11 Best Songs of the Week: Courtney Barnett, Mitski, The Twilight Sad, American Football, and More
Plus TV Star, Cheekface, Modern Woman, and a Wrap-up of the Week’s Other Notable New Tracks
Feb 27, 2026 By Mark Redfern
Welcome to the eighth Songs of the Week of 2026. This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide the list. We considered over 50 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 11.
Check out our Top 100 Albums of 2025 list here.
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In recent weeks we posted interviews with Voxtrot, Felsmann & Tiley, Howling Bells, actor Adam Godley, Magdalena Bay (a My Firsts), and more. Plus our Protest Issue article on the challenges Iranian musicians face.
In the last week we reviewed some albums.
To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last week, we have picked the 11 best the last seven days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.
1. Courtney Barnett: “Mantis”
Courtney Barnett is releasing a new album, Creature of Habit, on March 27 via Mom + Pop. This week she shared two new songs from it, “Mantis” and “Sugar Plum.” “Mantis” was our favorite of the two, but “Sugar Plum” makes the honorable mentions list.
Barnett had this to say about “Mantis” in a press release: “‘Mantis’ is the microcosmic centerpiece of this album, it embodies the message and meaning of every track. It’s a song about searching, and it helped me find my way through Creature of Habit.
“I was feeling particularly lost while I was working on this song. One day, I was standing in the kitchen, making a coffee, when I noticed a little green praying mantis sitting on top of the doorframe. I had never seen one there in the desert house, so I took it as an important sign from the universe. I texted a photo to Stella and she said, ‘It’s good luck, look it up!’ I did a quick search and found it to also represent patience, perseverance and a guide for those who needed direction. I stood and spoke to the mantis for a while, it was a strange and enlightening moment that I’ll never forget. Eventually, I got back to writing, and finally I had the chorus to this song.”
Barnett shared the album’s opening track, “Stay In Your Lane,” last October. When Creature of Habit was announced in January she shared its second single, “Site Unseen,” which features Waxahatchee and was one of our Songs of the Week.
In 2023 Barnett released a new instrumental album, End of the Day. Barnett’s last album of regular songs, Things Take Time, Take Time, came out in 2021 via Mom + Pop Music/Marathon Artists. Check out our Under the Radar Podcast episode, where we spoke to Barnett about that album.
Creature of Habit was written after Barnett relocated from her native Australia to Los Angeles and also closed down her label, Milk! Records.
Check out our 2018 interview with Courtney Barnett.
2. Mitski: “That White Cat”
Mitski released a new album, Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, today via Dead Oceans. In honor of release day she shared a video for the album’s “If I Leave,” which we liked, but there’s another track on the album, “That White Cat,” that we loved, even though it wasn’t released as a single.
You can also stream the whole album, plus watch her performance of “I’ll Change For You” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert from earlier this week, here.
Read our rave album review here.
Regular Mitski collaborator Patrick Hyland produced and engineered Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, which was mastered by Bob Weston. Mitski wrote all the songs and performed all the vocals on the album and was backed by her touring band. She also recorded with an orchestra, at Sunset Sound and TTG Studios, arranged and conducted by Drew Erickson and engineered by Michael Harris.
Previously Mitski shared the album’s first single, “Where’s My Phone?,” via a music video. It was #1 on our Songs of the Week list. Then she shared its second single, “I’ll Change For You,” and announced some new tour dates. “I’ll Change For You” was also one of our Songs of the Week.
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is Mitski’s eighth album and follows 2023’s The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We (which was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2023), 2022’s Laurel Hell (one of our Top 100 Albums of 2022), and Be the Cowboy, which was #2 on our Top 100 Albums of 2018 list and landed her on the cover of our print magazine.
Read our rave review of The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We here.
Read our cover story interview with Mitski on Be the Cowboy.
3. The Twilight Sad: “Attempt a Crash Landing - Theme”
Scotland’s The Twilight Sad are releasing It’s the Long Goodbye, their first new album in seven years, on March 27 via Rock Action. This week they shared its third single, “Attempt a Crash Landing - Theme.”
Robert Smith of The Cure appears on three songs on the album, which tackles grief and mental health issues.
Previously the band shared the album’s first single, “Waiting for the Phone Call,” which was their first new single in six years and featured Smith on guitar. Smith has been a big champion of the band, who often open for The Cure on tour. “Waiting for the Phone Call” was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced they shared its second single, “Designed to Lose,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week.
The Twilight Sad is now officially a duo featuring frontman James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane. The album also features sometime Arab Strap player David Jeans on drums and Mogwai live team-member Alex Mackay on bass. MacFarlane produced the album, which was recorded at Willesden’s Battery Studios. Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine) contributed additional production and Chris Coady (Slowdive) mixed the album.
It’s the Long Goodbye is said to be the band’s most personal album and was inspired by the death of Graham’s mother after being diagnosed with early onset frontotemporal dementia, and the frontman’s subsequent mental health challenges after her passing. It was after returning from a tour opening for The Cure in 2016 that Graham was informed of his mother’s diagnosis. In November 2023 The Twilight Sad bowed out of a Cure tour early in order for Graham to take care of his mental health. “And then my mum passed away in the January afterwards,” says Graham in a press release.
“In the past I’ve used a lot of metaphors within my lyrics,” Graham further explains. “With this, there’s not as much. The record is heavily influenced by my mental health, grief and loss, and the need to be strong in positions where you’re not feeling it. It’s a very human story, I think—this is just my version of it. I feel that everybody goes through something like this. Everybody loses somebody. Everybody questions life.”
Summing up the new album, Graham adds: “To know that I’m saying things that connect with other people, that’s such a powerful thing. I want to be a relatable person that talks about things that can happen and give an opportunity for people to go, well, you’re not alone. I want people to be able to listen to this record and hear that it comes from a place of raw emotion. The album is an opportunity to share my experience and move forward with my life.”
The Twilight Sad’s last studio album was 2019’s It Won/t Be Like This All the Time.
Read our interview with The Twilight Sad on It Won/t Be Like This All the Time.
4. American Football: “Bad Moons”
This week, American Football officially announced their new album, American Football (LP4), and shared its first single, “Bad Moons.” American Football (LP4) is due out May 1 via Polyvinyl.
Frontman Mike Kinsella had this to say about the new single in a press release: “‘Bad Moons’ is actually a Frankenstein of two different demos we’d been passing around for quite a while: one playful, with children playing and toy-pianos plinking; one brooding, with guitars screeching and drums bombasting. I had already been singing the ‘(…) in the dark’ mantra over the latter, so the biggest challenge for me was thematically bridging the innocence and buoyancy of the first act with the deep despair of the second. I decided to begin the song as a child. Or, rather…two. Stacked up in a single trench coat; secretly, reluctantly living the life of a grown man, accruing all of his missteps and guilt along the way. By the end, these missteps are almost spilling out of the boys. A cathartic confession, hopefully at least somewhat relatable to anyone listening who’s ever lived a life.”
Alex Acy and Rémi Belleville directed the song’s video. Acy had this to say about it: “I think part of growing up is realizing you can only become more empathetic with others once you become empathetic with yourself. I think boys often have a harder time grasping this, which leads to a lot of dumb and regrettable actions. Rémi and I grew up together and felt like we could connect around this concept from a shared and honest point of view. Quebec, where we grew up & the Midwest feel very similar in a lot of ways. It only felt right to anchor the video in rural Canada.”
American Football (LP4) is obviously the band’s fourth album and comes seven years after their third album, American Football (LP3).
5. TV Star: “Out of My Bag”
This week, Seattle and Tacoma, WA based five-piece TV Star announced their debut album, Music For Heads, and shared a new song from it, “Out of My Bag,” via a music video. Music For Heads is due out April 24 via Father/Daughter.
The band sports shoegaze and Britpop influences (one member wears a Lush T-shirt in their new video and press photo for goodness sake), with The Stone Roses, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mojave 3, and Catherine Wheel all mentioned as reference points in the press release. TV Star formed in 2020 and have been releasing EPs and singles for several years now, building up to their debut full-length. They take their name from a 1996 Butthole Surfers song.
TV Star features Ashlyn Nagel (Vocals, Keys), Bryan Coats (Guitar), Che Hise-Gattone (Guitar), Mark Palm (Bass), and Tucker Devault (Drums).
Of the new single, the band collectively say: “This song and video are our homage to ’80s Madchester and Britpop, styles that heavily inform the overall sound of the record in less obvious ways, and gave us a chance to celebrate some of our good friends who are featured on the record.”
6. Cheekface: “Hostile Street”
This week, humorous Los Angeles-based indie rock trio Cheekface shared a new song, “Hostile Street,” via a lyric video.
A press release declares of the song: “In a world that confuses cynicism for unity, ‘Hostile Street’ is a Cheekface-style survival anthem for the Trump 2 era.”
Of the themes behind the song, the press release says: “They reference the real-world concept of hostile street furniture—those bus benches with spikes and awkward arm rests that make it impossible to lay down—to express their concerns about our current social climate.
Cheekface is vocalist/guitarist Greg Katz, bassist Amanda Tannen (formerly of stellastarr*), and drummer Mark “Echo” Edwards. “Hostile Street” follows Middle Spoon, a new album the band released last year that made our Top 100 Albums of 2025 list.
Cheekface surprise-released a new album, It’s Sorted, in March 2024. It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2024. Middle Spoon was the band’s fifth album.
Read our interview with Cheekface on It’s Sorted.
Read our review of It’s Sorted.
7. Modern Woman: “Neptune Girl”
8. The Slow Country: “Firing Line”
9. deary: “Alfie”
10. New German Cinema: “Swirling Pain”
11. WU LYF: “Love Your Fate”
Honorable Mentions:
These songs almost made the Top 11. There are even more songs on the Spotify playlist.
Tori Amos: “Stronger Together”
Courtney Barnett: “Sugar Plum”
Bathing Suits: “Empathy”
cootie catcher: “Quarter note rock”
Angelo De Augustine: “Mirror Mirror”
Doll Spirit Vessel: “Dumptruck”
Ezra Collective and Greentea Peng: “Helicopters”
José González: “A Perfect Storm”
King Tuff: “Invisible Ink”
KNEECAP: “Smugglers & Scholars”
Lime Garden: “All Bad Parts”
Buck Meek: “Can I Mend It?”
Mitski: “If I Leave”
Nothing: “never come never morning”
Object Hours: “Yellow House”
OOIOO: “Gamel BE SURE TO SPIRAL”
Squarepusher: “K2 Central”
Telehealth: “Cool Job”
Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 10 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions and some additional songs:
(Note: The WU LYF song isn’t on Spotify and so isn’t on the playlist.)
Also, here is our ongoing 2026 Songs of the Week playlist, featuring each week’s main top list and select honorable mentions. (The embed cuts off after 100 songs, so go to Spotify for the full playlist.) It will be updated each week throughout the year:
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