Song of the Day – Lucifer: “Maculate Heart”
Song of the Day – SVNFR: “Post Human Dream”
Song of the Day – The Crüxshadows: “A Dream Before Dying”
Five Songs I’m Obsessed With [1/1 – 1/4]
It has been 2026 for, like, three seconds and already, we have soooo much good music to listen to. I am building a playlist, as per usual, which you can check out here. However, I am going to share new releases a bit differently this year.
Instead of doing bi-weekly posts with everything I’ve found during that period – and twelve separate playlists, one for each month – I will be hitting the highlights each week and adding all songs to a single 2026 playlist. I will share as much as I can to my Facebook page, but I intend to share posts directly from the musicians/artists rather than doing my own. Shares and likes help them, and that’s my main goal.
So here are five songs that were released this week that I absolutely adore. Please give them a listen and add them to your playlists!
Aesthetic Perfection: Suckers For Punishment Tour 2026
Industrial pop outfit Aesthetic Perfection is coming back to the U.S., and they’re bringing some friends. With support from Priest and Julien-K, the band will be trekking from coast to coast throughout April and early May. Tickets are on sale now at aesthetic-perfection.net!
- 4/2 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
- 4/3 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
- 4/4 – Pomona, CA – Flyway
- 4/5 – San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
- 4/10 – West Chicago, IL – The WC Social Club
- 4/11 – Cleveland, OH – The Foundry Concert Club
- 4/12 – Harrisburg, PA – Capital City Music Hall
- 4/14 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz*
- 4/16 – Rochester, NY – Photo City Music Hall
- 4/17 – New York, NY – The Meadows
- 4/18 – Hartford, CT – The Webster
- 4/19 – Manchester, NH – Jewel Music Venue
- 4/21 – Raleigh, NC – Chapel of Bones
- 4/24 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
- 4/25 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
- 4/26 – Dallas, TX – Trees (New date!)
- 4/29 – Glendale, AZ – The 44 Sports Grill & Nightlife
- 4/30 – Las Vegas, NV – The Dive Bar
- 5/1 – Salt Lake City, UT – Liquid Joe’s
- 5/2 – Denver, CO – Ritual Noize Festival 2026+
* Aesthetic Perfection + Julien-K only
+ Festival

Skillet Shares Spring 2026 Dates
Christian rockers Skillet are heading out on the road in early 2026. This 9-date run features support from The Protest and kicks off February 26th in Lancaster, PA.
Tickets: skillet.com
- 2/26 – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre
- 2/27 – Bensalem, PA – Parx Xcite Center
- 2/28 – Huntington, WV – Keith Albee Performing Arts Center
- 3/13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rivers Casino Pittsburgh (New date!)
- 3/14 – Charlestown, WV – Hollywood Casino at Charlestown Races
- 3/15 – Chattanooga, TN – The Signal
- 3/19 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
- 3/20 – North Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues
- 3/27 – Riverside, IA – Riverside Casino & Golf Resort*
* No support

Song of the Day – Rail Rage: “Gatling Gun”
Pop Evil: What Remains Tour 2026
Pop Evil has announced headlining dates interspersed among their shows opening for Sabaton. In support of their latest album, What Remains, this run boasts stops in Birmingham, Las Vegas, and Portland. Tickets are on sale now at popevil.com!
Pop Evil headlining shows
- 2/6 – Destin, FL – Club LA
- 2/7 – Birmingham, AL – Workplay
- 2/12 – Biloxi, MS – The Sanctuary
- 2/19 – Las Vegas, NV – The Portal at Area15
- 2/22 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
- 2/25 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theatre
- 4/12 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – The Machine Shop
Supporting Sabaton
- 2/9 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – FTL War Memorial
- 2/10 – Tampa, FL – Yuengling Center
- 2/13 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
- 2/14 – Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
- 2/15 – San Antonio, TX – Boeing Center at Tech Port
- 2/18 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
- 2/20 – Los Angeles, CA – The Kia Forum
- 2/21 – Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live
- 2/24 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Union Event Center
- 2/26 – Loveland, CO – Blue FCU Arena
- 2/27 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse Omaha
- 2/28 – St. Louis, MO – The Factory
- 3/2 – Des Moines, IA – Vibrant Music Hall
- 3/3 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory
- 3/4 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed
- 3/6 – Milwaukee, WI – Landmark Credit Union Live
- 3/7 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J. Brady Music Center
- 3/8 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
- 3/10 – Pittsburgh, PA – UPMC Events Center
- 3/11 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
- 3/12 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
- 3/14 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome
- 3/15 – Washington, DC – The Theater at MGM National Harbor
- 3/17 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Special Events Center
- 3/18 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
- 4/6 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre
- 4/9 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
- 4/11 – Toronto, ON – Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto
- 4/14 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
- 4/17 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Convention Centre
- 4/18 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre
- 4/20 – Vancouver, BC – PNE Forum

Hello 2026
2025 was a rough year for me on a personal level, but I would like to celebrate two of my victories here.
First, it was a banner year for the blog. I’ve had Mostly Music up and running for a decade (woooow), and in 2025, this little page garnered the most views I’ve ever had.

So, THANK YOU to everyone who has checked out or shared my posts, and to all the musicians/artists who released kick-ass music for me to share.
The second victory is on a more personal level. I started working out back in…April. I decided I just wanted to tone up a bit. My reasoning was pretty dumb: I didn’t want to disappoint this guy I was talking to, and I feared I wasn’t skinny enough for him. Whatever the cause, I found a couple of low impact, at-home workouts and dedicated myself to them (with a few lapses here and there).
Sometime in the early days, I ordered a dress. A dress voted on by my Facebook friends, and one I absolutely never would have worn out when I first purchased it. This dress became aspirational. The day I could put it on and be comfortable in front of the mirror, I’d know I reached a goal. And, well…


I’m down about 10 pounds, and I’ve lost at least a couple inches. The guy that inspired all of this is still in the picture, somewhat, but my goal now has very little to do with him, and honestly, I’m pretty fucking proud of that.
It’s the first page of a new chapter today. Let’s make this book worth reading.
Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful 2025 and that 2026 is even better ❤️