TOPNOTE’s Monthly Picks: June 2026. Image credit: TOPNOTE

Whether you’re looking for a track to soundtrack your heatwave hysteria, or a body of work to immerse yourself in at the same time as the nearest body of water, TOPNOTE’s got you covered.

Our Monthly Picks for June are all rather on the heartfelt side. We’re going round the houses of genres, but be it Olivia Rodrigo’s beautifully bleak ballads or Big Special’s post-punk poetry, much of this month’s music sounds like it’s poured straight out the heart.

Find our eight best new releases of the month below.

Role Model - High Hopes 3000

North America’s resident underdog is back with‘High Hopes 3000’, the first release from August’s upcoming album, ‘Chuck Timely & The Hourglass’. The single shuffles along like an artist trying to cheer themselves up, while Role Model toys with his own perceptions and those held by others about him: ‘I know I’m a loser when the wheels fall off’ / …they say I’m unappealing when I shoot my shot’. This song isn’t a self-pitying wallow, however, and Tucker Pillsbury’s self-doubt is a refreshing mix of genuine exploration and playful indifference.

Big Special - O’JOY!

‘O’JOY!’ isn’t an entirely comfortable listen – nor is it intended to be. Driven by the often venomous sting of vocalistJoe Hicklin’s social commentaries, drummer Callum Moloneydelivers on the intensity of many of the song’s subjects alongside him. The 10-track EP from Big Special is described by the duo as ‘a smirking eye roll to dread and discomfort’, collating previously released singles and revisited ideas that prioritise honest 'emotional reactions, culminating in the unleashed closing track, ‘HOTEL’.

Bradley Simpson - Suzy

Teasing the track and its earworm chorus on social media and across recent live shows, Bradley Simpson returns to his solo venture with a summery new single. ‘Suzy’ might not nestle into your head straight off the first listen, but once it’s there, you’ll struggle to get it out. It’s bright, catchy, and wonderfully English; painting the colourful image of the song’s eponymous character who gets chucked out of pubs and stays determined to keep up her facade, across some of Simpson’s most creative lyricism to date.

Blossoms - Meet Me In Love

Blossoms are hitting their groove once again with ‘Meet Me In Love’, a suave two-step with a nostalgic music video that features a sparkly Maya Jama and an even more sparkly glitterball. Boasting background vocals from Declan McKenna, the single is a natural development from the disco elements found scattered across 2024 record ‘Gary’, and acts as further proof that Blossoms have carved out their version of a synth-pop sound they intend to dig deeper into on next album, ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’.

Olivia Rodrigo – you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love

Olivia Rodrigo will probably make you cry – that is, after you’ve listened to ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’. Taking us from the opening to the end credits of a relationship, her diaristic style of songwriting sees her album move from wistful daydreaming to heavy, heavy sadness, and we’re right up front in the passenger seat for the duration. With the inclusion of a couple of straight-up bangers, this record sees Rodrigo laying it bare, for our listening pleasure (or despair…!).

The Snuts – Defibrillator

Inspired by the concept of a living wake; an intentional celebration of life while it’s still being lived, The Snuts return with ‘Defibrillator’. The xylophone-tinged lead single from recently announced upcoming album ‘Joy In Short Moments’ carries an arms-wide-open anthemic indie optimism in the vein of Circa Waves’ ‘T-Shirt Weather’. Songwriter Jack Cochrane spoke of wanting to write a song about the desire to ‘take life less seriously and dilute ego as often as possible’, and the track sounds just like an evening barbeque on a summer camping trip.

Palace – Dream On

‘Dream On’ is the newest single from PALACE, just preceding an album announcement from the British trio, with ‘Ox’ releasing on 18th September. The track beats along a thundering, restless drum as the band continue to explore their optimistic side, rooted once again in metaphors surrounding nature: ‘You could be something, something special / like a vanishing skyline / there’s nothing else better’. The song itself mirrors the grandeur of a bolt of red sunset, both expansive and hopeful, before closing in with the softness of the last hue of light.

Nectar Woode – Naturally (EP)

Nectar Woode’s honey tones can be enjoyed as a collective with 9-track EP ‘Naturally’, a blend of tension and harmony collating recent releases and new offerings, symbolised most beautifully in aching new single, ‘Roses In The Dark’. Speaking on the EP, Woode said she ‘turned to [her] surroundings’ in the capital city, made overt in ‘Message To London’, a boppy, bouncy finale that manages to succeed in the hefty task of following up a feature with Elton John in the preceding ‘Wine Into Water’ – further proof that Nectar Woode’s rise is all-but-assured.

TOPNOTE’s Monthly Picks: June