The Best Songs Released in August 2026

Another month of music has come and gone, and there’s so much to spotlight! We reviewed a ton of new music from August, including Phoebe Bridgers’ highly-anticipated Lost Weekend, Hovvdy’s Big World, Jungle’s Sunshine, Squirrel Flowers’ Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, and The Linda Linda’s Gotta Get Out.

Be sure to follow our New Music Sunday playlist—updated weekly—on Spotify!

Noteworthy album & EP releases:
I Must Be Dreaming, Alabama Shakes
America’s Greatest Burnout, Anna Graves
Enigma POV, Channel Tres
Halycon Blues, Citizen
Catch ‘n’ Release, Fana Hues
THERAPY AT THE CLUB, Flo
MINI SKIRT WARRIOR, Flowerovlove
Hound, hey, nothing
Big World, Hovvdy
Ritual, Icona Pop
50 Ballerinas, jigitz
Sunshine, Jungle
NO ME ARREPIENTO DE SENTIR TANTO, Karol G
WILD, Katseye
Two Roads, Majid Jordan
Pure Devotion, Overmono
Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers
DO YOU SEE ME?, Q
Blue Island, Ravyn Lenae
Chuck Timely & The Hourglass, Role Model
Good Grief, Sara Bareilles
Dollhouse, Slow Fiction
Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, Squirrel Flower
GOTTA GET OUT, The Linda Lindas
Everything’s Falling, The Warning
Keepers, Tiny Habits
NEVER ENOUGH: VERSIONS, Turnstile
Feelings Are Forever, Yana
Hell’s Belles, Zolita

In chronological order:

“Twiggy” – Remi Wolf
Release date – July 31

You know the song is good when you feature it in the August round-up…despite it being released in July. I make an exception when I have to, and I absolutely needed to after obsessing over Remi Wolf’s first single in over two years. It’s her first follow-up to her 2024 album Big Ideas, which we ranked at #9 in our best-of-the-year list.

“Twiggy” is a song “about people I’ve been with that lack both butts and emotional availability,” Wolf said in a press release. It’s a more vulnerable side of Wolf’s songwriting, an avenue she said she got comfortable exploring during a writers’ retreat with a small circle of collaborators. The bridge is where the song truly comes together—where the scathing takedown of whoever Wolf is singing about comes to a head—”Choke me when you kiss me, lie and say you miss me / Say my name and blame it on the sleeping aids and whiskey / You don’t f*cking miss me / You just miss your mother, you forgot who raised you / Lost another passport / God, I f*cking hate you.” If you need a cathartic release, go for a drive and scream this in your car: you will feel better! – Kristin

“The Governor’s Waltz” – Phoebe Bridgers
Release date – August 14

After sitting with Phoebe Bridgers’ long-awaited follow up to Punisher for a couple weeks, I’m still a bit undecided on which songs are my favorite off of Lost Weekend. But the song that is stuck in my head on a daily basis is “The Governor’s Waltz,” a song inspired after Bridgers performed at The Governor’s Ball music festival back in 2021. “The Governor’s Waltz” tells the story of Bridgers’ relationship and its subsequent demise with Paul Mescal.

She sings about their time together with a painfully blunt level of ambivalence, giving fans a clearer view of their dynamics from Bridgers’ perspective: the line in the opening verse “You had a nosebleed, you were in my way / And you didn’t remind me of anything” feels particularly brutal. The theme of “not being present in my own life” is heavy throughout the entirety of Lost Weekend, and it manifests in “The Governor’s Waltz” with Bridgers wishing for her partner to end the relationship so she doesn’t have to do it herself. – Kristin

“She’s The Best” – Troye Sivan
Release date – August 14

Troye Sivan is officially back with “She’s the Best,” the title track from his forthcoming fourth album, due October 9. Created with his longtime collaborator Leland, The 1975’s George Daniel, and Jack Antonoff, it is such a New York City song, perfect for soundtracking a walk around the city on a gorgeous weekend afternoon. The music video makes this new era feel even larger than life.

The fact that Nicole Kidman stars in it is so fucking iconic, especially knowing how much Sivan idolizes her. Watching the two slow dance together genuinely gave me chills. Set against the glamour of New York nightlife, the gorgeous visual also features drag icon Sasha Colby and a cast celebrating women and different expressions of femininity. It feels sexy, cinematic, deeply queer, and full of genuine adoration for the feminine energy that inspired it. If this is our introduction to She’s the Best, Troye’s next era is going to be so so good.  – Jesse

“serena joy” – Olivia Rodrigo
Release date – August 24

Olivia Rodrigo released “serena joy,” her first standalone single, just days before launching the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields, her historic women-led festival benefiting organizations that support women and girls. Made with longtime collaborator Dan Nigro during the sessions for you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, the song feels even more rock-forward than much of the album, though it could easily fit on a deluxe edition.

Its title comes from “The Handmaid’s Tale” character who helps uphold an oppressive patriarchal system only to discover that she is not exempt from its cruelty. Rodrigo uses that reference to confront the hypocrisy and complicity of people who ignore injustice because they believe it will never affect them. It is angry, urgent, politically charged, and seriously so good, making it the perfect song to introduce a festival built around the collective power of women. – Jesse

“Myriad Reflector” – Cherry Bomb
Release date – August 27

Cherry Bomb, the solo project of Mandy Leed from Misterwives, has been releasing singles every few months since the start of January 2026—she’ll also be performing at All Things Go this September: part of the first all-female/non-binary lineup in the history of the festival.

“Myriad Reflector,” which is the original name for the disco ball (don’t worry, I didn’t know this either), was inspired by the cathartic release of the dance floor: a theme that we’ve been seeing pop up more and more in music by artists like Charli xcx, Madonna, and Miley Cyrus: “The multitudes of tiny, glittering, fragmented mirrors sparked the idea of how much we need the broken pieces to let the light get through. Much like our own experience, the good the bad and the painful jagged parts soften with time and you learn to embrace all sides,” Leed said in a press release for the single.

“Myriad Reflector” puts Leed’s powerful, sugary-sweet pop vocals center stage, giving her the opportunity to lean into a more electronic-infused sound with a bass drop that I hope will get the remix treatment by a big-name DJ this fall. – Kristin

“BIRDS: SLAYYYTER VERSION” – Slayyyter, Turnstile
Release date – August 28

At face value, a collaboration between Slayyyter and Turnstile may seem confusing, but once you think about it, it makes perfect sense. It started several months ago when Turnstile announced that the artist would be supporting them for a show in Kansas on “The Never Enough Tour Pt. 2,” and then again when the band announced a new version of their breakout album, NEVER ENOUGH, featuring various artists remixing Turnstile songs.

“BIRDS” is undoubtedly one of the band’s biggest songs, and getting Slayyyter, who’s having the biggest year of her career thus far, made perfect sense. Her grunge-rock aesthetic fits perfectly on the track, giving her the opportunity to lean into her vocal chops that shine on songs like “YES GODDD” and “CRANK.” If this is any indication of where Slayyyter takes her follow-up to WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, which is rumored to be released before the year is over, I am amped. – Kristin