By WDCE Music Directors

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:: The MDs are back with the second musical scoop of the semester  

:: September 13, 2026

:: Sex Mask — Sex Mask

Genre: Proto-Post-Punk

Release Type: EP

Release Date: August 20, 2026 

Recommended Tracks: “Raid,” “Sweat,” “Lockjaw”

Melbourne post-punkers Sex Mask’s self-titled EP is a raw, visceral blend of mythology, theology and aggression. The fifteen-minute release is their longest to date, a strong showcase for the band’s strengths: flow, restraint and contrast. They know how to make a hook, how to make a groove and how to get you stuck in them. Frontman Wry Gray’s raspy yet understandable vocals cut over speeding drum beats — it bounds between contemporary nonchalant-ness and chalant passion. And when Kaya Martin enters, it’s pure dopamine. Her clear vocals pierce and worm into my subconscious. Don Sex Mask if you like your Machine Girl with a side of egg punk.

— Jonathan Sackett

Locust — Spectral+

Genre: Ambient Electronica

Release Type: Album

Release Date: September 11, 2026 

English electronic producer Mark Van Hoen’s newest outing under Locust takes his pastoral IDM roots and throws it into the near endless ocean of EDM style. The features on this album shape it into something its own. I can’t help but be reminded of the features on the Chemical Brothers’ albums Push The Button and For That Beautiful Feeling. There’s bits of pop, ambience, hip-hop and indietronica across Spectral+. It feels like Locust is taking me on an 8-bit journey brought into 4K.

— Jonathan Sackett

Harrison Gordon – BLISS

Genre: Emo

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Like Me Less,” “Not Working! Not Working!,” “Pretty”

Harrison Gordon is both a man AND the name of a band, coming from Normal, Illinois. Considering that they too are from an Illinoian college town, Harrison Gordon followed the upbeat, punkish high road that American Football easily could have traveled down. And as much as I love American Football, the higher-tempo, vocal-focused midwest emo bands like PUP, Mom Jeans, and now, Harrison Gordon provide a much needed break from an otherwise depressing sub-genre. Don’t get me wrong, lyrically, the depressing motifs are here to stay. Throughout every track on BLISS, there’s something to complain about. On “Like Me Less,” a more comedic line saying, “the TV remote just out of reach” is followed by a vastly more hard-hitting one: “I’m just so tired I don’t want to argue. Whatever you want, I guess I want that too.” One of those albums where truly listening to the lyrics will make you see each song in a different way. That being said, BLISS is easily one of my favorite albums to come out this year.

— Jacob Bennett

Ezra Collective – Here Because of Hope

Genre: Jazz-Funk

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Blow Your Trumpet,” “Birdie Sings,” “Well Organized”

This album begins with a spoken-word interlude, which comes up twice more throughout the 17-track album. This transitions into “Blow Your Trumpet,” setting the mood for the next hour of jazz-funk instrumentals. A simple piano progression leads into a perfectly structured drum and bass arrangement, giving a rhythm to bob your head to. And as the name suggests, soft and moody trumpets fade in, creating a simple, yet well-managed melody. The next track, “Sweet Echo,” flips this mood upside down. Starting with an uptempo drum line, the brass section bursts in like a college marching band, playing joyous and synchronized notes over subtle wood block percussion. The last track I’ll mention is “Birdie Sings,” whose slow and moody afrobeat drums compliment the noir-style saxophone and electric organs. It’s the perfect mix of alcoholic detective music and dead-of-night bank heist music. Now that’s the kind of jazz I can get behind.

— Jacob Bennett

Liana Flores – And so it goes…

Genre: Folk/Bossa Nova

Release Type: EP

Release Date: September 4, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “So it goes,” “Silvershoes,” “So mysterious”

Liana Flores’ newest EP is jazzy, avant-garde and funky. The British-Brazilian singer never gets too far from the bossa nova that has influenced so much of her career, while also mixing folk influence in on intimate tracks like “Here to stay.” The title track, “So it goes,” which is my favorite on the project, is blissful and sad at the same time. Populated almost entirely by groovy guitar strums, syncopated drums and Flores’ dreamlike voice, this EP is what I think it would sound like to fall in love in Rio. 

— Declan Devilbiss

Syd Matters – A Gospel of Some Sort

Genre: Indie Rock/Psychedelic Folk

Release Type: Album

Release Date: September 4, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “Memorize,” “Many Years in the Making,” “Nuclear”

Syd Matters’ comeback album is an immediate return to their sound that blends indie folk, intricate acoustic guitar and electronic influences behind frontman Jonathan Morali’s melancholic voice. This is the band’s first album since 2010, and they continue to push the bounds of genre, even 16 years later. “Many Years in the Making,” the aptly named lead single, sparkles as Morali contemplates the band’s return from hiatus and whether those old feelings can come back, asking: “Are we already late, is it already gone?” A lot has changed since 2010, but “it” is clearly still here for Syd Matters. The outro, “Nuclear,” is beautifully eerie and channels a Radiohead-esque sound as Morali envisions a radioactive doomsday. But the sonic comparison that feels most appropriate across the album is to Nick Drake, whose somber melodies are a definite influence on this project. 

— Declan Devilbiss

:: Music Directors

The Music Directors here at WDCE are an elite strike force, one that is perpetually locked onto the pulse of global music and sound. What’s hip? What’s groovy? What do you need to know to sound indie, alt, and well-informed? Well our MDs have you covered. 

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Send submissions to wdcemd@gmail.com !!