Welcome to another installment of Today's Release Highlights, where the TND writers room gathers up some brand new projects they want to draw your eyes and ears to.

This week, we have four new releases we'd like to key you into as you head into the weekend. Check them all out below.

Ba bam!

Amelie Lens – Aura [EXHALE]

In the world of techno music, EPs and standalone remixes tend to grab headlines over LPs, which helps explain why Belgian powerhouse Amelie Lens – a towering figure in techno for more than a decade – is just now getting around to releasing her first solo album. Aura isn't all serious, faceless brutality, as you might expect from a techno project. Just check out track titles like "aura_v4_final_intro.wav" and "a track at 150bpm" for a bit of self-awareness. Lens says of the project that "I wanted to keep it light and somehow playful. Because that is also how I am as a person." Having met her at a meet-and-greet a year or two ago, this writer can attest to that. – Tyler Roland

Chat Pile – Who Loves the Sun [The Flenser]

These conscientious doomers alternate jaw-dropping sincerity (“why do people have to live outside?” was the most enduring line from an album called God’s Country) with standup-cum-Tarantino stage banter about random shitty movies, and 2024’s astonishing Cool World similarly met audiences halfway. The gutturals and brutal slabs of noise were mitigated by freaky little guitar noises on bangers like “The New World” while the worldview remained hopeless as ever; it’s unlikely they or anyone else will better ever sum up being so done with the apocalypse than on “I Am Dog Now.” So the follow-up sulks forward rather than swaggering; riffs are flung like chunks of mud, a newfound interest in melodies ("Deep Blue," "Same Rules") is mumbled and slow. Luckily their most gothic album stacks the singles upfront to keep dirgelike tendencies at bay. — Daniel Aaron

Movements – Happier Now [Fearless Records]

If 6th Wave Emo is really here, and if it is a revisit to the 4th Emo Revival, then Movements’ fourth LP, Happier Now, will have the emo kids who have been perpetuating that theory shouting, “We’re so back!” Now that I’ve exhausted the word “emo,” Happier Now is a return to form for Movements, calling back to the sound of their earlier records. It’s got the melodic hooks, artfully constructed self-deprecating lyrics, and sway-inducing beats that made the band stand out in the first place. Produced by Will Yip, you know, the guy who’s worked with Turnstile, Title Fight, Circa Survive, and plenty more, Happier Now carries some of that same DNA. If you’re not familiar with Movements, those name drops alone might pique your interest, because there are similarities to all three throughout the album. It’s pretty much fall, folks. Time for some sad-boi anthems. – Ricky Adams

Wow, Okay, Cool – If This is Where it Got Us, What Good is it? [Self-Released]

Wow, Okay, Cool, the post-punk outfit out of New Haven, CT, have dropped their debut album, If This Is Where It Got Us, What Good Is It? Packed with yelling, sass, and some good ol’ fashioned punk, the album plays like your local favorite tearing it up at a VFW hall show. For fans of that early-2000s-adjacent post-hardcore era when it was more yelling than screaming, think Billy Talent or early Mindless Self Indulgence (did not think I’d be making this reference in 2026), with a hint of the grindcore/sasscore elements found in acts like The Locust. Just some good, loud, weird-ass punk. – Ricky Adams