Mixmag ANZ's favourite EPs & albums of 2026 thus far

Welcome to Mixmag Australia/NZ’s guide to the best EPs and albums for 2026 (thus far).

In this update, we’re bringing you recommendations on the best electronic music released around Australia and New Zealand. Expect everything from the darkest depths of techno, to the highest highs of house, and everything in between as we take stock of the most exciting, addictive and experimental sounds happening around us.

Read on for reviews and links to stream and buy the music. Visit our buymusic.club list for all of these. Purchasing music through stores like Bandcamp does so much for the artists you love, and we encourage you to support them if you have the means.

We hope you enjoy.

Reptant’s first release in three years does everything but disappoint. The Naarm/Melbourne producer’s steady climb to the peak of electro-notoriety has been one of Australia’s most clear success stories, and ‘Ballet Robotique’ proves the point he’s been regularly bringing home in his acclaimed live performances.

Released via Rey Colino’s Kalahari Oyster Cult, Reptant’s third on the label, the EP is a cool, calm and collected showcase of the best of electro’s grit, served slick on a scaly platter.

Longtime Moonshoe collaborator Freda’s long-awaited debut album arrives on one of Gadigal Land/Sydney’s most trusted labels. Coinciding with its 10th birthday celebrations, ‘Weltsinn’ both looks back to Freda’s roots, ever intertwined with Cousin’s imprint, and offers a fresh take on a sound that has become inseparable from much of Australia’s broader DIY and downtempo spaces.

INQ.(usitiveminds) are a Filipino duo living in Western Sydney, fusing soul, jazz and hip hop, regularly working with one of their city’s finest platforms of all three, Soulstravision.

‘Art Of Light’ is their latest mixtape, produced in collaboration with Soulstravision head Setwun, and featuring no shortage of warm, uplifting and infectiously positive moments. While the definition of ‘Aussie’ hip hop is one that still seems to linger, INQ. does their work to push against it not by force, but with personality.

Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland musician Hasji works with traditional Māori instruments and a variety of local voices on ‘Pahū’, a series of tracks connected not by sound, but by a reworking of the traditional.

‘Pahū’, named after Māori slit goings used to bring people together in times of wariness and to signal the resumption of peace, creates an environment in which the listener can rethink their ideas of these traditional instruments. Whether upbeat, foreboding or mourning, Hasji “motivates action, leading us to strive to protect all of our whānau - from trees and waterways to birds and humankind - from further preventable loss.”

Gi’s 2024 album ‘Thought Makes Music’ released by Naarm/Melbourne label Absorb was one of the year’s standouts. The producer, performer and lyricist Gigi De Lacy expressed her understanding of sound design and percussion on a release that has been applauded everywhere from Mixmag ANZ’s own hyper-local offering to Worldwide FM’s Gilles Peterson.

Gi’s follow-up, ‘double take recognition violence’, released on Gi’s own label World Of Knots, sees that expression refined from a more openly experimental position. Having been compiled from work she’s created over the course of a number of years, the record presents itself “not as a definitive album statement but rather as an honest documentation of an artist attempting to unlearn old habits while allowing instinct to take the lead.”

In an era where documenting our own lives may, to some, appear as curation, it’s never been more difficult to separate perception from intention. But for some, creating art is not a choice they consciously make.

For Monty Callaghan, a Gadigal Land/Sydney-based musician and artist also known as Climes, that analogy is not only poetic, but a driving force behind his debut album, ‘Water & Music’.

Released in tandem is a full-length album visualiser, shot, directed and edited by Naarm/Melbourne-based filmmaker Jordan James Kaye, much like the album, Jordan’s visualiser oozes with nostalgia for a time many of us never lived through, achieved through modern means.

READ: More 'place' than 'piece' on Climes' 'Water & Music'

Esensual is the project of Naarm/Melbourne-based DJ, Séarlait, designed to be an extension of her taste focused on vinyl releases.

The first release under its belt is by Djilang/Geelong producer Roka, featuring four tracks in the form of 'Dust Code', an EP that the artist has worked with Séarlait on over the last year in preparation.

One of Naarm/Melbourne’s most quietly achieving producers, WTP releases a 6-track LP titled ‘Duality’. Out through Paper-Cuts, the album is a welcoming dive into downtempo dance floor possibilities.

Across IDM, dub, deep house and even a more stripped-back piece of trance, ‘Duality’ is a record we’ve listened to in many a moment where we’ve not known what else to do.

Naarm/Melbourne producer Kenta204 bursts confidently & chaotically back online with their mixtape, 'Every Storm Hardens The Earth'.

Having released on labels like NLV Records and worked alongside ARIA-Award winning producer & Mixmag ANZ Cover Artist Ninajirachi on one of her debut album's standout tracks, 'All At Once', there are plenty of reasons to pay attention.

“To mark a decade of collaboration, friendship, love and music,” Naarm/Melbourne-based duo OK EG announced the launch of their own label, GEKO.

The duo, made up of artists Lauren Squire and Matthew Wilson, has for the last ten years steadily built a name for themselves not only at home, but globally, releasing a wide variety of cult releases on labels like Midgar, Kalahari Oyster Cult, NAFF, Kia’s Animalia and Cirrus imprints, Wax’o Paradiso and Steeplejack.

Its first release is none other than an EP by OK EG themselves, simply called ‘GEKO01’, perfectly encapsulating the label’s goal to provide “high functioning dance music that bristles with confidence, expressed in vivid colour.”

Seeming to return to the golden age of Aotearoa’s 90s garage is CLOVA’s ‘Spiral’. With a neo-soul twist, the Poneke/Wellington producer’s debut album is a refreshing take on a genre seeing more play, & with it more mediocrity than ever before.

‘Spiral’ feels like real music. The production is tight, and CLOVA’s voice is an incredible throughline to make this feel real. We’re excited for what’s next, and hoping for more jungle like on the record’s outro.

Zara’s lulling deepening into techno’s more hypnotic realm is a descent that’s been difficult to ignore. Her latest release, ‘4th Arc’, finds its home on Spazio Disponibile, the label by none other than Donato Dozzy and Neel.

Bass-heavy and grumbling, Zara differentiates herself with her commitment to a techno sound of a more natural variety. Fluid, calm and often times animalistic, ‘4th Arc’ pushes techno down a road far less travelled.

Eden Burns’ ‘Big Beat Manifesto’ provides its tenth instalment in ‘Vol. X’. The artist, who in late last year released his album ‘And The Make Believers’, returns with a series of club-ready cuts destined for the glow of Europe’s summer.

‘Trick’ in particular is an addictively weird earworm set to soundtrack many an impending wig.

'Eat Ur Computer' is the debut EP by Gadigal Land/Sydney-based producer Dan+EE, a release designed to explore relationships, memories and life as interfaced through the internet & our mobile phones.

Inspired by artists like Jan Jelinek, Bjork, Aoki Takamasa and Aphex Twin, Dan+EE has defined the work by its ability to "sit in its own unique pocket and build a tiny city in your headphones."

Boorloo/Perth's ONO Records delivers a collaboration spanning thousands of kilometres in the form of Québec producer and composer Phoebé Guillemot's ever enigmatic shape-shifting moniker RAMZi.

'RAMZTEK', recorded last January in anticipation of RAMZi's recent stint of shows down under, sees the producer refining the glistening, slightly wonky sound that she's become known for over fifteen releases to date.

Naarm/Melbourne-based promoter & platform ANYPLACE turns label with their debut release by local producer felt. Being a part of this milestone, felt. brings ANYPLACE's commitment to music of a more minimal nature to life.

'Return to Ruin' is a three-track EP that sees felt. combining distinct sounds and elements from ambient, dub and minimal. Utilising production techniques that seek to emulate tape-recordings, 'Return to Ruin' is a release perfectly suited to the early mornings of felt.'s hometown.

'Psychokinestesis' is the debut full-length album by emerging French talent Kick21, released via Gadigal Land/Sydney-based label Oomycota, the brainchild of beloved locals Tangela and Amuwa.

Across 'Psychokinestesis', Kick21 injects his expansive understanding of sound design into a variety of tempos that bridge the gap between France's emerging psy-tipped sound and that of Australia's own doof culture.

Human Movement has been producing music under the name for over a decade, and so it should be no surprise that his debut album, ‘50/50’, comes with deserved anticipation. Named after the producer’s own heritage, in that he is half Lebanese and half ‘Australian’, ‘50/50’ sees Human Movement weaving the voices of his own family, currently suffering through the illegal occupation of Lebanon by Israeli forces, as an exploration of what it means to experience joy through struggle.

Outside of its meaning, the record is what one would come to expect from the artist: a collection of highly produced club tracks, each deserving of its own peak time moment.

‘Home Is Everywhere and Nowhere at Once’ is Takeo.K’s debut album, a blending of experimental textures and dream pop vocals which weave through English and Japanese. In this way, the record boasts a sound which is truly fitting for its label, Theory Therapy, while remaining distinctly the artist's own.

“Musically, ‘Home Is Everywhere and Nowhere at Once’ is paced beautifully, built through layers of instrumentation: guitar loops and the darker influence of experimental projects like Muslimgauze…. At the core of Takeo.K’s process is texture, allowing patterns and feeling to guide their experimentations,” writes Lilly Grainger.

READ: Life between languages: Takeo.K's dreamlike debut album

Gadigal Land/Sydney-based label Theory Therapy is having a fantastic 2026. On top of Takeo.K’s much-anticipated album is DJ Birdbath’s ‘Plunge’, an evolving ambient piece inspired by Aotearoa’s seaside.

Like the splash of waves on the shore or the gusts of wind overhead, DJ Birdbath captures the ambience of nature with beautiful, emotive precision. On ‘Plunge’, we hear the kind of feelings that the world invites of us.

'An Ode to Ink' is the latest EP by Aotearoa/New Zealand producer and DJ, DJ Name, his second release Pepper Recs. The three-track release is a tribute to Ink Bar, a small independent club in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, which has played a pivotal role not only in DJ Name's life, but Pepper Recs' too.

‘DENIM IRON’ is the third album by producer Dro Carey, an enigmatic figure freshly re-emerged alongside his own label, Braincamp Rec. Eugene Ward, also responsible for Tuff Sherm, works across no shortage of genres on the record, providing an exciting listen from front to finish.

Alongside a series of collaborative works with Napolian, Pinz and Cliques, ‘DENIM IRON’ is rough, gritty and pure-sounding. At a time of overly produced electronic music, this record acts as a comfortable push back.

In August of last year, the New Plymouth, New Zealand-based producer and vocalist Frau Knotz released her sophomore EP, Digital Plastic Surgery. Informed by the rich histories of late-20th- to early-21st-century electronica, the EP showcased Frau Knotz’s skills as a dance music stylist, effortlessly blending the conventions of techno, IDM, synthwave, video game music, and hyperpop into five idiosyncratic instrumentals.

Six months later, it receives a special-edition treatment, featuring remixes by Amamelia and Keanu Raves.

Luke Alessi launches his brand-new label Coffee Cola with ‘Yes Empress’, an EP designed to showcase the label’s ethos, packaged neatly into a series of four dance-floor sure tracks.

The 90s resurgence finds itself happily across Alessi’s EP, reworking many a classic-sounding house groove into a modern, tight and more bass-heavy offering. The last year has seen such bright, peak-time inspiring music become some of the world’s most popular, and with a release like ‘Yes Empress’, it’s easy to understand why.

'FOURA Presents' is a new compilation series run by Naarm/Melbourne-based producer and DJ of the same name, dedicated to spotlighting artists from all around Australia. Its second instalment continues to act as an exemplary tasting menu of what is happening in dance music around the country, with a variety of established artists and up-and-comers sharing their own personal flavour.

A compilation of studio sessions between Gadigal Land/Sydney, Naarm/Melbourne and Manila, ‘Phar Lap’ is the collaborative effort of BAYANG (tha Bushranger) & Kuya Neil. The pair, experienced studio mates, demonstrate their lyrical attitude and production expertise respectively across the release’s 7 tracks, recorded between 2021 and 2025.

Gutter rap meets baile funk and guitar-driven punk in an ode to the anything-goes approach of movements like ‘Free Jazz’.

Naarm/Melbourne-based label Butter Sessions has today shared details of a much-anticipated 3-disc compilation series to celebrate its 15th year in operation. Much like Butter Sessions' 10th anniversary compilation before it, 'BSRXV' sees the label printing a series of tracks onto three separate releases, both digitally and physically.

Across the releases, this sees BS' ongoing Japanese exchange deepen, with Sapporo's Kuniyuki featuring on a collaboration born out of a 2015 Sleep D tour, Tokyo's Mayurashka contributing a chuggy, spacious roller, Gonno providing a mesh of techno and breaks, Tokyo neighbour Haruka collaborating with Rotterdam's Charlton Bakeliet on a sassy, uplifting house joint, and Yuzo Iwata bringing his own self-described EPM (Electronic Psychedelic Music) to the comp. Bangkok-born Sunju Hargun, co-founder of Siamese Twins Records and described by BS as "Thailand's emissary of ritualistic minimal trance", throws 'スカイサーファー(Sky Surfer)' into the mix too, a downtempo and growling builder perfectly deserving of such a title.

Old-time collaborators-turned-international names return, too, with the likes of Jennifer Loveless and RBI, providing a refined return to the sounds they cut their teeth on in Butter Sessions releases past.

Rings Around Saturn and Hasvat Informant, much-trusted and revered local producers in their own right, present their long-awaited first additions to the Butter Sessions catalogue, while many beloved locals return once again. That includes those with recent BR releases, like Unsolicited Joints, the fraternal fusion of siblings Ben Fester and Cousin, OK EG, Guy Contact, Hybrid Man, Fader Cap, Kate Miller, as well as Albrecht La'Brooy, Mosam Howieson, suki's Sniper1 alias and a Sleep D collaboration with Posseshot.

READ: Label Spotlight: Butter Sessions

Kia’s imprint Animalia was, for its first few years, known as one of Australia’s most exciting new labels in its ability to platform some of the country’s most thoughtful new electronic music. Its most recent release, Mexican producer Andy Martin’s ‘Tierra de Nahuales’ proves the label’s international credentials.

Andy Martin’s EP on Animalia is an exciting and highly polished take on modern techno that also pays ode to the psychedelia of the bush doof culture that Animalia cut its teeth in. With support from the likes of Objekt, Mama Snake, Pariah and Batu, you may have, in all likelihood, already heard it.

READ: Melbourne to Mexico, Animalia connects two underground worlds

Gadigal Land/Sydney producer Kaisei provides a lengthy follow-up to his 2025 album ‘Sketchbook’, with a similarly lengthy and deep offering in ‘Tenets’. Produced under his Meridia alias, the 17-track album delves into the lowest depths of dub-techno, offering moments of blissful meditation and hypnotic motion. Recorded between 2024 and 2026, the producer’s output is one that we’re so excited to watch progress, particularly given how early into his career this sits.

Trusted Gadigal Land/Sydney-originating now Cammeraygal Land-based DJ, producer and label head Andy Garvey has recently announced the expansion of her much-revered label Pure Space, and the first transmission of brand new sub-label, Open Phase.

That inaugural transmission is being handled by Naarm/Melbourne-based al dente and Brooklyn-based artists djfix and jek, with a visual collaboration between Gadigal Land’s bbennnybb and jek as well. The new sub-label's commitment to cross-continental collaboration unfolds particularly midway through the release, with international collaborators remixing one another’s work.

READ: Label Spotlight: Pure Space

The often-touted ‘true’ definition of insanity is the idea of doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Naarm/Melbourne-based producer Pugilist’s debut record, ‘Found Sound’, released last month via his own imprint Ruff Kutz, is the culmination of an artistic practice that has seen the artist produce countless releases over more than a decade.

Pugilist’s work, regularly working within the frameworks of jungle, drum & bass, dub, dubstep, dub techno and much more, is a near-endless output that has, for many years, made my eyes water. On ‘Found Sound’, Alex himself says that this kind of process, albeit one slightly more refined and critical, allowed him to delve into his internal monologue.

READ: Repetition as devotion: Inside Pugilist’s ‘Found Sound’

PPP, a project by Piezo, (DJ) Python and Naarm/Melbourne’s (DJ) Plead, is one of the year’s most highly anticipated global collaborations. Released by K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint, ‘Bborn Again’ sees the three artists merging their reputations for hazy, loose and emotive production into a single creative voice.

With a modus operandi originally pointed towards early 00s minimal tech house, ‘Bborn Again’ stands comfortably atop the shoulders of labels like Perlon, while its creators appear to let their creative intuition take them into slightly different, albeit no less exciting musical headspaces.

In her own words, Amamelia’s ‘The Joy Of Living’ is “a jubilant exploration of electronica, influenced by sapphic love, Mort Garson's Plantasia and Yellow Magic Orchestra.”

The award-winning producer merges her junglist sensibilities with indie-pop sentiment across a record that seems a fitting antidote to, well, the world. Quirky, interesting and meaningful, this is a welcomed direction for an artist clearly keen to touch so much.

'Ordinary Badman' is the latest release by Gadigal Land/Sydney-based artist Hugh B, one of his city's quietest & most comfortable achievers, and head honcho of beloved platform OTIS (Outer Time Inner Space). Finding its home on the equally respected Best Effort Records, the album is a thoughtful, warm listen from start to finish.

Regarding the release, Best Effort's head DJ, Earl Grey, shared that "Hugh sent me this album before my bike ride to school one morning and it was love at first listening."

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor. Find him on Instagram.