Monthly Report: October 2026 Albums
1. Joyce Wrice - Machiko
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II and the artists he produced make up a pretty significant share of my favorite R&B of the 2020s, and October brought a bounty of albums produced in part by D'Mile from Joyce Wrice, Lucky Daye, and Victoria Monet. I know albums that come out at the same time weren't necessarily made at the same time, but it makes you wonder if this guy ever sleeps. "On Time" and "Dangerous" are some of my early favorites but really just about every track sounds great.
2. Remi Wolf - Mud
The last time Remi Wolf released an album in 2024 I thought it was pretty good but didn't really stand out from all the other quirky major label alt pop that's constantly coming out. Mud really grabbed me from the first listen, though, just really huge hooks and interestingly textured production and she really knows how to stack harmonies and get a lot of expressive range out of her voice, "Champagne" and "Covered In Mud" are some of my favorites so far.
3. Victoria Monet - Frequency of Love
I don't necessarily expect an artist's output to follow their biography too closely, but I remember Victoria Monet's longtime relationship ended after she released Jaguar II. So I wasn't necessarily expecting the follow-up album to be so sensual and romantic, but I'm not complaining, I haven't heard an R&B album that sets the mood so thoroughly in a while. One of my favorite moments is how "Almost" repurposes Brandy's "Almost Doesn't Count" for a lyric about not quite getting all the way to an orgasm.
4. Meshell Ndegeocello - Synonym
I feel like it's kind of a generational hangup that I'm not very interested in cover songs or albums made up entirely of covers, but I've tried to get over that as I've delved more into '60s and '70s records. Duet albums in particularly always just seem like an easy commercial move, but Synonym is a wonderful record that does so many creative and unpredictable things with the concept, like a one drop reggae arrangement of Human League's "Don't You Want Me" featuring Cat Power, or a psychedelic soul version of Ja Rule and Ashanti's "Always On Time" with Khruangbin's Laura Lee. She even sings my favorite George Jones and Tammy Wynette duet with Brandi Carlile, it's just a feast of interesting choices from and for real music lovers. I've really taken Meshell Ndegeocello for granted and go through her whole catalog at some point.
5. Brothers Osborne - Watertown
I respected the way Brothers Osborne tried some different things on their Mike Elizondo-produced 2023 self-titled album, but I will admit that I was happy to see that they worked with Jay Joyce again and Watertown is kinda back to their signature sound. The album is kind of a love letter to the beautiful part of the Cheseapeake Bay where John and T.J. grew up, and "Ain't Killed Me Yet" has one of my favorite John Osborne guitar solos ever.
6. Lucky Daye - Aloud!
I don't think this is Lucky Daye's best album to date, but all four have been great, I think he's been on as good a run as just about anybody in R&B over the last decade. 2024's Algorithm really deserved more love than it got, and even after switching from RCA to Warners it doesn't feel like Aloud! is doing any better commercially so far, but there's potential there, "Fly U Out" with Leon Thomas or "Knockin" with Muni Long and The Paradox could definitely be hits.
7. Todd Snider - My Second Rodeo
Given that they were friends and labelmates, it was pretty cool that posthumous John Prine and Todd Snider albums came out on the same day in October. Prine's Found Dogs is mostly alternate versions of songs that sounded better elsewhere, nice but inessential, but My Second Rodeo is a collection of songs Snider was working on shortly before he died, with some overdubs by members of his band. I like Snider's less polished off-the-cuff side, so I enjoy the vibe of this record even if the vocals are really subdued and demo-quality and it would likely have been better if he'd lived to finish it himself.
8. Quavo - Qromelife
Pharrell doesn't have anything to prove at this point, but I like that he still will get on these prolific tears every few years, and he produced two albums that came out in October. I was cautiously optimistic about the John Legend album he did, but I don't think it really worked, sounded too much like someone else singing Pharrell's scratch vocals. But I always thought Migos and Pharrell made a good combination on "Stir Fry" and I like this a lot more than Quavo's other solo projects, there are a couple clunky beats but it's a good bright palette for Quavo's melodic style.
9. K. Michelle - Jesus & Whiskey
K. Michelle was ahead of the curve, releasing her first country songs in 2016 and talking about making an entire country album long before that 2023 crossover moment when Beyonce and Past Malone and seemingly everyone else was suddenly making country. Now it's here and it's quite literally too little too late, a slim 29-minute album released years after the bandwagon came and went. I'm glad she finally put it out, though, I've always liked the Memphis twang in K. Michelle's voice and she goes all out, yodeling and piling on the pedal steel. "Handle On It" is the one that I think could be a country radio hit if an established Nashville artist recorded it, or if people were more open minded to giving K. Michelle some country airplay.
10. Zach Bryan - Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs EP
Everything Zach Bryan does feels so overwhelmingly supersized -- he released a 78-minute album this year that he's already followed up with a 29-minute EP (longer than the K. Michelle album!), which debuted at #2 on Billboard and will be supported with an upcoming stadium tour. But I like these songs, apparently some of the first he wrote after he quit drinking, particularly the more rock band-oriented stuff like "Dog Days" and "Backwards." I don't think "Lies" with Lana Del Rey is very good, though, like I think those two artists could've come up with something better together that maybe fused their respective sounds better.
The Worst Album of the Month: Kid Rock - Halfway 2 Jesus
An easy target, but it really does piss me off that Kid Rock covered one of my favorite country songs of the past decade, Cody Johnson's "'Til You Can't," at that MAGA Super Bowl halftime show thing, with a stupid new verse about the Bible, and he reprises that on this album. It's also depressing that Jimmie Allen, who I used to be a fan of, tries to kickstart his comeback on this album, three years after his career imploded amidst some disturbing allegations. Most of all, though, it really shows how soulless this pivot to wholesome Christian music is when Kid Rock used AI to generate the 'gospel choir' backing vocals.
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