The Daily Drop: June 25th 2026

Welcome to The Daily Drop, your roundup of the latest news from the rock, metal, punk, emo, hardcore, and alternative scenes.

Today’s Drop sees Sugar share the third single from their first recording sessions in over 30 years. Gore., The Meffs, and PAVÉ also share new tracks, while Melrose Avenue team up with The Funeral Portrait. Karen Dió announces her second EP, ‘Fugaz’, and Din Of Celestial Birds share a second preview of their forthcoming album.

There are also 15 new additions to the ‘Newish Music’ playlist.

Here’s everything you need to know for June 25th.

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New Sugar Single Released (‘Keep Looping’)

Since reforming last year, alternative rock trio Sugar have shared sporadic singles, ‘House of Dead Memories’ and ‘Long Live Love’. Today, they have released ‘Keep Looping,’ the third track from their first recording sessions in over 30 years, which took place last summer.

Charging forward with Bob Mould’s distinct voice, it’s a tight-knit blast of alt-rock with a socio-political undercurrent. “Living in San Francisco, I have a love/hate relationship with AI. It’s bringing my City back to life, but at what cost to society and the environment? And do we trust the current regime to do the right thing with this new tech?” says Mould. “The new song has more snarl, and the lyrics say it all: A touch of dopamine. The steady beat of the drum. Get used to the constant hum of the Lie.”

Completed by bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis, the release of ‘Keep Looping’ follows a recent run of UK and European shows. “‘Keep Looping’ might be my favorite of the new SUGAR songs. Just like so many other things that quite literally keep looping in my head, this song gets stuck in my brain quite a bit,” says Barbe. “The combination of the intensity of the main riff and the elevation of the bridge checks a lot of boxes for me. As was the case with ‘House of Dead Memories’ and ‘Long Live Love’, I am stoked for it to finally be unleashed for public consumption.”

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Gore. Return with ‘Lead Me to the Slaughter’

Texan four-piece Gore. have returned with a new single called ‘Lead Me to the Slaughter’.

The vengeful track sees vocalist Haley Roughton maintain the band’s trend of producing emotionally raw and unapologetically vulnerable songs. The band frame it as something larger than a personal reckoning.

“This song is about being indoctrinated into a cult, and idolizing what kills you,” the band states. “Idolatry is rampant beyond human repair with social media, and we now look at people like they’re gods. We idolize money, fame, and beauty more now than we ever have as a society. These idols will lead us to nothing but guilt, shame, and suffering.”

Gore. will be in the UK in September when they support I Prevail.

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Karen Dió Announces New EP and Shares New Single

Brazilian punk rock songstress Karen Dió has revealed details of her second EP. It’s called ‘Fugaz’ and will be released through Hopeless Records on August 21st.

The EP will see her reflect on introspective themes such as the passage of time, personal freedom and eternal youth. Yet it’s shaped by experience rather than nostalgia.

The six-track EP will include her latest single, ‘Free Yourself’. It captures the London-based artist’s brash brand of melodic punk with a liberating hook.

“Funnily enough, ‘Free Yourself’ is a song that I dreamed of. Most of the time I unfortunately forget the songs by the time I’m awake, but I’m glad I remembered this one. Later the same day, I decided to work on it and the melody of the chorus immediately came. When I showed the embryo of it to Matt (Bigland of Dinosaur Pile-Up, Karen’s husband and writing-partner), he immediately was like, ‘That’s a hit!’ so we started to write the rest,” explains Dió on the track’s origins. “During the whole process of writing ‘Free Yourself’ we would remind ourselves to be completely free with our creativity and, to be honest, to try being ridiculous sometimes. One of my favourite parts of the song came from an improvisation where I said ‘Jeans are dangerous,’ and Matt thought it was great, but he thought I said ‘Genes are dangerous.’ We loved both quotes, but we decided to go with ‘Genes are dangerous’ because it felt more provocative.”

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Din Of Celestial Birds Shares Second Preview of ‘Takeoffs & Landings’

Leeds instrumentalists Din Of Celestial Birds have shared a second preview of their forthcoming ‘Takeoffs & Landings’ album. The track is called ‘From This Summit We Can See The Heavens & Stars’ and sees the quintet lure listeners in with a sombre track. Its gradual build leads to weathering tremolo guitars, demonstrating their dynamic interplay.

As previously announced, ‘Takeoffs & Landings’ is built around themes of adventure, travel and the arc of a life. ‘From This Summit…’ was inspired by the late British mountain climber Alison Hargreaves. After becoming the first woman to scale Mount Everest solo, she climbed K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen). However, she and her team succumbed to a violent snowstorm.

The video for ‘From This Summit…’ is directed by guitarist Chris Core, and sees the band performing in an abstract environment as the snow falls. “We want listeners to feel these adventures; to visualise huge mountains and vast oceans. Failing that, we want them to feel joy,” the band shared.

‘Takeoffs & Landings’ is released on August 7th through Big Scary Monsters.

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Melrose Avenue Teams Up with The Funeral Portrait on ‘Cemetery Friend’

Fresh off their appearance at Download Festival and with a UK headline run pencilled in for early 2027, emerging Aussie group Melrose Avenue have teamed up with Atlanta outfit The Funeral Portrait on their new single.

Titled ‘Cemetery Friend,’ it captures the qualities of both bands. It blends the immersive darkness of The Funeral Portrait and pairs it with Melrose Avenue‘s melodic strength. Together, it shows signs of companionship through difficult times.

“We met The Funeral Portrait last year whilst out on tour with Ice Nine Kills and there was just an immediate connection that saw us all radiate towards each other. They have this awesome ability to make darkness feel theatrical and when we wrote ‘Cemetery Friend,’ we immediately knew that was what it needed,” Melrose Avenue vocalist Vlado Saric shares. “We essentially wanted this song to feel like a car crash between the 2 acts and we are pretty sure that’s what we’ve achieved here!”

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The Meffs Ask ‘Where Did It All Go Wrong?’ on New Single

Raucous Essex punks The Meffs continue to preview their forthcoming album, ‘Business,’ ahead of its September 11th release via FLG.

The album’s latest preview comes in the form of ‘Where Did It All Go Wrong?’. Commenting on the fiery, thought-provoking track, the band said it’s “Punk-edged alt-rock with a message. We’re born aware of our mortality but ignore we’re destroying the world we call home, a cry for change where history keeps repeating. There’s no music on a dead planet.”

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PAVÉ Debut New Single (‘Taking Control’)

Rising Manchester alternative band PAVÉ have released an unflinching new single called ‘Taking Control’. Produced with Dan Weller (Holding Absence, Enter Shikari, Caskets), it sees the quartet deliver an energetic and steely track with a lyrically cathartic core.

“‘Taking Control’ is about knowing another mental battle is coming, but not knowing if you’ve got enough left in the tank to face it. It’s for the people who look fine on the surface while quietly falling apart underneath,” vocalist Alanya Jade shares. “At its core, it’s about burnout, feeling trapped in an environment you’re supposed to love, and realising that the people you expected support from are standing by and watching you struggle without stepping in. That feeling can leave you stuck between wanting to hold on and wanting to walk away, and over time it turns into resentment. It’s a song about reaching your limit and one we hope people use to scream their, ‘I deserved better than this.'”

Completed by guitarist Kevin Peate, bassist Meg Gale and drummer Ben Pursehouse, ‘Taking Control’ is the first glimpse of PAVÉ‘s next chapter, one that maintains their ambition shown on 2024’s ‘Are We Above The Secrets We Keep’ EP.

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Today’s New Songs

Here’s a rundown of the latest additions to our ‘Newish Music’ playlist.

Sugar – Keep Looping
The Meffs – Where Did It All Go Wrong?
Gore. – Lead Me to the Slaughter
Dead Poet Society – Roach
Karen Dío – Free Yourself
Melrose Avenue – Cemetery Friend (feat. The Funeral Portrait)
Din of Celestial Birds – From This Summit We Can See The Heavens & Stars
Slow Crush – Aurora (Live at Roadburn 2026)
Pavé – Taking Control
Grandmas House – The Table
Hollow Pact – Tear
Stab – Irish Goodbye
Bureau De Change – The Gammon’s Lament
Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Fall For Me
Dead Flesh – Vile Resurrection

Keep up to date with all the latest rock, metal, punk, and beyond, by following AlreadyHeard‘s ‘Newish Music’ Playlist.

Find the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music.