Tunde Adebimpe, the singer of TV On The Radio and accomplished solo musician, animator (Celebrity Deathmatch), and actor (Marriage Story, Spider-Man: Homecoming), makes his Sub Pop debut with the album “Thee Black Boltz”.
For the last 24 years, Tunde Adebimpe has largely been known as the co-founder, co-vocalist and principal songwriter for TV On The Radio. The mostly-black, art-rock band triumphed through two decades of volatile cultural change to become one of the most beloved, enduring and influential groups from New York City’s early-2000s rock scene. Though Tunde’s poetic songwriting and transparent, towering vocals are central to the band’s dissonant sound, TV On The Radio, has and always will be a collaboration between a group of singular musicians.
Tunde’s personal story exists on a parallel path, as a sort of creative polymath. He is a musician but also an illustrator and painter. He’s a former animator and one-time stop-motion filmmaker. He is a television and film actor. And now he is also a solo artist, with his first-ever formal solo album, This album is a powerful and inspired indie-rock album that grasps for small moments of joy amidst the dissonance and sadness of personal grief and social upheaval. On his debut solo album, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe reintroduces himself with bold synth melodies and artful arrangements. With poetic lyricism and his signature vocals on full volume, he shares a captivating performance of “Magnetic” and more from ‘Thee Black Boltz“
Tunde Adebimpe performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded August, 2025.
3xLP expertly pressed on vibrant 180-gram coloured vinyl , – 7” solo demo for the monster blues of “Midnight Lightning” backed with the rollicking odd-time signature “Beginnings (Take 5).” also includes -️ Custom-made patch and slap-it-on-the-car bumper sticker
The recordings span multiple sessions in New York and London and have appeared scattered across various releases over the years, but this newly compiled track list (curated by pre-eminent Hendrix expert John McDermott) provides previously overlooked context and perspective behind the narrative and interconnectedness of all these songs.
All songs were precisely mixed by the legendary Eddie Kramer, Jimi’s engineer of choice, who spent as much time as anyone with Jimi in the studio during these jam excursions.
It’s fair to say that most of these lists for 2026 will contain the name of Basht. (always followed by the full stop). Described in the Irish press as “one of the most exciting young rock bands to emerge from Ireland for aeons,” and this, for once, is not damning them with faint praise. Their second EP ‘Bitter And Twisted‘ saw them starting to become muttered by those in the word-of-mouth know, with lead track, the blisteringly moody ‘Vain’ capturing hearts. Their particular sound feels like being battered around the head sonically. But in a good way. They are gonna be massive.
Capturing us with a series of thrilling sets at Focus Wales last year, are New Yorkers Diary who are Kevin Bendis (vocals, keys), Chris Croarkin (guitar, vocals), Jessica Dye (guitar, vocals), Yan Kogan (bass), and Adam Sachs (drums). Their bittersweet jangle pop sound with a new wave edge hints at everyone from the Psychedelic Furs, The Jesus and Mary Chain, R.E.M. and early Happy Mondays, but is moulded by the distinct input of each band member. They know their way around a kick ass tune with a ton of personality.
NYC’s Diary’s brand of indie-rock is kaleidoscopic pop songs born out of a love of guitar pop, shoegaze and psychedelia. Formed post-college by friends. Having played around NYC for several years, Diary has previously released, “The Cutting Garden” EP, which was inspired by everything from Echo and the Bunnymen to The Byrds and more recently, the “Sunday’s Shadow” single, a song pulled from the vacant dream-states that come the day after a long night.
What sets them apart from the pack is that they have a melodic edge, each excellent song takes a different shape, tack and influence and is still just as good, inscribed with the words of Diary. Remember the name.
Ever since Waxahatchee revved up her Ford pickup for 2020’s Saint Cloud, a wave of Americana folk has swept through indie rock. From “Elderberry Wine” to Geese, the current wave of indie stars have all taken their stabs at alt-country, and the genre was brought into the emo world this year on Home Is Where’s third record. The Florida natives were no stranger to the folksy sound—their breakthrough release, 2021’s “I Became Birds“, often leaned acoustic—but on “Hunting Season” they embrace full-band country without losing sight of their emo roots.
What makes it all work is Bea MacDonald’s voice—hear her nearly yodel on “black metal mormon,” only to then channel that raspy howl that originally put Home Is Where on the map on songs like “migration patterns” and “bike week.”
Home Is Whereis a renowned alt-emo band from Palm Coast, Florida. “Hunting Season” is their third full-length album. It is the much-anticipated follow up to 2023’s “The Whaler“, which received praise from Pitchfork, Paste, Stereogum, and more
Paired with the band’s heart-wrenching storytelling, the result is a moving and thoughtful mix of emo and country—and while those two genres are linked more often than you’d think, the blend sounds truly innovative on “Hunting Season”.
Home Is Where’s upcoming album, “Hunting Season“, out May 23rd.
The debut solo album from María Zardoya of the Marías seemingly presented some logistical challenges: Her main band is already basically named after her, and her voice is so unmistakable that it could be tricky to tell where one entity begins and the other ends. But none of the above is an issue for “Melt,” which is very distinctively Zardoya but channels the ‘90s trip-hop era of Portishead and Massive Attack, as well as adjacent groups like the underrated Broadcast.
Written and recorded in a frigid Upstate New York, the album’s sound often conjures visions of the snowscapes and overcast skies of a Northeastern winter. Yet it’s also filled with some of the strongest hooks in her discography: The opening track, “Puddles,” has a simple descending keyboard hook that evokes dripping water and is nearly impossible to get out of your head; the breezy, piano-driven “Moment” and the ballad “Back to You” are the most Marías-like songs here; the album also branches into tropicalia terrain on the Spanish-language track “Vueltas.” While “Melt” seems to be more of a side-journey from the Marías’ course than a new vehicle, it’s a diverse and compelling chapter in Zardoya’s creative work.
It was a simple idea; to create a festival out of all the brilliant music and art made all over the world, stuff made outside of the mainstream – music that wasn’t getting on the radio and was even harder to find in record stores… … the very first WOMAD Festival took place at the 240-acre Bath and West Showground,Somerset over the weekend of 16th–18th July, 1982. With the dream ‘not to sprinkle world music around a rock festival, but to prove that these great artists could be headliners in their own right’, the three days and five stages played host to 60 bands from over 20 countries; a line-up that included The Drummers of Burundi, Pigbag, Salsa de Hoy, Simple Minds, Musicians of the Nile, Echo and the Bunnymen, Prince Nico Mbarga, Rip, Rig and Panic, The Beat and many more…
“I remember this gig well,” says Peter Gabriel. “We played a mix of old and brand-new material. I would normally be very nervous about playing some of this stuff for the first time, however my mind was very preoccupied with the running of our very first WOMAD festival and the potential financial disaster that it was heading towards.
Because WOMAD was unique in its focus on music and art from around the world, and mixing it up with rock and jazz, no-one knew how many people might turn up and we had seriously overestimated our appeal. But those that had decided to check out WOMAD and its weird and wonderful line up were open-minded, bold and curious – a great audience.
It was a landmark and edgy gig for me both personally and musically and brings back lots of memories.”
Across the three days ‘an evening concert series’ took place in the Showering Pavilion on the festival site. On the Friday night that concert featured Tian Jin (a song and dance troupe from China), Simple Minds and, with a ‘special festival set of non-album material’, Peter Gabriel.
“Live at WOMAD 1982” is a recording of that Friday night concert. The non-album material in question are seven of the eight songs that would make up the album “Peter Gabriel 4“. An album that wouldn’t be released for a further two months.
On-stage, Peter is joined by David Rhodes (guitar), John Giblin (bass), Larry Fast (synthesisers). Jerry Marotta (drums), Peter Hammill (guitar, vocals) and “the wonderful Bristol-based drum and dance group,” Ekomé (drums, percussion).
“We wanted to show that wherever you were born, whatever colour or language, whatever religious or sexual persuasion, powerful passionate and joyful work would have a warm welcome in WOMAD.
At the beginning, most music industry professionals told us that we had no chance of making this dream work, we had all the wonderful naïve misguided optimism of the young, and were convinced that we would prove all the cynics wrong. However, at the end of the first festival, it was clear we had an artistic success, but not a financial one… but that’s for another story.”
Peter Gabriel’s “Live a WOMAD 1982” takes us back to not only the birth of a festival – one that has now hosted more than 160 editions in 27 countries – but also to the premiere of an album with songs, like “The Rhythm of the Heat”, “San Jacinto” and “Shock the Monkey“, that have become central to the Gabriel canon. More than just a live album, “Live at WOMAD 1982” is a pivotal moment, available now for the very first time.
David Rhodes (guitar) John Giblin (bass) Larry Fast (synthesisers) Jerry Marotta (drums) Peter Hammill (guitar, vocals) Ekomé (drums, percussion). Peter Gabriel (vocals, keyboards)
Recorded live on 16th July, 1982 in the Showering Pavilion at the Royal Bath and West Showground.
The UK art rock band get just a little more accessible (and embrace harpsichords) on their immersive third album, The world that Squid envision on third album “Cowards” looks a little bit like our own—but it’s just a little off. With songs inspired by books about cannibals and reflective of modern society’s seeming lack of self-awareness, it might just as easily be called Villains. But there’s an absurdity here that tints these vignettes in a strange light, bending reality just enough to put an even more absurd spin on human behaviour as they build some of their most dazzling musical arrangements around them. Ornate art-pop, minimalist-inspired new wave, buzzing post-punk and swirling psychedelia—it’s all part of Squid’s kaleidoscopic and twisted vision, perhaps a no less perilous world than the one we inhabit but frequently more interesting.
Squid hail from a London scene that tends to pride itself on musical complexity, but for their third album “Cowards“, guitarist Louis Borlase says “we were thinking of an album of great songwriting. Simple ideas that resonate in a very different way to “O Monolith”, which was dense and complex.” Right from the kaleidoscopic harpsichords that open the album, you can hear the difference. In trademark Squid fashion, “Cowards” still often sounds like a jam session between the Talking Heads, Slint, and King Crimson, but with a sweeter, lusher baroque pop side that suggests maybe some Zombies records were on their mood board this time too. It’s more accessible but still a twisty-turny journey, and it’s best moment is its eight-minute closing track, which builds and builds to the album’s most towering climax and then fades away.
Like the other key bands coming out of the scene that’s coalesced around the South London pub and music venue The Windmill, Squid’s used modern post-punk as a springboard to more experimental music, and on their third album they continue to delve further into sonically elaborate, textured art rock. That said, this one’s both more kinetic and frenetic than 2023’s “O Monolith“, and to my ears it’s also more consistently engaging. Highlights: “Cro-Magnon Man,” “Blood on the Boulders,” “Well Met (FingersThrough the Fence”
Squid frame “Cowards” as a series of “dark fairy tales” about cruelty and complicity, with songs that zoom in on specific characters and scenarios (including cult dynamics and cannibalism themes). The sound stays restless: knotty post-rock builds, sudden pivots, and vocals that lean into the grotesque to match the writing.
Critics liked how the album widens Squid’s scope while keeping their tension-heavy momentum intact
Written & Performed by Louis Borlase, Ollie Judge, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell, Anton Pearson Published by BMG
The debut single by Dove Ellis who is scheduled to open Geese’s North American tour dates sounds like he’s been here forever as “To the Sandals” unravels. The song, which is about “reflections on a failing shotgun marriage in Cancún,” and was mixed by the great Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Dijon), summons the ghosts of Radiohead and Black Country, New Road without depending on their styles for relevancy. He gravitates toward tonal contrasts; instruments collide until they coalesce. The guitar reminds me of David Gilmour’s on “Wot’s… Uh the Deal?” and Ellis’ vocal isn’t too far away from Thom Yorke’s, his decaying holler never raising itself above Fred Donlon-Mansbridge’s wilted saxophone.
With 30 seconds left to spare, the song takes a strident plunge, piecing corroded fragments of woodwind, acoustic guitar, rattling percussion, and Ellis’ now-distant vocal together with scotch tape. In his conclusion, Ellis delivers either a list of destinations or a collapsing salutation: “To the back teeth, to the front teeth, to the split tyres, to the penthouse, to the milk deal, to the wax seal, to the cracked heel, to the sandals.” Every song could sound like this and I’d still beg for a thousand more.
Dove Ellis arrives with a debut built around close-mic intimacy and slow-burn melodies that leave room for big emotional climaxes. Early reviews have focused on how fully formed the songwriting feels for a first full-length.
Since 2024, R.E.M. have reunited a couple of times, and Peter Buck has launched supergroups like the Silverlites and Drink The Sea. Now, he’s joining the Icicle Works’ Ian McNabb for a cover of R.E.M.’s Reckoning track “So. Central Rain.” “In the year just passed, I recorded some guitars on a version of ‘So. Central Rain’ by my friend Ian McNabb,” Buck wrote on R.E.M.’s website. “You might remember him from the Icicle Works. It’s a cool version. Hope this helps start the new year off well!”
The track – originally released as a single from R.E.M.’s second album ‘Reckoning’ in 1984 – came together last year and has now been shared by Buck on R.E.M.’s official website.
Superb version of the R.E.M. song from Ian Mcnabb’s forthcoming album ’65’
The Fat Angel Sings 