Some of our favorite January 2026 releases, grouped into six broad genres, with tracks listed in no particular order. You can also listen on Spotify via the playlists embedded below each genre heading, and follow them for future updates as we add new picks.
P.S. We keep updating our “Monthly Top Picks” posts throughout the year as we catch up on releases we didn’t get around to right away. If there’s something you think we should check out, let us know in the comments!
AMBIENT / CINEMATIC
Albums
Kyle Preston – Music For Disappearing Coastlines
Singles & EPs
Ross Lara – Haven I
Hollie Kenniff – Of Quiet Beauty
Julianna Barwick, Mary Lattimore – The Four Sleeping Princesses
Margaret Hermant – Smile
Somafield – Glimmer In The Air
Longlake – Nys / Latt
Scott Buckley – Wildflowers
Cracks In The Real – Nox Obscura
Searching For Light – Permafrost
Tineidae – Unseen Currents
Fabrizio Brugnera – Davide Fasiello – Ex Nihilo Nihil
Sometimes The Light – Billion Stars
Samatha – After The Fall
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Cicada – Gazing The Shades Of The White (The Remixes)
ELECTRONIC
Albums
James Adrian Brown – Forever Neon Lights
Roel Funcken – Kine 2
Bvdub, East Of Oceans – Replicant Memories
Singles & EPs
Dark States – Motionless
Apparat – Hum Of Maybe
The Album Leaf, Aisha Badru – Fight Or Flight
Antibody, Grendel – The Ranidae
Blaudiss – There’s Always Hope
Carpenter Brut – The Misfits/The Rebels
Douran – Arran
Sublab – Out Of Bounds Glitch
Michael FK – Place To Be
Keosz – Login (Radio Edit)
Karyyn – Collapse Phase
Utah – Blossom
Fauna – Bland Traden
Kodomo – Sisu
Niels Nielsen – Domino Like Bricks
Starkiller – No Salvation
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Fraunhofer Diffraction – Out Of Focus
PsyDi – I Am Breakcore
INDIE
Albums
Euphoria Again, Dogwood Tales – Destination Heaven
The Format – Boycott Heaven
Singles & EPs
Gyða Valtýsdóttir – Checking In
Graham Candy – Showing Me Showing You
Gladie – Future Spring
Whitelands – Blankspace
Tigers Jaw – Ghost
Alex Siegel – False Alarm
Iron & Wine – In Your Ocean
Father John Misty – The Old Law
Lucy Clearwater – I Wanna Fight You
DWLLRS – Looking Back At Us Now
Common People – Rain
Sleeping At Last – Have
Moon Mother – Wilderness
Lande Hekt – Lucky Now
Dirtbuyer – Bullshit Fuck
Courtney Marie Andrews – Hangman
Daughter – Not Enough
Deathcrash – Somersaults
Ratboys – The World, So Madly
Holy Fuck – Evie
Modern Woman – Dashboard Mary
Mirah – After The Rain
Hater – Angel Cupid
Sweet Pill – Glow
Doll Spirit Vessel – Kissing My Cup
Snail Mail – Dead End
Natalie Jane Hill – I Thought Love Meant
Remember Sports – Nevermind
Fagelle – Innan Malen Hittat In
Pileup – Going Away
The New Pornographers – Votive
Ellur – Dream Of Mine
The Orielles – You’re Eating A Part Of Yourself
Blood Wizard – Day Dreaming
Joely June – Your Dog
JAZZ / JAZZ FUSION / NU JAZZ
Albums
Trigg & Gussett – Event Horizon
Ilhan Ersahin – Istanbul Sessions: Mahalle
Vincen Garcia – Vivace
Vladko – Synergy
Singles & EPs
Nana Rizinni, Mark Cake – The Right Side Of The Escalator
Last Scene Alive – Mad News Travels Fast
Kilne – Morpheus
To Die On Ice – Un’Estate
Blu Sahra – Sultana Of Abyss
Mammal Hands – Ali’s Abandon
Shabaka – A Future Untold
Pat Metheny – In On It
Shake Stew – Cherry Pie
Mauricesax – Skeleton
Tigran Hamasyan – One Body, One Blood
Polyplus – Archives
GoGo Penguin – Call To The Void
——
Le Ministere – LOS.E
METAL
Albums
Zu – Ferrum Sidereum
Møl – Dreamcrush
Gavran – The One Who Propels
Sacri Suoni – Time To Harvest
Ellende – Zerfall
Textures – Genotype
Iridium – Hell Is Just A Halfway House
Singles & EPs
MIRE – Pale Reflection
Efflore – Liu’s Haunted House
Sungrave, Creaturess – Cold Flesh And No One, Pt.2
Lantlos – Daisies
Wide Eyes – Indomita
Inferi – The Rapture Of Dead Light
Gaerea – Phoenix
Heiden – Temnoplodec
Holotropic – In_dividual, Pt. I: Animal
De L’Abime Nait L’Aube – Un Sanctuaire De Cendres
Converge – We Were Never The Same
Poison The Well – Thoroughbreds
Omnium Gatherum – Moongold
Immolation – Adversary
Vanir – Never Surrender
Bite Down – Violent Playground
Worm Shepherd – Whispers Of A Buried Land
Elision – Death Is All You Will Know
Monosphere – Limbic
Graufar – Buried In Flames
Winterfylleth – Heroes Of A Hundred Fields
The Dark Atom – Protocol 0
Agabas – Kill
Rioghan – Teardrop
ROCK / ALT-ROCK
Albums
Blanket – True Blue
Mother Vulture – Cartoon Violence
Gros Enfant Mort – Le Sang Des Pierres
The Hirsh Effekt – Der Brauch
Singles & EPs
Shortwave – Alocasia
Coach Party – Nurse Depression
Shoreline – Sweet Spot
Abrams – Glass House
Trauma Ray – Hannibal
Mx Lonely – Return To Sender
Nothing, Nowhere. – Box In The Basement
Chalk Hands – Pauvre De Moi
Moose Knuckle – With My Dogs
Thistle Sifter – Ghost Acres
Lilly Legit – Invocation
Nothing – Toothless Coal
Cigarettes For Breakfast – Flowing
Menu – Mariposa
Vanishing Gradient – Black Tulip
Velvet Two Stripes – Mad Machine 2.0
Wildernesses – Maintenance
Alter Bridge – Scales Are Falling
Blinder – Shadows
Poor Bambi – This One Is For Free
Joyce Manor – I Know Where Mark Chen Lives
The Twilight Sad – Designed To Lose
Sungaze – Always Looking Behind
Matt Christensen, Jake Howsam Lowe – The Messenger
Charm School – Schadenfreude Ploy
Free Throw – A Hero’s Grave
The Ape – Grownboyhood.
Essencer – So Long
New Found Glory – Beer And Blood Stains
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Maxwelltheband – MWTB
Paralian – Dopamine Chaser
Odradek – Horror Vacui
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