Our picks for the best new songs released in September 2026 span indie, alternative, and underground artists, plus a few major-label standouts. From the feel-good disco-funk of Blu DeTiger’s “N.Y. Baby” to Karen y Los Remedios’ dark cumbia “Curandera” and Twin Temple’s morbid love ballad “Love You To Death,” September gave us nearly 100 songs we loved, and many of them made us move to an insatiable beat, whether dance or punk. Below are our 11 favorites, followed by a playlist and the full list of every song.
Top Songs:
- Blu DeTiger – “N.Y. Baby”
- Karen y Los Remedios – “Curandera”
- Twin Temple – “Love You To Death”
- Angèle – “Love Triangle”
- Sylvan Esso – “Sledge”
- Lambrini Girls – “Bang Bang Bang”
- Brigitte Calls Me Baby – “Geordie”
- June McDoom – “Get Out of My Life”
- BINA. & Tkay Maidza – “R U OK?”
- Cain Culto & Lido Pimienta – “Duelen”
- Tom Morello & Kneecap – “Unconquered”
- Stream the full September 2026 playlist
The 11 Best New Songs Released in September 2026
Blu DeTiger feat. Holly Walker, Say She She & Flavor Flav – “N.Y. Baby”
The bassist and singer-songwriter brings in Holly Walker, Say She She, and Flavor Flav for the title track of her Nov. 6 album, a tribute to the restless, go-wherever-the-night-takes-you energy of her hometown. The guest list looks random on paper, but the voices trade off so smoothly that all you notice is the disco-funk groove.
Read our full take on “N.Y. Baby”
Karen y Los Remedios – “Curandera”
The Mexican trio opens its new album Bestiaria (ZZK Records) with an ancestral cumbia song drawn from Ana Karen G. Barajas’ experiences with the remedies and limpias the women in her family used to help her heal. Cryptic bass, trombone, cowbell, and a haunting organ build a dark, spellbinding cumbia that still pulls you onto the dance floor.
Twin Temple – “Love You To Death”
The LA duo of Alexandra and Zachary James lean into the title of their Oct. 9 album Doomed Lovers with a tale of jealousy and all-or-nothing devotion, produced by Shooter Jennings and swept up in a full orchestra. It sounds like a lost doo-wop gem, and it shows how the pair can make retro sounds hit as hard now as they did decades ago.
Read our full take on “Love You To Death”
Angèle feat. Caroline Polachek & SebastiAn – “Love Triangle”
The Belgian pop star’s final preview of her Oct. 16 album Instinct teams her with producer SebastiAn and Caroline Polachek, who switches between French and English. It started with a dinner conversation Angèle overheard in Brussels and became a sleek, arpeggio-driven club track about desire and the fear of being caught between two people. Her previous single, “Une seule vie,” is also quite the banger.
Sylvan Esso – “Sledge”
On the first preview of Ow ∞, their first album in four years, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn turn disasters like Hurricane Helene and the LA fires into jittery, distorted electronica that keeps you on edge. Then the chorus pulls the chaos together into a hook that sticks long after the song ends.
Read our full take on “Sledge”
Lambrini Girls – “Bang Bang Bang”
The Brighton punks take aim at a man revered as both a Christ figure and the devil on this single from No Refunds, out Jan. 15 via City Slang. Hellraising drums and a buzzsaw riff set the tone, and the anti-idol lyrics land as hard as the noise around them.
Read our full take on “Bang Bang Bang”
Brigitte Calls Me Baby – “Geordie”
Only months after March’s Irreversible, the Chicago band keeps the momentum going with a swooning song of longing ahead of their Oct. 29 show at LA’s El Rey Theatre. Wes Leavins’ crooning, searing guitar solos, and roaring textures make it one of the most polished tracks they’ve released.
Read our full take on “Geordie”
June McDoom – “Get Out of My Life”
The Florida-raised folk singer-songwriter blends a reggae rhythm into hushed, woodsy folk on this standout from her debut album Follow The Light (Oct. 16, Jagjaguwar), a nod to her Jamaican roots. It’s a quiet kiss-off with real power, and her clear-eyed songwriting makes it one of the month’s most liberating listens.
Read our full take on “Get Out of My Life”
BINA. & Tkay Maidza – “R U OK?”
Previewing her Nov. 6 mixtape Soft Rage (Platoon), BINA. vents over hypnotic, slow-burning R&B and trip-hop, turning the title’s question back on herself and the listener. Tkay Maidza nearly steals the song when she arrives, trading lines with BINA. as piano and electronic flickers drift through the haze.
Read our full take on “R U OK?”
Cain Culto & Lido Pimienta – “Duelen”
On the only feature on his debut album CULTO, the Kentucky provocateur takes on cobalt mining, ICE raids, and Gaza without softening a word. Colombian-Canadian singer Lido Pimienta’s delicate voice cuts through the pounding drums and rises to match his fury.
Read our full take on “Duelen”
Tom Morello & Kneecap – “Unconquered”
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist kept his collaboration with the outspoken Irish rap trio under wraps until now, making it a late surprise from his debut solo album Everyone Gets Everything They Want (Mom + Pop). Morello brings classic Rage firepower, and Kneecap, usually heard over electronic beats, sound right at home on hard-hitting rock.
Read our full take on “Unconquered”
Stream the Best New Music Released in September 2026
- Blu DeTiger feat. Holly Walker, Say She She & Flavor Flav — “N.Y. Baby”
- Karen y Los Remedios — “Curandera”
- Twin Temple — “Love You To Death”
- Angèle feat. Caroline Polachek & SebastiAn — “Love Triangle”
- Sylvan Esso — “Sledge”
- BINA. & Tkay Maidza — “R U OK?”
- Tom Morello feat. Kneecap — “Unconquered”
- June McDoom — “Get Out Of My Life”
- Lambrini Girls — “Bang Bang Bang”
- Brigitte Calls Me Baby — “Geordie”
- Cain Culto & Lido Pimienta — “Duelen”
- mary in the junkyard — “Jane”
- Benny Sings feat. Tune-Yards & Ana Tijoux — “Be Myself”
- Snõõper — “Mouth Closed”
- Pool Girl — “Melancholic Beach Town”
- Pretty Sick — “Sunset”
- Boy Harsher — “Break Me”
- Gilla Band — “The Megazord”
- Fontaines D.C. — “Tongue”
- Susannah Joffe — “All I See Is The Sky”
- Slow Pulp — “Melodie”
- Joy Oladokun — “Easy Company”
- Appleby — “Left, Right”
- Peaches & Joe Talbot — “You’re Alright (Pixel Grip Remix)”
- Death Valley Girls — “Basic Witch”
- Boys Noize & ZEP — “1+1+1”
- Sotela — “Down Again”
- Poolside & LEISURE — “Ride It Out (Remix)”
- Dark Chisme — “Suffer Like Me”
- Diego Rimbaud — “Internet Kids”
- Josef Scott — “Happier”
- Elyanna — “Bosa”
- M83 — “Blister Sunrise”
- Iceblynk — “Never Ready”
- Perfume Genius — “Natural High”
- Dogs on Shady Lane — “Find You”
- DIIV — “Kid”
- Swan Circus — “Wool sheepskin.”
- Shabazz Palaces — “Jheri Curl Jump”
- Fujiya & Miyagi — “Point 33 Recurring”
- Contact Sports feat. Genesis Owusu — “Attention Economics”
- French 79 & New Constellations — “Colors Collide”
- Miley Cyrus — “Bass Persuades”
- Rachel Chinouriri — “Make believe”
- The Wookies & Rey Pila — “All I See”
- CAPYAC — “Big CrUsh En3rgY”
- FKJ & Baby Rose — “Burst”
- Helena Deland — “How Do You Like Me Now”
- Lucy Dacus — “No Thank You, I Love You, Goodbye”
- Ergo, Bria — “Rockstar Girlfriend”
- Cage The Elephant — “Dying In Reverse”
- Ciarán — “Galvarino”
- K.Flay — “Ants”
- Anna Justen — “powerhour”
- Lime Garden — “Moving Target”
- Freak Slug — “Wishing Bone”
- Mary Hennessy — “You’re Gonna Ruin Me”
- LP — “Chasing & Waiting”
- Mialuna — “Snow”
- Cloudbelly — “Poppa”
- Babehoven & Squirrel Flower — “Am I in a Dream”
- Felukah & Xiuhtezcatl — “AZÚCAR / سكرة”
- Henry Morris — “Crawling Back To You”
- Bizou — “Deep REM”
- Elissa Mielke — “Lemon Tree”
- Tipa Tipo & Fe Baca — “All Fall”
- untitled (halo) — “easy rider”
- Taleen Kali — “Viper”
- Juney Boy — “too late”
- RAT — “Talking Quietly”
- Munan — “Disco In My Room”
- Beach House — “April Suzanne (Cover)”
- Clyde Crooks — “Blocked”
- St. Panther — “EAST SIDE GIRL”
- Benny Sings feat. Baby Rose — “Do No Harm”
- TSHA feat. Pollena — “Another Planet”
- Jam City, Sølv & Aidan — “Pure Vice”
- The Taste of Vomit, NAHreally, Open Mike Eagle & Rico Bellynelli — “Beauty In Nature”
- The Black Tones — “Brain Brain”
- Midnight Generation — “Norway”
- Hudson Freeman — “Martha Sways (Spotify Singles)”
- NYIKO — “Neighborhood”
- Gepe & Fuerza Maestra — “BOMBA CHAYA (salto moreno!)”
- BABY B — “MONSTER”
- Sofii — “Able”
- Sharp Pins — “How Can I Explain What She Does To Me?”
- Girl Ultra & Chromeo — “Te Caigo”
- Vlad Holiday — “By Myself”
- NEIKED & Portugal. The Man — “Some Kind Of High”
- Ha Vay — “feral heart”
- Warhaus — “Simple Pleasures”
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