There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
Snail Mail – ‘My Maker’
‘Dead End’, the lead single from Snail Mail’s upcoming full-length Ricochet, made our list of the best songs of January. Today, Lindsey Jordan is back with the album’s second single, the breezily existential ‘My Maker’, which is accompanied by a video she co-directed with Elsie Richter. The song “was the lyrical jumping off point of the record, the anchor that helped me build the rest of the album around it,” she explained. “I kept thinking about the line “it’s just sky,” which obviously meant we had to make a video in a hot air balloon. It took six canceled rides for that to happen, but we finally got up there. I wanted the video to reference the lyrics about mortality, but also about the freedom that comes with realizing fate is out of your hands.”
Julia Cumming – ‘My Life’
Sunflower Bean’s Julia Cumming has announced her debut solo album, Julia, due April 24. She drew inspiration from formative influences like Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, and her “one-and-only-and-always” Brian Wilson, which can be heard on the defiant piano ballad ‘My Life’. “This song came after a period of intense pressure, the culmination of writing through the pandemic and the years spent in the rhythm of touring, recording, and trying to find my place within it all…” Cumming shared. “Then something shifted. It was liberation, and I knew immediately it was the beginning of something new. It’s clear ‘My Life’’ would open the album, because it’s the thesis. The seed that started everything.”
Yaya Bey – ‘Blue’
Yaya Bey has announced a new LP, Fidelity, with the silky new single ‘Blue’. “I wrote it when I was rock bottom coming off the heels of ‘do it afraid’,” she explained. “I realized I had to make a big shift mentally and emotionally or I was gonna drown.”
Hrishikesh Hirway – Stray Dogs [feat. Iron & Wine]
Hrishikesh Hirway has announced a new album, In the Last Hour of Light, to be released April 24 via Keeled Scales. The lovely lead single, ‘Stray Dogs’, is a collaboration with Iron & Wine. “Iron & Wine has been a massive influence on me since I first heard Sam’s music in 2002,” Hirway commented. “I remember playing the song ‘Bird Stealing Bread’ for my mother, and it made her cry. I’d never seen music have that effect on her. It means so much to me that I’ve even had the chance to meet Sam and get to know him a little, so for him to play a part in one of my songs, to hear his voice singing along with mine…it’s incredible.”
The Bug Club – ‘Watching the Omnibus’
The Bug Club have announced their first album in less than a year – eleven months, to be exact. Every Single Muscle is out May 29 on Sub Pop, and our first preview is the dizzying, no-frills garage punk of ‘Watching the Omnibus’.
Rosenau & Sanborn – ‘Walrus’
Chris Rosenau (Volcano Choir, Collections of Colonies of Bees) and Nick Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Made of Oak) have announced a new collaborative LP, Two, which is out March 6. The lead single ‘Walrus’ is a wonderful example of the duo’s improvisatory approach. “Honestly, the approach on this track was ‘Ok! Saturday night… Let’s party!’ It all felt real good,” Rosenau said. “From there, we got Nick’s gear back up from the night before, followed our process, and went for it. I remember Nick turning into an octopus in front of my eyes as he wrangled both the modular rig he had set up for this one, as well as the insane drum machine situation.”
Cola – ‘Hedgesitting’
Cola have announced their new LP, Cost of Living Adjustment, with a nervy, vibrant new single called ‘Hedgesitting’. The track comes paired with a Kristina Pedersen-directed video.
Wendy Eisenberg – ‘Old Myth Dying’
Wendy Eisenberg has unveiled ‘Old Myth Dying’, the second preview of her forthcoming self-titled album, which finds them sharpening their dreamlike songwriting. “I wrote ‘Old Myth Dying’ in early 2024 during an insane fever,” Eisenberg explained. “Although I knew I should have been trying to sleep it off, I wanted to see if I could do this polyrhythm in my right hand and sing over it. Historically, practicing has allowed me to forget that I have a body that feels pain – I disappear into the action, in pursuit of becoming beauty. This time, my lyrics came out straightforward and wary, blunter than usual. They revealed a different pain I was feeling, the pain of actually knowing what you can and can’t control, and what inherited myths have been lies designed to control you all along.”
Konradsen – ‘What I Aim For’ [feat. Angie McMahon]
Angie McMahon joins Konradsen on the delicately pulsing new single ‘What I Aim For’, which leads the Norwegian duo’s forthcoming album Hunt, Gather. “Last time I was writing a record, I listened to ‘Baby Hallelujah’ by Konradsen on repeat,” McMahon shared. “Now, a couple of years down the line, they’re my friends. I got to hear their music on tour many nights in a row, and now I love it even more. I wear Konradsen merch on my head half the time. So while I’m now making my next record, they sent me the one they’re making and offered to let me sing on one of their songs. The highest honour! This song makes me feel tapped into some deeper realm of inner peace which is only accessible through good music. I’m so proud of my friends.“
Mute Swan – ‘Like a Chump’
Mute Swan have dropped ‘Like a Chump’, the latest single from their forthcoming LP Skin Slip. Guitarist/vocalist Mike Barnett commented, “I asked our drummer, Gilbert, if he had a beat I could use to write a new song and he said, just use the beat from Nookie by Limp Bizkit. Anyway, I used some of the lyrics too and Hannah McCain (Sonya Blade) sang the outro. We really hope Fred Durst hears it.”
Fer Franco – ‘Semi-finalista’
Guatemalan artist Fer Franco has announced a new album, Punto de Inflexión, which will be out April 24 and features Hector Tosta and Mabe Fratti of Titanic. Commenting on the new single ‘Semi-finalista’, Franco said: “When I was young my grandmother used to light a candle every time I went on a journey – it didn’t matter if it was long or short – and I used to give her a call when I arrived so she could blow the candle out. This song takes inspiration from that memory as well as from the passing of my cousin.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ourculturemag.com ’
