Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

The best albums of the year (so far): Music to stop the doomscrolling

Instead of sinking into despair, we turned to these albums for joy, empowerment, healing and hope

Published June 5, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)

You, dear Salon reader, are discerning and responsible, ready to face the reality of the world we’re living in, for better or for worse. Unfortunately, that may result in feelings of anger, frustration, anxiety or hopelessness. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of caring deeply.

This is precisely why we turn to art, which probes both truth and beauty: the enemies of doomscrolling. Music is perhaps the purest of these art forms, tapping into our lizard brains to regulate our emotions that are seeking to make sense of this precious yet maddening existence.

That’s why your Salon writers and editors have gathered the best albums of the year (so far), all the better to soothe you with. A great song offers pleasure, but a great album – no skips – is a doorway. On the other side lies transformation. Sound possesses power, whether you’ll be weary from dancing or blissed out from the frequencies massaging your nerves.

So crank up the Victrola, press play on Spotify and nestle into your headphones. These albums will keep you energized to thrive another day.

Albums are listed alphabetically by title.

I did not have “finally become a fan of the biggest K-pop group in the world” on my 2026 bingo card, but here we are. 

From its title “Arirang” (referencing a centuries-old Korean folk tune / resistance anthem) to its head-scratching track “No. 29” (featuring one, long reverberating toll of a 1,300-year-old Buddhist bell) BTS’ comeback album plants its feet firmly in Korean heritage. But it’s an identity as defined by seven modern musicians who had already enjoyed global success, becoming the No. 1 artists in the world early in the pandemic, before going their separate ways to pursue solo work and later enter mandatory military service.

RM commands, “I need the whole stadium to jump,” in the album’s banger opening track “Body to Body” that also weaves in a sample of the aforementioned folk song with traditional drum elements at the bridge, coalescing into a declaration of identity that is loud, clear and fiendishly danceable. Four more attitude-driven hip-hop tracks follow: the defiant “Hooligan,” the Hallyu callout “Aliens,” the cheeky and industrial “FYA” and then “2.0,” a reclamation of their supremacy in a new era . . . accompanied by a music video featuring an homage to Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” hallway scene. 

While personal narrative is key to the album, “No. 29” acts as an aural demarcation. Nothing is more sublime than transitioning from Jimin’s penetrating vocals of “You know how we do!” on “2.0” directly to the deep reverberations of the ancient bell that soothe and reset. This shifts from the audaciousness of the first half of the album to introspection – starting with the dreamy lead single “Swim” and Tame Impala-produced “Merry Go Round” to the grungy lilt of “Like Animals” and repudiation of their idol status in “they don’t know ’bout us.” The vocoder styling flourish of closing track “Into the Sun” gives one final mood shift as the almost achingly sweet vocals and lyrics transport listeners to a realm of sentiment and gratitude.

During my latest trip to Asia, I played this on my headphones on repeat while I rode the subway . . . and haven’t stopped listening since. Sonically dynamic and unapologetically trenchant, “Arirang” took me on a journey by asserting BTS’ collective powers as mature artists and master storytellers, and I couldn’t help but be inspired.  –Hanh Nguyen

“Blame the Clown,” Twisted Teens

If you’ve wondered what would happen when a garage-rocker cowboy is joined by a punk who likes the Western wail of steel guitars, look no further than “Blame the Clown.” This sophomore effort from New Orleans duo Twisted Teens is as much a punk album as it is an Americana folk album, as loud as it is thoughtful, as crunchy as it is tender.  

Caspian “C-Bird” Hollywell’s wide-eyed, frenetic energy and howling vocals come up against the sweet,........

© Salon