January 2026 In Review: Notable albums & singles
Written by Beau Croxton
As we get ready to launch our full Occult 2026 calendar year in February— here is a review round-up of all the notable albums and singles that really spoke to us in January 2026.
ALBUM OF THE MONTH:
DRY CLEANING - SECRET LOVE
South London Post-punk group Dry Cleaning started this year on a very high note. The band linked up with musician Cate Le Bon to produce their third great record in a row, Secret Love. Le Bon likens the impression of listening to Secret Love like walking through a city; these 11 songs also arrive akin to distinct images assembled in a gallery.
Sonically, Secret Love is an even wider scope of Dry Cleaning’s trademark expression. Singer Florence Shaw’s dry and direct talk-rock approach is as slick as ever on the group's newly expanded instrumental backdrops.
The band’s cheeky no wave and angular dry guitars are infectious, and Secret Love is a design that sounds purely like themselves. “My Soul/ Half Pint” is brimming with addictive guitar lines that sound like a 70s-era Keith Richards taking a spirited stab at being a full-blown indie kid. The outro solo morphs into something Tom Verlaine-esque, and Shaw’s expression and attitude are absolutely irresistible. “Hit My Head All Day” is a new-wave tinged smash with addictive walking bass and guitars that roar like sirens over its playful, industrial-tinged beat.
Songs like “Blood” are much darker– this one is driven by the current hellscape of genocide and other current tragedies. “Blood” thumps with a cold, persistent Suicide-esque thump and weeping verbed guitars that paint the lyrics vividly.
Secret Love is an incredibly sly record that finds Dry Cleaning at their most free and confident. This metamorphosis led by Le Bon is quite a statement that sees the band keeping up the trademark appeal of their best work, while blossoming in exciting and unexpected ways.
8.2/10
A$AP ROCKY - DON’T BE DUMB
A$AP’s first record in 8 years had a bittersweet rollout that was a mixture of immense hype and frustration due to the delay– it had been announced and hyped for a few years in a row, yet not released until just now. Don't Be Dumb was set up to be an easy target if it did not deliver, but ultimately this eclectic collection has plenty of satisfying bangers. Especially on the front half – tracks like “Stole Ya Flow” “Helicopter”, and “No Trespassing" boom with banging and danceable production while retaining plenty of trademark A$AP qualities and braggadocious bars.
The kicker here is that the second half of the record shows a broad and impressive range– “Robbery” finds Doechii and Rocky trading heist-themed bars with sexy word play, and it's all surprisingly delivered on some rich, swinging lounge-jazz instrumentals. It's ambitious and wildly entertaining– this track is begging for a movie-worthy visual.
Don't Be Dumb is also a record that rewards with re-listens. The production value is highly detailed, and its multiphased songs reward close attention. The vision for the project feels even more uniformly classic on each playthrough. The bars might not be earth-shattering, but Rocky sounds incredibly cool, calculated and comfortable backed by this intricate production that sounds like a million bucks. There’s plenty of endlessly replayable material on Don't Be Dumb, and its ambitious range makes it definitely stand out in the first half of this year as the first (high quality) major rap release of 2026. If you're hungry for more- it seems like ASAP is slowly but surely expanding a Disc 2 “for the fans”.
8/10
YIN YIN - YATTA !
This psychedelic and groovy Dutch band is back with more killer (mostly) instrumental jams to get you moving. The two opening tracks “In Search of Yang” and “Spirit Adapter” thrive with brilliant uptempo grooves that absolutely suck you in. I highly recommend Yatta! For some killer, feel-good background music as you take on the day. Yin Yin always stands out over many of the modern mostly-instrumental bands, because their chops are very fantastic and their tunes are so detailed…Yatta! is a shining example.
8/10
JULIANNA Barwick & Mary Lattimore - TRAGIC MAGIC
After years of touring together, these two renowned Los Angeles-based composers found themselves in Paris to create some ambient and experimental magic full of wonder. The collection was directly after the tragic LA wildfires, but their collaboration triumphs the heartache; these ethereal compositions are purely gorgeous and intricate in even their quietest moments. It's purely elegant and beautiful music to play as you wind down from any stressful day– light a candle, get cozy and let this charming, ethereal fantasy world wash over you.
8/10
GESAFFELSTEIN - ENTER THE GAMMA
This live record from French electronic wizard Gesaffelstein is full of life. Much like the live material of French electronic dance gurus, Justice, this live record has arrangements that supersedes Gessafelstein’s already great studio albums in many ways. It's full of dark, pounding synths and tempos that climb to no end– it’ll get you going a bit more berserk than usual. It’s safe to say this artist is well on his way to even bigger things than before.
7.8 /10
SLEAFORD MODS - THE DEMISE OF PLANET X
Sleaford Mods return with an interesting batch of “plenty more where that came from”. While it doesn't break too much new ground for the group, its highlights are undeniably fantastic. “Elitist GOAT” (featuring Aldous Harding) is a notable tongue in cheek cut about the selfie generation, and “The Good Life” is an absolutely brilliant collaboration that features a hook from Big Special and actress Gwendolyn Christie doing her best rage-shout-rap along with Williamson…just incredible.
7/10
JANUARY 2026 SINGLES
King Tuff- “Twisted On A Train”
King Tuff is back in a very exciting way with his just released single “Twisted on a Train”. The track is covered in old-school Tuffy attitude; he leads with his Bolan-esque vocals and some scuzzy, glammy riffs. The track kicks off the announcement of his new self-produced record MOO (out March 27th). Tuff said he wrote the kickass track while he was quite literally twisted on a ton of CBD gummies while riding a train from Tucson to LA.
He detailed his new album MOO as a "Return to rock n’ roll” and a return to form (respectfully so). Tuff recorded most of the instruments, and it was all recorded on his Tascam 388. It's got all the ingredients to be a total barn burner, and it very well could be, if the single is anything to go by…can't wait.
GORILLAZ - “The Hardest Thing/ orange County”
featuring Tony Allen, Kara Jackson, Bizzarap and Anoushka Shankar
Gorillaz continue to roll out strong singles for their upcoming album The Mountain, which has quite an epic tracklist of 15 tracks with a star-studded cast of collaborators. Notably, the record is marked by much Indian influence and features frequent contributions from sitar player Anoushka Shankar (daughter of sitar legend Ravi Shankar.)
“The Hardest Thing” is an epic, spacey prelude-ballad version of the bop “Orange County”, which brings all the feels with Damon Albarn’s melancholy delivery. The tracks feature spoken word by Tony Allen, sitar by Shankar and additional vocals by Kara Jackson. The two tracks pair nicely in order, and “Orange County’ studies grief in a purposeful and uptempo way while slightly resembling gloomy staples like “On Melancholy Hill” from Plastic Beach. The singles for The Mountain have made quite a sum so far, they sound incredibly focused– especially in comparison to most Gorillaz material in the past few years. The Mountain is starting to shape up like it may land somewhere in between “a very good listen” to straight up essential Gorillaz– which is very exciting to say the least.
CHALK TEETH - STRUCK”
Chalk Teeth are an intriguing band out of Los Angeles consisting of Karolina Wallace (vocals and guitar), Adam Wallace (guitar), and Jason Miller (bass, synths, drums, production, engineering). Their debut single “Struck” is a seductive, hypnotic and dark cut that thrives on repetition and slightly alters the formula as it reveals itself. It's pretty fantastic– it sounds somewhere between bands like Suicide and The Kills. Check out the fitting black and white visual above directed by Thomas Revington.
Flea - “Traffic Lights” (ft. Thom Yorke)
Flea’s upcoming debut solo album, Honora, is becoming more appetizing by the second. His new single with Thom Yorke “Traffic Lights” is delightfully interesting, the bass guitar and bass drum rhythms jitter together in a perfect pocket amongst jazzy guitars and horns. Ominous vocals from Yorke claim “How will we live in the upside down?” and guide you through a very odd, cyclical progression.
The preceding track from the album, “A Plea”, might even be my favorite of the two so far– it feels loudly on point with all the injustice in the streets that has been taking place in recent weeks. Honora is out March 27th via Nonesuch records.
MITSKI - “Where’s My Phone?”
Mitski’s “Where's My Phone” is a fun return; its an energetic, catchy slacker rock tune about losing your mind…what's not to love? The track is written from the perspective of “a reclusive woman in an unkempt house,” who slowly loses it while searching for her phone. Coming off the heels of her most viral and tender song,”My Love Mine all Mine”, “Where Is My Phone?’ lands like when St Vincent would drop more chaotic, rock-guitar centric track like “Actor” among her usual lighter indie cuts– the fuzzy octave-down guitar and the dramatic outro really drive that style home. It's a great sound right off the bat – we'll have to see which way the record leans when it arrives on February 27th.
EARTH TONGUE - “SILVER EYE”
Earth Tongue is a doomy New Zealand 2-piece band consisting of Gussie Larkin (guitar/vocals) and Ezra Simons(drums/vocals), and damn… do they make some kickass racket for only two people. Their new Ty Segall-produced album Dungeon Vision is rapidly approaching in February, and their new single “Silver Eye” is a relentless ripper and a huge highlight. The group has released three singles from Dungeon Vision so far, and they are all scorching barn burners. Definitely check out the title track here, and blast the whole LP in all its glory on February 13th.
Arctic Monkeys - “Opening Night”
Arctic Monkeys have released a new single for the Help compilation by Warchild Records, which features many great artists like Cameron Winter, Fontaines DC and many more. There are many elements of return to form on this single– especially considering the band’s last two LPs, which felt a bit lukewarm compared to their much higher standards. There are some great stacked harmonies that ape late 70’s Bowie, some fuzzy guitars and drums that knock a bit harder than recent releases. At the least, “Opening Night” is a much more punchy, epic and exciting piece from a legendary rock band that currently releases sporadically, but you can only hope that it's an exciting taste of some quality material to come.