New music releases from New Orleans: February 2026
Former New Orleans-based faves, subversive reggae, breakout busking, and peppy post-rock. Listen as you read with our embedded song links. (Do you create music in New Orleans? Send us links to your new releases - outalldaynola [at] gmail [dot] com)
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Rhododendron (Live)
Look, I know HFTRR are now globally successful, but we're claiming at least part of them, OK? They have new material heading our way this year, a live album Live Forever (available on digital media March 20th, physical May 8th). This punchy little teaser is a pacy romp of deep, melodic guitars and Alynda Segarra’s bucolic poetics, hinting at open skies and rural scents (“Full moon maple/Chamico perfume/Wrap your limbs around me/This won't be over soon”). The song is taken from 2022’s Life On Earth album, and the recording is from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Segarra’s newly-adopted home town. “This record is a love letter to working class musicians,” Segarra writes in the press release. “We deserve so much more from an industry built to exploit us.” Amen.
Rhododendron (Live)
Look, I know HFTRR are now globally successful, but we're claiming at least part of them, OK? They have new material heading our way this year, a live album Live Forever (available on digital media March 20th, physical May 8th). This punchy little teaser is a pacy romp of deep, melodic guitars and Alynda Segarra’s bucolic poetics, hinting at open skies and rural scents (“Full moon maple/Chamico perfume/Wrap your limbs around me/This won't be over soon”). The song is taken from 2022’s Life On Earth album, and the recording is from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Segarra’s newly-adopted home town. “This record is a love letter to working class musicians,” Segarra writes in the press release. “We deserve so much more from an industry built to exploit us.” Amen.
Deadbeatniks
Whole Foods
A catchily subversive ditty from Anuraag Pendyal and his Deadbeatniks collaborators. We start off in familiar, lo-fi Americana territory as Pendyal sings of the joys of supporting local food production. Half way along, though, wavy electronics and charismatic cod reggae rhythms take over. A gospel-tinged refrain (lush vocals by Whitney Alouisious) - further explained by an extended rap (solid bars from Daniel Turner) encourages us to combine our locavore lifestyle with stealing from large corporations (“Breaking the law’s the right thing to do!/Actively attack the system!”). If we’re eating the rich, we’re gonna need some sides after all. [ADULT/NSFW LYRICS!]
Whole Foods
A catchily subversive ditty from Anuraag Pendyal and his Deadbeatniks collaborators. We start off in familiar, lo-fi Americana territory as Pendyal sings of the joys of supporting local food production. Half way along, though, wavy electronics and charismatic cod reggae rhythms take over. A gospel-tinged refrain (lush vocals by Whitney Alouisious) - further explained by an extended rap (solid bars from Daniel Turner) encourages us to combine our locavore lifestyle with stealing from large corporations (“Breaking the law’s the right thing to do!/Actively attack the system!”). If we’re eating the rich, we’re gonna need some sides after all. [ADULT/NSFW LYRICS!]
Asher Danziger
Grass Grows Through It
If you’ve stopped to listen to a French Quarter busker, there’s a non-tiny chance that it may have been Asher Danziger, who has been a presence as familiar as the wrought iron balconies. His unhurried, lilting guitar and bohemian energy draw crowds, and this album is a suitable manifesto for his world view. Traditionally a solo act, Danziger collaborates here with a glut of skilled local musicians, who all showcase his whimsically expressive voice. The guitar and violin of Back to the Beauty is an accessible way in, with rockier anthems like Smartphone Blues in the mix too.
Grass Grows Through It
If you’ve stopped to listen to a French Quarter busker, there’s a non-tiny chance that it may have been Asher Danziger, who has been a presence as familiar as the wrought iron balconies. His unhurried, lilting guitar and bohemian energy draw crowds, and this album is a suitable manifesto for his world view. Traditionally a solo act, Danziger collaborates here with a glut of skilled local musicians, who all showcase his whimsically expressive voice. The guitar and violin of Back to the Beauty is an accessible way in, with rockier anthems like Smartphone Blues in the mix too.
Jai Alai
Division
This is technically a reissue via New Orleans record label Strange Daisy, trumpeted on their bandcamp page as “an underground New Orleans post-rock gem” (quote unattributed). The band cite bands such as Tortoise and The Sea and Cake as influences, and while many banner post-rock acts use the quiet-building-to-very-loud patented formula, Jai Alai show some admirable restarint. The seven tracks here are more like musical tableaus, Jake Springfield’s vocals sometimes barely there but always adding to the textures and swells. Focus shifts, and listening is a matter of being gently coaxed, rather than assaulted with walls of sound.
Division
This is technically a reissue via New Orleans record label Strange Daisy, trumpeted on their bandcamp page as “an underground New Orleans post-rock gem” (quote unattributed). The band cite bands such as Tortoise and The Sea and Cake as influences, and while many banner post-rock acts use the quiet-building-to-very-loud patented formula, Jai Alai show some admirable restarint. The seven tracks here are more like musical tableaus, Jake Springfield’s vocals sometimes barely there but always adding to the textures and swells. Focus shifts, and listening is a matter of being gently coaxed, rather than assaulted with walls of sound.
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