The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by PleasureInc
Weeks come, weeks go, good tunes stay forever. Ensuring no greatness gets lost in the shuffle, welcome to The Big Indie Playlist.
Exciting to report that there was a day this week when I wore just a short sleeve T-shirt in my house. We’re nearly there, team, spring is in bloom, and summer is around the corner. If we can just keep going a few more weeks, I can see some park beers on the forecast.
Building up the playlist ready for that to happen, this week delivered another strong crop of new tunes. The indie world in particular was on fire this week as some of the leading lights in alternative music offered up some truly great releases, like Opus Kink with an album-announcing single, and Dry Cleaning with a post-album additional track.
To provide a helping hand with the playlist this week, we checked in with PleasureInc, who also released one of the best new songs of the week with ‘Lies’. Sharing the songs they’ve had on repeat through the start of 2026, the eclectic mix makes sense of their own eclectic sound.
With something for everyone, across a whole range of genres, simply hit play and get caught up on the best new music around.
Must-Hear: Curated by PleasureInc
Baby Keem – ‘Ca$ino’: “I love the intensity of this beat. Fuzzy synths, fatty 808s and a few crispy claps. Wonderful.”
A$AP Rocky – ‘Helicopter ‘: “‘TAKE MY WHITE T OFF, SPIN IT ROUND LIKE A HELICOPTER!!’ Are you joking?! Fucking love it.”
Geese – ‘Trinidad’: “Beautiful chaos.”
Danny Brown – ‘Starburst’: “Hard-hitting, disorientating beats and slick bars. Danny’s always pushing the boundaries in the rap world. Goat.”
Puma Blue – ‘Croak Dream’: “Spooky one this. Feels like I’m in a PS2 game created by Massive Attack. Lovely.”
Gorillaz – ‘The Mountain’: “This opening track is pure bliss. The instrumentation paints such a clear picture in my mind. Kinda like the Ratatouille soundtrack but Indian.”
The best new music of the week:
Mezttly – ‘Who Knows?’: Being an artist and an art lover at the same time is a minefield of inspiration and jealousy. On ‘Who Knows?’, Mezttly considers that thin line of loving her favourite songs and wishing she’d written them to the extent of struggling to even enjoy them anymore. [3.5/5]
Opus Kink – ‘Come Over, Do Me Wrong’: To announce their long-awaited and hotly-anticipated debut, Opus Kink offered up their wiggliest earworm yet, as the boisterous and instantly gripping intro on this track instantly has it on repeat in your head. [4/5]
Eliza Edens – ‘Leash’: Obviously, New York is busy with incredible musicians. But Eliza Edens is a crowning jewel I need more people to pay attention to. As their first offering since the incredible 2025 album, It’s Your Birthday and You’re Gorgeous, ‘Leash’ is just as full of life and feeling, but with a more folk-rock feel. [3.5/5]
Dry Cleaning – ‘Sliced By A Fingernail’: Dry Cleaning sure don’t waste any time, as not long after the release of their recent album, they’re back with a new and creepy tune. Sinister and strange, it explodes into an all-out rock tune in the second half. [3.5/5]
Wasia Project – ‘2515’: Olivia Hardy’s voice in Wasia Project is so beautiful that she truly could just sing a shopping list and it would still be gorgeous. But song by song, the band are becoming more and more intriguing. This new one is a huge change of pace from their usually more balladic, but strays down a kind of Billie Eilish-inspired path. [3/5]
Getdown Services – ‘The Radiator’: Every time I hear a Getdown Services song, I yearn for sun, for a day three festival hazy head and a cold beer. It’s the perfect music to simply bop to, feeling loose and happy, surrounded by mates and ‘The Radiator’ is another foolproof offering from the duo. [3/5]
Silver Gore – ‘Black Cherry Liqueur’: Every song Silver Gore delivers feels so thorough. It’s hard to even put a finger on what that means, but each tune feels like its own movie with its own little sonic world. On ‘Black Cherry Liqueur’, they feel more cinematic than ever as Ava Gore’s voice is shrouded in glitchy energy. [4/5]
Pixie McCann – ‘Deja Vu’: Following in the footsteps of the likes of Erin LeCount and all the best bedroom producers, Pixie McCann is going from making unique loops and songs on her bedroom floor to producing some of the more interesting lo-fi indie offerings around. She’s undeniably a voice on the rise, so start paying attention. [3/5]
Bleachers – ‘The Van’: When Jack Antonoff is always busy making era-defining records with the biggest artists around, he already has his legacy locked in. With that, though, Bleachers seemed to benefit from not being overthought or overpressurised. There’s a clear sense of fun in the project now as he seems to just do what he wants with it, leaning into whatever influence he wants to tap into that day. On ‘The Van’, some old school R&B floats in. [3.5/5]
Frank Lloyd Wleft – ‘Of Liberty’: This London artist is obsessed with America – the scenes of it, the contradictions of it, the history of it. Dubbing himself ‘Post-Americana’, the fixation with the country and its sonic and artistic legacy floats through all his songs, built with the help of London’s finest musicians, far, far away from the States. [3/5]
PleasureInc – ‘Lies’: If you ever get the chance, go to a PleasureInc show. I’ve never seen a band have quite so much fun on stage, and that’s bottled in their music too, as this group of two brothers and their mates are basically the UK’s Beastie Boys if the Beastie Boys also loved indie pop music and the pub. [4/5]
