The Lead Sheet ~ 5/26/2026

The Lead Sheet is your guide to this week’s new music - taking a look at newly released albums, who made them, and how listeners are responding.   

For over three decades, Ed O’Brien has been making music as a guitarist for legendary alt-rock band Radiohead. In 2020, he released his first solo album, Earth, and this week released his second LP Blue Morpho, to excellent reception. During the pandemic lockdowns, O’Brien took time to reflect, travel, and meditate. That internal journey inspired Blue Morpho. The album balances both light and dark elements through prog-rock, cinematic ambiance, techno and trip-hop. For music nerds, O’Brien notably tuned the album to 432 Hertz, as opposed to the concert pitch of 440, believing the frequency to have deeper spiritual connection and earning some ribbing from his Radiohead bandmates. Listeners and critics agree that Blue Morpho is a notable improvement over Earth, and is more grandiose and meticulous in its composition. The samba-inspired ten-minute finale track, “Obrigado”, is being hailed as O’Brien’s definitive solo masterpiece. O’Brien will tour in the UK and Europe for the rest of 2026, and rejoin Radiohead on stage in 2027. 

Pop-rock group Bleachers released their highly anticipated fifth album Everyone For Ten Minutes, to generally positive, but somewhat lukewarm reviews. Led by former F.U.N. member and Grammy award winning musician Jack Antonoff, Bleachers began as a solo vehicle and has morphed into a proper band over the years. Everyone For Ten Minutes, a reference to the iPhone AirDrop setting, is ultimately about how technology creates brief moments of connection, but competes for our attention and limits our interpersonal relationships. Ten Minutes is ultimately optimistic, reframing grief as a crucial step in healing, and acknowledging that while technology can mute our humanity, one can still find solace in places like romantic partners and close friends. The album’s eleven tracks span genres like stadium rock, synthpop, 60’s doo-wop and folk. Critics feel the album is masterfully crafted, but ultimately doesn’t break any new ground for Antonoff or Bleachers, and follows their classic formula a little too rigidly. Bleachers will tour North America starting June 5th, and will wrap October 8th in Nashville, Tennessee. 

British singer-songwriter Maisie Peters’ third album Fluorescence dropped on Friday, receiving immediate commendation from publications and listeners. Following a period of industry burnout, Peters is turning a new musical leaf, shifting from the high-energy pop bangers to more stripped back acoustic ballads. Fluorescence takes ideas from Americana and country, featuring fingerpicked guitars and backup vocals from both Marcus Mumford and Julia Michaels. Peters’ lyricism continues to be a strong talent, again taking a diarist approach and incorporating tongue-in-cheek humor with honest vulnerability. Critics note that Peters’ artistic voice has matured, demonstrating her chameleonic ability to excel in the mainstream with appealing pop-bops as well as higher-brow, introspective folk. While not embarking on an album tour, Peters will be playing several festivals and concerts in June, August and November, with a 2027 headline performance at the O2 arena in London next summer. 

This week American noise-rock veteran Bill Orcutt and Guatemalan pop cellist Mabe Fratti released their collaboration album Almost Waking. After seeing Fratti cite his work as a source of inspiration, Orcutt cold e-mailed the cellist to work together on a project, and over the course of nearly a year, and from separate countries, the two sent digital sound files back and forth, ultimately culminating in Almost Waking. The record is an eight-track, conversational duet between the musicians, whose avant-garde chamber folk is presented in fragmented loops with call-and-response. The result is entirely unique, exploring captivating sonic motifs and rhythms, as well as an expanding range of sounds between the electric guitar and cello. Critics note the album has a distinct, “live-sounding” quality despite Ocutt and Fratti being miles apart and interacting digitally. Fratti also provides excellent vocals on a couple tracks, stacking lush harmonies against Orcutt’s droning, syncopated guitar. Almost Waking probably won’t get much radio play, but its entrancing ideas are well suited for cinema. Orcutt and Fratti do not currently plan to take the album on tour. 

Grammy nominated slam poet Aja Monet is back this week with her sophomore spoken word album, The Color of Rain. The new LP improves on her first, taking on jazz-drummer Justin Brown, and co-producing with three time Grammy-winning artist Meshell Ndegeocello, who also conducted The Color of Rain’s live band. Monet delivers urgent stanzas while the instrumentalists respond and compliment her energy. Complex hip hop beats and ambitious neo-soul composition go hand-in-hand with The Color of Rain’s more mature atmosphere, and Monet’s poems punctuate the rich jazz textures from each band section. Thematically, The Color of Rain covers topics like self-reflection, the artist’s struggle, grief, and ancestry. Critics love the album’s bluesy melancholy, and praise Monet’s bold voice and authentic lyricism. Aja Monet is currently on tour, with dates set for North American in June and July, and Europe in August. 

Ed O’Brien - Blue Morpho

Released May 22, 2026

Transgressive Records

Bleachers - Everyone for ten minutes 

May 22, 2026

Dirty Hit

Maisie Peters - Florescence

May 22, 2026

Asylum UK, Gingerbread Man

Bill Orcutt & Mabe Fratti - Almost Waking

May 22, 2026

Unheard of Hope

Aja Monet - The Color of Rain

May 22, 2026

Drink sum wtr