Roundup
Music
At the risk of jumping the gun, I low-key think 2026 is shaping up to be a great year in music. After a slow start, we’ve suddenly already had good to brilliant albums from Baby Nova, Ratboy, Jill Scott, Charli xcx, Mumford and Sons, and Claire Rozencranz. Then last week saw the triumphant return of ’00s indie blog darlings Voxtrot with their album Dreamers in Exile, and strong outings from Nothing (a short story of decay)and Molly Millington (Frank Morgan). And now just yesterday saw the release of Harry Styles’ long-awaited Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, which upon my first two listens is easily my favourite thing he’s done; and a really cool, vintage-yet-modern debut full album from Solya, Queen of Texas; plus many interesting artists old and new have contributed to a new album to support the charity War-Child, Help(2).
Albums
- Dreamers in Exile (Voxtrot)
- Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally (Harry Styles)
- Queen of Texas (Solya)
- Frank Morgan (Molly Millington)
- Help(2) (Various)
Songs
- “Taste Back” (Harry Styles)
- “Pop” (Harry Styles)
- “Done For” (Max McNown)
- “The Times” (Voxtrot)
- “Is This Love??” (Solya)
- “Aim to Kill” (Solya)
Reading
I continue to be a little unimpressed with this year’s new books, so I’ve been going more and more to the back list (including the way back list) lately. It’s also had its hits and misses, but overall is working for me. Here are some recent highlights:
- The Secret of Snow (Tina Harnesk, 2022 transl. 2026)
- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Elizabeth Taylor, 1971)
- Memento Mori (Muriel Spark, 1959)
- Woodworm (Layla Martínez, 2021, transl. 2024)
- The Dharma Bums (Jack Kerouac, 1958)
- Saint Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey Into God (William J. Short, 2017)
- The Soul of a Woman (Isabel Allende, 2021)
- How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder (Nina McConigley, 2026)
Focus on: Trusting the Reader… or not
I could just be transitioning into being old and disconnected from what’s happening in pop culture, but there’s a literary trend I’ve noticed the past few years that’s got me feeling concerned about the direction the publishing industry is going. And I’ve noticed it particularly among young authors; the question is whether it’s indicative of their inexperience or of broader cultural trends. The issue takes a few forms, but it boils down to a lack of trust in the reader. The most common manifestation is in the tendency to lecture. I’ll find myself in the middle of a profound and creative novel about the ills of imperialism and the author will stop and feel the need to tell me that imperialism is bad. Yes. I know. I’ve been with you on this journey! Why are you lecturing me?! It’s a form of telling, not showing, or at least not trusting the showing to do the job, when it’s always more effective and impactful than telling. This is on my mind again right now because I recently finished Nina McConigley’s How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder. There was so much going for it, and so many fun details I’d have loved for her to explore more (such as being (actual) Indian in (American) “Indian Country”, or a character who grew up under British colonial rule but remained a devoted Anglophile). But instead there were just lists of racist microaggressions and at one point her taunting the reader about not getting to the murdery part of the book yet. And it was so frustrating because there was a brilliant book in there!
Combined with the ‘same-same’iness of so much of what’s being published right now, this is a big part of why I find myself gravitating towards the backlist right now. I’m hoping this group of writers will grow up and learn to trust their readers more, or that editors will get their act together and insist that they do. But right now, I’m feeling grumpy about it.
Matthew Root 