It seems like the month of July passed us by in the blink of an eye, but we can’t be too bothered because it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for with the release of Ariana Grande‘s eagerly anticipated new album, petal.
But while Ari’s new music will definitely be the highlight of our weekend (and many, many weekends after), she wasn’t the only artist who left us stunned this week thanks to new albums from Shaboozey, Cautious Clay and DICE, and countless exciting new singles. If you’re ready to get listening right alongside us, keep scrolling to discover the 10 biggest things that happened in music the week of July 31, 2026.
(‘hate that i made you love me’ via Babydoll Music)
1. DICE Chase Freedom and Find a New Perspective in I Thought The Altitude Would Be Worth The View
Australian indie-rock band piece DICE just released their new album, I Thought The Altitude Would Make It Worth The View, and it’s an exciting and introspective vibe shift for the band. Its 10 tracks, including “COOLER,” “Loose Change” and “Call Me For A Good Time,” were recorded live at Hollywood’s East West Studios, giving off the perfect mix of 2010s indie-rock nostalgia and stadium-sized hooks. It’s their most personal project yet, moving away from the grit of their debut Midnight Zoo toward something more expansive and euphoric, and we think these tracks will be quite special when the band takes them on the road with their North American tour this fall.
”I Thought The Altitude Would Make It Worth The View is all about finding liberation, releasing yourself from your past and running towards who you want to be as fast as you can,” the band shared in a press release. “It’s about chasing something bigger than yourself, only to realize that perspective comes with its own weight. These tracks live somewhere between hope, collapse and excitement of the unknown—they’re loud, vulnerable and unapologetically DICE.”
2. RIley Max Navigates Growing Apart in ‘Pockets’
Folk-pop fans take note, because 21-year-old singer-songwriter Riley Max stuns with her latest single, “Pockets.” With the new track, the Colorado-born, Harvard-bound singer-songwriter blends indie folk warmth with pop melodies that stick, exploring gratitude, growing apart from someone who used to mean everything and navigating anxiety, all wrapped in gentle, reflective songwriting. With this stirring release, it feels like Riley is finally showing us exactly who she is as an artist.
“In a lot of ways, ‘Pockets’ really does feel like the culmination of the three years since I last had a big release,” Riley shared in a press release. “Making ROYGBIV was super fun, and I was free to experiment however I wanted, but I wasn’t quite sure what I liked and didn’t like yet, so I relied a lot on input from those around me when creating the musical accompaniment to go with my lyrics. ‘Pockets,’ on the other hand, is quintessentially me. I started writing ‘Pockets’ after my freshman year of college, having grown apart from somebody that I will always really appreciate having had in my life. And then I sat on it for a while, unsure of where to go with it. But I came back to it after going through a bit of a rebuilding period, and I wrote the second verse. And then I sat on it for another year, until I finally finished the song after going through a pretty rough bout of anxiety between my sophomore and junior year. Ultimately, I realized that there are a lot of things I can point to at any given stage in my life that I’m really grateful for, and although I hadn’t quite realized it yet, that was the premise that I had been building on for the last three years as I wrote this song. After that, the music just fell into place.”
3. Cautious Clay Concludes His Hours Trilogy With The Hours: High Noon
Genre-bending R&B artist Cautious Clay just wrapped his Hours trilogy with The Hours: High Noon, and it feels like his most experimental and personal project to date. The eclectic eight-track album closes out the arc with a warm, easy-breezy sound that blends R&B, jazz, indie and soul with new reggae and downtempo touches. Each track on High Noon is tied to an hour of the day, tracing the artist through uncertainty, betrayal, self-doubt and new crushes as the day moves toward evening. With High Noon, he brings his three-part story full circle while teasing that there’s more still to come—and he also has a big month ahead of him, joining Jon Batiste on Aug. 15 for a benefit concert
“The Hours: High Noon is a conclusion to the Hours album saga,” Cautious explained in a press release. “Midday is a nebulous time, so making songs for that felt challenging, and it took me a bit more time to address sonically. These songs are generally more laid-back and downtempo, with some reggae influences.”
4. Angus and Julia Stone Seek Connection and Search for Their Place in ‘Celestial Bodies’
Angus and Julia Stone, the Australian sibling duo behind viral song “Big Jet Plane,” just dropped their new single “Celestial Bodies.” The track is rich, dreamy and cosmic, capturing that feeling of being untethered while still searching for connection. It’s yet another preview of their upcoming album Karaoke Bar, out Sep. 4. Written and recorded during the duo’s travels, and new project leans into a sense of adventure, both geographically and emotionally, exploring the space between solitude and connection.
“Lyrically, it’s an amalgamation and a bit of a melting pot for everything in life that we’re all going through as a collective, and also quite obscure thoughts,” shared Angus in a video on Instagram. “And ‘Celestial Bodies,’ the words itself is kind of, that’s what we all are, in essence. You know, we’re stardust. We’re all, you know, atoms bumping around, trying to figure out out who we belong with and the meaning of it all.”
5. Jenevieve ‘Fleur-De-Lis’ With Lous and the Yakuza
We’re captivated by Jenevieve‘s new official visua for “Fleur-De-Lis,” her collab with Congolese-Belgian artist Lous and The Yakuza, shot in Brussels. It’s one of the standout tracks from her acclaimed deluxe album CRYSALIS (CODA), and joins a growing rollout of visuals from the project, following videos for “Hvnly” with TWICE’s JIHYO, “Waiting Room” with Jordan Ward and “Flight Risqué” with Freddie Gibbs and SALIMATA. The deluxe edition added six new tracks to her sophomore album earlier this year, expanding the CRYSALIS world with an impressively stacked list of collaborators, and we’ve loved watching that narrative expand with its boldly cinematic visualizers.
Also read about: 40 Passionate Jenevieve Lyrics to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
6. flowerovlove Teases Debut Album With New Track ‘KISS KISS KISS’
Get excited, because flowerovlove just announced that her debut album MINI SKIRT WARRIOR, is releasing Aug. 28. She just dropped the sparkly new single “KISS KISS KISS” along with the big news. The album title is all about the artist’s alter ego, whose fashion doubles as armor while she navigates the messy, magical shift from girlhood to womanhood, and “KISS KISS KISS” leans fully into the idea of a daydreamy romance. flowerovlove also directed the playful music video herself, featuring a single-take kissing scene with 24kGoldn.
“A lot of this album is based on first times,” flowerovlove shared in a press release. “First times falling in love, first times getting to know yourself, first times falling out of love, first times realizing girlhood is so important.”
Also read about: 40 Playful flowerovlove Lyrics to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
7. Shaboozey The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales
Shaboozey‘s new concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, was seven years in the making, and with its release, it’s evident that it’s his most cinematic and ambitious project yet. It’s a genre-blending tale of revenge and doomed love that pushes his signature country-hip-hop sound further than ever before, with help from collaborators including artist Gunna, Leon Bridges, Kehlani and Orville Peck, as well as stars such as Jamie Foxx, Sam Elliott and Teyana Taylor. They all help to bring further Western flair to his one-of-a-kind storytelling, weaving a 46-minute tale of revenge, infatuation and deciding which one is more important at the end of the day.
“I’ve always had these crazy, ambitious ideas,” Shaboozey said in a press release. “Cherie Lee is just me wanting to be a storyteller. I love Westerns, and they’re an awesome form of storytelling—American folk tales and folklore, gunfighter ballads, trail songs. Country music isn’t always as clean as people think. I wanted to create a world of villains, romance, violence and vulnerability—the throughlines of country and hip-hop.”
Also read about: Shaboozey’s Most Unforgettable Lyrics as Instagram Captions
8. Cruz Beckham Gives in to the Energy of Frustration in ‘Seeing Red’
Cruz Beckham just gave us another peek at his upcoming debut EP, Wear & Tear (out Aug. 21), which is quickly becoming one of our most anticipated releases of the summer. The new single, recorded with his band, The Breaker, is called “Seeing Red,” with fuzzy, crunchy riffs and big energy, perfectly tying with the EP’s themes of showing up as your truest self and bringing everything on the stage. He just wrapped a sold-out debut U.K. headline tour and is about to embark on his first-ever U.S. tour and festival run, including stops at Lollapalooza and Outside Lands.
“‘Seeing Red’ is a comedic take on a totally unserious moment of frustration, in this case in sports,” Cruz revealed in a press release. “Everyone’s competitive nature likes to take over now and then, but it’s all fun and games. ‘Seeing Red’ is a nod to that exact turning point.”
9. TEN Celebrates 10 Years in the Industry With ‘If You Don’t Mean It’
It’s a momentous occasion for viral Thai artist TEN, who just celebrated 10 years in the industry with a sold-out three-night residency called TEN:CORE0110. It was as much a look back as it was a look forward, stunning audiences with surprise guests and the live debut of his new single, “If You Don’t Mean It.” It’s a breezy, moody love song about falling hard for someone but being unsure about how they feel about you in return, making it a catchy, relatable listen that has us hooked.
Also read about: Ariana Grande’s Most Meaningful Lyrics to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
10. Ariana Grande Embraces Rage With New Album, petal
And finally, the release we’ve all been waiting for, Ariana Grande‘s eighth studio album, petal. Lead single “hate that i made you love me” already made history, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and making Ari the first artist ever to land the lead single from all eight of her studio albums in the top 10. We think the album has only just begun breaking records, with 12 tracks that are some of her most intimate and dreamy yet, reflecting new aspects of the artist as she’s done being sad and ready to move on to rage. She’s pushing her boundaries in entirely new directions, and the fact that the album has arrived in the middle of her The Eternal Sunshine Tour gives fans a lot to look forward to with upcoming shows.
Missed our favorite tracks last week? Click HERE to check out our top 10 favorite releases for the week of July 24, 2026.
