New Wave Graveyard
Josh Da Costa
Josh da Costa’s New Wave Graveyard is the Los Angeles musician’s debut solo album, released by Stones Throw Records on July 24, 2026. Its 11 songs and 43-minute runtime form what da Costa calls “a greatest hits from a parallel universe”—a deliberately varied collection of imaginary pop classics rather than a record tied to a single genre or mood. Drawing on his work with Regal Degal and collaborations with artists including Drugdealer and MGMT, he moves through glam rock, new wave, shoegaze, jangle pop, psychedelic indie, and synth-driven post-punk. The album’s title also reflects his view of Los Angeles as a hollowed-out relic of a past cultural moment, giving its colorful melodies a faintly melancholic undertow.
The record opens with “Skygirl,” a fuzzy, sunlit guitar song about romantic yearning, and follows with “Proving Me Right,” which marries 1980s rock drama to pop sheen and shoegaze texture. “Cordelia” is a psychedelic pop ballad, while “Shireen” places a bright 12-string guitar hook in a new-wave, surf-tinged setting. Da Costa makes room for darker emotions in “Tissues,” which confronts depression and anxiety, and “Slip By,” a danceable song about friends drifting apart; the latter has a distinctly New Order-like pulse. By the time “Beach in the Rain” closes the album with neon synthesizers and techno-inflected momentum, New Wave Graveyard has made its central idea clear: it is a playful, emotionally observant collage of underground-pop histories, filtered through a songwriter more interested in memorable songs than stylistic purity.
New Wave Graveyard
Josh Da Costa
Josh da Costa’s New Wave Graveyard is the Los Angeles musician’s debut solo album, released by Stones Throw Records on July 24, 2026. Its 11 songs and 43-minute runtime form what da Costa calls “a greatest hits from a parallel universe”—a deliberately varied collection of imaginary pop classics rather than a record tied to a single genre or mood. Drawing on his work with Regal Degal and collaborations with artists including Drugdealer and MGMT, he moves through glam rock, new wave, shoegaze, jangle pop, psychedelic indie, and synth-driven post-punk. The album’s title also reflects his view of Los Angeles as a hollowed-out relic of a past cultural moment, giving its colorful melodies a faintly melancholic undertow.
The record opens with “Skygirl,” a fuzzy, sunlit guitar song about romantic yearning, and follows with “Proving Me Right,” which marries 1980s rock drama to pop sheen and shoegaze texture. “Cordelia” is a psychedelic pop ballad, while “Shireen” places a bright 12-string guitar hook in a new-wave, surf-tinged setting. Da Costa makes room for darker emotions in “Tissues,” which confronts depression and anxiety, and “Slip By,” a danceable song about friends drifting apart; the latter has a distinctly New Order-like pulse. By the time “Beach in the Rain” closes the album with neon synthesizers and techno-inflected momentum, New Wave Graveyard has made its central idea clear: it is a playful, emotionally observant collage of underground-pop histories, filtered through a songwriter more interested in memorable songs than stylistic purity.