Fourteen tracks worth putting on your radar this week.
There’s always something new worth finding, and this week’s New Music Radar is a pretty good reminder of that.
From fuzzy guitars and scrappy indie rock to dreamy pop, folk, psych and everything in between, these are a few artists and bands we reckon you should have on your radar.
The Amoebas – ‘Fevers’
The Amoebas are a slightly unusual one: the band formed in 1993, broke up in 1997, then reunited decades later to start making music again.
‘Fevers’ is part of that second life, continuing the group’s loud, fun approach – and apparently proving that a band can absolutely come back from a several-decade nap.
Hotel Romeo – ‘FINGERPRINTS’
Hotel Romeo keep things tight and punchy on ‘FINGERPRINTS’, a 2026 single that clocks in at just under three minutes.
Loud, and a little screamy (their words) but mostly loud. Good loud.
Agatha Pantha – ‘The Space Between’
Wellington four-piece Agatha Pantha deal in folk-rock that can swing from dark, tangled ballads to big, bouncing rock songs.
‘The Space Between’ sits nicely in that lived-in space, with the band’s knack for making everyday feelings feel a little bigger than they probably should.
Planets Caravan – ‘Vultures’
Melbourne’s Planets Caravan lean into alternative rock with a suitably scrappy live-band energy.
Their 2025 single ‘Vultures’ is a good introduction to the project, which has also been popping up on bills around Melbourne’s independent rock circuit.
KOATS – ‘Feel it in Your Teeth’
Minneapolis musician Chris Bartels has spent years making music under various names, but KOATS is his love letter to the garage-rock years of guitar tabs, basement jams and blasting The Strokes and Weezer.
‘Feel it in Your Teeth’ continues that crunchy, guitar-heavy streak, with the project built around thick guitars, compressed drums and plenty of early-2000s nostalgia.
Iophiel – ‘Wanderlust’
Los Angeles artist Iophiel describes the project pretty perfectly as “LOUD MUSIC for quiet kids”.
‘Wanderlust’ sits alongside the darker, atmospheric material in Iophiel’s catalogue – hazy, alternative goodness all over this one.
NAMA LEIGH – ‘iT’S MY TURN’
NAMA LEIGH is an independent artist whose recent work has been leaning into experimental pop and a deliberately constructed world around the music.
Her 2026 project N4WM explores identity, technology and the uneasy relationship between creativity and AI.
Harry Wake – ‘Love You More (Every Night)’
Perth/Boorloo electronic-pop artist Harry Wake makes the kind of pop that is difficult to sit still through.
His latest single ‘Love You More (Every Night)’ follows the dance-forward, synth-heavy approach he’s been developing across his releases, with plenty of movement baked into the production.
Abbey Amber – ‘an ode to the trees’
Adelaide singer-songwriter Abbey Amber works in the forest-folk, alternative and indie space, with a sound that feels appropriately at home somewhere outdoors.
‘an ode to the trees’ is a gentle entry point into her work, following appearances around Adelaide’s live music scene, including Make Music Day and Northern Sound System.
Rory Newman – ‘Somewhere, Somebody’
Melbourne singer-songwriter and guitarist Rory Newman has just released ‘Somewhere, Somebody’, a warm slice of folk, alt-country and Americana recorded at Rolling Stock in Collingwood.
It follows 2024’s Mirror Flame, with Newman’s rich baritone and fingerstyle guitar sitting alongside piano, double bass, electric guitar and drums.
John Christopher Thomas – ‘Aquarius Rising’
John Christopher Thomas’ ‘Aquarius Rising’ is a dreamy, slow-moving piece of alt-pop built around a low-fi beat.
Get good and lost in this atmospheric drop.
Dirty Beau – ‘Change Your Mind’
Manchester artist and session musician Darragh Burke makes music as Dirty Beau, drawing on indie rock with a slightly darker, fuzzier edge.
‘Change Your Mind’ is part of the 2026 Backseat Driver EP, a collection that moves through relationship breakdowns, self-acceptance and all the messy emotional territory that comes with it.
Bird – ‘The Boy And The Swan’
Janie Price, aka Bird, brings classical training and folk songwriting together on ‘The Boy And The Swan’, a cinematic track built around strings, acoustic guitar and swelling harmonies.
The song explores bullying, vulnerability and the way hurt can get passed from one person to another, and arrives as part of Bird’s 2026 album Held Here Together.
TV Therapy – ‘Wasteland’
Adelaide five-piece TV Therapy are making the sort of indie-psych-punk that sounds like it was designed to leave the room slightly messier than they found it.
Their 2026 single ‘Wasteland’ brings the big riffs, catchy choruses and high-energy approach they’ve been building since forming in Seacliff, with the band sitting somewhere between punk, indie and psychedelic rock.
Chuck New Indie Music: Happy’s Mixtape a follow. Updated every week with emerging indie, rock and alt artists picked by Happy Mag.
