EXCLUSIVE SHINDIG! QOBUZ PLAYLIST #30: THE NEW POP EXPLOSION

We’re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store Qobuz. This month, the 30th of our monthly bespoke playlists, which take in all manner of genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, then and now, features the movers and shakers that are making 2026 a very special musical year

Play here or use the scrollable frame with track list below. You can sign up for a free trial today. Plans start from £10.83 per month. For more on Qobuz read our interview with MD Dan Mackta here

Whilst we won’t live through another “beat boom”, “teen garage” or “punk” era, the last couple of years has seen a magnificent rush of bands, predominantly under the age of 30, many under 25, deploying guitars, bass, drums, and back-up vocals like there’s no tomorrow. The ’60s loving Lemon Twigs have had a lot to do with this, as has Canadian cottage-industry Daniel Romano. Both of these acts play constantly, and all who see them fall under their spell. And when you’re a kid, what’s better than being blown away by a proper rock ’n’ roll unit firing on all cylinders?

The Lemon Twigs have in Bowie-ish fashion been through a number of phases but coalesced their sound and approach on 2023’s Everything Harmony, and the following year’s A Dream Is All We Know. Cementing an exciting live sound that combines ’60s beat, psych and harmony with ’70s powerpop, they’ve been a massive force on stage. And other bands have taken note.

The Twigs turn up across the playlist – from their latest single, Brian D’Addario solo, and the boys playing along with their dad – not to mention the inclusion of drummer Reza’s superb Uni Boys and the connected Tchotchke. Another name that has knocked out crowded venues across the States, Europe and the UK are Kail Slater’s Sharp Pins. Slater is only 21, but totally versed in the history of mod, psych and powerpop. He is also an inveterate songwriter with an innate grasp of melody and songwriting. He’s a talented producer too, hear Tom Henry’s ‘Close Your Eyes’ and Stranger Things’ star Finn Wolfhard’s ‘Choose The Latter’ for proof of the qualities he brings to others.

If we open with a very ’60s-orientated beat and jangle sound, this isn’t about revival. Kai Slater told me on our Soho Radio Broadcast how a lot of young people are looking for an alternative from the high-tech AI-driven fakeness of the modern world. “It’s hard to ignore music that sounds like a beam of light. It’s so positive and optimistic and offers different possibilities,” he told me prophetically. “Life can be beautiful and harmonious. That attracts people.” And yes, whilst the influences are apparent, this isn’t a “scene” akin to the “mod revival” or the later “New Wave Of New Wave”, it is a genuine “new pop explosion” made by, on the whole, young people who were never part of the subcultures of previous generations. And it’s exactly this that is the driving force here, nobody is aiming to be part of a scene or play the same type of music. Across the beat, folk-rock, psych, glam and beyond styles is a “classic” ensemble approach to songs that rarely stray much beyond the three-minute mark. This is music that means something, honed and crafted without anything synthetic.

There is an undeniable revolution in pop on show in 2026. These bands have absolutely nothing to do with the marketed, corporate pap that major labels are still trying to sell to the youth. This is the real deal.