Welcome back to the Hotlist, our quarterly feature spotlighting upcoming records fans are adding to their collections.

Late night TV’s favorite band is back with more tart lyrics, jagged guitars, and sudden bursts of melody on an album that is sure to be omnipresent this summer.

OME returns with a new solo LP after the all-killer collab Previous Industries. Pen game: Sharp. Vibe: Observational. Success Rate: As high as ever from one of rap’s most reliable MCs.

Harmonies stacked as high as the gates of hell, the latest from Germany’s Sheev is a riff-o-rama with deep grooves, killer hooks, and stunning musicianship.

Sometimes an album comes along that perfectly telegraphs its contents, and Submersus from HELL is just such an album. Utterly pulverizing blackened doom that will suck you into its cortents like a boa swallowing its prey.

For all of our sakes, let’s hope the title of the latest from Kokoroko is true. In the meantime, their latest provides plenty of lithe, jazzy grooves to lighten the mood while we wait.

Swedish group FLOATING finds the golden mean between the bleak and the uplifting, pairing full-throated fury with surprising turns into melody on the kind of record that causes old-timers like this writer to reference Katatonia’s Brave Murder Day.

Celebrating three decades (!) as a band, Dozer deliver this massive collection of rarities and B-sides that showcase their knack for both killer riffs and heroic melodies.

An utterly beautiful new LP from the long-running duo Hammock leads into their plaintive side on 11 gorgeous ambient tracks that hover as gently as a hummingbird over a tranquil pond.

Punk icon Laura Jane Grace returns with a hard-charging LP custom-built to show off her strengths: Undeniable melodicism paired with total righteous anger.

Oh, Alex G, we remember when you were just a babe releasing albums directly to your Bandcamp page. Look at you now! Here is Alex G, back to brighten your summer with Headlights.

Forth Wanderers are back after a three-year absence with another batch of cockeyed indie rock that reaffirms why their presence is vital. They are adamantly opposed to calling it a “comeback,” so we will respect those wishes.

A spectacular new  LP from Manchester’s Phantom Spell is here to inject a little fantasy into your summer: synths, riffs, intricate construction, and scorching vocals—what more could you ask for?

There’s a pun about the “second summer of love” we could probably insert here, but far be it from us to pluck such low-hanging fruit. Instead we’ll just say: Cardiff psych-pop outfit return with more incense and peppermints in case you feel like “taking a trip” this summer.

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There’s a club if you’d like to go, you could meet somebody who really loves you. I’m not sure that there’s any connection between that song and this one, other than similar titles and the presence of the club—which turns up here in its insistent, intoxicating grooves.

A Strangely Isolated Place is one of those labels that simply cannot miss, and the latest from KILN proves that—a whirring instrumental (and vaguely krautrock-y) masterpiece made up of a million interlocking pieces.

The seemingly bottomless Sun Ra archives yield another treasure, this one a 1979 trip into outer space that’s disarmingly melodic. Reissued with two different sleeve options for you collector nerds.

Four killer tracks from a dubstep producer 20-plus years deep into his career, all of which showcase his more minimal impulses via sprightly keys and masterfully pared-back rhythms.

The archives of the late, incredible Les Rallizes Dénudés continue to give us more gems—this one in the form of a blistering live show from 1976 that is the perfect balance of noise and beauty—which is exactly what we go to them for in the first place.

The Tokyo band’s fourth album explores doom metal through the lens of wabi-sabi, the Japanese tradition of “beauty of imperfection.”

The erstwhile State Champion frontman and his band strum out another robust set of honky-tonk, cosmic Americana, and alternative country tunes.

The beloved, upstart Dublin singer and songwriter, who passed away earlier this year, is celebrated with this posthumous album benefitting charities that support causes that were close to Mitchell’s heart.

The Florida death metallers go all-in on epic, ever-evolving arrangements that, per the description, suggest “Morbid Angel covering The Chasm songs under the influence of Blood Incantation.”

The collaborative debut from Augustus Muller of industrial-pop darlings Boy Harsher and Lucy (aka Cooper B. Handy) bridges catchy indie pop with clamorous EBM.

Acclaimed Irish multi-instrumentalist Cormac Begley teams with Liam O’Connor—sometimes referred to as “the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion”—for a vibrant survey of traditional and contemporary Irish folk.

The Texas troubadour’s new one is as deeply personal as it is collaboration-heavy; guests include Lukas Nelson, Larkin Poe, and Ashley McBryde, just to name a few.

Musician-producer duo Will Cookson and Tom Haverly pay homage to The KLF’s legendary 1990 album Chill Out on this confounding, ambient-styled audio collage.

Mathcore nerds, rejoice: the Brooklyn heavyweights have returned with their first new music six years.

The UK acoustic auteur and The Company of Thieves member keeps his folk punk going strong with his 10th solo album.

Released in tandem with their debut’s 20th anniversary—and reuniting their original lineup—Toby Driver and company‘s new one promises “liminal metal” that’ll melt your mind.

Benefitting a no-kill shelter in rural Alabama and featuring unreleased tracks from Snapcase, Jeromes Dream, Killswitch Engage, Quicksand‘s Walter Schriefels, and others, this post-hardcore compilation is for the dogs.

The Detroit collective trade the high-adrenaline noise pop of recent albums for teeth-clenching, avant-garde hardcore. An electrifying return to form.

The house producer’s latest EP is intended as a cathartic, euphoric statement of solidarity with the queer communities all over the world.

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Thirtieth anniversary reissue of the Indiana pranksters’ 1995 album, one of the most subversive—and enjoyable—entries in the ska-punk canon.

The first of two definitive, limited-edition box sets compiling the Japanese ambient pioneer’s complete discography; the second volume is slated to drop in 2026.

Never-before-heard live recordings of the dream pop icons’ 1988 headlining show at legendary NYC venue CBGB, restored from the original analog masters.

The 8-bit trailblazers achieve rock-star status under the guidance of producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT), leaning into live vocals and analog recording techniques.

Meitei pays homage to Japanese onsen culture across six ambient songs interwoven with field recordings captured at various hot springs and sacred sites.

Jasamine White-Gluz recruits experimental-electronic impresario Fire-Toolz for a playful, wide-eyed effort touching on everything from shoegaze to cyberpunk.

Heavy metal stalwarts and the pride of Fresno, California, Haunt are back with their 10th album of N.W.O.T.H.M.-inspired guitar carnage.

The English jazz and rock drumming legend compiles rare recordings from his decades in music; don’t miss the charming artist-penned liner notes.

The Boston DIY stalwarts describe their ninth record of dynamic indie rock as a “Sisyphean fable concerned with labor and living,” enlisting a string section for extra cinematic flair.

Guitar virtuoso Molly Tuttle mashes up pop, country, rock, and ye olde murder ballad on her fearless fifth record. (Yes, that is a cover of Icona Pop and Charli xcx’s “I Love It.”)

Austin Lunn adds a handful of lost-in-time songs to the Panopticon discography on Songs of Hiraeth; on Laurentian Blue he tries his hand at folky Americana.

Florida emo band Pool Kids want you to know that they self-funded this record, their Epitaph Records debut.

This Swedish death metal supergroup does not disappoint on an economical EP of melodic death metal rife with pummeling riffs.

Super cathartic indie rock as only Superchunk can do, with contributions from Merge Records artists Rosali, Quivers, and Betsy Wright of Ex Hex.

Massachusetts duo Hexrot’s sophomore release is a wall of death, black, and thrash metal so solid you can bang your head to and against it.

This the first record indie country queen Margo Price has made in her longtime hometown of Nashville and it is awesome.

The jazz pianist and composer gives Elliott Smith the songbook treatment with a little help from his friends, plus four originals inspired by the late songwriter’s oeuvre.

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The improvisational trio are in a brighter mood this time around, bringing a sense of freedom and looseness to this third entry in their Ghosted series.

The sixth album from the beloved Brooklyn band is the sixth album from the beloved Brooklyn band.

Precision-cut, electrified pop anthems and james K‘s hallmark dreamily lush vocals make this one a must-have.

If you like sci-fi and black metal, you have already pre-ordered this.

Goodbye, Saint Etienne! The London dance and pop legends bid farewell after 35 years with this final record.

The electronic music trailblazer reaches back to the music of his youth for a solo record of charging industrial and raw experimentalism.

Thanks to a patchwork of demos and old song fragments, the late Adam Schlesinger appears on every track on this surprise new record from the esteemed yet underrated ’90s indie pop trio.

A joyful new record from David Byrne features arrangements by Ghost Train Orchestra and guest appearances by Paramore’s Hayley Williams, St. Vincent, and drummer Tom Skinner of The Smile.