James Spearing
With few new releases exciting me, and as we were dutifully reviewing the year just gone, it seemed a perfect time to ask the bastards for anything I might have missed from 2025. Fran promptly shared the name Dominie Hooper with me, he knowing very well by now that sort of thing will tickle my fancy. And my fancy was indeed tickled by In This Body Lives. It was released on Halloween last year and has something resembling a dark cloud on the cover. It’s not as doomy as you might then imagine, there is light in the darkness. In fact, it’s an album of contrasts: it’s light, it’s heavy, it’s harsh, it’s soft, it’s wild, it’s restrained, it’s close, it’s far away. And now I pass it on to you.
Katie Burke
I spent the majority of December ’25 in a positively glowing state, telling everyone who would listen about the powerful astrology of leaving a “Snake Year” – shedding the old and what no longer serves us – and entering a “Horse Year” – where you change at pace, gallop towards your future renewed and with intention. So much manifestation, so exciting!
Enter January, when it took merely four days for me to pour a large gin and put on Frightened Rabbit‘s Midnight Organ Fight, have a wee cry and wonder if I had to wait ’til the Chinese zodiac calendar caught up for this miraculous transformation to occur. Music has been my anchor this month more than ever, and I’m attributing some of this new year lethargy to the fact I don’t currently have a gig in my calendar until mid February. Anyway.
While the reformation and touring of the incredible Rilo Kiley might have 2025 written all over it, I’m stoked to be seeing the band in June, around 18 years after my last outing with them. Let there be all of the album replays in advance, and I am pretty sure that I will cry during ‘Portions for Foxes,’ which has been my personal theme song for decades. I love a good relisten, a musical comfort blanket helping to keep me grounded in the form of ‘Jenny, You’re Barely Alive’: it’s doubtful that I’ll ever shed this one, but you never know.
I was delighted to get an old school recommendation from a friend last year to Emma Harner, when I learned that not only was “math folk” a thing, but that I really loved it. ‘Yes Man’ and ‘Do it’ hit particularly hard.
I’ve also been enjoying a lot of Emerson Woolf & the Wishbones; female fronted indie/Americana rock, just the way I like it. Emerson’s raw vocals are matched only by her lyrics; current personal favourites are ‘A Corner Store Hymn’ and ‘Not a Good Woman.’ There appears to be new music on the horizon for them, going by my instagram stalking, and I’m very excited about this prospect. Finally, some of that equine year energy – here’s to more of it, please.
Matt Paul
Well it’s January. So that means there’s not much new music, but I have my bottomless backlog of missed records from 2025. My highlights so far have been all over the place.
First up is Hayley Henyderickx and Max Garcia Conover with What of Our Nature. They deliver some timely and invigorating protest folk music. Musically the contrast and balance between the the vocal deliveries and playing styles of Max and Hayley is also spot in on.
The alt rockers Militarie Gun also released God Save the Gun. It’s rowdy, but full of poppy and hooky moments. ‘B A D I D E A’ is irresistibly catchy.
Lastly, the biggest wild card has been Sister Irene O’Connor. Her album Fire of Gods Love was reissued at the end of last year. I wasn’t expecting to be into worship music from the 70s made by an Australian nun (FYI I am very unreligious). But the synths and drum machines combined with the more traditional Christian hymns creates these weirdly haunting tracks with a psychedelic undercurrent. Specifically ‘Fire (Luke 12:49)’ and ‘‘Emmanuel’ Mass’ are worth giving a go. I fully expect them to sound track a weird montage in an indoor movie in the near future.
2025 was a great year for music and has kept delivering even in 2026. Only 19 hours of music left in my 2025 playlist to go!
Rick Larson
Januaries are usually slow, a time to catch up on some releases missed from the previous year and ponder the mysteries of other people’s top ten lists. 2025 came in hot, with the Lambrini Girls’ debut and explosion of Cameron Winters’ December solo release, the fallout from which persists a year later. January 2026 has reverted to form. The new Dry Cleaning album stands out in this flat landscape and it is cool as an irradiated cucumber. I’m still trying to figure out how my wife commissioned an entire song on the evils of microwaving plastic containers. I have also enjoyed So Much Country ‘Till We Get There, an EP from Westside Cowboy playing their version of American roots without suppressing a Mancunian sensibility; it gives more Wedding Present than Meat Puppet vibes. I also very much like the single ‘I Like You’ from the upcoming Cardinals album. It’s like a Gaelic Third Eye Blind (a compliment).
Finally, did you think a turn of the calendar would bring a halt to my Geese-ing out? It did not. The band hit the American cultural touchstone of playing on Saturday Night Live and laid down a version of ‘Trinidad’ that had social media littered with comments like “I don’t get it” and “this is the worst band I’ve ever seen.” It was glorious.
Will Collins
I spent most of Christmas Day in bed ill, something that was mitigated slightly by the festive announcement that Hey Colossus would be releasing new material this year. January brought an early offering from that album in the form of song ‘Clock’ and it didn’t disappoint. If you’re familiar with the band’s work, you’ll know what to expect: guitar music shorn of the rock clichés and bent subtly into interesting new shapes. If you’re not familiar with them, give it a whirl. Either way, turn it on and turn it up loud!
Fran Slater
January has been slow for new releases, but I have been enjoying the latest album from Courtney Marie Andrews. She continues to make the kind of country music that hits my perfect sweet spot – not too twee, not relentlessly about divorce and cowboys, and achingly beautiful. What’s not to love?
A lot of my January listening, though, has been focused on a playlist called ‘Albums I Missed in 2025.’ I was surprised by my enjoyment of Lily Allen, unsurprised by my love of Billy Woods (although slightly surprised by the fact I didn’t know he had released an album), and torn on whether I like Jim Legxacy or not – the album definitely has moments I love and moments that hurt my ears.
My favourite discovery on that list (so far) is Water From Your Eyes. I find the album hard to describe as it mixes indie, rock, and post-punk but also makes you want to dance at times – just give it a listen.
2026 is off with a bang in terms of gigs, too – Dream Wife in Manchester was a cracker.
Picky Bastards 