made Me A Star.
Blog fav Quiet Light delivers another stellar addition to the catalog with their ambient, glitchy, reflective & touching new album Quiet Light Sparkling Silver 2.
RUBIO’s latest album Espero podamos ver un ovni juntxs (I hope we can see a UFO together) carries beautifully layered latin indie pop.
Another blog favorite, Kinrose, teamed up with Malik Elijah to make an EP full of bangers inspired by Maryland called rated pg. Feels like pandering to me specifically!
sha ray & DJ Haram pair perfectly on their cocky and confident collab project Critical Thot.
Hand in hand with the Critical Thot, is the existential thottie, the latest special project from duendita (there’s no actual connection, I just found it funny that I listened to these two projects in close succession).
A few songs on COSIMA’s Outsider Music Vol. 1: You Don’t Know What You Want, Do You? have been out already, but there’s still enough new songs to keep me excited until Vol. 2.
Got to hear some of the makings of this in 2024, and am thrilled the beautiful debut project from Sebastian Adé, With You Without a Plan, is finally out into the world.
iza tkm’s debut i Music Listen incorporates elements of trip-hop, electronic, pop, and more in a very special way.
ear makes the “beep boop” music that Mr. Krabs warned us about on their second album Rumspringa.
Six Sex doubles down on one of my favorite EPs from last year with this explosive followup debut album ULTRA.
Quebec indie artist Les Lounges released his first project since I covered 2022’s Crash, with Alouette!
I will say at this point I’m really ready for the album, but as long as Junior Varsity wants to keep making these tight, high quality EPs, I’ll be there listening. Ready is no exception.
Since I sang the praises of Lip Critic’s 2024 album Hex Dealer, they’ve been playing shows in laundromats, and crafted their latest project Theft World after their lead singer got their identity stolen.
Wifigawd’s exceptional 2026 run continued with two collab tapes (more than that actually, but these are the two I’m highlighting here): SOULVINCI with producer Dylvinci & TOP RANK SOULJAH with producer GAWD. The output and quality he’s had this year has been pretty remarkable to me.
Shades of a dimes square Alex G emerge on the new album from Blaketheman100, City of Careless Angels.
After catching their breath a little, TheBabeGabe & The Human pick right back up where they left off last year, with a new R&B focused EP Love Language.
Detzany is pushing the Latin Pop agenda in Salt Lake City with her debut EP Obsesión.
Samara Cyn expanded on another one of my favorite EPs from last year with the swift followup, Detour.
Katzin fuses shades of country folk with his heavier lo-fi alt-rock sound in a way that feels both distant and tender on his debut album Buckaroo.
The rocking debut album Tan Lines from Lavalove perfectly captures their carefree, fun, and energetic attitude.
Vermont band Robber Robber make off-kilter & infectious indie rock on their second album Two Wheels Move The Soul.
Esty (finally!!) follows up one of my most listened to EPs from 2022, with her latest project Domi Star.
Food for thought
Spotify Confirms Streaming Fraud after Kalshi Trader Flags Supicious Malcolm Todd Numbers
Streaming fraud is running rampant and we’re only finding out when it happens if gamblers lose money!!!!!!
Music influencers are getting paid to promote songs — and they’re not telling you
Check out this in-depth NPR article on the secret business of paid music influencers, and take solace in the fact that your recommendations here are safe because I have no influence and make no money.
Movie corner!
Thought Blue Heron was a very tender and raw exploration of memory with grief that left me moved. Certainly need a rewatch though as it has a lot of subtleties that missed me as I was sadly bogged down by work calls/texts during my only viewing.
Michael was not for me, like at all. The music is still untouchable though.
I’ve been on an extended Pedro Almodóvar kick dating back to last year, and he’s quickly becoming one of absolute my favorite directors. In the past few months I saw (for the first time) La Mala Educación, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and All About My Mother. All great, and the latter two especially were so unique and exceptional.
Obsession was a good time, but the expectations had been raised sky high, and it did not really meet that for me. I think it was well made for what it is, but much of the reaction was people being unable to believe this was made on such a low budget, or that it was the director’s first feature, or that the director used to be a Youtuber, and I had no problem believing any of that. But, still interested in whatever their next movie is!
I enjoyed Backrooms more than expected! Kind of thought you’d have to be up to date on the lore to be in on this, but I had a good time as a complete outsider. The screenplay is the weakest part to me, some aspects of the story had me rolling my eyes, but the style and feeling it creates visually was super successful.
Watching Disclosure Day was tough, like seeing a hall of fame athlete at the end of their career giving it one last go on a random team. There were still plenty of moments and flourishes that would remind you that no one directs blockbusters like Spielberg. But the story felt out of touch and dumb in a way that couldn’t be overcome. Especially frustrated me since I was surprisingly high on his last movie, The Fabelmans.
The Invite was an enjoyable watch in the moment, I had fun/was glad I saw it in a theater, but ultimately left thinking it was kind of stupid, and don’t see myself ever revisiting. Felt like it wanted what The Drama had (probably my favorite movie of the year so far).
Rewatched The Irishman in fragments over the course of a few days in June. Still an exceptional movie to me, especially the solemn and reflective final act, but I’ve never been able to watch the 3+ hour long film in one go. Made me think, it might be my favorite movie that I’ve never watched from start to finish in one sitting? Maybe one day…
Still not quite sure what to think about Maddie’s Secret, a film that certainly made me laugh hard quite a few times, but it also carries a bit of a darker undertone that left me feeling unsettled.
I Love Boosters couldn’t connect the threads, weave everything together, and stick the landing as well as Sorry To Bother You did. But still kind of loved it just as a zany & over the top Dr. Seuss style tale about capitalism.
Finally watched Charli XCX’s film The Moment on a plane and it kind of bummed me out. I thought it was going to be a funny mockumentary peeking behind the scenes (and it did that at times), but more than that it just too accurately recreated every tense moment, uncomfortable conversation, stressful preparation, and non-stop movement that goes along with working on artist’s teams and in the music industry.
That’s most of what I’ve been consuming during the second quarter of the year. Hope you find something here to help keep you sane!