Monthly Album Recommendation: April 2026
Welcome to this new series I'm going to try and start doing! xxavv's monthly album recommendations! I listen to a bit of everything from every time period, so these recommendations are going to be scattered. Sometimes they'll be new records, sometimes they'll be old ones.
And to kick it off, this was a hard month to pick the best album to recommend because literally everyone decided they were going to release a new album in March.
So my runner-up for this month was actually Charlie Puth's new album, Whatever's Clever!
I think it's a really different record from him and it really suits him more than what he's been trying to do the last couple of years. It's very jazzy, smooth, laid-back, and mid-tempo for the majority of the record. I guess it also helps that he's going into fatherhood, you realize that he's not as young as you may think he is.
And when he tries to be hip, it just doesn't come across very well. Which is literally what the last song on the album, "I Used To Be Cringe," is about. So I'm glad that this album is very mature and calmer. I can't wait to see what he does with it on tour!
But I should note it's still my second favorite of his albums behind Voicenotes.
Now back to the main topic! The best album I've listened to this month and the one that I just have to recommend to you has to 100% be THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. by RAYE.
Put on some headphones, or get in your car, or turn on your stereo, turn up the volume and please spare the 1 hour and 13 minutes required to listen to this album, because you will not regret a second of it.
It is such a beautiful album in so many ways. Like for one, just looking at the song titles, the featured collaborations?? Hello? She has Hans Zimmer and Al Green?? Not to forget her sisters and grandparents who all also make appearances.
But then also you have the incredible storytelling and expansive cinematic experience that she provides throughout the album. She effortlessly blends so many various genres and production styles into the songs. Like, who would have thought that someone could mix big band, almost '40s style music into hip-hop and it sounds good?
Like I'm not talking samples or interpolations, I'm talking about actual blending.
And then also it's the fact that she's an independent artist, working with tens to hundreds of people getting all the live instrumentation, the additional songwriters, the producers, the videos, the tour, all of it on a not-unbelievable budget and without killing her vision!
And to think that this is the talent that Polydor wanted to keep shelved. I bet they're regretting that decision now.
Really, kudos to you Rachel. This is an incredible and insanely relistenable album that if it doesn't win some Grammys, then like Academy, what are we doing?
Listen to THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. Then come back and tell me your favorite track. I'll be reading comments/DMs.
The year still goes on, and so do the album recommendations. I'll see you all in May!