Musicngear's Best Albums and EPs Of 2026 So Far
I hand-picked some of my favourite albums and EPs from 2026 so far.
Featuring Frog, KEELEY, NIMF, PVA, Kim Petras & Alyzea.
Frog - Frog for Sale
This new album has barely been out a week, and it is already one of the best albums to come out this year.
I am never fully sure what to expect when it comes to a Frog album; their eighth studio album, ‘Frog For Sale’, opens with a balmy bossa nova number, which I was most certainly not expecting, but did result in me becoming addicted straight away.
From here, things only get stranger, which is my preference. ‘Best Buy’ sounds like an impromptu performance done in the car park outside of a second-hand store, with instruments that were dusted off and sourced from within; comprising of a warm organ that melts over an indie alt-pop beat, that has a glitteringly seductive swing to it, making it fabulously kitsch. (Of note, I am not from America, but I am aware that Best Buy is in fact an electronics corporation and not a second-hand store, but that is just what it sounds like to me.)
‘Yonder This Way Comes’ is an Americana folk song that features lyrics that should go down in history, such as “All dressed up, nowhere to fight” and “All dressed up, nowhere to fuck”.
On the album, Daniel says, “This is an album about how money sometimes gets in the way of love" and although the genres deviate wildly, this theme is absolutely present throughout, with each song having a seductive swing to it, making it feel simultaneously feral and romantic, tying everything together.
‘Wish Upon A Falling Star’ is magical and gorgeous, ‘Professional’ is somehow an all-out R&B-flavoured seductive jam.
Nothing in the current Billboard top 10 possesses anywhere near the wit or charm of this album, and also, before you accuse me of being fusty, I love and have always loved and appreciated commercial pop, but nothing on it currently comes anywhere close to this, so get over it.
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NIMF - Sirenoscape
I have written about this album at length, and that is because it is a masterpiece. There is so much music being released every moment of every day, it is so easy for valuable work to get buried under it all, so I do believe in highlighting art of this calibre to make sure it gets the attention it deserves.
This is like a folk horror movie for your ears that will remind you of how ancient this planet and its forests are; it will give you the feeling of time passing, and the old tales told to pass it. It builds slowly, trusting the listener and taking them for a journey, kind of like a fireside folk tale. The whole album is enchanting, and after listening to it in full, you will be bewitched.
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PVA - No More Like This
The chorus from ‘Boyface’ (“you got a boy's face/you got a boy's face”) resounds throughout my head constantly. ‘No More Like This’ was released earlier this year, and it truly doesn’t sound like anything else, leaving you longing to explore its hypnotic, murky depths for hidden meanings.
The opening track, ‘Rain’ feels like a meditation with a splash of city violence (e.g “Good morning/To the spit on the street/Fading kick’In the distance”). ‘Enough’ sounds like something from the B-side of a previously unheard Poe album; the production and vocals throughout the entire album are utterly hypnotic and alluring, in a way where it is truly impossible not to get sucked in.
‘No More Like This’ is coarse, it has grit and dirt, while also being enchanting, chic, and deliciously wild and alive.
Connect with PVA
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Alyzea - dream island
There is a lot of Frutiger Aero adjacent music on the internet, and it is a lot of fun, some of it just being good vibes/ambience, and although Alyzea’s album has the aquatic nostalgic element of this genre, it has a whole new substantial dimension baked into it, done so in a fashion that I haven’t really heard before.
From the opening menu style music of ‘Welcome’, we are immersed in the sonic wonderland of ‘Dream Island’, which adds something that is in the vein of Robert Miles’ ‘Children’, a bit of Dario G’s - ‘Sunchyme’, blending euphoric 1990s house vibes seamlessly with the shimmering Palmolive azure blues of Frutiger Aero; something I have not previously heard done, and it is magical.
‘dream island’ isn’t just vibes, it is something deeper, it has memories baked into its core; memories of the blue swimming pools; of bliss; of summer skies; of something that you can’t quite put your finger on, but it shimmers and glimmers from somewhere in your subconscious, laced with some 1990s euphoria. Every single song on this is just magical.
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Kim Petras - Pretour
I will always, for the rest of my life, remember the moment I listened to ‘Popsound’ for the first time.
That evening, I had been re-reading Moby’s book ‘Porcelain’, which details the 1990s NYC Electronic music scene, and, I had recently discovered the work of Theresa Duncan (an American game designer who designed critically acclaimed games for girls e.g ‘Zero Zero’) and had been watching her chicly animated mockumentary ‘The History of Glamour ’ on YouTube.
I do think that Popsound (which was produced by Frost Children, Margo XS, Nightfeelings) is not only one of the best pop songs of the year, but of the 2000s as a whole. There is something in this, something overwhelmingly addictive and all-consuming about it, something that tears at the machine and at the nature fame itself “Made for the masses, made for the money/Made for the thrill, factory girl/It's an illusion, it's an oasis/Shoot at the ground, just for no reason.”
‘Cha Cha’, another song from the EP, has a chic indifference running throughout “I'll give a doggy a bone/I'll kick his ass out the house”, paired with some lyrics that sound kind of like they come from an illustration from a beloved book you ready as a child “Billy combed his hair, mama read her book/Dad was at the fair, think I'll take a look.” I love the DIY vibe to all the music videos; this has an early internet quality to it that I really enjoy and sets it apart.
Also, Mr. Producer (feat. BC Kingdom)’and ‘Get Some (feat. Cortisa Star)’ are well worth listening to also.
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KEELEY - Girl On The Edge Of The World
This album captures the feeling of embarking on an adventure in youth, the feeling of hope, of the unknown places and people that lie ahead of you. This makes sense, as the album takes the perspective of Inga Maria Hauser (a teenage backpacker from Germany) who, on her first trip away from her parents, was tragically murdered in Northern Ireland in April 1988.
‘Girl On The Edge Of The World’ captures the 1990s within its tapestry of plush, nostalgic dreampop, shoegaze, and ambient textures, igniting the feeling of being on the train, coffee in hand, beginning a voyage that you are so excited for you could almost burst. I loved every second of this album, and so will you.
Connect with KEELEY
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About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
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