We’re over the half-way mark of 2026 and the year has already blessed us with some undeniably brilliant pop releases. Madonna’s Confessions II showcased the queen of pop was still well and truly at the top of her game, Robyn delighted with her pop opus Sexistential, whilst Jessie Ware’s Superbloom delivered slinky soulful disco. The former One Direction lads have given us versatile male-vocal pop in their respective solo albums, whilst the other end of the British pop spectrum has seen Sir Paul McCartney deliver a stellar return to form in The Boys of Dungeon Lane. But what is in store for the remainder of 2026? We recap the officially announced albums (and EPs) expected in 2026 that show there are still a number of big musical hitters on the way in the latter half of the year.
Rolling Stones – Foreign Tongues
July 10th
The Rolling Stones delighted fans with their return to recorded music through their Hackney Diamonds album in 2023. The set was enough to light a creative spark for the band, who headed back into the studio once again to record their upcoming twenty-fifth studio album, Foreign Tongues. The band have dropped a number of songs from the set, In the Stars, Jealous Lover and Rough and Twisted.
Speaking about the recording process, Mick Jagger says: “I love doing these recording sessions in London at Metropolis. It was a very intense few weeks recording Foreign Tongues. We had 14 great tracks and we went as fast as we could. I like the room there as it’s not too big, so you can feel the passion in the room from everyone.”
Adam Lambert – Adam
July 10th
Adam Lambert’s upcoming album Adam sees the pop talent venture into modern electropop sounds with executive producer Pete Nappi. Tapping into industrial electro sounds in hits including Eat U Alive and Under the Rhythm, the album is set to present some of Adam’s most exciting music yet.
Adam shared with fans: “The album explores both the light and shade of life and the razor’s edge that separates a positive experience from a negative one. I hope these songs connect with anyone who has been through the confusing but necessary process of self-acceptance. There was a real liberation in acknowledging my own weaknesses and strengths.”
December 10 – On Your Side (EP)
July 10th
The December 10 journey has been an exciting one with the stars of Simon Cowell’s latest boyband giving us gems including classic pop gem Run My Way and club banger Infinity (123). The group release their first EP this July and are set to hit the road as part of their Next Step tour.
On their upcoming EP, the band share: “Feels insanely good to be releasing a body of work and to be able to share with the world what we’ve been in the studio working on for the past eight months. Feel so damn lucky to have worked in studios in cities across the world with some of the best producers in the world. What is life!! We really hope people love it as much as we do.”
Shania Twain – Little Miss Twain
July 24th
Shania Twain released her new single Dirty Rosie, the first track to be taken from her upcoming album Little Miss Twain. The track feels like Shania’s most-country number since returning to the music industry with 2017’s comeback album Now. Thankfully Shania hasn’t kept us waiting as long in following up her 2023 album Queen of Me.
The Canadian hitmaker shares: “A lot of Little Miss Twain is reflective of my teens, my roots as well as the energy of the rock and R&B I loved so much, but still with that Western twang.” The singer continues “Where I’m from you don’t go anywhere on a horse – you go on a snowmobile. I was dreaming about the Western lifestyle and I was living in a very different world than where I ended up.”#
Carly Simon – Comes In Waves
August 14th
Carly Simon makes a welcome return to pop music with her first new album of original material since 2008, scheduled to arrive on 14 August. The album, titled Comes in Waves, is accompanied by Carly’s powerful new single Howl, a cathartic pop track that reunites fans with her legendary vocals.
The album contains nine new original songs and a couple of songs the artist wrote earlier in her life and decided to revisit.
Brandon Flowers – Thrasher
August 21st
Brandon Flowers unveils his third solo album, THRASHER, a record that sees the rock talent veer in a country direction, as heard on the LP’s lead single, Plans. The album arrives eleven years after the musician’s new wave and synth-driven The Desired Effect and his Bruce Springsteen-influenced solo debut, Flamingo.
Brandon recorded THRASHER at RCA Studio A in Nashville with longtime producers Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado. The The Killers frontman notes: “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my way back to my father’s music, ‘Country-Western’ (as he called it), and discovered that the stories I carry really feel most at home in the skin of this beautiful American tradition.”
Prince – Timeless
August 28th
We know that Prince’s vault of unreleased music is undoubtedly a treasure trove of masterpieces, and we are about to hear ten of these in freshly announced collection Timeless, arriving on August 28th. The collection brings together recordings created between 1977 and 2016, spanning the full breadth of the icon’s career – Stone – a previously unreleased recording from spring 1995 being the second of taste these.
Appleton – Side By Side
September 4th
Appleton delighted fans with their comeback anthem Falling Into You and subsequently revealed their follow-up single Ready to Begin. In further exciting news Nicole and Natalie will also be releasing a four-track EP, Side By Side, which arrives 4th September 2026. Side By Side features four tracks, the duo’s two recent singles and unheard tracks Strange Kinda Paradise and Monster. An orange vinyl EP edition of the collection is available to pre-order.
Nicole adds: “The reaction to ‘Falling Into You’ and our first Appleton show in over twenty years has been incredible. We feel so grateful that people still connect with these songs and are excited about what we’re doing now. This EP feels like the natural next chapter.” On reuniting as a duo, Nicole notes “We’ve always had a special connection when we sing together. Making these songs reminded us of that. It never feels forced it just feels natural.”
Natalie Imbruglia – Algorithm
September 4th
Aussie pop legend Natalie Imbruglia wastes no time following up her acclaimed Firebird album, with new LP Algorithm scheduled for September 4th. The Shiver hitmaker released lead single from the project Upside Down, a melodic-pop and synth-driven treat inspired by battling fight or flight emotions.
On the Algorithm album, Natalie shares: “On this record I chose to work with collaborators who also co-produce so from start to finish we were all so invested in every song. I really hope that people get as much joy from listening to this record as we did making it. And that they dance their arses off.” She continues: “This was by far the most fun I’ve ever had making a record. It also happened to coincide with the most challenging time I’ve had with my mental health. This is the beauty of music and artistic expression. You can take something dark and turn it into light.”
Carly Rae Jepsen – Day and Night
September 18th
Carly Rae Jepsen revealed her new double album Day and Night, with lead single On Wires. This marks Carly Rae Jepsen’s first full album since The Loneliest Time in 2022 and its follow-up The Loveliest Time in 2023. The Canadian hitmaker shares: Day and Night. Exploring and dancing through two distinctly different landscapes. Day being more open-eyed, organic and earthbound and Night being more escapist and even intense at times.
On the inspiration behind Day and Night, she shares: At the time, he was just my boyfriend, and a lot of this album is really about that relationship: us falling in love and deciding to make a family together. There’s nothing wilder than writing a love song about your husband, then showing it to him, and having him participate in it. It was honestly a really beautiful process.
Chaka Khan – Chakzilla
September 18th
Chaka Khan delivers her first album since My Happiness in 2019, with new LP, Chakzilla. The project brings together the fresh single Boogie’s In My Soul and the album’s title track, in a release produced by Greg Kurstin and co-written by Sia.
Chaka shares: “My new album, CHAKZILLA, is now officially available to pre-order and pre-save. I’m so excited to share the cover art with you for the first time! This album brings together some very special music and collaborations with Sia, Snoop Dogg and Lenny Kravitz. I cannot wait for you to hear the full project.”
Roger Taylor – Violence Insane in a Beautiful World
September 18th
Queen drummer and singer-songwriter Roger Taylor releases album Violence Insane in a Beautiful World led by new single Come On Summer (It’s Party Time) featuring the Ndlovu Youth Choir. Roger wrote (with the exception of an exquisite cover of Jealous Guy, which he describes as “one of the greatest, ballads ever written”), produced, sang and performed all the songs on the album himself.
Becky Hill – Rebecca
September 25th
Becky Hill recently continued the journey to her third album Rebecca with another new single, What Do I Have to Do? The track follows previously released songs More! More! More! and ˃˃˃hands on me˂˂˂.
Release notes share: “‘REBECCA’ was written during a period of intense personal and artistic reflection and sees Becky exploring ambition, identity, visibility and the contradictions of her life from a place of greater openness and creative freedom. Across the record, she examines the tension between desire and self-preservation with clarity, humour and brutal honesty, resulting in her boldest, emotionally charged body of work to date.”
Soft Cell – Danceteria
September 25th
Like Madonna, British synthpop legends Soft Cell pay tribute to iconic NY nightclub Danceteria with their final album. Marc Almond shares: “Danceteria is a love letter to New York in the early 80s. The time we spent in New York – where we recorded our first 3 albums – shaped us both as artists and people. To celebrate this period is a fitting farewell to Dave Ball and the final Soft Cell studio album.”
The singer-songwriter shares that this is undoubtedly the final album from Soft Cell, noting: “There can be no more recordings of Soft Cell without Dave, it would not be possible. The sad reality is that Dave Ball was half of Soft Cell, and live work aside, I can’t write Soft Cell songs without him.”
Wynnona Judd – The Hard Truth
October 2nd
The country legend presents a deeply personal 10-track record produced by her husband Cactus Moser. The album sees Wynonna deliver a raw, roots driven set that shows her undeniable vocals heard on lead single Kentucky Queen.
Release notes share: “Pain threaded with joy is the sound of survival. On The Hard Truth, Wynonna isn’t letting go of either one, carrying everything she’s endured and reinventing herself as an artist. This ten-track tribute to deep sorrow and dogged persistence strips away layer after layer of the lush production that defined Wynonna’s previous recordings, delivering in its place her most personal and powerful work yet.”
Mylène Farmer – Égrégore
October 30th
Led by the single C’est à qui le tour, Canadian pop legend Mylène returns with her thirteenth studio album Égrégore. On the meaning of the title, the musician shared: “It is a term essentially used in esotericism which designates a group spirit which would be influenced by common desires of people linked in the pursuit of the same objective.” The set sees the musician working with DJ Lewis and is likely to navigate the world of melancholy electropop, like the star’s recent releases.
Delta Goodrem – PURE
November 6th
Delta Goodrem’s latest single Hologram and her Eurovision Song Contest smash Eclipse are set to feature on her November scheduled artist Pure.
Delta’s upcoming album Pure will be released via Better Now Records and Universal Music. The album will also mark the first LP released through her independent label, ATLED Records (‘Delta’ spelled backwards), with the star sharing: “I am so excited to be stepping into this new chapter and joining forces with Universal Music,” she said in a statement. “It marks the beginning of a powerful new home for ATLED Records, something I am incredibly proud of, and I can’t wait to share what we create together.”
La Roux – Old Flames
November 6th
Bouncing synths and 80s pop flavours define Babyline, the latest single from La Roux. The track is the second taste of the British pop talent’s album Old Flames, scheduled for release on 6 November, following the personal Cabin Fever. La Roux shares: “Babyline is about finding your way out of the woods and back to yourself. Cabin Fever was very much the start of my story, and Babyline is where I ended up and where I continue to be. Happier, lighter, braver.”
The upcoming album is said to explore the end of a 17-year relationship, forbidden love, addiction, sexuality, identity, and the process of leaving old patterns behind. “This record says things about how they are: how I am and who I am,” La Roux said.
Jenifer – DJ
Date TBC
Jenifer takes on the legacy of another legendary chanteuse, Dalida, on her new single Mourir sur scène. The track was originally a hit for Dalida in 1983, with Jenifer set to feature it on her upcoming new album, DJ, which will revisit a number of Dalida classics, including Laissez-moi danser, Au Soleil, Gigi l’Amoroso and Ma Révolution.
Release notes accompanying Jenifer’s new version state: “Jenifer will be touring from 2027 with the ‘DJ TOUR’. With ‘DJ’, Jenifer revisits the repertoire of one of the greatest icons of French song, Dalida. A huge fan of her songs and the free spirit she embodied, Jenifer offers us new versions of these timeless hits.”
Meg Stalter – Crave
Date TBC
Hacks legend Meg Stalter delivered one of the year’s best pop hits with The Prettiest Girl in America, bringing Meg’s signature humour alongside crunching industrial electropop. She since followed this up with her track GAY – featuring a bonus remix from MUNA – including the iconic line “Honey, you’re gonna be gaying up and down when you hear this“
Meg’s upcoming debut album Crave is expected later this summer, with the date to be confirmed soon.
What albums are you eagerly expecting throughout the rest of the year?
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