The best music of autumn 2026: Johnny Marr, Phoebe Bridgers, Rachel Chinouriri and more

Gilla Band – Pugnello

It’s tempting to say that Ireland’s Gilla Band have quietly become one of the most innovative alt-rock bands around, but there’s absolutely nothing quiet about their music, which owes as much to extreme avant garde electronics as it does to punk. The two singles thus far released from Pugnello display no letup in the intensity of their approach: Placeholder might have been shoutier than Giraffe, but both deal in thrillingly intense sonics. Released 25 September

Johnny Marr – The Age of Everything

The former Smiths guitarist’s fifth solo album arrives hot on the heels of his appearance at Gorillaz’s lauded shows at Tottenham Hotspur’s ground. For a musician who once seemed an eternal sideman, Marr has made an impressive fist of his solo career: Top 10 albums, gigs bolstered by his willingness to sprinkle Smiths classics throughout. If the wheel is unlikely to be reinvented on The Age of Everything, he remains a rich and purposeful songwriter. Released 2 October

Two Shell – Infinite Now

The London electronic duo clearly prize their anonymity, or at least their ability to wrongfoot their audience: they’ve sent decoys to interviews and to DJ for Boiler Room; their last album, a remix collection, appeared for sale online then vanished without trace or explanation. This is diverting, but it’s ultimately the music that matters – and the four tracks already available from Infinite Now are brightly hued pop-dance that’s also somehow deeply weird, even unsettling. It’s a unique and fascinating space. Released 16 October

Rachel Chinouriri – I Think I Spoke Too Soon

The Guardian recently called Chinouriri “every pop star’s favourite UK pop star”: Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Florence + the Machine and Wolf Alice have all selected her as a support act, a testament not just to the fact that she’s one of the few high-profile Black British female artists in alt-rock, but to the quality of what she does. Her second album, more synth-focused than her guitar-heavy debut, is understandably eagerly awaited. Released 16 October

J Cole

Like Kendrick Lamar, J Cole is a 21st-century rapper deeply rooted – both stylistically and thematically – in the genre’s past. He audibly prizes technical virtuosity as both a lyricist and MC and his most recent releases have been steeped in hip-hop history; he even promoted this year’s The Fall-Off by touring the US in a Honda Civic, selling CDs from the boot. Rumours abound that it is to be his last album: he’s worth catching live now, on the off-chance they’re right. Tour begins 19 October, O2 Arena, London

Ezra Furman

Furman’s most recent album, Goodbye Small Head, set unflinching self-examination to music that sounded like heartland US rock in the process of falling to pieces: a set of fantastic songs bolstered by a hint of chaos. A similar raucousness attends her live shows: she’s a sharp, funny, self-deprecating and genuinely charismatic presence, as anyone who’s heard her too-infrequent presence as a guest presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music can attest. Tour begins 20 October, Cottiers theatre, Glasgow

The Big Moon – Forever

London indie quartet the Big Moon are not a band that deals much in flash: their following is based on really good songs, and possibly the sense that they’re growing up alongside their audience. Debut album Love in the 4th Dimension was a scrappily exuberant celebration of youth; almost a decade later, the first single from Forever, Gravity, deals with picking up your child from nursery. It is, typically, excellent. Released 30 October

Kelela

Kelela set up camp in the far left field of R&B long ago. It’s 13 years since her debut mixtape Cut 4 Me, long enough for her to become an inspiration to a new generation of artists: there’s something telling about the fact that her recent album New Avatar featured a collaboration with PinkPantheress. Its sound is as unique and out-there as ever: jazz, shoegaze, goth-rock, funk, neo-soul and electronica are all part of its exciting stew. Tour begins 4 November, O2 Academy Brixton, London

Noah Kahan

By far the most likable and gifted of the current crop of sad-boy acoustic troubadours – his autumn-hued music sounds like it has substantially more dirt under its fingernails than that of his peers – Kahan has neatly sidestepped the problem of having a huge hit that could, theoretically, overshadow everything else he does. Stick Season may have racked up nearly two billion streams on Spotify, but his recent album The Great Divide has remained stubbornly lodged around the Top 10 since release. Tour begins 5 November, OVO Hydro, Glasgow

Bob Dylan

You might have thought Dylan’s 2024 shows at the Royal Albert Hall carried a sense of farewell about them – an octogenarian artist adding a distinctly elegiac air to his renditions of It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue and Watching the River Flow. But it would appear that was a misinterpretation: two years on, the never-ending tour is still in full swing, and this particular leg of it takes in a five-night residency at the Royal Festival Hall. Tour begins 25 November, BIC, Bournemouth

Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers’ return as a solo artist – six years after her wildly acclaimed album Punisher – is understandably hotly anticipated: in the interim, her indie supergroup Boygenius won three Grammys, and she’s guested with everyone from post-punk band Shame to SZA. Her new album, Lost Weekend, has proved worth the wait: another set of heart-rending songs, haunted by the death of her father among other things, this time given a striking electronic makeover. Tour begins 26 November, Co-op Live, Manchester

EsDeeKid

Never let it be said that pop is predictable: before the arrival of EsDeeKid, who would have thought that a white rapper with a scouse accent would break the US, not a country much given to importing hip-hop artists from overseas? But his mixtape Rebel made the US Top 30; propelled by a deeply unexpected remix featuring actor Timothée Chalamet,