New albums from September 2026: Miley, Jhené Aiko, Carly Rae Jepsen and more

Release details checked against the sources at the end of this article on 1 October 2026.

September did not ease anyone into the last quarter of the year. In four weeks, Jhené Aiko finally landed the No. 1 album she had been circling for more than a decade, Miley Cyrus came back under a single name, Carly Rae Jepsen released two albums' worth of songs at once, and Anthrax ended a ten-year silence.

The comebacks

The month's biggest R&B story belonged to Jhené Aiko. Westside Whimsy, her first album in six years, arrived on 11 September through Def Jam with 20 tracks and a guest list led by Kendrick Lamar on "So Good", alongside Ab-Soul, Larry June, Tyga and OHMA. It opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 74,000 units: the first chart-topper of her career and, according to Hypebeast, the first R&B album by a woman to reach the top in 2026.

A week later, Miley Cyrus, now releasing simply as Miley, put out her tenth studio album. Bass Persuades (Atlantic, 18 September) runs to ten tracks, with Model/Actriz on "Different Religion" and Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt on "Neon Signs". The title track had arrived on 3 September with a video directed by Mert Alas, and she takes the record to the Hollywood Bowl on 16 and 18 October, with Model/Actriz opening.

Ellie Goulding had already opened the month on 4 September with I Know Too Much, her sixth album and the follow-up to 2023's UK No. 1 Higher Than Heaven. June's "Black Prada Dress" led the way.

Pop, at length

Carly Rae Jepsen went big. Day and Night (Interscope, 18 September) is a 24-song double album split down the middle: the Day half built on live instruments and '70s-style psychedelic pop, the Night half on synths and the dance floor. Its lead single, "On Wires", had been out since June.

Tinashe, meanwhile, closed a chapter. Popstar, her eighth album, released on 25 September through Nice Life/Atlantic, nominally completes the trilogy that began with BB/Ang3l and Quantum Baby, and followed the singles "Too Easy", "Crash Out" and "Melatonin". She has talked at length about how she made it, and we pulled that together in our Tinashe profile.

The same Friday, Taylor Swift added four new songs to her latest album. The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, announced on Instagram on 22 September and released three days later, includes "Patient Zero", "Cleveland!", "Pink Clouding" and "Babylon", all produced with Max Martin and Shellback. The "Patient Zero" video, starring Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premiered at the MTV VMAs on 27 September.

Soul and steel

Two more records sat about as far apart as September got. Leon Bridges made Happiness Anytime (Columbia, 25 September) with Jungle's J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto producing and Pino Palladino on bass, having previewed the 12 tracks with a four-song EP in July.

Anthrax, on the other hand, returned with Cursum Perficio (Megaforce, 18 September), their first studio album in ten years. Drummer Charlie Benante has explained that the title is Latin for "I finish the journey", a phrase he found on a tile at Marilyn Monroe's former home, but he insists it is not a goodbye. When the album came out, the band was on the road with Iron Maiden and Megadeth.

October looks no quieter, with Victoria Monét, Troye Sivan, Michael Kiwanuka and U2 all on the calendar. Here is everything due between October and December.