New Music Release Thread

[JamesG]

Madonna’s New Album “Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II” Sets July Release
by Ellise Shafer
April 15, 2026


Madonna is returning to the dance floor.

The pop icon has revealed that her new album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II” — a follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2005 dance record — will release on July 3 via Warner Records. It marks her first full-length album in seven years and is a reunion with DJ Stuart Price, the producer of the original “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” which features hits like “Hung Up,” “Sorry,” “Jump” and more.



In a press release, Madonna shared her and Price’s “manifesto” while making the album: “We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies. These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility.

To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people. Sound, light, and vibration/ Reshape our perceptions/ Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”

https://variety.com/2026/music/globa...se-1236722324/

[MA]

M.I.A. Drops Seventh Studio Album, ‘M.I.7’
By Emily Zemler
April 17, 2026

M.I.A. has released her seventh studio LP, M.I.7, via her own label OHMNIMUSIC. The album features seven songs written in seven places over seven days in each location, and feature American gospel group Sunday Service.

M.I.7 was written and recorded across Ethiopia, Egypt, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Australia, as well as in the U.S. at Rick Rubin’s Shangri La Studio. It is structured around the seven trumpets of in the book of Revelation, with each one narrating a biblical judgment before giving way to the next song.

According to a press release, the album concept “emerged as a vision that revealed itself before the recording process began, which demanded to be followed.” It includes the previously-released single, “Everything.”

M.I.A.’s last album, MATA, arrived in 2022. In a review, Rolling Stone wrote, “Her sixth studio album grasps for the past and, in other ways, wiggles right back into the zeitgeist.… Yes, M.I.A. is still here, but it’s unclear whether she has anything new to say.”

M.I.A. will join Kid Cudi on his the Rebel Ragers Tour in North America from April 28 through June 27. The tour kicks off in Phoenix at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre and wraps in Chula Vista, California, at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.

Last weekend, M.I.A. joined Diplo on stage at Coachella to revisit her single “Paper Planes,” which appeared on her 2007 album, Kala.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...se-1235548896/

[JamesG]

Ariana Grande's New Album Release Drops
by Raechal Shewfelt
April 28, 2026


Ariana Grande announced Tuesday that her new album, Petal, will be available July 31.

The album's official description reads, "Something that is full of life and growing through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging."



Grande has executive produced and co-written the project with partner Ilya Salmanzadeh, who worked with her on all of her albums since 2018's Sweetener and has collaborated with artists including Taylor Swift.

Her latest album, Eternal Sunshine, released in 2024.



Petal is available in CD and Vinyl format through her official website: https://shop.arianagrande.com/

https://ew.com/ariana-grande-announc...-date-11960890

[JamesG]

New Rolling Stones Album ‘Foreign Tongues’ to Release in July
by Ethan Millman
May 5, 2026


The Rolling Stones are back. The legendary rock band revealed Tuesday that they’ll release new album 'Foreign Tongues' in July, with a star-studded list of guest appearances including Paul McCartney, Steve Winwood, Robert Smith and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith.

'Foreign Tongues', due July 10 through Capitol Records, marks the Rolling Stones’ 25th album and follows 2023’s 'Hackney Diamonds'. With the announcement, the Stones also released the album’s lead single, “In The Stars,” as well as the album’s opening track “Rough and Twisted.”




The album will feature a performance from late drummer Charlie Watts, according to a press release shared Tuesday, marking one of the drummer’s final performances before he died in 2021.

Prolific producer Andrew Watt, who also produced 'Hackney Diamonds' as well as McCartney’s upcoming 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane', is producing this album as well.




Along with the Stones’ Jagger, Richards and Wood, touring band members and frequent collaborators Darryl Jones, Matt Clifford and Steve Jordan are on the album as well. The band said they recorded much of the album in under a month at Metropolis Studios in London.

“I love doing these recording sessions in London at Metropolis,” Jagger said in a statement of the new album. “It was a very intense few weeks recording Foreign Tongues. We had 14 great tracks and we went as fast as we could. I like the room there as it’s not too big so you can feel the passion in the room from everyone.”

Richards added: “The Foreign Tongues album has a continuity from Hackney Diamonds and it was great to be working in London again, and to have that London vibe around us. It was a month of concentrated punch. To me, it’s all about the enjoyment of it. I’m blessed to be able to do this and long may it last.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mu...es-1236586648/

[MA]

Gene Simmons Confirms KISS Has Recorded A New Paul Stanley-Written Song: We Are 'In The Studio Now'

In an interview with KISSbySienna, hosted by KISS superfan Sienna Hernandez, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons confirmed that new music from the legendary rock band is in the works. He revealed (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "KISS is in the studio now. So we just recorded a new song, as a matter of fact, that Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] wrote. I can't tell you more about it. And that'll be coming out at some point."

Last month, Gene told Pollstar magazine that "new" KISS songs will be featured the upcoming avatar-based KISS show, which is tentatively scheduled to launch in Las Vegas in 2028. The as-yet unnamed KISS experience will be the first major entry into the U.S. market for Pophouse Entertainment, the Sweden-based music investment firm co-founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus.

After Pollstar writer Katherine Turman asked for clarification as to which "new" songs will make an appearance, Gene said: "Exactly what that means, written by us. We have songs done."

KISS hasn't issued a full-length disc of new music since 2012's "Monster", which sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous LP, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. It was KISS's highest-charting LP ever.

Last November, Stanley was asked by a TMZ "what kind of vibe" the new KISS music would be if he and the rest of KISS decided to write and record something. Paul said: "I think we'd probably go for something that's classic, but everything has to have a beat. You gotta be able to dance to it, but it should still be rock."

As for the lyrical inspiration for hypothetical new KISS material, Stanley said: "Freedom, self-empowerment, enjoying life. That doesn't change. It doesn't matter how old you are. You're supposed to enjoy your life, you're supposed to do things your way. That's timeless. That's rock and roll."

Earlier November 2025, during a question-and-answer session at the "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" event held at the Virgin Hotels resort and casino complex in Las Vegas, Stanley said that "there may be some [KISS] music in the works. We like to tell you what we're doing, the things that are planned," he explained. "The problem is that so much of what we may bring up never comes to fruition, [but] music, yeah, that looks pretty damn… more than possible. Probable. I'm not going to give you any hints, but I only write when there's a project — and I've been writing."

Five years ago, Stanley was far more non-committal about the prospect of new KISS music, saying during a question-and-answer session on the 2021 Kiss Kruise: "Why would we need a new KISS album? Any big classic band with a history, you go, 'Oh, put out a new album.' You know, if THE [ROLLING] STONES put out a new album, you go, 'Oh, that's great. Play 'Brown Sugar'.' … Yeah, maybe not now," apparently referencing the fact that THE ROLLING STONES recently retired one of their most popular songs due to lyrics that depict the horrors of slavery. "But the same is true for us. You can have great songs on the more recent albums, but people then go, 'Great. Play 'Love Gun'Paul's comments during the November 2021 Kiss Kruise echoed those he made in March 2021 when he told USA Today in an interview that he didn't really see a "reason" for KISS to make any new music. "For the most part, when classic bands put out new albums, they're looked at and listened to and thrown away because they don't have the gravitas, they don't have the age that comes with something being a time capsule or being attached to a certain period of your life," he said. "I'm not alone in that. When you see any classic bands on TV or if there's a concert video, turn off the sound and I'll tell you every time they're playing a new song because the audience sits down.

"So it's odd to me that people always want you to do a new album, but then they go, 'That's great. Now play your hits.' So honestly, at this point, there isn't a real reward in it. There's much more of a reward in changing lanes — I'm still going forward. But in terms of recording more KISS material, I kind of go, 'Why?' I thought 'Modern Day Delilah' or 'Hell Or Hallelujah' were as good as anything I've written and as good as anything we recorded, but understandably, it's like new wine. It just hasn't aged. So I'd rather not try to roll a stone up the hill."

Paul had previously expressed uncertainty about the idea of making another KISS album in a number of other interviews a few years ago, telling the "Loudwire Podcast": "If we're going to do an album, it would be because we want to do an album, not because of sales. I think we're living in a time, obviously, now where albums don't sell what they once did, so you either do it because it's a creative outlet and because it satisfies something in you, or not. If you're doing it purely for sales, then you're probably doing it for the wrong reason."

Simmons had agreed with his bandmate, saying a while back in an interview that he was "not incentivized" to release another KISS disc unless there are some major changes in the way music is consumed. He said: "The idea that you work your ass off and then someone with freckles on their face decides they want to download your music and file share — that's not what I work for. How'd you like to be a plumber, come over somebody's house and work all day to fix their plumbing and then when it's time to get paid, they say, 'No, I just wanted to say thank you.' No."

Two years after the completion of their five-year, 250-date "End Of The Road" farewell tour with two shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden, KISS returned to the stage at their "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" event, which was held in November 2025 at the Virgin Hotels resort and casino complex in Las Vegas. After an hourlong acoustic performance on November 14, 2025, the band played an 85-minute set — their first "unmasked" electric concert on land in 30 years — the following night, where they were joined by former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick on two songs ("Lick It Up" and "Rock And Roll All Nite").

The 2026 edition of "KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" will be held November 13-15 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. This time, the event will introduce an expanded and immersive KISSperience featuring artist panels and Q&As, a look-alike contest, KISS karaoke, "Ask Doc" sessions with longtime KISS manager Doc McGhee, artist meet-and-greets and late-night DJs. The event will also include interactive exhibits, a merch store and a "Future Of KISS" panel.

"KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas" will feature two unmasked shows with the band, in addition to a powerhouse lineup of special guests and performers, including an Ace Frehley all-star tribute after the original KISS guitarist died at age 74 on October 16, 2025, weeks after suffering a fall at his home.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/gene-s...the-studio-now