The 2026 MTV VMAs nominations were announced this week and they were a little head-scratching. Particularly when it came to Video Of The Year. At a time when pop music — I'm sure this also applies to hip-hop and country — is more diverse and experimental than ever, voters celebrated gimmicky, effects-laden visuals instead of original, important and/or emotionally-engaging content. I can think of...

Hopeful isn't the first adjective that comes to mind when you think of Billie Eilish's music, but that is exactly what "my future" is. Defiantly so. "I can't seem to focus and you don't seem to notice," the 18-year-old begins the song over FINNEAS' lovely, stripped-back arrangement. "I'm not here, I'm just a mirror." However, she decides to embrace the possibility of happiness on the chorus. "Do you...

The synth-pop queens are really showing out in 2026! Lady Gaga's Chromatica got the party started, Jessie Ware's What's Your Pleasure? and Rina Sawayama's SAWAYAMA kept it going, and Kylie Minogue's Disco is on the way. You can now add Róisín Murphy's 5th album to the mix. The Irish auteur, who first came to fame as one half of Moloko in the 1990s, is releasing Róisín Machine (it's a pun... her...

Taylor Swift has already won Album Of The Year Grammys for both country and pop offerings. (Fearless and 1989, respectively). She could feasibly take home a third with folklore. Which is excitingly difficult to horn into any particular genre. There are country and pop elements in the mix, but also folk, indie and Americana. The result is a heady, rustic brew that evokes fog-smeared forests and log...

Sam Smith is back with a dreamy love song called "My Oasis." Produced by ILYA and Jimmy Napes, the collaboration with Nigeria's Burna Boy is a slinky mid-tempo moment that slowly seeps under your skin — one listen at a time. "Keep thinking that I'm seeing water, you're playing tricks on me in the sun," the Brit croons in the first verse. "See your shadow in the courtyard, stays until the day...

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In some ways, First Cow is an anti-western. Instead of obsessing over the violence that defines the genre, director Kelly Reichardt gives us a glimpse of frontier life between the gun fights, bank robberies and hangings. She paints a portrait of two like-minded souls just trying to survive and enriches it with tender observations and whimsical detail. (I'm fairly certain that this is the first western...

If you're looking for clumsy jump scares and buckets of gore, Relic is not the film for you. Natalie Erika James, in one of 2026's most auspicious directorial debuts, focuses on atmosphere, tension and emotional nuance. This is the kind of fright fest that slowly seeps under your skin, and then lingers long after the final credits roll. Which is no small feat for a body horror that — on the face...

One song can change your life, just ask Trevor Daniel. The 25-year-old went from relative unknown to breakout star when "Falling," a track first released in 2018, went viral on TikTok. Streaming numbers surged and the sing-along anthem promptly started climbing the Billboard Hot 100. It would eventually peak at number 17, sell double platinum and — just this week — become the most-played song on...

Jessie Ware takes us on a guided tour of club history on What's Your Pleasure? (out now). The much-loved Brit dabbles in dreamy disco, '80s funk and '90s club culture on her 4th album, which isn't an entirely unique approach. Other artists have turned to the dance floors of yore for inspiration with varying degrees of success. What makes this such a triumph is the attention to detail. There isn't an...

Zara Larsson staked her claim as pop's Next Big Thing when So Good became the most-streamed debut album by a female artist of all time (more than 2.6 billion at last count). That's a very hard act to follow, which explains why the Swedish pop sensation is taking her sweet time with the followup. Over the last couple of years, the 22-year-old has released a steady stream of singles includes the global...

Believe or not, we're half way through 2026! And while this year has been a non-stop cavalcade of horrors, there has been no shortage of good music to dull the pain. It's never easy to pull together a mid-year list (some of these albums will, no doubt, wear out their welcome by December), but I really wanted to celebrate the heroes that were brave enough to kick off new eras in the middle of a global...