albums i listened to all the way through
posted this week and every week (44)
Hello, lovely listeners, and Happy Sunday!
After this week’s listening sesh, I have been asking myself the same question: Will 2026 be the year of weird indie folk music? 2025 was definitely a great year for country-inspired—everything, so why not? With releases from Bill Callahan, Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham), and possibly so many more, I have an itching feeling this year will be packed full of amazing folk albums from our favs, perhaps with a twist.
Jana Horn and Courtney Marie Andrews certainly threw their hats in the ring with these new releases. They are my album picks for the week, maybe even the month!
As for me, I’ve been slowly trying to reorient myself to the world of work. I’ve also spent some time reflecting on 2016. I have a longer essay about this I will share later, but suffice to say, I’m feeling all sorts of weird about the nature of being ten years removed from high school and my hometown.
People I knew to be kids just ten years ago are engaged and pregnant, or married and raising kids. It’s surreal and uncomfortable in a way I can’t explain without sounding like a stunted, miserable asshole. Watching people grow up through the window of social media is a double-edged sword. It’s an endless buffet of different choices and decisions made by people you once spent eight hours a day with at the same desks, learning the same things, all at the same time.
Those days are long gone, as are those kids, now grown into capable adults pursuing what they want, be it out of their own desire and willingness or some unspoken familial or societal obligation. And so go the reminders about biological clocks ticking and spinsters spinning in their loneliness. All very weird comments and extremely funny to a childless spinster at the ripe ol’ age of 28. Also offensive, but we won’t get into that just now.
Here are the albums I listened to all the way through this past week:
Nat & Alex Wolff—Nat & Alex Wolff (2026)
Overall Vibe: You’re on a long road trip, traveling back to your tiny hometown. You throw on all the old albums you listened to as a child and teen. You smile in spite of the salty tears tracing your cheeks.
Why I like it and you might too: Are these two for everyone? No. They’re not even always for me, especially when I can opt for listening to their influences and predecessors in the realms of indie rock and lo-fi bedroom pop. Still, if you’re a willing pop-timist in search of something chill to listen to, this is a good option.
Favorite Tracks: “This Round,” “Tough,” and “Rosalind”
Find them on YouTube, TIDAL, or wherever you get your music.
Millennials and Zoomers know the Wolff brothers all too well. These two rocketed to fame at the tender ages of 9 (Nat) and 6 (Alex) when they starred in their own mockumentary movie and reality show on Nickelodeon, all produced by their filmmaking mother, Polly Draper. Are they nepo babies? Yeah, but I have to admit I enjoy their music from time to time. I remember watching their show with fascination, especially because my brother and I were also similarly age-gaped, musically inclined kids.
The two brothers have also starred in many an indie and commercial film, including John Green’s Paper Towns (2015), and A24’s Hereditary (2018). All the while, they’ve continued to release music together. My favorite release of theirs to this day is their 2016 EP titled Public Places. It’s good enough that you can forgive their proximity to fame. I still find myself reaching for its jangly guitars, funky saxophones, and pretty piano ballads. Tracks like “Passing Through” and “Rolling Around” lean into a bass-heavy groove you can’t help but dance to.
Their new self-titled release is similar to Public Places in its sound and approach to production, albeit more vulnerable in its lyricism. This album is sort of like their Saturn Return, for those of my subscribers who follow astrology. It connects the brutal present to their bright lights childhood and busy young adulthood, capturing a well-worn message about nostalgia I can’t quite discern. It doesn’t say anything new, per se, but it says something. There are several references to addiction, emotional stuntedness, and depression I can appreciate—symbols that reek of someone’s late 20s and early 30s.
On the positive side, Nat’s baritenor is in fine form here, possibly better than I have ever heard it. More than once, I thought “This sounds like the Bee Gees” or “This song reminds me of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.” Some songs really work for me, like “This Round,” “Tough,” and “Rosalind.” Others, like “Whole Other Life” and “Candy Speak” just fall flat.
Maybe additional listens will help?
Jana Horn—Jana Horn (2026) X
Overall Vibe: You’re hiking through a forest. You hear the quiet cries of the fae and the sound of woodwinds. You reach a clearing, letting your fingers trace over the tall grasses like whispers. As you lay down to look up and towards the Sun, you still hear the voices, teasing you with their otherworldly harmonies.
Why I like it and you might too: This is no mere folk album. This is a symphonic universe—stripped, yes, but in no way empty. It’s emotional, airy, and perfectly in tune with the rest of Horn’s lilting discography. Also, Adelyn Strei on clarinet and flute is a perfect mid-range surprise embedded in both the mix and the liner notes.
Favorite Tracks: “It’s alright,” “Without,” and “Unused”
Jana Horn has been compared to indie folk greats like Bill Callahan, Cat Power, and Nick Drake. While those influences can be heard, I think there’s something more here to dissect and appreciate. Horn’s songwriting is a true strength and not derivative. While she writes about the things folk singers have covered for decades and decades, her approach leaves only enough to suggest the threads of love, longing, and intimacy.
In other words, Horn’s lyricism is never too much. Ironically, I find myself wanting more but understand that this interplay between the sporadic vocals and the nuanced instrumentals is the reason Horn’s technique is successful. The track “Without” features this speciality by employing a small set of seemingly unrelated and gut-wrenching words and phrases, suggesting there is another side to this conversation we’re not privy to.
“If you believe yourself, I will try too” AHHHHHHHHH!
Seeing Jana Horn play Union Pool in a few weeks will be the highlight of my month, me thinks.
Courtney Marie Andrews— Valentine (2026) X
Overall Vibe: You’re alone, walking down by a craggy shoreline. It’s rockier than you expected, but the simple reward of reaching the sand and touching the cold water with your bare feet is enough to keep you moving. The natural world gives and takes from your body in ways no human being ever could.
Why I like it and you might too: Not enough people know about Courtney Marie Andrews, and that is a shame. This album is actually a great place to start if you’re not a folk music fan, per se, but want to explore more of what the wide-reaching genre has to offer. It’s folky, yes, but the production and instrumentation are more approachable than your typical folk album.
Favorite Tracks: “Magic Touch,” “Outsider,” and “Hangman”
Courtney Marie Andrews has been on the scene for over fifteen years creating records with purpose and insight well beyond her years. This album is no exception. While more expansive and layered on the production side of things, the song-writing still rings with a candid openness characteristic of Andrews’ earlier work.
It’s also one of those albums that makes careful use of its sparse love songs early on, before sliding into the more melancholy tracks with a bargaining grace. The latter half of the album carries on with resounding bass lines and moments of post-breakup desire and resistance we can all probably relate to. I certainly can! “Hangman” is as good as last songs get. It’s a stunning metaphor about begging for and guessing at someone’s love—a high stakes game of Hangman.
At the same time, tracks like “Cons and Clowns” and “Everyone Wants to Feel Like You Do” suggest something more distinct about our political present. Whether or not they’re actually ABOUT it isn’t the point. It’s felt nonetheless.
I cannot wait to see this album played live in April :)
That Courtney Marie Andrews album 😍 so dreamy.
Enjoying the Horn and Andrews albums this week for sure