Boards of Canada’s Inferno looms over Friday’s electronic release wave

Boards of Canada’s Inferno arrives on 29 May via Warp, and it is already one of the most discussed electronic releases of the week. That makes it a major 26 May preview item, even before the official Friday drop. The Scottish duo have not released a full studio album since Tomorrow’s Harvest in 2013, so any new Boards of Canada record arrives under a fog of myth, numerology, nostalgia and fans acting like they have been handed a classified document from a haunted public information film.

The album rollout has included cryptic campaign elements, new music and listening events, and early reviews have already started to appear. The Guardian’s early review was notably critical, calling the return disappointing, but even mixed responses underline how much weight the duo still carry in left-field electronic music.

Boards of Canada’s influence runs through hauntology, ambient electronic music, IDM, vaporous nostalgia, sample-based unease and the strange feeling of childhood memories being played back on a damaged tape. For a 26 May digest, Inferno belongs as a release-week weather system. Whether it becomes a triumphant return or a divisive cult object, it will be one of the records everyone in the electronic underground is arguing about by the weekend. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/23/boards-of-canada-inferno-review-after-13-years-away-their-prodigal-return-is-a-big-disappointment ; Release guide: https://pitchfork.com/news/new-album-releases/