Discover the Best New St. Louis Music Released in January 2026

St. Louis on the Air may have taken a break coming into the new year, but St. Louis artists kept releasing absolute bangers. To start your year off right, music producer and jazz pianist Makini “K Kudda Muzic” Morrison sat down with music show originator Miya Norfleet and host Elaine Cha to discuss their favorite new local jams. This month’s picks bring us into the new year with laid-back vibes that take us to different places with tracks like the emotionally vulnerable “Free” by Aida Ade and dreamy cover of “Jardin D’hiver (Winter Garden”) by Yannon. Among those are the classic hip-hop styles of “potion” by Whit. – a member of artist collective RENTS DUE – and Khiro Kano. “I think a big part of it is just melodics and lyricism,” Morrison said. “Even in the history of our biggest artists like Nelly, there's a lot of cadence, there's a lot of rhythm, and I think that's very apparent in this track. I think it's something that a lot of people will find enjoyable. It's really easy to listen to, listen.” While most of the tracks on this month’s playlist are more chill, punk band Blight Future turned up the heat with the track “Fiery Forms.” “I randomly just met them outside of Red Flag before they had a show,” Norfleet said. “I'm obsessed with this album. I had a hard time picking a song from this album. I landed on this one because it only had one bad word in it. And also it has a really great message. If you have time to listen to the lyrics, you should.” The track that set the tone for this month was “That It Is” by Morrison’s new band K Kudda & Friends. The song features the soulful vocals of Noel Spiva and Kenneth Leftridge Jr. on saxophone. “It's amazing vocals and amazing instrumentation.” Norfleet said. “Last year I said it almost feels like we can't get away with the music roundup without playing some K Kudda, so we're going to continue that tradition. I love the vibe. I feel like an adult when I listen to it. I need coffee with it and a scone.” “That It Is” serves as the first release from the upcoming album from K Kudda & Friends titled “Proof of Concept.” The project will be released at the end of this month. Morrison also shared a preview of a new track, “7 is the Magic Number” — an experimental jazz number with layers and instrumentation that “sound bigger than life,” Morrison said. “A bunch of musicians and friends of mine got into a session, we came up with a jam and we turned it into a song. It’s just us experimenting with those textures. Seven is actually the time signature that this is in. So it's in an odd time meter depending on how you bounce to it, it feels natural. That’s something we've been trying to challenge ourselves with.” Here is a list of our favorite new releases: K Kudda & Friends - “That It Is” Yannon - “Jardin D’hiver” Album - “Yannon’s Winter Room” Aida Ade - “Free” Album - “Silly Dreams” ROTN (Daemon, Rec Riddles, Supreme Sol) - “Limit Break” Album - “War Ready/Limit Break” Whit., Khiro Kano - “potion” Blight Future - “Firey Forms” Album - “Succession Species” Mykel Kennedi - “Program” For more reflections of new and new-ish releases from St. Louis-area musicians, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube or click the play button below. “St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.