As you read this, there is ever more music out there which you will probably never get around to hearing. At least, that’s the way we feel at BPM. We try our best to cover as many albums as possible, but there simply aren’t enough hours in a lifetime to hear it all โ especially not before the conversation has moved on.
However, we want to hit pause for a moment โ rewind, even. There have already been dozens of brilliant albums released in 2026 that simply slipped past our reviewing net that we really wish we’d taken a moment to praise. Our annual mid-year Overlooked feature is our opportunity to do exactly that.
We’ve gone back and given overdue love to a couple dozen records released between January and June this year in the hope that you’ll cotton on and listen too. Perhaps they’re ones you had meant to check out but forgot about, perhaps they’re records that you had no idea existed but like the sound of or perhaps they’re records you did listen to but then moved on too quickly before giving them a shot. Whatever the reason, whatever genre you’re feeling, there’s something below for you.
Listen to a Spotify playlist of highlights from our Overlooked 2026 albums.
Aldous Harding – Train On The Island
[4AD]
Kiwi artist Aldous Harding once again returned to familiar Welsh surroundings and regular collaborator John Parish to record fifth album Train On The Island โ itโs clear that there is still much to be mined from this particular well. And, whatโs more, the deeper they go, the more gold they seem to find, with Hardingโs latest being her most mesmerising to date. Itโs hard to say just how she casts her unique spell; her words written down donโt necessarily hold meaning โ some lines can come across like poor translations โ but when sung and embedded among her rootsy and indie take on folk their kookiness becomes transcendent. Train On The Island doesnโt reinvent Hardingโs sound, but thereโs a more confident touch of psychedelia in the arrangements that broadens the songsโ visual expanse while also making them lighter, more playful and utterly bewitching. – Rob Hakimian
Angine de Poitrine – Vol. II
[Spectacles Bonzaรฏ]
It’s something of an understatement to say that there’s lots to talk about regarding Angine de Poitrine. The costumes, the microtonal instruments, the anonymity; it’s all fodder for ripe and intriguing conversation. With any other act it would be easy to let this all overshadow the actual music, but with the Quebec duo it’s almost impossible to not have the music be a – if not the – focal point.
Vol.II is dizzyingly delightful, full of shifting time signatures, layers of looped guitar and bass, and processed vocals. It’s also fun as hell. There’s influences from all directions: math rock, punk, ragtime, country, ska, classical, avant garde. Any indie band would kill for a riff that Angine de Poitrine throw out like it’s nothing; “Utzp” is overflowing with them, a journey through genres that you never want to end. Each minute of each track on the album needs a dissection essay to unpack. There really is so much to talk about, and even months after its release, there’s no letting up with the conversation. – Ray Finlayson
Cancer House – The Moth
[Motion Ward]
Shimmery guitars that echo into oblivion, down-mixed distortion that creeps across a sonic field like a virus of bittersweet doubt.
The shimmering arpeggios of โCamera Obscuraโ transport the listener to a solitary room in an overpopulated city. Is this the end of the world or just agoraphobic loneliness? โIn My Pocket a Letter, a Red Wrecked Lineโ blends mournful notes, hollowed-out vocals emerging from a reverb-y atmosphere. โFlowers Over Thereโ, meanwhile, segues from a sorrowful opening to an adrenalized conclusion โ feedback, muted screams, and a wiry guitar. The closing title track features a hauntingly rhythmic strum accented by random atmospherics.
In exemplary slowcore fashion, The Moth spotlights how exquisitely destitute one can feel and how rapturously broken this world is. If youโre drawn to the paradoxical meal that Cancer House offer, youโll be going back for seconds, thirds โฆ โ John Amen
Carla dal Forno – Confession
[Kallista]
Carla dal Forno arrived so already, supremely self-assured with her first album that her patient evolution since can sneak up on you. With every release, sheโs raised the drawbridge ever higher, erecting her own jagged landscape, more insular and singular each time she elects to lower it just enough to give us a glimpse within.
Sneaky, too, is her latest revelation. Confession, while retaining some of her inherent prickliness, is some of the warmest, most โsummer readyโ music sheโs delved into to date. Itโs all too easy to slide along to the lull of it at all without realizing the precarious position of its narrator. Delusions as self-help grooves. Slowjams to stalk prey to. Itโs all so warm and inviting, but donโt grip it too tightly, youโll draw blood. – Chase McMullen
Deftones – Eros
[Unofficial release]
Well, here is the first of two odd ones in this list: two legendary, inaccessible 2008 albums by nu metal giants, both lost to time and finally surfacing in 2026 โ one legally, one in murky and shadowy waysโฆ
Eros is the one that emerged through unofficial channels: the record leaked online following a shady auction. Meant to follow Saturday Night Wrist โ a brilliant collage album, notoriously finished in segments by each individual member โ Eros saw Deftones together as a unit again, and was meant as a rejuvenative, joyful, communal project.
But in November of 2008, the group’s bassist Chi Cheng was caught in a severe car accident, which left him in a minimally conscious, comatose state. After a period of deliberation, Deftones announced they had abandoned Eros, citing that it felt not representative anymore โ in other words: they didn’t consider it good enough. Cheng improved in the coming years, being able to move minimally and respond, but tragically passed away of cardiac arrest in 2013.
And so, a shadow would always be cast on Eros. Chino Moreno himself often dismissed the possibility of a release, citing that the album was far from finished, that he just did not consider it fair to push what he considered raw demo material into the world โ now also in light of it being Cheng’s final work.
Yet, here it is: 12 tracks of sprawling, vibrant, rich alternative rock. Truthfully, Eros is potentially the most joyful, warm music Deftones have ever created. Cheng’s work on it is also especially present and incredible! It’s sad that these songs are weighed down by so much โ by Cheng’s passing, the band’s ambition and now a shady leak. Because at the end of the day, Eros is beautiful and powerful music. Maybe that is the horizon of this story: the many responses of fans who name the album now as one of the band’s absolute high points. – John Wohlmacher
feeble little horse – Bitknot
[Saddle Creek]
feeble little horse released their third album with no prior warning, which made the impact of the opening โDoorwayโ all the more powerful: a series of sharp, distorted blasts on the guitar and then youโre in – back in the Pittsburgh bandโs unique sound world. Their tapestry of DIY sounds have never sounded more confident as they filigree together luminous electronic melodies with crinkling and crackling guitar tones while other sublte adornments elevate these into their most ornate yet immediate tracks to date. The detail in each track is evident but they maintain an infectious lightness inside the hefty DIY rock muscle. Lydia Slocumโs vocals are the thread that stitches it all together, not only carrying earworm melodies but also relaying strangely affecting messages about modern consumer culture and the drag of existence. Albums with this much going on arenโt usually packaged so tightly โ bitknot runs just past 25 minutes โ but that just ramps up its replayability. โ Rob Hakimian
Jesca Hoop – Long Wave Home
[Last Laugh / Republic of Music]
The seventh album from California-born, Manchester-based songwriter Jesca Hoop is a vibrant album that manages to be busy and important without ever sounding overstuffed. The foundations on the tracks on Long Wave Home never feel elementary, instead they are already complex interweaving figures that only build upwards and outwards: the delicate crossing of fingerpicked guitar and vocal melodies on “Love is Salvation”; the interlaced banjo and guitar on the folk-hued “Signal To Noise”; harp, woodwinds, bass, and knotty acoustic guitar on glimmering opening track “Adam.”
It’s a testament to Hoop having a keen ear for knowing exactly what she wants. She acts as producer for the first time and it shows her knack for letting little features shine, from the richness of the tone of various instruments to the way additional percussion never muddies a track. Barbed with protest songs, while the album may have sweet tones, it cuts too; the way she sings “fu-fu-fu-fu-fuck” on “Big Storm” is a particular highlight and example of her marrying style and substance. A record that rewards more details on each subsequent listen, Long Wave Home, just keeps shining that little brighter after each spin – a welcome and no doubt intentional light in a dark political climate. – Ray Finlayson
Josiah and the Bonnevilles โ As Is
[Rounder Records]
With As Is, Josiah Leming, aka Josiah and the Bonnevilles, releases his ‘Iโm fucking here!’ album. Short, irresistible earworms built around well-phrased narratives and evocative imagery. While Leming has displayed his songwriting acumen on previous releases, with As Is he proves himself one of the notable melodists of his generation. โHell Without the Flamesโ is a southern-goth cooker with a super acoustic riff. โGoing Goneโ is a more romantic and lilting tune, Leming using subtle variations in tone to convey swagger, disappointment, and resilience. โCarolina Heartโ is As Isโs the-one-who-got-away song โ replete with an unshakeable chorus. Turn the song on and let it repeat. It just doesnโt get old. Given that Lemingโs latest is one of the more pop-infused Americana projects to come out in recent years, itโs no surprise that the bandโs recent tour was a tremendous success, with attendance that far exceeded expectations. – John Amen
Kaatayra โ Caminhos de รgua
[Self-released]
Now here’s something I can bug our editor Rob with: Kaatayra are a Brazilian project mixing folk with nuances of black metal โ exactly his thing! Far from outfits in the folk-metal sphere such as Ulver, who jump between the two styles, Kaatayra create a rich palette of experimental folk that is adorned with the nervous, hammering rhythms of black metal, mixed into spherical background arabesques. Paired with this tapestry come the croaking gurgles of Caio Lemos, who is pretty much responsible for every element of this record, outside of multiple guest vocalists that add to his lead.
If you’ve gotten this far and wonder if you should give this a listen: please do so! Caminhos de รgua is incredibly sensual, often structured into complex sections that have shades of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Other times, they dive deep into South American folklore, stretching out a whole assortment of local instruments and field recordings.
It’s clear that Lemos is interested in exploring the history and ontology of his country. Coming off a difficult era of exploitative, technocratic pseudo-fascism, Brazil is somewhere at the crossroads: how much of its land can be sold off, how much of its soul destroyed to make reconciliation impossible? Caminhos de รgua rejects the notion of irreversible devastation, instead using images of ceaseless rivers to transcend the scars of time, to find the soul of a landscape. It’s immensely rewarding โ somewhere related to the spiritual works of Mount Eerie and political stance of Antropoceno. A hidden gem that everybody should give a listen to! – John Wohlmacher
Knats – A Great Day In Newcastle
[Gearbox Records]
โGeordie jazzโ is a subgenre that may have just been created by Newcastle collective Knats – or at the very least, theyโre the ones taking it beyond North East England to the world. On A Great Day In Newcastle, the group gives us a self-described โmusical documentation of the North East working class experienceโ voiced by local poet Cooper Robson, who captures the soul of a city in his heartfelt storytelling. Flowing between dramatic backdrops of luminous jazz keys, powerful art rock guitar and cinematic brass, with no shortage of danceable rhythms, Knats take us on an unvarnished, vivid and loving journey through their hometown. While it meanders through dark alleys, this is overall a document of a place and the pride of those that live in it – and itโs downright infectious. – Rob Hakimian
Look Outside Your Window โ Look Outside Your Window
[LOYW]
Here’s the second of the inaccessible 2008 nu metal albums that surfaced this year, this one from Slipknot working under a different moniker.
Look Outside Your Window was finally released for record store day this April. Recorded in 2008 parallel to All Hope Is Gone (the last Slipknot album featuring all members of their core formation), the project was a side-quest from dual leads Corey Taylor and โClownโ Michael Shawn Crahan on vocals and percussion, with guitarist Jim Root and weirdo DJ and keyboardist Sid Wilson playing additional instruments. It’s a really weird make-up, and the music is equally uncharacteristic for Slipknot. Deftones, Muse and Radiohead come to mind, as the four explore different shades of alternative rock, more 2001 than 2008. That’s what makes this record so curious: it feels completely removed from the time period it was recorded in!
But then, it’s also really, really good! Many of the tracks here are memorable and catchy, while the experimental flourishes provide an insight into where Slipknot could have gone if this album saw a release eighteen years ago. The icy trip-hop track โMothโ, the nautical ballad โAwayโ or anthemic, haunted industrial-rock of โDirgeโ are good indicators of how commercially viable a contemporary release could have been. A wide release is coming later this year โ don’t miss it! – John Wohlmacher
My New Band Believe – My New Band Believe
[Rough Trade]
While the new band name is certainly quite awkward, itโs sort of emblematic of former black midi bassist Cameron Pictonโs mindset in this new project: that was then, this is very much now. While he always chipped in with songs to his erstwhile bandโs albums, My New Band Believe gives him the opportunity to fully spread his creative wings โ and what he delivers is quite all-encompassing. The freneticism of the old band still lives in the jerky, rambunctious art-rock stylings of My New Band Believe, but thereโs a lot more heart and humanity to these songs. By turns spiteful, frustrated, tender and paranoid, Picton and his bandmates have concocted a sweeping and breathtaking snapshot of the human condition that takes several detours through haunted thickets of dastardly instrumentation. Itโs a bucking ride of a rock record. And, arguably their best song – โNumerologyโ – isnโt even on it! – Rob Hakimian
Nora Kelly Band – So Wrong For So Long
[Mint Records]
Nora Kelly thrives in the theatrical. On her second album with her band (now a six-piece, including Kelly herself), So Wrong For So Long, the Montreal artist slips into the shoes of others to explore the various guises of masculinity. Amidst the orchestral swell of the sea on “Port City Blues” she’s a sailor pining for a harbour, on opening track “Salt Mine” she’s a hard labourer reckoning with losing all their time and soul to their work, while on “The Fighter” she adopts the persona of a boxer reckoning with the emotional toll of being the tough guy all the time. “The Murder of Mr. Lucky” has her at her most storied, a grim song shining light on modern day toxic masculinity through a tale of a dating app match gone wrong (or right, depending on your point of view).
In between all these masks she tries on, Kelly reckons with her own place in the world: on the country-dosed “Irish Goodbye” she’s marking the point of a breakup as she waves farewell with “I love you so much darling / But it can only be so wrong for so long”; elsewhere she brings a passionate gusto to “Imposter Syndrome” as she harks, “Iโd like to call myself an artist / And maybe not feel like I just told a lie.” A mask on or a mask off, Kelly knows how to find that needle in the haystack that hooks the listener in. So Wrong For So Long is full of pricks (read that in whatever way you want) but Kelly and her band still manage to make rolling in the hay with them a great time. – Ray Finlayson
Otracami – Runoff
[Figure & Ground]
Camila Ortiz’s second album as Otracami is one caught on the precipice. On Runoff Ortiz sounds ready to spill over into a confrontation, ready to put up a fight. Her voice (which for better or worse, can often sound jarringly like Mitski’s) sounds wrapped up in each line, turning literary references from Greek mythology and Argentinian horror into what feel like tangible moments of real drama.
The album crescendos at its mid-point during “Lose You” where Ortiz becomes increasingly fraught and frenzied as she unleashes Runoff‘s loudest and most outwardly cathartic moment. It’s stilling, grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and forcing you to listen to what is happening. Even when it’s reigned back in like on final track “Penny Frog” the emotion is still heightened. “I’m not afraid anymore,” she reassures the listener but moreso herself. It feels like a letting go, permission to no longer sit in the titular runoff and let it discharge elsewhere. The brink no longer feels beneath her feet and it can be beautifully freeing to hear that. – Ray Finlayson
Paul McCartney โ The Boys of Dungeon Lane
[Capitol]
So here he is, old boy Paul, the always divergent Gemini-Beatle! At 83 (now 84), the legend releases a new album, together with the claim that the next one is already in the pipeline for 2027. So yes: this work, marketed as a nostalgic ‘return to the roots’ of Liverpool imagery, is not his Blackstar or You Want It Darker. It’s neither the solemn singer-songwriter record some had imagined after โDays We Left Behindโ was released as a single, nor some immensely diverse or experimental outing, either. Instead, the album is closer to 2001’s oddly underrated Driving Rain: a modernised, often slick pop-rock album that occasionally dips into the classic compositional tone of the Fab Four โ such as on โMountain Topโ, โSalesman Saintโ, โNever Knowโ, โLife Can Be Hardโ or โHome to Usโ – the latter with extra-Ringo!
The rest of the album is a varied, polite and enjoyable collection McCartney‘isms. โFirst Star of the Nightโ is a beautiful mood-piece, โLost Horizonโ a sweet mid-tempo rocker, โMomma Gets Byโ a charming ballad, โWe Twoโ a touching homage toโฆ Linda? Lennon? At 83, Paul is generous with ambiguity โ often, these songs seem to be as much about the places and people of Paul’s past, as they are about Paul’s place in the modern day, as archivist and witness to something genuinely special. That’s why some of the album’s issues โ such as some quite apparent vocal modulation, courtesy of new Boomer-darling Andrew Watt, to mask evident hoarseness โ don’t really matter so much: a now octogenarian rock star that can still deliver worthwhile and emotionally impactful music, often much better than what most of his contemporaries were able to conjure. Isn’t that a gift to us? So even if this is not the best McCartney of this century, it’s definitely in the upper half of his discography. – John Wohlmacher
Pretty Baby – Layaway Plot
[Expert Work/The Ghost Is Clear/Mishap]
It is tantamount to a crime against art and humanity that an album as good as Layaway Plot by Pretty Baby is going this under the radar. This band and album represent an amazing convergence of Protomartyr style miserably sardonic post-punk, manic post-hardcore and screamo, and blackened post-rock gravitas. Thematically and aesthetically, it is a titanic monument to grief-stricken rage, with punchily ramshackle production, poetic lyrics, and disorientating musical left turns.
Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina and self-described as grief-informed post-hardcore, Pretty Baby started as a solo project from Rusty Colton but expanded into a full band affair. They released an untitled EP in 2022 that hinted at their evolution to come but didn’t set the world alight. Layaway Plot, in contrast, is a scorched earth statement of intent, an album that deserves to be huge but is tragically probably too special and too uncompromising to gather mass appeal.
The opening track will make sure of that; a four-minute moody instrumental that sets a foreboding tone but is more a lure than a throat grab. Then when “Heart Failure” explodes from the speakers, it’s like a glass of cold water to the face. “Sleepdrunk” is angular post-punk in the vein of Bloc Party but fronted by Joe Casey or Raygun Busch, until Colton deadpans, “stop, I think I’ve heard this one before,” before the song slows right down but loses none of its spikiness.
“Ghost Teller” and “Hector’s Loop” are clattering maelstroms of hardcore-leaning rock, with disarming snatches of melody, all barely containing the ranting and raving of the vocals. “8:25 Greenwich Fucking Mean” is simply masterful; so raw emotionally, punctured by tortured screams and a stunningly organic progression that somehow takes in gorgeous synth accents, pageninetynine handclaps, and a beautiful post-rock interlude before building to a devastating climax.
“Grappled and Poisoned” reverts back to post-hardcore madness before unexpectedly switching gears and becoming close to anthemic. Next track “Atom Bomb” strikes a similar tone to “8:25”, before “Faraway Lights” lays claim to the penultimate track of the year crown. The longest song on the album, it completes the journey of grief that the album has taken the listener on, reaching post-metal levels of heaviness whilst showcasing the band’s mastery of dynamics. The final track is billed as a moment to say goodbye on the album’s Bandcamp page. It’s a post-rock instrumental that builds patiently and suddenly gives way to a field recording of the hustle of bustle of life. It’s a strangely moving moment that’s emblematic of the album’s overall effect. This is a special record from a special band. Get it on your radar. – Andy Johnston
The Smashing Pumpkins โ Zodeon at Crystal Hall
[Martha’s Music]
So Billy Corgan has finally released Zodeon, a typically whacky titled record that is meant to be the third Smashing Pumpkins release from his fictional โShinyโ character (see also Shiny and Oh So Bright and CYR), sort of completing a trilogy of โfictitious releasesโ, or something like that. God knows with Billy, or his logic! Because Zodeon was initially dumped as bonus 7-inches in a box-set of ATUM. I swear to god, anyone that is not a fan must think I make all this up. Anyways: this record was mostly recorded by Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin as a ‘psychedelic 60s record’. In other words, a side project.
And guess what: as a cohesive album, this is as good as modern Pumpkins get! CYR was great but included too many throwaway tracks, Aghori Mhori Mei was fantastic but had some flat production here and there, ATUM suckedโฆ but Zodeon is, against all expectations, a great and somewhat flawless album!
Whimsical and pretty, these 12 songs have a hint of Californian charm to them, indulging in Hippie imagery and all kinds of goofy romanticisms. โHuzzah!โ feels a bit like a John Lennon folk song, adjacent to โNorwegian Woodโ, while โStory for Another Dayโ pays homage to โPenny Laneโ. โMagdalenaโ is an energetic quasi-Kraut song with Motorik Beat and a typical Corgan refrain โ possibly the standout song here! โExcelsiorโ is goofy fairground music, but so earnest in its optimism that it becomes infectious! โNecromanceโ could be a lost Harry Nilsson composition and โMaryQโ toys with Syd Barrett-like quirks, ca โArnold Layneโ. Yes, this sounds like โ in every sense โ a classic Pumpkins album.
Had Corgan chosen to combine most of this with most of Aghori Mhori Mei, he would have had an album most would herald as a return to Mellon Collie levels of quality! But instead, these became rarity B-sides, released three or four years late, unceremoniously and with little fanfare. It’s a bit infuriating, but hey โ Corgan moves in mysterious ways! – John Wohlmacher
soastasphrenas – eris
[Self-released]
The Berlin screamoviolence four-piece soastasphrenas released their sophomore LP, eris, earlier this year and, as a followup to their monumental 2023 debut, I can confirm it’s worth the wait. Across nine tracks that, with seamless transitions, scan as one ebbing and flowing composition in a beautifully sequenced, bona-fide capital A “Album Experience”, soastasphrenas don’t just deliver ‘Moirae 2’ โ no, they demonstrate that they have evolved in myriad ways.
What immediately struck me was the sound of the thing; it’s noisier, a bit muddier, maybe, but it creates the effect that the energy of the band can’t be adequately contained by the recording; they’re pushing the needle into the red in terms of intensity. This is a darker, heavier record with sections like the second half of “pleasure.” sounding like a nervous breakdown. When the band locks in, it’s like you’re fighting for life in a sea of writhing bodies. The drumming is spectacular; just a clattering cacophony of on-a-dime switch-ups and insane fills, in perfect lockstep with the driving bass. The guitar parts and tones are disorientatingly wild, and Nate Urban’s vocals are simply top-tier, despite being a little buried in the mix, it gives the impression that he’s fighting tooth and nail to be heard.
On the lyrical side, this is a harrowing dive into cycles of depression, the impossibility of self-actualisation in the face of hopelessness, the individual’s search for meaning in a world of senseless cruelty. It boils down the human experience to three pillars: pain, passion, and pleasure. eris manages to do what the best screamo and emoviolence does, hell it does what the best music does: it expresses genuine human pain, through deep artistic passion, and, if you’re so inclined, you will derive transformative pleasure from it. – Andy Johnston
Twisted Teens – Blame The Clown
[Jazz Life]
New Orleans duo Twisted Teens sit at the nexus of a variety of American styles – folk and Americana form the basis, but their music is shocked to life with an art punk attitude and ethos, with a dash of blues thrown in for good measure. RJ Santosโ pedal steel characterises most of these songs, but theyโd happily sit alongside Parquet Courtsโ output in terms of energy and attitude โ the lo-fi production adding to the dusty charm. But thereโs no shortage of character in the arrangements that help bring to life Caspian Hollywellโs characters – a bunch of everyday folk looking for a little uplift in personal outlook. One song heโs singing about having a โwild connectionโ with someone, the next heโs reminiscing about being circumcised in a car at 10 years old. Across Blame The Clown, Twisted Teens give off the impression of a couple of extremely talented chancers who are just dashing off a set of tunes for the fun of it โ a joy that transmits in every listen. – Rob Hakimian
Warning โ Rituals of Shame
[Relapse Records]
With their first album in 20 years, the Patrick Walker-led Warning revisit their trudging, doomy, and occasionally sludgy brand of metal. The 12-plus-minute title track is built around sustained notes that turn into stretched-out riffs, drums that are sparse but pummeling, and Walkerโs forlorn-sounding vocals. At home with a vulnerability often side-stepped by metal singers, Walker embraces a distinct sense of urgency or psychological crisis (โAnd here, in the central hour of my life, all experience bursts in on me / Pulling me into the shame of the most base rituals of humiliationโ).
โTeacherโ, too, highlights Walkerโs affinity for self-revelation and dire inquiry (โHow did I hold such little faith? / And still, I slenderly know even myself tonightโ). Sinister guitars and hard-hitting drums froth and reverberate. Walker occurs as a lone figure poised on a tower thatโs being licked and scorched by lava (in contrast to his possible mentor, Michael Gira, who occurs more as a wizard planted on a mountaintop gazing down at a burning world). In this way, Warning make a memorable comeback, mixing aggression, despair, and a decidedly theatrical bent. – John Amen
Wormy – Shark River
[Rose Garden]
Noah Rauchwerk – aka Wormy – is a master at being down on himself. On his second album, Shark River, he exercises his skills as a conversational songwriter, threading everyday details with self-deprecatory hooks on life. It’s a wryly and blackly funny album, quotable as hell (“Life is full of bad excuses and you’ve used them all on me”; “Hello darkness, my cutest friend”) but has a big heart it wears on its sleeve. It’s an album of yearning to be seen and cared for; to have someone still holding you when you wake up; to have someone call you when your plane lands; of finding safety in watching a movie marathon with friends. “I don’t want to be found by the coastguard / I just want to be kissing on the train,” he pines from a sunken place.
The angst finds its way outwards in the form of brisk, fuzzy guitar solos atop the indie folk arrangements, but it’s just another layer since the foundation is clear from the get go. “I’m a big fucking loser / The best thing about me is that I still care about you,” Rauchwerk announces at the start. He’s down on himself, but he knows he still has lots of love to give. It’s almost impossible not to root for him; Shark River feels like going for a long walk with a dear friend who is struggling. Rauchwerk relaying their woes and anxieties seems to help; the best thing to do is listen. – Ray Finlayson
Listen to a Spotify playlist of highlights from our Overlooked 2026 albums.
