My Favorite New Albums of the Week: May 1, 2026
To be clear, I haven’t listened to Tori Amos’s new album In Times Of Dragons because it’s super long, but I’ll listen over the weekend and get back to you. I love Tori, particularly in live performances.
It’s an interesting week, and my two album picks this week surprised even myself. Here we go!
Benny Benassi - Feel The Bass
Benny Benassi? In 2026? Look, I get it. But this is legitimately among his best work. He did this interesting thing I’m seeing more and more frequently with album releases: by the time the album actually came out, there were only three unreleased tracks from streaming services. I think it keeps engagement high. I’m not going to complain though. This is a fantastic electro house album from beginning to end.
Love Is Gonna Save Us (with ARTBAT)
The album starts out with a bang: a remake of “Love Is Gonna Save Us” from his very first album, Hypnotica, all the way back in 2003. He and guest artist ARTBAT actually improved on one of his classics, while maintaining the musical structure that made it great to begin with. Comparing the two versions side by side shows just how much more complex dance music has gotten in the last 23 years. It brings me right back to Electro Techno Disco Pop on March 31, 2007 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
The Future (with ZSS and Laherte)
Using the tried-and-true method of utilizing faux Gregorian chant as an intro, this immediately gets us into deep electro house, which is where Benassi shines the most. He’s experimented in several other genres over the years, but Feel The Bass hearkens back to his earliest and best recordings on Hypnotica, Pumphonia, and …Phobia.
Discoteka (with Tobias Gerard)
I was expecting a remake of the track by the same name by Starkillers from 2006, but this is not that. Another hard-hitting electro song with some interesting vocal effects.
Superstar (with Chris Nasty)
This is a really good song, especially if you love 2000s dance music as much as I do. But it also has a distinctive Run-DMC vibe, while staying true to Benassi’s electro roots. “Superstar” is absolutely club-ready and this would be super fun to dance to in any setting.
Chicago Baby (with Felix da Housecat)
It’s not every day Felix sings on a track! I think more than some of the other songs on this album, this one is clearly a true collaboration between two great dance artists. I’m not sure they actually sample Mystique Summers Madison, but there certainly is a line that sounds a lot like her.
Just Like That (with Fideles)
Another solid electro house song. The vocal hook is pretty catchy on this one and it has a bit of a BT vibe.
Shades (with Glowal and SQU4RE)
I love songs sung in heavily accented English. This song just pounds into your brain and makes your heart beat fast.
Feel The Bass
The only song on the album without a guest artist, and the first single from it (last July!), it’s a lot of fun. I can still see a warehouse full of young people in varying states of sobriety losing it to this song in my mind’s eye.
Dead Limit (with Laherte)
The only song on the album without lyrics, it’s still a pretty solid anthem.
Aku Aku (with AXIS ZERO)
This song is crazy. Meaning: I love it. The lyrics are totally incomprehensible. Despite not being able to tell you a single word, I’ve somehow learned all the words already? As in, I’m singing along incomprehensibly. If you like electro house, this song is a huge banger.
Can I Feel? (with Rafael Cerato)
This is the techiest and glitchiest song on the album, more reminiscent of Benassi Bros.’s 2004 album Pumphonia.
Feel The Vibe (with Constantin)
The final track on the album closes strong. The whole album is only 36 minutes, with several hours of remixed content yet to be released, surely.
Zara Larsson - Midnight Sun: Girls Trip
Does this even count as a new album? Who cares! Midnight Sun was a stellar pop album released last year. I took the plunge and saw Zara at the Fox Theater in Oakland on March 3 of this year, and she exceeded my expectations. She is a professional: she has the pop-star look down pat, but she is a great dancer, had fabulous costumes, she sings great live, and she has excellent stage presence.
Evidence: this video I took of her performance of “Love Me Land,” a standout track from her 2021 album Poster Girl.
Also, further evidence, her performance of “Blue Moon,” the second track on Midnight Sun.
Larsson takes a page from Charli XCX’s book in releasing a track-by-track redo of a recent album with several famous guest singers doing verses, a la Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat from 2024, with the express intention on capitalizing on the success of Midnight Sun and the following remix track of PinkPantheress’s “Stateside,” which was Zara’s first US top-10 single.
I’m not going to lie: Zara doesn’t complete the same magic that Charli did with the same concept, but that’s mostly due to the lack of a true standout (in Charli’s case, it was Lorde’s verse on “Girl, so confusing,” which was a revelation). But do not be mistaken; this album is still a hell of a lot of fun.
Not all of the tracks are very noteworthy. But several are! Kehlani’s verse on “Blue Moon,” which was a standout track on the original album, turns a Scandi-pop slow song into a legitimate R&B hit. Shakira’s verse on “Eurosummer” is super fun and unmistakably Shakira. Tyla has the best verse on the album on “Hot & Sexy,” turning the song into a vogue-worthy club banger. It best encapsulates the concept of the album, which is Zara going on a summer road trip with her gal pals, and this sounds like two very different artists synergizing in a beautiful way. And, of course, I have to shout out Robyn’s participation on “Puss Puss.” It was already a very Swedish song (“puss puss” means “kiss kiss” in Swedish), but Robyn singing partially in Swedish really adds to the special factor. It is very much in the same vein as her recent album Sexistential, and Zara clearly gives deference to her elder Swedish pop influence, Robyn, who sings more on this track than any of the other guest artists do on theirs. Robyn also is the only guest artist appearing on both Zara and Charli’s remix albums!
Something tells me this is going to be Zara Larsson’s summer, so you might as well get used to listening to this now!