7 New Alt Pop Albums You Need To Hear Now

If you’re looking for new music to add to your rotation or Sunday mood, you need to press play on these seven just-released new albums that have been owning our heads. Each album twist, bends, and breaks all traditional pop barriers, making something fresh and infectious. Whether you love jazz and R&B or indie and psychedelic rock, these alt pop albums are worth adding to your favorite playlist and will surely make up some of the year’s best albums.

1. Joji — Piss In The Wind

Joji has spent the years since SMITHEREENS quietly rebuilding on his own terms, leaving 88rising, launching his own label Palace Creek, and apparently writing 21 songs. Piss In The Wind is the result, and it sounds exactly like what it should: harsh in places, beautiful in others, and fully, stubbornly his. It is truly a gorgeous album, bursting with emotion, and it’s not just the lyrics that make you feel; it’s the sounds and the way they’re arranged alongside Joji’s soothing vocals.

Fave Track: Opening with a combination of fierce break beats and distortion, Joji turns a heartbreak anthem into a head-bobbin’ experimental banger on “Soujourn.” The sound is bruising. So is the feeling behind it.

Joji just announced this Solaris Tour in support of his new album. Catch him in Los Angeles at the Intuit Dome on July 11.

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2. Liz Cooper — New Day

I love alt-pop, especially when it dabbles with psychedelic tones and hazy swirls, the kind of mood that transports you to another realm. And that is exactly what Liz Cooper delivers on New Day. But it’s not all acid trips, Cooper titillates the soul with sweet piano-driven ballads and dreamy vocals that feel like soft kisses on your neck. With both electronic and classical orchestral sounds, the album is beautifully arranged and exudes a cozy ambiance.

Fave Track: “Better Than Ever” is a fkn mood. Cinematic, sexy, and full of delicious grooves — Cooper bares her soul in a spoken-word-like cadence over a cornucopia of psychedelic sounds.

Liz Cooper kicks off her tour mid-March with an L.A. stop at the Moroccan Lounge on March 20.

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3. Hemlocke Springs — the apple tree under the sea

Carnival organs, smoky marimbas, and retro-synth empowerment—Hemlocke Springs turns trauma, faith, and freedom into a spellbinding art-pop odyssey. Clocking in at just over thirty minutes, the album moves fast, but it lingers in the mind long after it ends.

Fave Track: “head, shoulders, knees and ankles” is pure manic joy. The track barrels forward with carnival energy, like sprinting through a mirrored funhouse only to hit a dead end where a rogue carnie is shredding on an organ. It’s chaotic in the best way.

Hemlocke Springs will embark on her headline tour this May with a stop at the El Rey in Los Angeles on May 19.

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4. spill tab — AngieAngieAngie

A little bit of alt pop, a dash of R&B, and a twinge of jazz — spill tab’s two-disc album is a repeat listen. The way she works with classic genres and bends them with electronic production, sometimes sounding like you’re in an 80s video game, creates a gentle suspense. What’s she gonna serve next? Will it be sung in French or in English? No matter how she serves it, spill tab leaves no crumbs, which is a shame because each track leaves you craving for more.

Fave Track: Released in 2025 as a single, spill tab’s new album once again reminds me why I loved “by Design” so much when it was first released last May. It slowly builds with pulsating electronics and fuzzy riffs before pulling a 180 and landing you on a grassy knoll in Topanga Canyon at what feels like a ’70s folk pop performance. I’m telling you, she’s an alchemist of sound and vibes.

Spill Tab has a handful of tour dates this March, including a show at the Lodge Room on March 7.

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5. Lala Lala — Heaven 2

Experimental indie rock at its finest. Heaven 2, might just be Lillie West’s (aka Lala Lala) most meaningful work in both sound and feeling. Created while ditching Chicago for a journey through Taos, Iceland, and London before settling in Los Angeles — Heaven 2 dips in all crannies of the indie rock spectrum. Co-produced by West and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte, the album’s electronic, lo-fi, and pop elements create a sound that’s just as diverse as the distant lands she traversed.

Fave Track: Buzzing with synth splendour, “Anywave” is an experimental, electronic pop journey through time and space. With West’s slow and steady vocals, the track builds beautifully with synth and percussion before climaxing in a burst of electronic textures. Synth lovers, rejoice.

See Lala Lala on tour this March with an L.A. gig at the Lodge Room on March 21.

6. Sports — Sports

Sports’self-titled album is an absolutely delicious listen. The Oklahoma-based alt-pop duo makes bodies move and groove on their 12-track endeavour. From dream pop to R&B and funk tones, Sports have created something fresh and flavorful.

Fave Track: A groovealicious jam, Sports wants you to vibe on their funk-pop single “If You Want Me.” By the time the chorus arrives, enters full-blown funk territory, complete with a shimmering guitar and smooth bass that complement the lyrics, which detail what it’s like to open yourself up romantically.

Catch Sports on tour beginning this April. L.A. date at The Roxy on May 6.

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7. Charlotte Day Wilson — Patchwork (EP)

What were originally supposed to be demos during a moment of self-doubt, Charlotte Day Wilson has packaged together a collection of seven songs that place Wilson’s raw lyricism on a pedestal. With sexy saxophone, soft piano keys, and an abundance of electronic textures, Wilson takes her brand of alt soul, jazz, and R&B on a beautiful self-reflective journey. The entire album is truly a gorgeous listen; at times, calming and soothing, and at other moments, full of irresistible grooves.

Fave Track: On “Lean,” Charlotte Day Wilson brings in Saya Gray. The two Canadian singer-songwriters take unorthodox production and turn it into an insatiable electronic ballad about codependency. The electronic sounds shapeshift effortlessly over smooth R&B vocals with a pop chorus.

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