April 2026's Tracks of the Month: a bumper special

We're testing out a new monthly feature based on your feedback for more music recommendations. Let us know what you think of this and at the very least we'll give it another go in May.

One of the nicest problems to have in modern times is there's so much music and not enough time to drink it all in. The last month or so, the release calendar was rammed, and to top it all off, Massive Attack made their return. So, to spare ourselves some valuable brain space - instead of having one track of the week, we compiled a bunch of them. There's also some fun live sessions in here if you fancy watching some great live music from your sofa over the weekend.

Listen to our April Tracks of the Month with this week's DiS playlist powered by Qobuz, our music streaming platform of choice.

TRY QOBUZ FOR FREE

The Anchoress - 'I Had A Baby Not A Lobotomy' (featuring Gwenno)

I learned from a friend who's just had a baby about the baffling paradox of procreating being socially encouraged but pregnancy being stigmatised, even amounting to a sense of erasure. Strangely, there aren't many songs about it. The Anchoress is changing that, with a sharp, synth-soaked rebuke of the truly eye-widening comments people made when she had a baby - "Guess Europe's out of the equation How are you liking your vacation?" Prepare yourself not just for undiluted honesty but for a hook that will simply not escape your head - I for one am singing it to myself constantly.

American Football & Brendan Yates - 'No Feeling'

Some music you could sink into like a warm bath, and for the emo and post-rock minded among you, American Football have always done that beautifully. They channel a twilit, almost shoegaze-like atmosphere into their latest single, featuring Brendan Yates from Turnstile shapeshifting into quite a different vocalist from how he is in his day job. This is one for the soporific end of the day, when the sun's set and life is quiet.

Massive Attack & Tom Waits - 'Boots On The Ground'

As the world shifts into a frightening, unrecognisable form, the stage was clearly being set for a new single from Massive Attack for the first time in a decade (and Waits' first new song in 15) - dropping just days after Robert Del Naja was arrested for declaring his support for Palestine Action. Laden with woody, clinking percussion, Waits' trademark gravelly tone sounds weary and wisened as he sings a dirge for modern America peppered with vulgarities and a thick sediment of disgust. "Mould your world, a soldier’s just clay/How much does every soldier weigh?/Cut you off at the ankles and they throw that away," he sings. It's best experienced along with its accompanying visuals created by Massive Attack and US artist thefinaleye, which "portrays a momentous American epoch that is yet to be named, and comes in the aftermath of the largest public protests in American history - focused on opposition to ICE raids, the militarisation of domestic forces, and state authoritarianism."

Kate Nash - 'Famine'

One of music's most visible and powerful voices right now is bowing her head towards both her own history as someone with dual English and Irish citizenship and the lineage of protest she belongs to. Kate Nash covered Sinead O'Connor's 'Famine' at her recent show at London's Roundhouse and has now released it as a single, in which she's added some of her own lyrics and plays the tin whistle for the first time. It's a contemplative moment of reflection on colonialism and its role in the erasing of history and obscuring of knowledge, to which Nash adds a more personal slant through her own words. Listen, think and learn.

unpeople - 'clouds'

I spoke about unpeople on the podcast at the tail end of last year as one of my tips for 2026, and if you want to find the future of British rock music, you're looking right at it. The song might be titled 'clouds', but it sounds like pure sunshine - albeit, the sort the shines when the sky's still dark from the rain. There's such an ebullient energy to the chunky riffs unpeople have, but there's a moodier streak as they offload the overwhelm of other people trying to pull them in different directions artistically. Keep listening, and you'll hear that they have an unexpected sting in their tail too.

Sofia Isella - 'The Chicken Is Naked & Afraid'

Here's the best song sampling chicken noises you'll hear today. In all seriousness, Sofia Isella's newest single is a characteristically dark, sinuous number snaking through the gaps between genres, dripping with wryness and razor-sharp lines on the psyche of fragile masculinity. Already with a handful of EPs to her name, she's developed such a distinct lyrical voice, one which is poetic, frank and even occasionally funny. If you like what you hear, her new EP Something is a shell is out now.

Olivia Rodrigo - 'drop dead'

With a reverence and adoration of the music that made her and a keenness to speak out about what matters, Olivia Rodrigo deserves the Drowned In Sound seal of approval. That, and she can make pop music reformed rock purists like this girl here loves. Maturing into a fuzzier, candyfloss-coloured shade of pop-rock, she dives headfirst into a state of sugary infatuation, and although it's a clear evolution, it still feels entirely hers.

Static Dress - '...hospice'

After Static Dress' recent single 'human props' was TOTW in January, I couldn't resist showing you one of the follow-up singles. On '...hospice', the Leeds quartet are aiming for the stars - and to ruin your make-up - with some gorgeous balladry to warm your cold emo heart. While it certainly incites the urge to wave a lighter in the air, the song also asks that you think deeply, its lyrics confronting not just the spectre of mortality but the music industry's preoccupation with youth. Keep the tissues on stand-by.

Bonus mention: Mannequin Pussy, Tiny Desk

Not a new song, but it's so incredible that it just had to be included. Mannequin Pussy’s Tiny Desk session isn’t just a sublime demonstration of how special they are live, but it brings to the forefront a different side of the band altogether. Backed by a string section, it peels back the layers of aggression to get to their soft centre, with a couple of gentler, left-field setlist choices including ‘Split Me Open’ and one of my personal favourites, ‘I Don’t Know You’. (I’ve never heard it live but if I did I think I’d end up in a ball on the floor crying).

Of course, despite this difference in tone, their music still bleeds catharsis. "Your rage is a part of you and you have to honour it. Give it the space to breathe," vocalist Missy Dabice says, before she leads the audience in a huge collective scream.