By WDCE Music Directors

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:: Nothing is scarier than working Halloweekend, but the tenacious MDs toughed it out just to bring you the hottest new hits!  

:: November 1, 2026

:: Heathers — Awesome

Genre: Garage Rock

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 30, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “I Believe In You,” “Awesome,” “Cars”

The debut album by Heathers, the solo project of Heath Michael Thomas, 23, is an eclectic blend of garage rock and groove. “Awesome” pulls from nearly every corner of the indie umbrella: there’s Frost Children style-beats, Cameron Winter-esq vocals, Ween vibes and Nirvana grunge.

Thomas is bringing some raw, skrunk-ly sounds straight from Cape Girardeau, Missouri and it works. “Awesome” is no exaggeration.

— Jonathan Sackett

RIP Magic — 1,2,3

Genre: Dance Punk

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 30, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “Screwdark,” “Spit,” “5words”

This band has only 14 tracks in their entire discography, and this album accounts for 12 of those. As for every debut album, it’s a toss-up whether the band will make a good first impression, or if they’ll conform to a cookie cutter sound. Iʻm glad to say that “1,2,3” is the former, with positively inventive electronics and track-by-track diversity. The song “Spit” opens with dark and menacing electronic percussion, adding in unconventional and unharmonious sound machine effects. Once these effects are cut off, the vocals enter in a whisper, sounding strained and out-of-breath. The next track, “Screwdark” has nearly the same drum pattern and tempo, but gives off a much greater “dance” feeling, assisted by the more confident vocal delivery. These two songs could very well be a single track, separated by a smooth transition. The closing track, “5words” is a realized example of this idea, starting with sinister and simple instrumentation, transitioning right in the middle of the track, and closing with a comparatively upbeat arrangement of layers on top of layers of digital effects.

— Jacob Bennett

Ex:Re — Save As

Genre: Indie Folk-Rock

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 30, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “Radio Station,” “Sleep,” “Frozen Aisle”

Amid a sea of unremarkable indie rock, Ex:Re’s new album, Save As, has the it factor that will keep you listening front to back. The record starts off strong with “Radio Station.” It’s a dark, punchy rock song that explores self-identity – I swear I don’t only like it because of its name. The full-bodied production of “Radio Station” doesn’t carry throughout the album. Two other highlights, “Sleep” and “Frozen Aisle,” are spare and atmospheric, mostly featuring soft drums, piano, and Elena Tonra’s delicate vocals. An electronic haze covers most of the tracks, hearkening back to Tonra’s work as the lead singer of electro-indie band Daughter. But her solo work is a much more intimate sonic and lyrical experience. One of the main themes of Save As is an inability to go through everyday life amid mental strife. In “Frozen Aisle,” she tries to keep from having a complete breakdown as she’s grocery shopping; the announcements and the hum of the freezer disappears behind her racing thoughts. Tonra knows how to tell a visual story and make you feel like you’re there with her.

—Declan Devilbiss

Moses Boyd — Songs For Sinners

Genre: Neo Soul/Jazz Fusion

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 30, 2026

Recommended Tracks: “Say Yeah,” “War,” “Criticize”

Genre has never felt more useless than when I was trying to sum up Songs For Sinners in a couple hundred words. If I had to label this project, I’d call it something like electro-jazz gospel-hop. The music is a perfect reflection of Moses Boyd’s upbringing: he channels his Caribbean roots, pentecostal upbringing and devotion to his family across the album. That family influence is especially strong: several other Boyds are listed as background vocalists on every song. Songs For Sinners is a meditative, spiritual project that doesn’t apologize for taking up your time – few songs are exclusively instrumental, and most of them are around 5 minutes long. The drums are infectious, the singing is soulful, and organs, trumpets, and saxophones fill out the instrumentation. Two back-to-back tracks, “I Surrender All” and “It Is Well” perfectly outline the diversity of this album. “I Surrender All” is a pure hip-hop track that even includes a beat switch, and it leads directly into a modified version of one of the most influential Christian hymns of all time. Somehow, though, the transitions between moods never feel awkward or forced. Songs For Sinners is an enthralling listen.

—Declan Devilbiss

DIIV — ZIRP!

Genre: Shoegaze

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 30, 2026

Recommended Tracks:

It’s pronounced Dive, not “div.” Despite the phonetic confusion their name caused me, these guys know how to rock out. Thick, static-y shoegaze guitar takes over on this album’s best tracks, “The Fountain” and “Dare Me.” Even on the softer, more pop-leaning songs like “When the Glow Came for Us,” flickers of DIIV’s gritty shoegaze roots appear. If there’s one word that describes this album, it’s futuristic. Electronic noise and computerized glitches are featured heavily, and the lyrics make you feel like you’re navigating a 21st-century post-apocalyptic hellscape. Which you kind of are. The album cover is a distorted American flag, with the stripes turned into arrows that are pointing straight down. DIIV isn’t shy about their feelings about the United States: “We’re lost, America is a devil,” lead singer Zachary Cole Smith declares on “The Crash.” Even the poppier tracks are clearly a cynical satire of themselves. “Trillions,” which directly follows “The Crash,” envisions owning everything in the world and doing nothing with it in an Owl City-esque autotune. The themes in ZIRP! reminded me of Vince Staples’ Cry Baby with its deadpanned roast of dystopian modern America. It’s safe to say I’m gonna be “Zirpin’ It” for the foreseeable future.

—Declan Devilbiss

Fish Hunt — Life

Genre: Indie Pop

Release Type: Album

Release Date: October 23, 2026

Recommended tracks: “Two Kids at Heart,” “Horsie,” “Thunderstorm”

A whole life is a pretty big picture for one album to capture, but New York indie rock project Fish Hunt makes a bold attempt with their latest release, “Life.” Each song functions as sort of its own nostalgic vignette. The album flows smoothly from longing for childhood simplicity in “Monkey See Monkey Do,” to adult uncertainty and apprehension in “Life” and “Horsie,” before closing out with a haunting look towards the future in “Bloom.” That breadth ends up being ultimately hard to actually emotionally buy into. Many of the tracks sound very similar to each other, and the lyrics aren’t poetically gripping enough to build an investment in them alone. Despite that, I do like the album. That consistent sound is consistently pretty good—I particularly like the dissonantly bobbing instrumentals in “Horsie” and the full-bodied vocals in “Two Kids at Heart.” I am still left wondering, at what point does an attempt to capture fish switch from fishing to a fish hunt??? Like do I have to be swimming after them??? Glug glug.

— Sahara Williamson

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