(Credits: Far Out / Press)
In the blink of an eye, the first month of the year is over, the Chinese New Year is coming around, and the year of the horse will be off to a galloping start, racing away with a slash of great new music already in its saddlebag.
In the zodiac, the horse represents action; it’s a symbol for energy, independence, and freedom. It’s a go-getting symbol, racing towards the future and going full pelt towards dreams, not just staying still and wishing for them. In fact, everything about the astrology of 2026 speaks towards a year of achievements, of creativity and of getting things done.
So it’s no wonder that already, just over a month in, the music world is buzzing and busy. Some years, January feels like a slow and sleepy start without many gigs, and it seems to take artists a minute to fully wake up and get going. This year, it couldn’t be more opposite.
By only a few days into the year, there were hits across the board from artists working in all genres, and artists on all scales, from the return of the music world’s biggest names to the launch of brand new ones.
There have been some amazing standalone singles, like Erin LeCount’s ‘I Believe’, Hutch’s ‘Mrs Sunshine’, and Aimee Fatale’s ‘Blood’, but overwhelmingly, 2026 so far has been busy with announcements.
Harry Styles returned with the long-awaited revelation of his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, Arctic Monkeys also made a comeback, leading the charge to announce a powerful compilation album with War Child, with even more new music to come from names like Cameron Winter, Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn and Gorillaz, Depeche Mode, Pulp, The Last Dinner Party and many, many more.
From Mitski’s brand of indie to the new club classics from The Itch, the punk of Deadletter to Lime Garden’s earworms, new album announcements are coming from all directions, giving fans of all genres something to look forward to.
But for fans of instant gratification, there have already been some early doors releases to capture the attention. PVA’s second album, No More Like This, landed as a genuine contender for album of the year within its first weeks, battling it out against Dry Cleaning as another band that wasted no time unleashing a record into the new year.
All of this goes to prove one thing that 2026 is going to be a good year for music. While struggles still remain, like the need to fix funding for artists and the fight to save local venues, one thing is for certain: the songs will be good.
40 songs that prove 2026 is already a good year for music:
- Erin LeCount – ‘I Believe’
- Pem – ‘Milk, Blue’
- Sarah Kinsley – ‘Lonely Touch’
- San Vito Ryder – ‘Cold Teeth’
- Hutch – ‘Mrs Sunshine’
- Lime Garden – ‘23’
- Aimee Fatale – ‘Blood’
- Rozie Ramati – ‘Broken In Bold’
- Arctic Monkeys – ‘Opening Night’
- Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee – ‘Site Unseen’
- Pollyfromthedirt – ‘When England Comes’
- Cardinals – ‘I Like You’
- PVA – ‘Moon’
- Hot Face – ‘I Love You’
- Vehicle – ‘You Are Not A Cowboy’
- Les Imprimés – ‘You and I’
- YĪN YĪN – ‘Spirit Adapter’
- завірюга – ‘зустрічна смуга’
- The Itch – ‘Aux Romanticiser’
- Congratulations – ‘Dr. Doctor’
- Vegas Water Taxi – ‘Jamie xx’
- Flip Top Head – ‘My Greatest Hit’
- Searows – ‘Dearly Missed’
- Westside Cowboy – ‘The Wahs’
- Harry Styles – ‘Aperture’
- Mitski – ‘Where’s My Phone?’
- Arlo Parks – ‘2SIDED’
- Deadletter – ‘It Comes Creeping’
- Book Of Churches – ‘Song By A Stranger’
- Dry Cleaning – ‘Joy’
- Adult DVD – ‘Real Tree Lee’
- Flea and Thom Yorke – ‘Traffic Lights’
- Snail Mail – ‘Dead End’
- Truman Sinclair – ‘Dust To Dust’
- Sydney Ross Mitchell – ‘Big Boy Problems’
- Fcukers – ‘L.U.C.K.Y’
- Cate Le Bon and St Vincent – ‘Always The Same’
- Father John Misty – ‘The Old Law’
- Blood Moon Commune – ‘Hex’
- Ellie O’Neill – ‘Anna With The Silver Arrow’
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source faroutmagazine.co.uk ’
