Notable vinyl releases out this Friday - May 8, 2026

New Zealand based musician and songwriter Aldous Harding's fifth album, Train on the Island, arrives on May 8. The 10-track record was co-produced with long-time collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning, Sparklehorse) at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, where the pair recorded Harding's previous albums Party (2017), Designer (2019) and Warm Chris (2022). Musical contributions to the new recordings come from pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte; harpist Mali Llywelyn; synth artist Thomas Poli; drummer Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear); and Huw Evans (H. Hawkline), across bass, vocals, acoustic/electric guitar, and organ.

Arkells much anticipated new album Between Us, drops April 17th. Produced and recorded in LA with John Congleton (St. Vincent, Death Cab for Cutie, Wallows), the 11-track collection features collaborations with Portugal. The Man, Poolside and Grouplove. Lead singles "Money" and "Next Summer" capture the album's essence, asking blunt questions about the noise of modern life, and pointing towards where meaning might still be found. Arkells celebrate the album launch with intimate "between us" shows across UK/GER/USA/CANADA, fostering in-person connection in unique settings. Grass Green Color Vinyl

After years apart, BASEMENT have relinked for a new album that is bursting with renewed purpose. WIRED is the UK-based band's fifth full-length album and first on Run For Cover Records in ten years. But it's more than that - it's the feeling of electricity that surges through these twelve songs like a current, and a statement on how interconnected these five individuals were while creating their most complete album to date. Since joining together with the modest goal playing shows around their hometown of Ipswich, Basement's consistent core - vocalist Andrew Fisher, bass player Duncan Stewart, drummer James Fisher, and guitarists Alex Henery and Ronan Crix - have had an enduring connection that's grown over nearly twenty years. WIRED signals a return to what drove the band in those earliest days: creative freedom & connection. Songs like title track "Wired," opener "Time Waster" and the fiery "Pick Up the Pieces" are as intense as they are intimate, pushing against the boundaries of anything the band's done before. There are softer moments, too - the infectious melodies of"Broken By Design" and "Head Alight" feel as emotionally resonant as any song the band's ever done. Together, these twelve songs radiate like the iridescent cat captured on the album's cover - flashes of pure energy, captured in the perfect moment to light up fiercely against the night. Navigated by producer John Congleton (Shame, Mannequin Pussy), WIRED channels the all of the catharsis of previous Basement records with a renewed focus on distortion, imperfection, and strangeness. There is clear inspiration from alt-rock pioneers like Radiohead and Sonic Youth across these songs, but what pulses through every moment of WIRED is a dedication to experimentation - a risky gambit on the creative force of these five individuals that rewards on every listen. For Basement, WIRED is not just the continuation of a story that started years ago - it's a bold statement and a new beginning.

Broken Social Scene's 6th LP Remember The Humans, the iconic Toronto band's first album since '17, is a return to family. Producer Dave Newfeld creates this document of a sprawling collective timelessly in flux: a groove familiar and new, rhythm thundering with the melodic interjections of it's many members.

What if 40 minutes of instrumental music made by two friends passing files across state lines could capture the range of human experience, or at least a disproportionate chunk of it-worry and camaraderie, hope and frustration, tenderness and absurdity? That is the question that steadily emerges across the nine tracks of the self-titled debut from Croz Boyce, the duo of two musicians who have made some of the last quarter-century's most inquisitive music, Dave Portner (Avey Tare) and Brian Weitz (Geologist) of Animal Collective.

As she launches her third album era, Girli is embracing unvarnished authenticity with a clear sense of purpose. Earlier this year, she started writing songs with a specific goal - namely, to make an album in nine months - and documented the entire process for her fans. "That was very intentional because I wanted to strip away the faux mystery of the album rollout," she says. "Every step of the way, I've been very heart-on-my-sleeve. Like, 'Guys, this is what I'm doing, and it's building towards an album.'"She's also going back to basics by refusing to censor herself. "When I started making music, I had this huge political spark that got slightly dimmed when people began telling me how to be 'more commercially viable'," she says. "But everything's changed now - fans really get behind artists who actually stand for something." Going forward, Girli intends to be even more outspoken about issues she really believes in: feminism, queer rights, trans rights, immigrant rights, the terrifying rise of the far right. The artist who sang "when we touch, we touch to fuck the patriarchy" on her brilliant second album, Matriarchy, is ready to grab the mike in all senses.Her upcoming third album, it's just my opinion, is a box-fresh and sonically cohesive affair that reconnects Girli with her musical roots. As a teenager growing up in North London, she absorbed the frenetic energy and spiky hooks of the indie sleaze era, so she's channelled it's chaotic spontaneity into music that pulses with the thrum a sweaty gig venue. It's classic Girli alt-pop that harks back to her teenage nights out in Camden and Shoreditch, but with a razor-sharp 2026 edge. She describes the anthemic first single 'Better Undressed', which she wrote Australian indie musician G-Flip and their producer Aidan Hogg, as a "fun but sad song about wanting to hook up again after a breakup."The musician born Milly Toomey, who made a splash with her brilliantly brash debut single 'So You Think You Can Fuck With Me Do Ya?', has always written songs with a unique viewpoint. 'The Answer', an explosive midtempo from her upcoming album, is a touching coming-of-age song about Girli's first teenage crush, and how it unlocked her burgeoning queerness. "Nothing ever happened between us, but it was the first time I realised I could feel that way about a girl," she recalls. "If I look back at 12-year-old me, who was trying to figure out her sexuality while being quite badly bullied, she'd be so stoked about where I am now: writing these out and proud songs."Throughout her career, she's cultivated a devoted fanbase by singing candidly about tough subjects: unachievable beauty ideals on 2021's 'Dysmorphia', mental health on 2022's 'I Really F*ked It Up', her own insecurities on 2023's 'Imposter Syndrome'. Self-expression has always been the cornerstone of her identity. At the start of the pandemic, Girli was dropped by her record label and had no manager, but she refused to let her career slip away. "I realised I have so much more to say, and I really took things back to basics by focusing on what I love: writing and performing songs that my fans can connect to," she adds defiantly. She's also learned to shut out the sexist noise that surrounds any young female artist. "There used to be this idea that you had to be mega-famous by the time you're 25, but I think that's changing," Girli says. "I take so much inspiration from artists like Self Esteem, Charli XCX and SZA, who are having incredible success in their thirties." She's adapted to changes in the industry - "like most artists, I've had to become a businesswoman and a content creator," she says - without losing sight of her primary goal. "My purpose as an artist is the same as it's always been," girl says. "I want to make people feel seen and less alone by being really vulnerable in my art. And given everything that's going on in the world right now, I think that kind of radical honesty is more important than ever. "

Hurray for the Riff Raff releases a new live record, Live Forever. The album was captured over the course of two sold-out summer nights at the Old Town School of Folk Music in bandleader Alynda Segarra’s new home of Chicago, Illinois. Spanning 14 songs, presents in its entirety, as well as a selection of Hurray for the Riff Raff’s show-stopping, set-defining staples: decrying ICE on the poetic ‘Precious Cargo’ and The Navigator’s anthemic ‘Pa’lante’; the prescient digital age critique of ‘Pyramid Scheme’; and ripping through a folk-rock rendition of Life on Earth’s ‘Rhododendron’.

Lykke Li's The Afterparty is a journey through the night, turning the collective feeling of hopelessness into a celebratory revenge. With hooky choruses, maximalist arrangements and "apocalyptic bongos," The Afterparty asks the eternal question. It's 4am: can we have one last euphoric dance before the hangover crushes us? Featuring a limited vinyl with a transparent printed outer sleeve and exclusive stunning 20-page insert, it's as much a visual artifact as it is a sonic one.Black Vinyl with Transparent Printed Outer Sleeve and 20-Page Insert

Muna's journey has always been about holding space for the complex, messy, ecstatic realities of life, and with their fourth album, Dancing On The Wall, they've never been sharper, darker, or more exhilarating. Emerging from the sparkly, confetti-strewn heights of their 2022 self-titled record, Muna now channel the anxious, uncertain energy of living in a Los Angeles defined by political tension, environmental decay, and the quiet pressures of millennial precarity. The result is a record that feels both intimate and spectacular, a pop world built with teeth, wit, and emotional resonance, a soundtrack for hearts simultaneously on fire and observing the chaos around them. Across the record, Muna explores desire, intimacy, and connection against a backdrop of a world in flux. There's a quiet reckoning throughout the album with how to keep living, loving, and reaching for one another while bearing witness to political brutality and systemic violence and how joy survives without denial. Tracks like "Wannabeher" capture the dizzying thrill of stepping fully into someone else's fantasy, while "Why Do I Get A Good Feeling" lingers long after the beat ends, a meditation on fleeting joy and suspended possibilities. The album closes with "Buzzkiller," a stark reckoning with desire and it's aftermath, the ache of achieving what you wanted only to realise new questions, doubts, and hungers remain. Their previous work, including the viral hit "Silk Chiffon," has earned hundreds of millions of streams and widespread acclaim, alongside TV appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Good Morning America. The band also maintains a devoted following across TikTok, Instagram, and Spotify. Produced with their trademark attention to detail, Dancing On The Wall blends euphoric sonic landscapes with sharp, human storytelling. Led and largely produced by Naomi McPherson, A&R'ed label-boss by Phoebe Bridgers, the album is one shaped by instinct, trust, and total artistic control. It feels lived-in, urgent, and cinematic, a reflection of a generation navigating uncertainty while refusing to let go of joy. With this album, Muna proves once again that pop can be daring, intimate, and socially conscious all at once: a record that doesn't just capture the moment, but distills it into a world you want to inhabit.

In a burst of colour and rhythm that cuts a distinctive path through modern club music, Olof Dreijer crystallises his solo work around a gleaming debut solo album, Loud Bloom, out 8 May via dh2.Across the album, Dreijer toys with the tension between pure pleasure music and his tireless thirst for the new. You might hear the structure of a Chicago house beat or a classic drum machine hit, but at every turn these tropes are remoulded into dazzling new forms. Taking inspiration from Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi and their ability to deliver bold, progressive themes and visionary sci-fi through the accessible lens of romantic fiction, Dreijer makes vividly unconventional dance music utterly instinctive and easy to love.

The 3rd collaborative album between Les Claypool & Sean Lennon (the previous sold over 150,000 combined) is an elaborate concept record reflecting on mortality, the warnings of A.I., and the slippery slope of optimization without empathy. Told across 16 songs - which ooze with classic psychedelic / progressive rock stylings - and the accompanying comic book by Rich Ragsdale, The Great Parrot-Ox and The Golden Egg of Empathy is a peak for both The Claypool-Lennon Delirium and rock music at large.2xLP Green Vinyl in Tip-On, Foil-Stamped Gatefold Jacket with Printed Inner Sleeves and 20-Page Comic Book

Ranjha is the collaboration between award-winning composer and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, celebrated composer/musician Shye Ben-Tzur, and the Indian ensemble, the Rajasthan Express. The album is a follow-up to their acclaimed 2015 debut, Junun. While Junun was recorded in a makeshift studio within the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan, India, Ranjha was created in a more intimate setting - Jonny Greenwood's studio in Oxford, England. The album features 11 new tracks, blending the group's signature cross-cultural sound with a contemporary edge. Pressed on red & coral splatter vinyl in a gatefold jacket with printed sleeves and photo/lyric booklet included. Limited Edition.

Orange County's Social Distortion returns with it's first album in 15 years with Born to Kill. Armed with 11 urgent songs, Mike Ness continues to build on the mystique that Social Distortion is more than just a punk band. Throughout the collection, Ness revisits the sounds of the 1970s, his formative adolescent years. For many, Born to Kill is a return to form, but instead, it's a continuation of the bar of excellence that Social Distortion and, in turn, Ness has long been praised for.Born to Kill is a body of work that will live long in the Social Distortion catalog. Songs like the rowdy title track that serves as the album's mission statement, along with the riff-laden "Partners in Crime," the nostalgic "The Way Things Were," and rollicking "Tonight" are songs that fit in across any of Social Distortion's various eras. Now nearly five decades into it's career and with a remarkable catalog spanning nearly three generations, Social Distortion has no intention of slowing down any time soon.

The Lemon Twigs' two previous Captured Tracks albums, A Dream Is All We Know (2024) and Everything Harmony (2023), certainly indicated something of a ground zero in their then five album career. "It was the beginning of making records that we would listen to ourselves," says Michael D'Addario, the younger Twig brother, now aged 26. By the time of A Dream Is All We Know and the future Michael classic "My Golden Years", The Lemon Twigs' new era had truly begun. And now comes the third Lemon Twigs album for Captured Tracks, Look For Your Mind!, which underneath it's poppy exterior contains an undercurrent of paranoia and suspicion.Opening with title track "Look For Your Mind", a jangly Michael number, the listener is introduced to the guitar-driven harmony sound that is the centering theme of the album. Much of what was achieved on A Dream Is All We Know is here, just more laser focused. It's classic Twigs, indebted to the golden age of guitar pop, but in no way slavish.New to this album is the inclusion of live Twigs Reza Matin (drums) and Danny Ayala (bass), as well as Eva Chambers of Tchotchke, to the rhythm section. With the brothers previously having handled everything in the studio themselves, this shows a newfound sense of freedom. "Gather Round" is one of Look For Your Mind!'s bigger productions. A Brian song with joyous orchestrations, it feels like a turn of the century campaign song. The writer is looking for an uncorrupted leader, but resolves that collective action is the only way forward. Musically it's ornate and delightfully 1967, but the mood and sentiment is distinctly 2026. "Every time we try to write something that's completely straightforward, we can't help adding an element which comes out of left field." explains Brian.Brian's "Fire And Gold" starts off with a ringing power pop riff before turning everything inside out. It's also the first song on the album to feature the powerhouse drummer Reza Matin, whom the brothers favorably compare to Big Star's Jody Stephens, The Raspberries' Jim Bonfanti, and The Move's Bev Bevan. Closing side one on the vinyl record is Michael's beautiful ballad, "Mean To Me", with vocals The Beach Boys would be happy to have committed to wax 60 years ago, care of Michael, Brian and Danny. The closer of the second side, "Your True Enemy", completely throws a spanner in the works. "We at first approached the song as a simple rock arrangement, but it didn't fit the moodiness of the lyric," states Brian. "So that's when we started to get more experimental."The Lemon Twigs sixth studio album may at first seem like a direct continuation of the previous two, but it is also a lot more, with nods to the earlier records, a new found collective spirit, and most importantly great songwriting.