Darren Hayman & The Long Parliament • The Violence (Expanded Edition) • 2026

On June 12th, Darren Hayman (Hefner / New Starts / The French) launches a series of re-issues and releases with ‘The Violence’ (Expanded Edition), a highly ambitious and beautifully layered Folk album about the 17th-century English Civil Wars and the East Anglian Witch Trials. Tragically still relevant in how society vilifies marginalised people, the original 2012 release was praised by The Quietus, Stewart Lee (The Sunday Times), The Line of Best Fit, Q Magazine, Mojo, NME, The Skinny, Drowned in Sound, Uncut, KLOF Mag, the BBC, and many more outlets.  As part of a wider effort to fill the gaps in his missing catalogue, this expanded album is accompanied by its companion EP, ‘The Four Queens,’ also made available again digitally for the first time in years.

zzzahara • I Can Be Yours feat. Winter • 2026

Plenty of people come to Los Angeles looking to make their California dreams a reality. But zzzahara has always been here, turning reality into a dream. Born and raised in Highland Park, where they still reside, zzzahara (the solo moniker of Eyedress/Simps/U.S. Velvet guitarist Zahara Jaime).

CHINESE AMERICAN BEAR • Dim Sum & Then Some • 2026

 

The sounds on the LP are more musically dense and exploratory, marking an evolution for the duo. The band finds themselves delving much further into experimental territory, while also incorporating more traditional pop elements than they ever have. There's a mix of sonics on this album, featuring warbly guitars, hints of psychedelia, pop, disco, and strings, while also incorporating synth driven, electronic, sounds, as well as droney, hypnotic elements. The LP is a true reflection of the Chinese American Bear ethos: open, curious, and lighthearted. 

ifitbeyourwill Podcast #174 • Michael Feuerstack

A wide-ranging conversation with Michael Feuerstack that traces the arc from Snail House bedroom recordings to a decades-long solo practice shaped by collaboration and quiet persistence. He reflects on how songs emerge—sometimes as fragments, sometimes as loops you can’t shake—and what it means to stay open enough to follow them. Moving through Montréal’s indie community and his own shifting identity as an artist, the episode lands on a simple throughline: make the work, finish it, and put it into the world.

https://michaelfeuerstack.com/

“a national treasure.” – Globe & Mail

“heaving and gorgeous…anguishing and contemplative.” – Stereogum

“one of this country’s most talented songwriters.” – Exclaim!

“simultaneously heartfelt and apathetic, sacred and profane.” – CBC Music

“slow, gentle songs of love and truth and unforgettable regrets.” – NOW Toronto

“Beautiful and patient, this record is the result of years Mike spent practicing his craft and being forced to question if the struggle is worth it. It’s written for love of art and life, a back porch whisper that could float in the wind.” – Hero Hill

Freschard and Stanley Brinks • Hotel Berlin / Pole Fitness • 2026

fikarecordings.com

Touch Girl Apple Blossom • Graceful • 2026

Maisy Owen • Dark on a Sunny Day • 2026

“There’s more to her than crystalline acoustic picking, her darkly poetic songs stand out from the throng. The sparse, melancholic purity of “On My Way Down” and “Letters” and the surging folk-rock of the title track are a testament to her versatility.” – UNCUT

knitting • Here Comes • 2026

“While their debut leaned into a hazy, grungy cohesion, this record expands their sound — introducing more experimentation with texture, synths, and structure while keeping that introspective core intact.” — EXCLAIM

“Souvenir sees knitting expand on the slacker rock sound established on Some Kind of Heaven with more depth, having drawn inspiration from the diversity of Montreal's DIY scene.”

— THE LINE OF BEST FIT

“We named knitting a Band To Watch back in 2024, coinciding with the release of their excellent debut full-length Some Kind Of Heaven. Today the Montreal indie rockers have announced its follow-up Souvenir, which they're teasing with the brooding, lightly grungy lead single ‘I Want To Remember Everything.’”

— STEREOGUM 

 

Nina Winder-Lind • “This is Our Life” • 2026

 

Brighton-based, Swedish songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nina Winder-Lind, best known as a member of the electrifying “Hagstone rock” band The New Eves, releases a new solo single and video, “This is Our Life,” today via Transgressive. Blending folk-pop warmth with an upbeat, driving pulse, the song showcases Winder-Lind’s magnetic vocal vibrato and instinct for melody. It balances intimacy with exuberance, capturing a sense of joy and immediacy that runs through much of her work.

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ifitbeyourwill Podcast #173 • Should

Marc Ostermeier and Tanya Maus of the cult shoegaze duo Should stop by for their first ever podcast interview to celebrate the deluxe reissue of Feed Like Fishes, out now via Numero Group.

From basement 8-tracks in early 90s Austin to a new generation of fans discovering their music on Instagram — Should's story is one worth hearing. Marc breaks down his obsessive approach to crafting atmospheric sound, Tanya reflects on finding her voice in unexpected places, and both drop a tantalizing hint about new music.

Thirty years later, Should still sounds like nothing else.

Available on Bandcamp. Go give it a listen. 

http://www.words-on-music.com/should/

Magic Castles • Hey Alright • 2026

 

Magic Castles are back with new album ‘Realized’, a set of lush psych-rock reveries from Minneapolis songwriter Jason Edmonds, blending late-60s folk-rock warmth with shoegaze shimmer. Newly signed to Fuzz Club, ‘Realized’ takes Magic Castles’ music to a newfound level of clarity, whilst still retaining that same, long-harboured analogue warmth only made possible through an array of vintage amps, guitars and transistor organs. Released April 24th 2026, ‘Realized’ consists of nine dreamlike, melody-led trips that unfold in waves. Equal parts hazy nostalgia and widescreen modern psychedelia, centring dreamy, heavily-layered arrangements and floating vocal harmonies.

After Ours • Congratulations • 2025

 

https://www.instagram.com/afteroursxx/

Lowertown • Worst Friend • 2026

“a band on the cusp of greatness.” - NME

“One cannot help but get goosebumps” - The Line Of Best Fit

“Luscious lo-fi indie bops” - DIY

“we are predicting big things for the pair” -The Forty-Five

“The latest in a generation of artists determined not to be defined by genre” 

- Notion

The songwriting partnership of Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg, the last few years saw the prolific pair teetering on the brink. From constant touring and a separation from their label to creative frustrations and an unhealthy attachment to one another, their artistic partnership and, more importantly, their friendship were on shaky ground—especially since these experiences were coloured by the disorienting intensity of their late teens and early 20s. It became clear that the two had to revisit their roots.

lowertown.band

Gently Tender (mem. Palma Violets) • "Wild In The Uplands” • 2026

 

South London six-piece Gently Tender today shared their new single "Wild In The Uplands," the second single from their forthcoming EP This Was Once Fields, due out May 22nd via TODO Records. "Wild in the Uplands" captures the unruly spirit of the freedom of being in nature and the thrill of exploring in wild places. The band explains: "'Wild in the Uplands is a song about escape from city to country. It’s about not having respect for fences and private land, roaming free and getting into mischief. Out of all the illegal activities a person can partake in, trespassing is one of the most exhilarating!" "Wild In The Uplands" follows lead single "A Mound A Field," which garnered support from DIY Magazine, CLASH, Dork, and more.

https://www.gentlytender.co.uk/

ifitbeyourwill Podcast #172 • Common Holly

More than a decade into Common Holly, Brigitte Naggar still writes the way she did as a teenager — quietly, in her bedroom, not quite ready to let anyone hear. On this episode, Chris sits down with the Montreal songwriter to talk about Anything Glass (June 2025) and its companion EP They Will Draw Halos Around Our Heads (February), two records that feel like siblings.

Brigitte talks about going back to the piano for the first time since she was a kid, letting poems turn into songs without forcing them, and her long run with producer Devon Bate (Jean-Michel Blais, Jeremy Dutcher) — a collaborator so unshowy you stay with him for ten years because he just gets it. She's warm on Montreal too: friendships that go back fifteen years, monthly jams with Ada Lea and Cedric Noel, and the quiet reset Common Holly and the rest of the city's scene went through after the pandemic.

Also: why the slow songs landed hardest this time, a Left of the Dial date in Rotterdam, and some loose hints at what comes next — maybe an all-vocal record, maybe something built around cello. Nothing rushed. Whatever feels right.

 

https://commonholly.com/

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https://ffm.to/commonholly

Harry Jordan • This Beautiful Life • 2026

 

First coming to attention as co-frontman of cult indie band Eades - with whom he has received acclaim from The Guardian, NME, FADER, BBC 6 Music and more - Harry has since made strides as an in demand producer and engineer since founding his residential Bam Bam Studios with acts like The Big Moon, Keo, Sam Tompkins, Brown Horse, Our Girl, Bleech 9:3, Opal Mag and more passing through its doors. Instagram

Sister Ray Davie • Big Ships (Live Guitar Armada Version) • 2026

 

https://linktr.ee/sisterraydavies

Holy Island Baby plays around with the original tracks in fascinating ways. Pye Corner Audio has made new shapes out of both ‘Aidan’ and ‘Morning Bell’; the former with a harder, Suicide-style approach, the latter elevating the almost ambient nature of the original.

“This version of ‘Aidan’ found new space, new depths, new melodies and new rhythms,” enthuses Adam. “While the mix of ‘Morning Bell’ carries the song into a whole new, mythic place.

“The EP adds extra layers to the original album. We’re aware that it’s a short record, so having some additional tracks to dive into feels like a way to extend your stay in that space as a listener. There is more down the rabbit hole. Genre collapses a bit, too, which is great.”

BLACK MARKET HEART • What Happens in the Dark • 2026

 

Taking cues from the feedback haze of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the cold pulse of Joy Division, Black Market Heart thrive in that tight space between distortion and melody. Tina’s basslines grind and move with purpose, Medina’s drums hit with stripped-down force, and Robinson’s guitar cuts sharp and bright through the fog. It’s music designed for low lights, empty overpasses, and that stretch of road where the city opens up and you can almost pretend you’re alone. Recorded in just two days at Kitten Robot Studios with Los Angeles underground mainstay Paul Roessler, known for his work with The Screamers and 45 Grave, What Happens in the Dark captures the band in a live-wire state. Minimal takes. No studio gloss. Just volume, tape, and instinct. The vocals, often submerged in earlier recordings, are more exposed this time. Brugnoletti’s added harmonies bring a heavier presence, giving the songs weight without sanding down their edge.

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SOME FEAR • “DIA” • 2026

 

With their sophomore album, Word Eater, Some Fear moves toward a more deliberate and polished production style. While their previous work established their lo fi foundations, this record explores greater sonic density and a shift toward a higher fidelity sound.

MAD HONEY • “MOSHFEGHIAN” • 2026

Mad Honey announced their new record last month with “Reaching” and “Marie’s Song,” permeating the band’s sound with their growth and friendship. Stereogum shared the news, praising the new songs by saying, “‘Reaching’ is a soft and detached chug… 'Marie's Song' is the one that really convinced me to post this one. It's a soft, longing slowcore lullaby with some absolutely shattering vocals from bandleader Tuff Sutcliffe.”

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