The Avalanches released their fourth studio album, “No Bad Memories,” on October 16, 2026, via Modular Recordings. The 31-track record features Carly Simon, Karen O, Jamie xx, Rivers Cuomo, Mike Patton and Haruomi Hosono, and builds its sound from commercial jingles, tech start-up chimes and half-remembered audio logos.
Key Takeaways
- “No Bad Memories” is the Australian group’s first album since 2020’s “We Will Always Love You.”
- Four singles preceded the release, featuring Karen O, Jamie xx, Portraits of Tracy, and a trio of Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza and Prentiss.
- The Avalanches now operate as a trio of Robbie Chater, Tony Di Blasi and multi-instrumentalist Andy Szekeres.
- Artwork by Jonathan Zawada depicts cartoon iPod and floppy disk characters, a visual cue for the album’s theme.
- The group’s catalog has passed 1 million album sales and 700 million streams.
A Concept Album About Advertising And Memory
“No Bad Memories” takes on a subject that fits The Avalanches’ sample-driven method unusually well. According to the group’s announcement, the album is inspired by the simultaneously magical and insidious ways advertising and name-brand technology attach themselves to memory.
Rather than pulling primarily from obscure records, Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi revisited the jingles, sounds and imagery that surrounded them growing up. They then cut those corporate fragments apart and rebuilt them into pop songs. The result is an album that treats a startup chime or a forgotten TV jingle as raw material with emotional weight.
That premise carries a built-in tension. The sounds that make “No Bad Memories” feel nostalgic are the same sounds designed to sell products. The Avalanches present the album as an ambivalent tribute, leaving listeners to decide whether the warm feeling comes from childhood or from marketing.
The Singles Mapped A Wide Guest List Before Release Day
The Avalanches spent the summer previewing “No Bad Memories” through a run of collaborations. “Blue Shadows” paired the group with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “Every Single Weekend” brought in Jamie xx, extending a working relationship that also produced “All You Children” on Jamie xx’s 2024 album “In Waves.”
“Together” featured Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza and Prentiss, three artists rooted in club and electronic music. The fourth single, “Can’t Get Over Losing You,” arrived alongside the album announcement and features Portraits of Tracy, a self-taught Louisiana producer and artist. The track sets garage-rock drums against the group’s familiar nostalgic samples. Chater described Tracy in the announcement as a hilarious, brave and tender person.
The full album widens the circle further. Carly Simon, Faith No More’s Mike Patton, Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder Haruomi Hosono and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo all appear, the latter arriving shortly after Weezer’s return to four-guys-in-a-room rock on the Gold Album.
The Avalanches Have Never Worked On A Fixed Schedule
The release of “No Bad Memories” stands out partly because of how The Avalanches have historically worked. Their 2000 debut, “Since I Left You,” was assembled from thousands of samples and became a reference point for collage-based pop. The follow-up, “Wildflower,” did not arrive until 2016, a 16-year gap that became part of the group’s legend.
“We Will Always Love You” followed in 2020, shifting the group toward live vocalists and outside collaborators. “No Bad Memories” continues that approach, combining guest performances with sampled source material across 31 tracks.
The six-year gap between the third and fourth albums is short by The Avalanches’ standards. For a group whose method depends on finding, editing and clearing large volumes of source material, a steadier release pace signals a more settled working process.
Sampling Corporate Sound Raises Practical Questions
The album’s concept also places it in an interesting position for the music business. Sample-based records have long faced clearance hurdles, since every recognizable fragment typically requires permission from rights holders. Building an album around advertising audio adds another layer, as jingles and audio logos are often owned by companies that guard them as brand assets.
The Avalanches’ choice to work with corporate sound, rather than avoid it, makes “No Bad Memories” a useful case study for producers. It raises questions about where homage ends and licensing begins, and how much of a sound must be transformed before it becomes something new.
For listeners, those questions sit beneath the surface. What comes through first is the group’s signature mix of euphoria and wistfulness, applied to a sonic world most people absorbed without ever choosing to.
Release Details And Formats
“No Bad Memories” is out now on streaming platforms and in physical formats, including a 180-gram yellow double vinyl edition. Modular Recordings handles the release, with EMI Australia releasing the album in the group’s home market. Artwork for the album and its singles was created by Jonathan Zawada.
FAQs
When Did The Avalanches Release No Bad Memories?
The Avalanches released “No Bad Memories” on Friday, October 16, 2026, via Modular Recordings.
Who Is Featured On The Avalanches’ No Bad Memories?
Guests include Carly Simon, Karen O, Jamie xx, Rivers Cuomo, Mike Patton, Haruomi Hosono, Portraits of Tracy, Nikki Nair, Jessy Lanza and Prentiss.
How Many Songs Are On No Bad Memories?
“No Bad Memories” contains 31 tracks, continuing the long-form structure of the group’s previous albums.
Who Are The Members Of The Avalanches?
The Avalanches are Robbie Chater, Tony Di Blasi and Andy Szekeres. Chater and Di Blasi are founding members, and Szekeres is the group’s multi-instrumentalist.
What Is No Bad Memories About?
The album explores how advertising and consumer technology become part of personal memory, using commercial jingles, startup sounds and audio logos as source material.
