Playlists

Following the playlist I posted in April, Out of Phase, here are 21 more tunes from 2026 worth checking out.

1. The Avalanches/jamie xx, “Every Single Weekend”: A natural two peas in a pod, the elder group and their younger heir both spinning pocket symphonies predominantly out of samples. This brief but playful romp might be a preview from the Avalanches fourth album, though they haven’t announced one yet.

2. Slow Pulp, “Better Man”: Very little to do with Jarvis Cocker’s band, it’s a nifty stimulant between Alvvays albums, albeit with more explicit arena rock undertones (are they fans of The Outfield?)

3. The Tubs, “Who’s Gonna Love You Now?”: From their forthcoming third album Hard Life, its immaculate jangle pop is more of the glorious same—completely acceptable given such melodic prowess and an ability to locate infinite shades of color within a formula.

4. Tyler Ballgame, “I Believe In Love”: Another case of I-would-never-expect-that-voice-to-come-from-that-person. You shouldn’t judge books by covers, of course but Mr. Ballgame’s fluid, yearning falsetto wafting over a perfectly swoony melody is a surprising but pleasurable summer tonic.

5. Rayvn Lenae, “Saturday Night”: Sounds little like last year’s retro soul crossover hit “Love Me Not” although one could make a case for it being equally retro, only steeped in late ‘80s dance-pop (or whatever they called disco in that era); it’s also nothing much like the other pre-release singles from upcoming Blue Island.

6. Nicole Atkins, “When The Night Falls”: A triumphant return after a six-year hiatus. Instantly recognizably her (that tremulous, soaring voice) but with less retro-isms and a more full-bodied production. Stokes great promise for Drama, her first album on kindred spirit Chris Isaak’s label.

7. Jessie Ware, “Sauna”: I nearly put the Morricone-sampling “Ride” on Out of Phase but wanted to wait to spotlight a track until Superbloom was released in full. While repeated plays of “Ride” elevates it to Magnificent Banger status, this exquisite disco thumper might even be better, tailored for maximum pleasure from dancefloor to poolside.

8. Madonna, “Danceteria”: As Craig Jenkins noted in Vulture, Madonna finally remembered she’s Madonna and the world is better for it. Confessions II plays to her tried-and-true strengths and this propulsive, origin-story-of-an-icon highlight reminds us why she still matters (perhaps it reminded her as well.)

9. Austra/Patrick Holland, “Siren Reprise”: A random Spotify find just as Jenn Champion’s “Love Nobody” was a few years ago. Borrows the best of anthemic 80s pop, alchemizing it into a confection effectively transcending its “retro” label.

10. Carly Rae Jepsen, “On Wires”: People love to call her stuff “teen pop” but as she passes forty, let’s just call it “pop”, ‘cause that’s what it is, even when she emphasizes sonorous textures over obvious hooks on this first single from upcoming double(!) album Day and Night.

11. Lykke Li, “Lucky Again”: I’d written her off, not connecting with any of her music after 2014. Happy, Li remembered she’s Li on her supposedly final album The Afterparty; this masterful single is a reminder as to why she once mattered.

12. Arab Strap, “You You You”: Third album into the reunion phase of their career and these Scots continue to locate nuance in their craft with Aidan Moffet’s inimitable snarl still a cover for his disarming sincerity. He may have “pruritus scroti in (his) crotch” but also love in his life, thank god.

13. Aldous Harding, “One Stop”: A New Zealand weirdo at her most accessible, which of course entails an immediate, persistent hook only subsiding once the rhythm section kicks in on the final minute-plus and the song transforms into a homage to Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark.

14. Steve Lacy, “The Feeling”: Four years later, I remain stunned that his “Bad Habit” topped the Billboard Hot 100 given its casualness, like he stumbled upon a hit. This spacious, soulful ballad is more immediate but also genuine in that there’s nothing calculated about it, as if another unlikely crossover would be welcomed but not at all expected.

15. Paul McCartney, “As You Lie There”: It’s above average, but I don’t anticipate The Boys of Dungeon Lane quite making my year-end top ten. This opening track, however, shows that McCartney’s forever capable of constructing a tune with numerous odd twists and turns but in a way where it all coheres almost effortlessly.

16. Rostam, “Back Of A Truck”: I’ve lost interest in Vampire Weekend since he left them and his pleasant solo work doesn’t scale the heights of anything from those first three VH albums, but I can’t deny this song’s hook or how reliably it mashes up Western and Eastern instrumentation.

17. Phoebe Bridgers, “Lost Boys”: As usual for Bridgers, it’s so unassuming it took a few spins for this to resonate. Downright peppy compared to much of her pre-Boygenius output which longtime fans may balk at, but at least it fuels curiosity for her next album, Lost Weekend.

18. Olivia Rodrigo, “Expectations”: In general, I’m far too old for Rodrigo’s demographic but now and then she’ll put out a punk-pop gem like “Good 4 U” or this giddy 80s pastiche that, no matter how informed by Chappell Roan is a deliriously fun, “Kids In America”-quoting raveup that should be blasting from every car speaker this summer.

19. Broken Social Scene, “Relief”: Canadian Indie collective returns with another uncategorizable assortment of tunes, my favorite of which features Metric’s Emily Haines and is much sharper than any of her own band’s singles in recent memory.

20. Belle and Sebastian, “It Only Takes One Lion”: Stuart Murdoch and company have seen better days but their World Cup anthem might be the best one since New Order’s “World In Motion” for its optimism, energy and an essence that could come from no one else.

21. Fruit Bats, “The Landfill”: Like John Darnielle with The Mountain Goats, Eric D. Johnson’s venerable indie project has a consistency to its output that might seem boring if you’re not paying close attention. The title track from his 12^th album confirms this, resounding as if it has always existed.

Back from a posting hiatus, I spent a lot of that time thinking about what this blog should or could be. I considered switching to a Substack-like newsletter format but concluded that I’d rather not leave behind everything I’ve posted here over the past dozen years (when I began my 100 Albums project on my old blog, then transferred the first thirty or so entries to this one.)

I have no grand design for Haunted Jukebox. Instead of creating another new years-long project akin to 24 Frames, I’m just going to post something, anything weekly (and maybe skip a week once in a while) and see what evolves. There will be movie reviews like last week’s post (and more on the way with IFFBoston kicking off in two days) and the occasional mix/playlist, now with song-by-song commentary.

First up: Out of Phase, which collects some of my favorite new tunes of 2026 so far. Here’s the tracklist:

1. Arctic Monkeys, “Opening Night”: Myself dismissive of them until 2022’s presumptive swan song The Car, they return with the leadoff track from charity album Help2. Is it a coda, or maybe a potential return with those guitars prominent in the mix once again? Either way, Donald Fagen should cover it.

2. Kelsey Lu, “Running To Pain”: Mostly missing-in-action since her 2019 debut album Blood (featuring the airy, soulful, dancefloor-friendly “Poor Fake”), I feared she’d be a one-and-done. Happily, her first single from forthcoming second LP So Help Me God is exactly what I’ve been waiting for these seven years. Between this and its other pre-release track “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”, such a wait could be fully worth it.

3. Lana Del Rey, “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”: Still a weirdo and I prefer when she leans into this quality. Hopefully, tempering her Twin Peaks vibes with just a twinge of Kate Bush (or is it Bjork?) will prove as fruitful going forward.

4. Robyn, “Talk To Me”: Also still a weirdo and if it takes her eight years between albums, so be it as the recently released Sexistential is another good one; any artist can employ Max Martin to bring the hooks but it’s Robyn’s personality that allows them to soar.

5. Tori Amos, “Shush”: I have perhaps unrealistic hopes that the upcoming In Times of Dragons will end up one of Amos’ more eccentric later-day efforts based on tracks like this faintly sinister six-minute slow-burn of an opener.

6. Mitski, “Where’s My Phone?”: Having listened to it only twice, I can’t yet tell where Nothing’s About to Happen To Me will end up in the Mitski canon but at least she’s no longer trying to be an alt-pop idol as the music on this resembles Social Distortion (of all things) with a much sweeter vocal (also love the jaunty “uh, uh, ohh’s”.)

7. Beth Orton, “The Ground Above”: A few minutes into this eight-minute title track jam (from a just-announced new album), she unexpectedly shifts into a jazz-incensed vamp over a 90s-style breakbeat, an assurance that nearly thirty years after Trailer Park, she’s still developing and experimenting with her sound.

8. Beabadoobee feat. The Marias, “All I Did Was Dream of You”: I found this merely pleasant the first three or five times I heard it but sometime after that, it suddenly clicked: the chiming guitars, the deliberate tempo no faster than it needs to be, those swooning chord changes; I nearly gave up on her after This Is How Tomorrow Moves and now I’m all in again.

9. Jose Gonzalez, “A Perfect Storm”: Speaking of absorption over time, it was at least a year of repeated spins before his Local Valley became of my favorites of, no shit, this entire decade. So I’m being extra patient with his new Against The Dying of the Light; presently, this spare, hushed opener is the only track sticking but get back to me in a few months (or years.)

10. Kacey Musgraves, “Dry Spell”: Neither as profound as some listeners think nor as banal as she occasionally risks, she might’ve turned into a singles artist following 2018’s Grammy-winning Golden Hour; this exceptionally Calexico-esque track from May’s Middle of Nowhere sounds great on the radio but we’ll see if she’s still capable of more when the album drops.

11. Alexis Taylor & Lola Kirke, “Out of Phase”: Four years since the last Hot Chip album and because vocalist Alexis Taylor couldn’t sound like anyone else if he tried, this duet with Sinners actress Kirke is far more than adequate in that it could’ve easily been a single from the next Hot Chip album, whenever that may occur.

12. GUM, “Celluloid”: More drawn to Pond than Tame Impala where western Australian psych-rock is concerned, this side project from Jay Watson of the former band offers up unpredictable soundscapes that resemble pop songs if you squint hard enough but his vocal resemblance to Mike Hadreas of Perfume Genius is what holds my attention.

13. RAYE, “I Know You’re Hurting”: This Music May Contain Hope. is an extravaganza of Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid-sized proportions and may take longer to absorb than the Gonzalez record. Always drawn to artists of insane ambition, I’m psyched to get to know this record well, but the immediate standout (after the glorious hit “Where Is My Husband!”) is this epic ballad where the singer accumulates power that flows rather than drags.

14. The New Pornographers, “Votive”: A.C. Newman and company (if not Dan Bejar) are still cranking’ em out a quarter century after Mass Romantic and while they haven’t produced anything essential since 2014’s Brill Bruisers, at least this gently building raver nearly justifies their continued effort.

15. Emm Gryner, “Touch The Sky”: Written in tribute to Artemis II astronaut (and fellow Canadian) Jeremy Hansen, this standalone single goes Big Power Ballad in a way Gryner has never previously dared but its piano-and-orchestra arrangement, quiet-to-loud dynamics and her ever nuanced vocals keep it firmly on the right side of Celine Dion.

16. Iron & Wine, “Roses”: Later day Sam Beam has been erring on the side of perfectly fine but somewhat forgettable, so as the Beatles-esque chord change late in this song’s chorus snapped me awake, it suggested that Beam is still crafting tunes full of little interesting details few other modern folk rockers often consider.

17. They Might Be Giants, “Wu-Tang”: Their catchiest single in years from what may end up their best album in decades. Given that John and John are now in their seventies, this is no small feat. Modern rock radio might have played the heck out of this thirty-odd years ago, at least more than it did their singles of that time.

18. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “Sunburned In London”: Speaking of Western Australians, this sextet has always leaned heavily towards The Go-Betweens in their sparkling jangle-pop. Their hero’s return after an extended break is this breezy, hypnotic six-minute travelogue that could’ve fit on any of their previous albums but my god, it sounds so good to have them back doing what they do best.