- Published
As the sun sets on 2025, all the year-end lists have been published and it's time to look forward to what 2026 has in store.
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2026 → publish → store
In many ways, the last 12 months have felt transitional.
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months → feel → ways
With relatively few A-list releases, and a Brat-shaped hole in the summer, music seemed to split in two.
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music → shape → two
The charts were agonisingly static: Just three songs held the number one spot hostage for half the year: Taylor Swift's Fate of Ophelia, Huntr/x's Golden, and Alex Warren's Ordinary (never has a song been so aptly titled).
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song → hold → Ophelia
But outside Spotify's self-fulfilling "top hits" playlists, fans were engaging with music that was encouragingly weird and experimental.
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that → fulfil → music
Geese's critically-acclaimed Getting Killed sounded like someone trying to play Radiohead's first four albums simultaneously; while Spanish pop star Rosalía delivered a sumptuous avant-garde pop album, Lux, that married flamenco, opera, hip-hop and scorched earth drum loops.
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that → acclaim → flamenco
Former Little Mixer Jade Thirlwall turned in a scathing-but-affectionate thesis on pop music and pop stardom on That's Showbiz, Baby! and West End Girl re-established Lily Allen as a master lyricist.
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Girl → turn → lyricist
Let's dive in.
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's → let → ?
A Glastonbury-shaped hole
Good news for cows, bad news for music fans: Glastonbury takes a fallow year in 2026.
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Glastonbury → shape → 2026
Even so, next summer's festival line-up is looking immense.
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up → look → ?
Reading and Leeds boasts Fontaines DC, Florence + The Machine, Dave, Charli XCX, Raye, and Chase & Status at the top of its bill.
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Reading → boast → bill
Mighty Hoopla has snagged Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters; Latitude has Lewis Capaldi and David Byrne; and End of the Road boasts Pulp and CMAT.
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End → snag → Pulp
Mr Worldwide himself, Pitbull, will headline on 10 July with special guest Kesha.
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Mr → headline → Kesha
Get your bald caps ready.
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caps → get → ?
When Oasis wrapped up their gargantuan comeback tour in Mexico last month, Liam Gallagher's parting words were: "We'll see you again sometime."
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We → wrap → you
For months, it's been rumoured the band will return to Knebworth House, where they staged a triumphant two-night stand in 1996.
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they → rumour → 1996
But there's also speculation Oasis will take a year off before scheduling any more shows, especially with Bonehead undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
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Bonehead → be → cancer
In an official press release wrapping up their 2025 dates, the band were quietly enigmatic.
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band → wrap → dates
There'll be an AI hit, and an AI backlash
Like it or not, Artificial Intelligence is being used in recording studios right now.
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Intelligence → like → studios
Even if it's just for tasks like lifting vocals from an old recording, or cleaning up distortion, machine learning is part of the production toolkit.
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learning → lift → toolkit
But at the end of 2025, there was a huge row over the song I Run by the British dance act Haven, after allegations the band had used AI to clone Jorja Smith's voice.
And the streaming service Deezer estimates that a third of all music uploaded to its site is now AI-generated.
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third → be → site
At some point in the next 12 months, one of these songs will catch on and become a real-world hit.
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one → catch → songs
But the backlash has already begun.
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backlash → begin → ?
Producer Jack Antonoff has described, external making Sabrina Carpenter's Please, Please, Please with physical instruments, played imperfectly, as a reaction to the clinical nature of modern pop.
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Antonoff → describe → pop
Miley Cyrus's latest album, Something Beautiful, was also played on live instruments; and artists like Olivia Dean and Skye Newman are making music that harks back to the organic sounds of 70s pop and soul.
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that → play → pop
Numerous surveys suggest fans want to know when music has been created with AI.
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music → suggest → AI
If we can have parental advisory stickers, how a label that simply says, "real music by real musicians"?
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that → have → musicians
Beyoncé goes rock and Harry Styles plays the typewriter
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Styles → go → typewriter
Will 2026 be the year that Beyoncé sheds her Stetson and starts smashing guitars to smithereens?
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Beyoncé → shed → smithereens
When she released Renaissance in 2022, the star let it be known that it was the first of a three-part musical reclamation series.
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it → release → series
The first installation explored the black roots of dance music.
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installation → explore → music
The second, Cowboy Carter, reclaimed country.
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second → reclaim → country
Fans think rock and roll is next.
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rock → think → ?
During the Cowboy Carter tour, video screens depicted her in edgy, rock-inspired outfits; and her latest Levi's advert saw the star riding into the night on a motorcycle.
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star → depict → motorcycle
Whatever genre it tackles, the new Beyoncé album is expected in the first half of the year.
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album → tackle → year
Harry Styles has been hard at work since at least March 2024, when he was spotted walking into London's Rak Studios.
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he → spot → Studios
In August, Australian radio hosts Fifi, Fev and Nick claimed his fourth album was finished and that Styles "did it all on a typewriter".
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Styles → claim → typewriter
Their source was "a man" with his name tattooed somewhere on Styles' body.
Seems legit.
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name → tattoo → body
Meanwhile, Charli XCX is following up Brat with her soundtrack to Emerald Fennell's movie adaptation of Wuthering Heights; while Lana Del Rey's long-delayed country album is supposed to arrive at the start of 2026.
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album → follow → 2026
Gorillaz celebrate their 25th anniversary with a new album, The Mountain, featuring a number of posthumous collaborations from actor Dennis Hopper, The Fall frontman Mark E Smith and soul legend Bobby Womack.
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Gorillaz → celebrate → Hopper
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
