March gave us a pop star’s four-years-in-the-making disco record, a rapper’s turn to neo-soul, a producer’s decision to go independent and the first BTS album in years. These are the 10 releases that earned a place in our rotation, drawn from Billboard’s Friday guides and Pitchfork’s weekly lists and our own reporting. As usual, the picks mix headliners with a few quieter names who deserve the same ears, and each entry has something to press play on.
Harry Styles, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Pitchfork calls it a swerve from the honeyed pop of Harry’s House toward “refined slivers of dance pop, funk, and post-punk,” led by “Aperture,” which it hears as LCD Soundsystem and Coldplay in the same room. It’s his first album in four years, executive produced by Kid Harpoon, with credits that include Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, the Smile’s Tom Skinner and a full gospel choir. The ballads, “Paint by Numbers” and “Coming Up Roses,” are still there, but Billboard hears dancefloor-ready tracks balanced by introspective lyrics. Out March 6 on Columbia.
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.Harry StylesListen on Apple Music
Jack Harlow, Monica
Nine songs, cut at Electric Lady Studios and aimed squarely at ’90s and early-aughts R&B. Harlow’s pivot split fans, with The FADER calling it neo-soul, not hip-hop, and XXL counting “All of My Friends,” “Lonesome,” “Trade Places” and “Say Hello” among the standouts. Guests include Robert Glasper, Ravyn Lenae and Omar Apollo. Out March 13, his 28th birthday.
MonicaJack HarlowListen on Apple Music
James Blake, Trying Times
His first self-released record arrived as Blake was juggling a lot. “I was writing an album, I was producing for other artists, I was going independent, and managing myself,” he said in a press statement. Pitchfork hears that restlessness turned into alternative R&B and midtempo dance, and finds his sound still central to pop a decade on. Complex notes that his partner, Jameela Jamil, is credited as an executive producer. Two weeks later, Blake asked to be taken off Ye’s Bully. Out March 13 on Good Boy Records.
Trying TimesJames BlakeListen on Apple Music
Kim Gordon, Play Me
Gordon is furious, and Pitchfork says the target is everything from AI chatbots to tech billionaires. Play Me builds on the rage-rap palette she and producer Justin Raisen explored on 2024’s The Collective, but with a more alt-rock tilt than anything since No Home Record, especially on lead single “Not Today.” Dave Grohl drums on “Busy Bee,” the only feature, and Gordon promised “the biggest low end maybe you’ve ever heard.” Out March 13 on Matador.
Play MeKim GordonListen on Apple Music
Elucid and Sebb Bash, I Guess U Had to Be There
The New York rap veteran’s follow-up to 2024’s Revelator is one of the month’s quiet standouts. Pitchfork hears work burnout, environmental decay and back-to-basics beats rendered like shards of mirror, with producer Sebb Bash setting the room. His Armand Hammer partner billy woods, Shabaka Hutchings, Estee Nack and Breeze Brewin guest. It’s the sort of record that gets better the deeper you go. Out March 13 on Backwoodz Studioz.
I Guess U Had to Be ThereElucid & Sebb BashListen on Apple Music
BTS, Arirang
Billboard calls it the first BTS full-length in six years, a 14-track set with Diplo, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Mike WiLL Made-It and Ryan Tedder, led by “Swim,” a dance-pop and trap blend. Pitchfork noted that the group’s Seoul comeback concert on March 21, in Gwanghwamun Square, would stream live on Netflix. It drew 18.4 million viewers. Out March 20 on HYBE.
ARIRANGBTSListen on Apple Music
Anna Calvi, Is This All There Is?
A four-track EP and the first part of a planned trilogy, with Calvi asking the most basic question after becoming a mother: “I want to exist in the best way for my child.” Each song brings in a vocalist: Iggy Pop on the gothic cabaret of “God’s Lonely Man,” Perfume Genius on a cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See a Darkness,” Matt Berninger, and Laurie Anderson on Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love.” Out March 20 on Domino.
Is This All There Is? EPAnna CalviListen on Apple Music
RAYE, This Music May Contain Hope.
Her second album follows singles that show off her range, from the cheeky “Where Is My Husband!” to the jazzy ballad “Nightingale Lane.” Billboard calls the six-plus-minute “I Know You’re Hurting.” the clearest example of the album’s balance between inner pain and the “sonic salve” of her voice. “Music is medicine, I’ve always said that,” she said in a press release. Out March 27.
THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.RAYEListen on Apple Music
Charlie Puth, Whatever’s Clever!
His fourth album turns away from pure pop toward soul and jazz, and brings along an unlikely guest list: Kenny G on “Cry,” Coco Jones on “Sideways,” Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on “Love In Exile” and Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra on “Until It Happens To You.” Billboard singles out that last one, where Goldblum offers advice to Puth as a new husband and father. Out March 27.
Whatever’s Clever!Charlie PuthListen on Apple Music
Miley Cyrus, “Younger You”
The closing song of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special is a letter from Miley Cyrus to her fans and to herself, Billboard says. It made the audience at the special’s Hollywood premiere tear up, and it pairs her Tennessee roots with her pop instincts. “This song is yours as a thank you for the life we’ve grown through together,” she wrote on Instagram. Out March 27.
Younger You (From the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special)Miley CyrusListen on Apple Music
Also on our radar
Robyn’s Sexistential, her first album in eight years, arrived March 27 with Pitchfork finding it still sounds like the future. Snail Mail’s Ricochet (her first in five years), underscores’ big-room U and Grace Ives’ Girlfriend made Pitchfork’s weekly lists, as did CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso’s loose, funny Free Spirits. Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE’s Pompeii // Utility was announced for April 3, and Kacey Musgraves previewed Middle of Nowhere with “Dry Spell.”
Sources
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
