Jana Horn – Jana Horn: Horn could be the heir to one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Mary Margaret O’Hara. I am rarely enraptured by an artist like this within 30 seconds of the opening, but the strings behind Horn’s voice on “Go On, Move Your Body” got me. Those strings, like all the performances and arrangements on the record, pack a huge punch without rising above a whisper. Lyrically, Horn sneaks in some tiny words that open her stories and fill them with humanity. This is the first record of 2026 that makes me want to run to the record store and buy it.
The Cure – Songs of a Lost World: When I first heard Disintegration, it captured the isolation and anxiety I felt being a misfit in a city I hated while I waited for my adult life to start. When I finally heard Songs of a Lost World this week, it captures the isolation and anxiety I feel in a world where I intimately know how things fall apart through divorce and disease and drawn-out death. At 20 years old, Disintegration captured my fear that the music might never start; at 55, Songs is the sound of the music coming to an end.
Sudan Archives – The BPM: The middle of the album (from “A Bug’s Life” through “The BPM”) is by far the best set of songs. I really like the production and her use of violin, but her lyrics mostly fall flat for me.
FKA Twigs – Eusexua: This feels like aughts Madonna. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t compel me either. However, when the music and words come together (like on “Sticky”), FKA Twigs captures a beautiful and moving vulnerability.
A$AP Rocky – Don’t be Dumb: The overall sonic quality, from the production to the chord progressions to the melodies, are dark and tense, with the obligatory pop hook to keep the money flowing in. That sonic quality immediately grabbed me, but halfway through, I was bored. The record has some good songs and some good lyrics, but there’s too much of the same old mainstream hip-hop garbage for me to care deeply about it.
U2 – Pop: This is the most unjustly trashed U2 album. Yes, it contains their first truly awful song (a bold statement considering this came after both Rattle and Hum and Zooropa) with “The Playboy Mansion,” but it also contains a bunch of bangers and arguably their strongest closing set, with “Please,” “If You Wear that Velvet Dress,” and “Wake Up Dead Man.” The lows on Pop are low, but this was the last time the band reached highs this high.
Chris Isaak – Heart Shaped World: A couple guys played a stellar version of “Wicked Game” while I was eating at a local restaurant. It made me want to revisit an album that fell short for me when I was younger. Unfortunately, it still falls short for me. It’s not a bad record, it’s just not the record I want it to be.
Grails – Miracle Music: This is an odd mix of post-rock, film scores, electronic dance music, and dramatic chamber music. While it certainly overlaps with Godspeed and Mono, it’s very different than either of those bands’ works. I want to give it a few focused listens, but honestly, I’m still not sure I’ll be able to say anything useful about it.
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: Gracie Abrams: Good Riddance; Paul de Jong: If; Mono: Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined; John Coltrane: A Love Supreme