Baauer returns
- Electronic producer Baauer announced his first full-length album in six years, per recent music roundups. - The album announcement marked his return after a multi-year gap in studio LP releases. - The news is part of wider new-release coverage rolling across outlets and playlists this week (x.com).
Baauer has announced U, his first full-length album in six years, and released the lead single “Better” ahead of the record’s June 12 arrival on LuckyMe. (bandcamp.com) The album is listed as Baauer’s third studio LP and includes 16 tracks, with guest appearances from Aluna, Brazy, Betsy, KUČKA and Supafly. Baauer’s Bandcamp page says Hudson Mohawke executive-produced the project, with additional production from Parisi and piano and keys from Eli Teplin. (bandcamp.com) Apple Music also lists U as a June 12, 2026 pre-release with 16 songs, including “Better,” “Kiss on the Lips,” “One Last Time,” and “Gravity / Chaos Flow.” (music.apple.com) This is Baauer’s first album since Planet’s Mad, which LuckyMe released on June 19, 2020. That six-year gap is the longest stretch between LPs in a catalog that previously included Aa in 2016 and Planet’s Mad in 2020. (bandcamp.com, allmusic.com) The new record shifts the framing from the apocalyptic world-building of Planet’s Mad to a dance-floor reference point. Baauer’s Bandcamp notes describe U as an ode to the tracks that shaped his teenage years in London and say the album was built to sound like a “long-lost Radio 1 Essential Mix.” (bandcamp.com) Baauer, born Harrison Rodrigues, first broke into the mainstream with “Harlem Shake,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2013 and stayed there for five weeks. Billboard’s artist page still lists it as his lone Hot 100 chart-topper. (billboard.com) That hit’s viral life made Baauer a household name outside dance music, but his album work has mostly stayed on a different track: dense, club-focused records released through LuckyMe rather than pop crossover LPs. U keeps that label partnership in place for a third straight studio album. (billboard.com, bandcamp.com) Music outlets folded the announcement into this week’s wider release calendars, which is how the news surfaced beyond Baauer’s own channels. Billboard’s running 2026 album calendar says it is updating new announcements as they arrive, and Yahoo’s pickup of Pitchfork’s item identified U as Baauer’s first release in six years. (billboard.com, yahoo.com) For now, the clearest preview is “Better,” the only track released in full before the album drop. The rest of U is set to arrive on June 12, with vinyl and compact disc editions already up for pre-order on Bandcamp. (bandcamp.com, music.apple.com)
