New Album Release Round-Up: August 2026

Every month brings more new music than anyone can reasonably keep up with—even the No Ripcord team—and August was no different.

Our latest monthly round-up features quick takes on eight records we didn’t get around to covering in full, and the quality is extremely high.

Marlophone
Remembered Adventures in Widescale
(Mandatory Music/Love As Fiction/Defend Vinyl)

Remembered Adventures in Widescale is technically a debut album, but the three veteran musicians behind Sydney indie rockers Marlophone, stalwarts of the city’s independent scene, bring a level of confidence and assuredness to proceedings that elevates its level. The result is a nostalgic rush of early ’90s guitars and driving rhythms, anchored around accomplished songwriting. Marlophone aren’t afraid to slow things down either, as the standout “I Promise it All to You,” a tender duet with Sarah Blasko, beautifully demonstrates. (DC)

Margaret Glaspy
I Am Both
(ATO)

Margaret Glaspy’s raspy yet lilting voice is a showstopper in any setting, but there's something about the acoustic-led I Am Both that lets it truly soar. Following her 2023 effort, Echo the Diamond, in which she embraced stripped-down garage rock, the New York City-based singer-songwriter ruminates on the push and pull of life against a backdrop of resplendent folk. As ever, her use of space is with purpose. There’s the occasional use of harmonica (“Common Ground”) or piano (“Sharp Knife”) woven here and there, but for the most part, her evocative strumming is the focal point. Even on the standout track “Reminder,” which builds into an enormous timpani finish, she ends things with barely a hum. Her temptation to turn outward rather than inward doesn’t land as effectively as on “Martin Luther King Jr.,” but otherwise, her biting poignancy rarely misses a beat. (JR)

Getdown Services
Massive Champion
(Breakfast)

Given my chequered history with heavily comedic music, I ignored Massive Champion for a couple of weeks until one too many recommendations shattered my resistance. And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a life-changing record by any means, but there’s enough musical depth to make this a funny record that stands up to repeat listens. The grimy dance punk of “The Radiator” is a particular treasure, presenting Getdown Services as a West Country Rapture—albeit one that sings about hand dryers (“I've got three words for you/The Dyson Airblade/Once just a man looking at his hands thinking/I'm gonna make these so fucking dry, you won't believe it”), “Lentils,” and the management of eczema. Elsewhere, Getdown Services sound like an unholy fusion of Art Brut and The Streets. Unmistakably English, but way funnier and much more interesting musically than Sleaford Mods. (DC)

Sweeping Promises
You Say I Romanticize
(Sub Pop)

Considering the homegrown approach of a band like Sweeping Promises, which is very much by design, there’s always the nagging concern that approachability might loom on the horizon as their profile grows. Changes are afoot for the Lawrence, Kansas art-punk duo, but not at the expense of what they built on their 2023 breakthrough, Good Living is Coming for You. The only obvious change coming from the duo Lira Mondel and Caufield Schnug is that they’ve upped their production ever so slightly, which is evident in the high-strung, rhythm-section-heavy “Cocoon” and “Does He Want to Be the Weatherman?” Listen closely, and even the motorik chug of “My Friend’s an Entomologist” could resemble a certain Queens of the Stone Age hit in an alternate universe—in a good way. While You Say I Romanticize doesn't toy with tempo as much as in Good Living, opting for simmering directness, the duo continues to deepen their artful abstractions without dulling the sharper edges. (JR)

Sondre Lerche
Acrobats
(PLZ/Virgin)

I have fond memories of Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche’s 2004 album Two Way Monologue, but I have to confess, his music fell off my radar pretty dramatically after that. Lerche did go on to write the soundtrack for the forgettable Steve Carell vehicle Dan In Real Life (2007), but I have absolutely zero recollection of that project. Anyway, Monologue was half a lifetime ago—for both me (44) and Lerche (43)—which makes approaching Acrobats a curiously nostalgic process. Musically, it’s exactly what I expected: sophisticated, literate pop music with orchestral flourishes and a penchant for sprawling arrangements—the shimmering “Love Is All,” for example, clocks in just shy of nine minutes. Acrobats is a quiet, low key gem of a record, lovingly assembled by a master of his craft. (DC)

Julia Holter
Materia
(Domino)

More of a curiosity than a robust body of work, Materia offers an intriguing glimpse into what an artist like Julia Holter can uncover when reinterpreting her art. Seeing through the perspective of the LA-based composer and instrumentalist is a privilege in itself, as she’s consistently released some of the most thoughtful statements of the last fifteen years. Yet positioning the album as a companion piece to 2024’s Something in the Room She Moves already reads as limiting, and the distinction is apparent almost immediately in the airy, sketch-like quality of songs like “Fantasy” and “Clepsydra.” Compared to some of her era-defining works, it simply pales in comparison. Not everything needs to exist as part of some grand concept, of course. The 10-minute “My Twin,” for example, demonstrates how rewarding a project like this can be when its illusory ambience is allowed to stand on its own. Still, Materia is best appreciated as a document of process rather than a completed thought. (JR)

Kiwi Jr.
Blowin’ Up
(K Records/Perennial)

I had unfairly high hopes for this one. “Photos Of The Reenactment” is hands down the best thing have Kiwi Jr. have ever recorded, and while Blowin’ Up stands as another solid effort by the Toronto-based band, it seems doomed to fall short of its opener’s lofty standards. I obviously like Kiwi Jr. when they jangle, but they do a convincing job on more muscular material, too. Their improbable Protomartyr collaboration “Landscape With Limousine” (which also features Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good to Me on keyboards) is another highlight. I remain convinced this talented band will put everything together and make an indie classic one day, but Blowin’ Up isn’t that record. Maybe next time? (DC)

Alabama Shakes
I Must Be Dreaming
(Island)

Eleven years can be a long time to rebuild a band’s identity, especially for the Alabama Shakes, who vanished after an impeccable two-album run. It’s even more surprising that Brittany Howard, who’s built quite a solo career, would still feel the need to pick it back up where it all started. Now a trio, the Southern rockers haven’t lost their touch in “I Must Be Dreaming,” refining their fiery genre-bending style into a mellowed-out blend of psychedelic soul. The band aims high, taking stock of the current state of the world through two opposing lenses: pessimism (“American Dream”) and optimism (“I Feel Hope Coming”). But there are plenty of intimate moments too, like “Easy,” where Howard captures the quiet comfort of waking up beside her life partner. Even at their most wide-ranging, the Shakes make it all sound effortlessly cool. (JR)