1st Drop Music in 2025: Releases, Relocation, and the Momentum Toward 2026

2025 was not a quiet year for 1st Drop Music—it was a pivotal one. Marked by new releases, expanding artist identities, and a major geographic transition, the year represented a reset that strengthened the label’s foundation rather than slowing it down. While the final quarter of the year intentionally eased as the label completed its move to Tucson, the broader arc of 2025 tells a story of growth, collaboration, and preparation for an explosive 2026.

Operating now between Tucson and Flagstaff, 1st Drop Music closed the year more connected, more diverse, and more forward-facing than ever.

A Year of Output and Intention

Rather than chasing volume, 1st Drop Music focused on meaningful releases in 2025—albums that mattered, singles that built worlds, and collaborations that blurred genre lines. Hip-hop, electronic, alternative, and folk all coexisted under the same umbrella, united by independence and regional identity.

2025 Releases: Albums, Singles, and Creative Arcs

Bear Cole — Butterflies

One of the defining releases of the year was Butterflies, a full-length album that reaffirmed Bear Cole’s role as both sonic architect and emotional storyteller within the label.

Butterflies unfolds as a complete album statement—genre-fluid, reflective electronic dance, and meticulously produced. It bridges electronic textures with songwriter instincts, leaning into vulnerability without sacrificing movement. As a full-length release, it anchored the 2025 catalog and set a creative bar heading into the next cycle.

In unison Bear Cole has released the main base of his pop album Love in the Time of A.I.

The songwriting project still utilizes Bear Cole’s electronic production heavily, and is full of love songs pulling from multiple genres.

WUUYUH — High-Volume Experimentation

2025 marked a major arrival for WUUYUH within the 1st Drop Music ecosystem. Throughout the year, WUUYUH released:

• Multiple singles

• Numerous collaborations

• Several remixes

• Early releases and concept work tied to three different upcoming albums: WUU Girl$, Chewing Nails feat. Bear the Astronot, and Sweet Treats Vol.1

Stylistically, WUUYUH moved freely across EDM, phonk, trap, bass music, ambient, and hybrid electronic forms. The output wasn’t random—it was research and development, laying the groundwork for distinct album identities that will fully emerge in 2026.

Turntable Kachina — ARIZONA Singles

Turntable Kachina spent 2025 releasing multiple singles connected to the upcoming album ARIZONA. These tracks, released as Bear the Astronot featuring Turntable Kachina, explored regional identity through electronic music—desert rhythms, wide-open space, and cinematic pacing.

Rather than rushing the album, these singles functioned as world-building pieces, each expanding the sonic language of ARIZONA while strengthening collaboration within the roster.

Turntable Kachina’s snowball album CORE is still growing, and will have multiple new songs adde in 2026.

Bear the Astronot — Collaboration Over Isolation

While Bear the Astronot did not release a solo album in 2025, his presence was felt throughout the year via featured performances—most notably across Turntable Kachina’s ARIZONA singles. His lyrical contributions added narrative gravity and grounded perspective, reinforcing the collaborative DNA that defines 1st Drop Music.

His solo snowball album DUST also saw multiple new song entries in 2025.

Feral Business — Building Sanpaku Eyes

Feral Business released multiple singles in 2025 as part of the rollout for their upcoming album Sanpaku Eyes. Each release sharpened the band’s alternative dance-rock identity—dark, rhythm-driven, and emotionally confrontational.

Rather than flooding the year with content, the band focused on precision—allowing each single to breathe while steadily building anticipation for the full-length release to come.

Sagebrush & The Little Flowers — Flower Power (The Complete Collection)

2025 also delivered a deeply rooted, songwriter-driven statement with Flower Power (The Complete Collection), a full-length album that brought together singles and expanded material into one cohesive work.

Blending folk traditions, indie rock sensibilities, and desert storytelling, the album added an entirely new emotional register to the 1st Drop Music catalog—proof that the label’s identity isn’t tied to genre, but to authenticity.

Two New Artists, One Expanding Vision

A major development in 2025 was the official addition of two new artists to the 1st Drop Music roster:

• Sagebrush & The Little Flowers

• WUUYUH

On paper, these projects sit at opposite ends of the musical spectrum—one rooted in organic songwriting and folk tradition, the other immersed in electronic experimentation and digital sound design. Yet 2025 revealed the connective tissue between them.

Unexpected Collaborations

Despite their differences, both artists found creative overlap through:

• Remix projects

• Cross-genre reinterpretations

• Experimental collaborations that recontextualized songs rather than flattening them

These collaborations became a microcosm of what 1st Drop Music does best: creating space where unlikely sounds can coexist and inform one another.

The Tucson Move and the Q4 Slowdown

The final quarter of 2025 saw a purposeful slowdown as 1st Drop Music completed its relocation to Tucson. This pause allowed the label to:

• Establish new studios and workflows

• Reconnect Northern and Southern Arizona pipelines

• Organize catalogs, metadata, and release infrastructure

• Prepare multiple album campaigns simultaneously

In independent music, sustainability is strategy—and 1st Drop Music chose longevity over noise.

Looking Ahead: 2026 Is Already Loud

With the move complete and multiple albums in progress, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most active years in label history. New music is coming from:

• Bear Cole

• Bear the Astronot

• Turntable Kachina

• Feral Business

• WUUYUH

• Sagebrush & The Little Flowers

• Michael Patrick Ceol

From Tucson’s desert streets to Flagstaff’s mountain air, 1st Drop Music enters 2026 unified, energized, and ready to release at full velocity.

2025 built the runway.

2026 is the takeoff.

bearcole

Bear Gallagher-Cole also known under a list of artist names is the founder of 1st Drop Music. He embarked on a professional journey and love affair with music very young, and has worked in multiple roles in the industry ever since. Making a living for decades as a DJ, Sound Tech, Touring Artist, Studio Engineer, and Label Owner. He now runs 1st Drop Music when he isn't working as an I.T. Professional, Project Manager, and Admin. When he isn't at work you are most likely to find Bear way out in the woods somewhere enjoying nature.