The Best New Zealand Albums of 2026 So Far

A stunning achievement. An instant classic. An AOTY contender based on the strength of standout track “One Stop” alone.

Train on the Island was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with Harding’s longtime collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning), continuing a working relationship that has shaped her recent albums Party (2017), Designer (2019), and Warm Chris (2022).

Across Train on the Island, Harding is joined by various musicians including pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte, harpist Mali Llywelyn, synth artist Thomas Poli, and drummer Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear).

We’re far from the only publication to highly praise Harding’s album — Pitchfork rightly awarded it Best New Music.

Office Dog’s new album may be their best work yet, which is saying something considering the quality of Spiel (2023).

The record pulls together ideas the trio had been circling for months — home, uncertainty, and what it means to put down roots.

Balancing Office Dog’s heaviest and softest material to date, Prime Corner is what happens when three accomplished musicians in their own right find the perfect chemistry working together.

Part-concept album, part-Aotearoa coming-of-age epic, Menzies’ debut is one of the most original releases of 2026.

Menzies’ originality has already caught the attention of MJ Lenderman, one of modern rock’s biggest and best stars, who was impressed by their performance at Camp A Low Hum.

Find out all about the exciting Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington rock band here.

Dungeon Vision shows why Earth Tongue are one of the most in-demand bands on the live circuit today.

Guitarist Gussie Larkin and drummer Ezra Simons refined Dungeon Vision’s 12 tracks in their self-described “windowless cave” rehearsal space in Berlin before heading to Los Angeles, where they worked alongside garage king Ty Segall to record and mix the album in just 10 days.

Read our interview with the garage-rock duo for our Future of Music series here.

As I recently wrote, only a fool would bet against Change Is a Slow Moving Beast being a serious contender in the Best Folk Artist category at next year’s Aotearoa Music Awards.

Fables is Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland singer-songwriter Jess Bailey, who surrounded herself with a Murderers’ Row of Kiwi musical talent — multi-instrumentalist Dave Khan (Marlon Williams, Reb Fountain), drummer Arahi Whaanga (Te Tokotoru, Pony Baby), bassist Cass Basil (Tiny Ruins, King Sweeties), and more — to craft one of the best indie-folk albums of the year so far.

Heaven Knows What Time followed a period of “unconventionality” for Vera Ellen, during which she learned to “embrace the chaos that comes with being a self-sustained artist in today’s constantly driving culture.”

The Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington indie rocker wrote the album during a two-week songwriting residency in Greytown, awarded through the NZ Pacific Studio Artist Residency Programme.

Heaven Knows What Time features some of Ellen’s best songwriting to date, particularly the excellent “Gayfever” and “When It’s Over”, a collaboration with Hemi Hemingway.

Read our interview with Vera Ellen for our Future of Music series here.

Recorded in Paris during the winter of 2025, Red Sunset is Bic Runga’s first album of original songs since 2011’s Belle. Co-produced by Runga and Kody Nielson, the record captures a reflective, quietly expansive chapter in the career of one of Aotearoa’s most enduring songwriters.

Read our in-depth interview with Runga about her album here.

The latest vibrant collection from MELODOWNZ features cool guest turns from Troy Kingi, Coops, and more.

But like his previous albums, BRON belongs to the West Auckland icon. It’s unsurprising to see so many of its tracks rack up the streams. The rapper and artist’s consistency across records is to be admired.

The very first few weeks of 2026 provided an AOTY contender out of West Auckland.

Swan, the latest from Peter McCall’s indie-rock-meets-alt-country project Fazed on a Pony, shot straight to the top of the Aotearoa Albums Chart in January, also reaching the top 30 on the main chart. RNZ’s Tony Stamp was amongst several critics to give it a lovely review, writing that “carefully observed truths and aural loveliness abound” in the album.

“I can’t imagine it going any better,” McCall told us. “[I’m] feeling pretty blown away, to be honest. My expectations were much lower than what’s come, which is awesome.”

Hemi Hemingway described his second album as a “yearnfest” — but no one is complaining.

Wings of Desire deepens the singer-songwriter’s sonic palette, with romantic ’50s and ’60s melodicism colliding with gothic ’80s post-punk. The title nods to the film Wings of Desire, a fitting reference point for a record preoccupied with longing and transformation.

Check out highlights from Hemingway’s trip to The Great Escape Festival here.

Amelia Berry’s best work yet as Amamelia.

After being diagnosed with a chronic illness, Berry initially feared she might not be able to make another album, which is why The Joy of Living (see title) is such a life-affirming collection.

“I think it’s just always worth reflecting on that being alive is this incredible, fleeting gift and while you’re alive you’ve gotta make the most of it, you’ve got to do your best to change the world and to make beautiful things,” she said about her wonderful album.

The Veils, led by singer-songwriter Finn Andrews, only released their most recent album, Asphodels, last January, but the tracks on Fragile World needed to be shared with the world sooner rather than later.

Their swift follow-up record “marks a striking shift in tone and energy for the band,” and was recorded live to tape in Aotearoa by Paddy Hill, with production handled by Tom Healy (Folk Bitch Trio, Tiny Ruins).

WHO SHOT SCOTT’s highly anticipated debut album confirms his talent can spread across a full-length collection.

The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland-based rapper and artist effortlessly moves between alt-rock and hip-hop at will throughout the album, which dropped after a successful debut headline tour of the UK.

Adam McGrath’s second solo album is a powerful tribute to the 75th anniversary of the Maritime Union of New Zealand, inspired by the stories, struggles, and enduring solidarity woven through the union’s history.

“Wrecker Songs started like all good things should start, over a beer in the union hall standing behind Jordan Luck!” McGrath said.

“A conversation with Lyttelton MUNZ Secretary Gary Horan about why and how records got made became an idea about what they could do once out in the world, what they could be; about how folk records had to reach beyond the internal maladies that are the usual fodder for singer-songwriters, further into the world in which they inhabit.”

Breakout years don’t come much bigger than Te Wehi’s.

The down-to-earth artist has been a permanent fixture in the Aotearoa charts for months and months and months, at one stage holding six of the top 20 positions on the Aotearoa Singles Chart.

Having only played his first-ever live show last March, he’s now toured with L.A.B, played Rhythm and Vines, and embarked on his own headline tour of his home country.

Throw in multiple nominations at the Aotearoa Music Awards as well as the release of a debut album? That’s a new Aotearoa music superstar right there.

Muroki was one of the easiest inclusions in our latest Future of Music series.

The genre-blending singer-songwriter’s debut album was a truly global affair, written and recorded while he lived a nomadic lifestyle between Berlin, the Portuguese coast, back with his family in Kenya, and in Raglan.

The result is a colourful and vibrant record that showcases Muroki’s musicianship and charisma.

No other band in Aotearoa sounds like Ōtepoti Dunedin art-rockers Bunchy’s Big Score. That’s a good thing.

Offering a nice change of pace from their hometown’s current crop of (albeit truly excellent) noise-rock bands, Bunchy’s Big Score looked to disparate influences like The Velvet Underground and Daniel Johnston to craft their bold and playful album.

Find out more about the up-and-coming band here.

No Love Lost to Kindness marks a sharp evolution for Yumi Zouma, trading in the dream-pop shimmer of earlier records for something rawer and more jagged.

The 12-track record reflects both the chemistry and tension of a band now more than a decade into their career. “Making our fifth album was the most friction-filled creative period since the band began,” they admitted.

Read our interview with Yumi Zouma about their latest album here.

It speaks volumes about Six60’s continuous popularity that Right Here Right Now, which arrived in the middle of February, is still going strong in the Aotearoa charts.

The iconic Kiwi band are now gearing up to showcase their latest album in Melbourne.

Delaney Davidson shows no signs of slowing down on his 11th solo album.

Baby Heavyweight, which charted well in Aotearoa New Zealand, came together across several countries, including Switzerland and his homeland, with the help of a number of longtime friends and fellow musicians such as KOMMI and Marlon Williams.

Read our full interview with Davidson about the album here.

A big win at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards. Touring all over, including well-received shows in Australia. An acclaimed debut album. What a year it’s been for Borderline so far.

Their self-titled record is “something we’re all incredibly proud of,” the rising pop-rock band said when the record was first announced. “It’s the sum of every single corner of musical inspiration from all four of us,” they added.

MACEY steps into a more expansive, reflective era with his second album.

The British-born, New Zealand–raised singer-songwriter worked supremely hard behind the scenes to make ONCE a reality — it was worth the effort.

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland-born ZIPS collective, or ZIPS (+++!), featuring Church, AP, deadforest and more, drop one of the best joint collections of the year.

The record, which came together across Auckland and Sydney, “lives at the intersection of culture and innovation. Where familiar influences are reimagined through the lens of emerging diasporic voices,” and showcases the current strength of Polynesian hip-hop on both sides of the Tasman.

Read more about the album here.

Breakout star of Kiwi comedy-horror film Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant. Purveyor of ‘Tāmaki Noir’-style music. Hannah Lynch, aka Hun Lynch, can do it all.

Sycophant is a tremendous debut album from a rising star in multiple mediums.

Gin Wigmore’s reward for the quality of Beautiful Mess was a massive return to the Official Aotearoa Music Charts last month.

Fresh from relocating to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland recently, the Kiwi music icon topped the Top 20 Aotearoa Albums Chart with her long-awaited new album.

Beautiful Mess also made it to No. 5 on the Top 40 Albums Chart.

Alayna’s 2023 debut Self Portrait of a Woman Unravelling was wonderful, but Set Her Free is its equal, if not better.

Her second album is “a series of love letters to myself, my relationships, my friends, my mother, and the women who came before me, and to love itself,” according to the tender singer-songwriter.

An alt-country record that doubles as a loose concept album about a pro wrestler on the skids? Sign me up.

Better known to most Kiwis as the hip-hop-leaning Randa, thrice nominated at the Aotearoa Music Awards, Mainard Larkin pivots in sublime style with Rattlesnake Boy, his debut album under his own name.

After a casual conversation with Shannon Fowler, aka Tom Lark, about wanting to make a country record, Larkin got to work on Rattlesnake Boy.

“The thing I liked about writing with the wrestler character in mind was that I didn’t feel as vulnerable,” Larkin said. “I could pretend the pain wasn’t my pain… But at its heart, it’s about accepting myself and grieving the cost of having to change some things to improve.”

One of the most mercurial performers in the game, whether he’s showcasing at Rolling Stone House or performing inside a chicken shop, DC Maxwell’s talent translates well to record on The Singer.

The independent release finds the NZ-born, Melbourne-based musician drawing on ’90s influences such as PJ Harvey and Nick Cave to create a rousing alt-rock collection.