Here’s a roundup of the latest music that just dropped (and what’s coming next)!
Fern Murphy: via negative
Fern Murphy’s emotionally charged second album, “via negative,” recently dropped, and it’s a raw, deeply personal journey shaped by Gabe Adams’ life-changing milestones – buying a home, becoming a dad. Drawing from the philosophy of “via negative,” the album explores love, anxiety, and growth through the lens of what’s missing, not just what’s present. Tracks like “Latchkey” reflect on childhood with newfound empathy, while others dive into grief, joy, shame, and uncertainty. With a more polished lineup and the freedom to fully realize their vision, Fern Murphy’s best work yet emerges – a testament to resilience, authenticity, and the messy, beautiful chaos of real life. Celebrate the release live at HI-FI with support from Sonia on August 27.
Don’t miss Fern Murphy at HI-FI on August 27th. GET TICKETS.
Six Foot Blonde: Carmilla
Six Foot Blonde’s new single, “Carmilla,” offers a mesmerizing first glimpse into this new era. Equal parts catchy and haunting, the track pulls you in immediately like your favorite piece of pulp fiction. Rich with atmosphere and emotional tension, “Carmilla” sets the tone for their impending album, Hummingbird, that embraces vulnerability, contrast, and transformation, inviting listeners to question where they’re at, and where they’re going next..
Don’t miss Six Foot Blonde at HI-FI Annex on August 28th. GET TICKETS.
Nolan Taylor: 1:17AM
Nolan Taylor has released his 1:17AM EP, available everywhere now via Atlantic Outpost. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Zach Dawes, 1:17AM is the follow up to his 2025 self-titled debut album and marks a new chapter for the Ohio-bred, Nashville-based troubadour.
Nolan shares, ‘In 2026, I’m just a sad songwriting fool. In the new music, there’s some Americana and indie rock, but I’m a folk singer at the end of the day. I stay true to my roots. After all of this time, the new EP really represents how I’ve always wanted to sound.’
The six-song EP features Nolan’s honest and emotionally vulnerable songwriting that fans have come to know and love. Opening with the single ‘Come Back To Bed’ featuring Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra, he paints a picture with poetic lyrics such as, ‘The blanket in my living room longs to take the shape of you.’ Nolan and Andy trades verses until a heartfelt hook takes hold with a plea, ‘So come on baby… come back to bed.’ Implementing an open tuning on his acoustic guitar, delicate finger-picking complements his soft intonation on ‘I’d Die.’ You can practically hear him exhale as he sings, ‘I miss so much out on the road. I miss my family. No one ever calls no more. They all say I’m too busy, but I’m just lonely.’ Meanwhile, dusty percussion tiptoes behind Nolan’s evocative delivery on ‘Burying a Friend,’ a poignant song about one of his best friends dying from an overdose.
Nolan will be performing some of the new music on a run of headline shows in the coming weeks, beginning in Indianapolis, Indiana, on September 2.
Don’t miss Nolan Taylor at HI-FI on September 2nd. GET TICKETS.
Little Stranger: Broken Hearted Boys Club
Little Stranger have released their new album, Broken Hearted Boys Club, delivering another fast-moving collision of alternative hip-hop, indie pop, funk, electronic production and the unpredictable chemistry that has made the duo one of the most distinctive live acts in the independent music world.
Released July 17 under exclusive license to Ineffable Records, the 12-track album runs approximately 35 minutes and continues Little Stranger’s refusal to remain inside any single genre. The record follows the group’s 2024 album, Sat Around Trippin’, which featured collaborations with The Movement, Wax, Andy Frasco & The U.N., G. Love and others.
The album title suggests a place for listeners carrying disappointment, romantic confusion or the emotional wreckage left after a relationship ends. Little Stranger, however, are rarely interested in presenting sadness without movement. Their music tends to turn anxiety, self-doubt and awkwardness into something communal, humorous and physically alive.
That balance helps Broken Hearted Boys Club avoid becoming a conventional breakup record. The album’s emotional foundation may be damaged relationships and wounded pride, but Little Stranger approach those subjects with the same restless production choices and personality that have shaped their rise. Heartbreak becomes something to rap through, dance around and occasionally laugh at rather than simply endure.
On Broken Hearted Boys Club, Little Stranger turn emotional instability into an invitation. The doors are open, the production is unpredictable and anyone who has ever tried to laugh their way through a bad situation is welcome inside.
Don’t miss Little Stranger at HI-FI Annex on September 4th. GET TICKETS.
Pokey LaFarge: Hambone
One-of-a-kind American troubadour Pokey LaFarge has shared his brand new single, the hip-swinging “Hambone,” available everywhere now via his own Boxer Boy Records. An official music video – directed by frequent visual collaborator Jacob Butler (LA LOM, Paul Cauthen) – premiered at YouTube. “Hambone” marks the latest single and opening track from LaFarge’s eagerly awaited new album, Rent Money, arriving everywhere on Friday, September 11. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now.
“My producer, Elliot Bergman, sent me a recording of him playing hambone on his thigh,” Pokey LaFarge says. “We put a drum track and some bass behind it – that’s what you hear on the record, the original bass and his hambone. It’s just a party track, you know? It shows how, in the end, a lot of what I do is really just dance music.”
Don’t miss Pokey LaFarge at HI-FI on September 27th. GET TICKETS.
Bayonne: Forget
“Forget” is an intentional breakup single by Bayonne released via Nettwerk Music Group ahead of his upcoming album Filters, which drops on September 4, 2026. The track departs from his usual ambiguous lyricism to focus directly on the raw, universal human emotions of a dissolved romance.
Don’t miss Bayonne at HI-FI on October 2nd. GET TICKETS.
Ax and the Hatchetmen: Loser
The Chicago musicians embrace every personal flaw and imperfection in their new ambitious summer anthem. “Loser” is a confident, yet honest reflection on past relationships that quickly lodges itself in your head.
“‘Loser’ can’t keep it together,” Ax and the Hatchetmen tell Atwood Magazine. “It’s been at the bar since 4 PM. It’s waiting for the world to bend to its liking instead of looking inward to fix its problems. More than often, it doesn’t make it out of bed till afternoon and has no idea how to fix a flat tire. Sometimes it might lie or steal to get what it wants, but it can’t wait for a shower beer later. Worse off, it’ll break your heart for no good reason. Somewhere way down there might be a glimmer of remorse – hard to say. Hopefully someday it’ll learn, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.”
“Loser” isn’t about self-pity, but rather an act of admission. Frontman Axel Ellis wears his flaws openly, and he’s not afraid to let everyone know that he’s a loser. So what? Who hasn’t been there in one way or another – whether in relationships, friendships, or somewhere else entirely?
Don’t miss Ax and the Hatchetmen at HI-FI Annex on October 14th. GET TICKETS.
The Bends: Hanging Around
Breakout alt-rock band The Bends set their highly anticipated debut album, If You Insist, for September 18 via Warner Records. Ahead of the release, the band unveils a new song from the project, “Hanging Around.”
If You Insist captures the band at a pivotal moment in their rise-from a Louisiana college bar band to a full-fledged touring act building a life around music. The title reflects the unexpected momentum that followed their early releases and live shows as opportunities began to unfold in ways they had once only imagined. At its core, If You Insist is a snapshot of The Bends embracing the uncertainty, excitement, and possibility of stepping into the next chapter together.
“‘If You Insist’ is a lyric from the first track of the album, ‘Off My Chest,’” shares lead singer and guitarist Hayden Field. “This line encapsulated what we feel our journey as a band has been thus far. We started the band in college for the fun of playing at our local bar. But after releasing music and beginning to tour the Southeast, the chance to commit to being a band as our livelihood became a reality. Everything had fallen into place in a way we’d only dreamed of, and so we replied, ‘If You Insist.’”
In addition to “Hanging Around,” the album includes previously released singles “Seasons Change” and “Smoking In Bed,” the latter of which broke the Alternative Airplay Top 100. Additionally, the band recently appeared on Track Star and Zach Bryan’s Belting Bronco series.
Don’t miss The Bends at HI-FI on November 1st. GET TICKETS.
Michigander: Over Before You Know It
Jason Singer thought his 2025 full-length debut as Michigander would change everything about his life and work. During the prior decade, after all, Singer had cobbled together the start of a successful career as an incisive and infectious songwriter from the stuff the music industry considers scraps—a half-dozen singles and a quartet of EPs, collectively suggesting he was one of indie rock’s sharpest new tunesmiths. Surely, then, his self-titled start—recorded over the course of a year, with real support from a bona fide team of advisers and collaborators—would boost him several levels, getting him a little closer to his teenaged premonition that he’d be headlining arenas within five years of finishing high school. But as you may already know, that didn’t happen. Michigander felt only like the upper lip of the plateau Singer had been climbing for a decade already. So what, he wondered, was he supposed to do now? The answer that came back was obvious: Keep writing.
Over Before You Know It is the magnetic and relatable result of that work and the broad but detailed view from the top of that plateau. Across 10 songs written and recorded quickly with a crew of close friends at home in Nashville (including producers and pals Jeremy Lutito, Collin Pastore, and Jake Finch), Singer mixes self-criticism with music industry sendups, sad-eyed contemplations with unguarded love songs. He offers up the things that almost stopped him and those that now keep him going with a rare admixture of candor and catchiness. This, turns out, is the level up. Like Loudon Wainwright III fronting some boundless pop-rock band from the heyday of Barsuk Records, Singer makes these deeply probing songs feel expert and effortless, as if he took a big enough step back from his own life to see the whole thing clearly, then said, “F*ck it, man, let’s turn that into a song.”