Only a few weeks ago, I was arguing that albums still matter. Now, looking at the initial slate staring back at us in 2020, I feel exactly the same way. I get goosebumps when I think of the albums Noname, Moses Sumney, and Frank Ocean might drop in our laps. I feel the same about the new depths and corners Phoebe Bridgers, Torres, and Lana Del Rey may mine and illuminate for us.
I’m also just a sucker for stories. And 2020 looks to have plenty of those — enough so that everyone can find one narrative or another to embrace. Maybe it’ll be the story of J. Cole’s The Fall Off finally coming to fruition, the creative chaos that can be a Grimes album cycle, or someone like Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan stepping out into the spotlight. Maybe it’ll be Jon Frusciante finding his way home, Cardi B ruling the universe all over again, or Alanis Morissette returning to the studio just before setting out on one of the summer’s most anticipated tours.
Hell, maybe you’re just curious how Huey Lewis & the News sound in 2020. My money is on “just too darn loud.”
It really doesn’t matter what you’re excited for, though. Only that the thought — we’re still anticipating, after all — of sitting down with, singing along to, or dancing involuntarily under the spell of one or a dozen of these reported releases suddenly makes 2020 feel a little more tolerable. I’m sure we’ll catch each other as these stories unfold: in reviews, op-eds, and, hopefully, year-end lists (ugh, too soon, I know). But, just for now, let’s savor that sweet, fleeting anticipation that comes when we know we’re about to begin a story unlike any other.
Happy listening in 2020.
–Matt Melis
Editorial Director
Kesha – High Road
Release Date: January 10th
Why We’re Excited: After releasing the more reflective Rainbow in the wake of her burdensome and distressing legal battle with Dr. Luke, Kesha is back to her glittery, grab-life-by-the-horns self on High Road. On early singles “My Own Dance” and “Raising Hell”, she combines feminist underpinnings with the youthful irreverence that once inspired whiskey tooth brushings and P. Diddy feels. Featuring Brian Wilson, Sturgill Simpson, and, uh, Kesha, High Road promises to be an early 2020 highlight. –Christopher Thiessen
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Selena Gomez – Rare
Release Date: January 10th
Why We’re Excited: Everyone knows who Selena Gomez is, but she’s still somewhat of a pop underdog, which doesn’t mean she lacks the material. 2015’s “Hands to Myself” was a languid, gorgeous hit, and 2017’s Talking Heads-sampling “Bad Liar” even won her critical acclaim. Rare’s first taste, “Lose You to Love Me”, is a winning, spare ballad co-written by Billie Eilish’s brother, Finneas, and it was Gomez’s first No. 1 single. Her best may very well be yet to come. –Dan Weiss
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070 Shake – Modus Vivendi
Release Date: January 17th
Why We’re Excited: In 2018, as the ceaseless swirl of Kanye discourse ensued following the release of ye, there was one question that rose above the rest, one that was asked with a fervent desire for an answer: Who was the feature on “Ghost Town”? The answer: 070 Shake. There was something serendipitous about her moment on the track, her haunting rasp crooning on a song about pain, numbness, and death. It was all-consuming. Considering how much buzz she received after that one moment almost two years ago, it’s safe to assume that there is a steady stream of excitement around her imminent debut album. –Lucy Shanker
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Pinegrove – Marigold
Release Date: January 17th
Why We’re Excited: Call your parents and never forget your first love. Pinegrove is ready to take you down another path of lost memories in the middle of the summer, with cars you jump-start in the rain while blasting Cardinal (2016) or Skylight (2018). With Marigold on the incredibly close horizon, late January can’t cover us in sunlight fast enough. –Meggie Gates
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Wolf Parade – Thin Mind
Release Date: January 24th
Why We’re Excited: Blog rock weirdos, rejoice: your king has really, truly returned. After awakening from a seven-year hiatus with 2017’s quietly excellent Cry Cry Cry, Spencer Krug and Wolf Parade seem poised to regain their ’00 indie prominence with Thin Mind. Though early press suggests Krug was inspired by a desire to comment on our over-technologized culture (a path that usually reduces even the deftest lyricists to platitudes), advance singles like “Forest Green” are light on clangers and heavy on urgent arrangements that land with more body-shaking immediacy than we’ve seen since “Grounds for Divorce”. –Tyler Clark
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Destroyer – Have We Met
Release Date: January 31st
Why We’re Excited: Kaputt was one of our top 100 albums of the last decade, but it was only the first in Destroyer’s blemish-free run of records in the ’10s. Dan Bejar hasn’t released a lackluster album since 2008’s rain-soaked Trouble in Dreams, so why would he start now? Judging by the mannered bon mots and nocturnal synth grooves of early singles “Crimson Tide” and “It Just Doesn’t Happen”, the answer is “he wouldn’t, hasn’t, and maybe never will again.” –Tyler Clark
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Frances Quinlan – Likewise
Release Date: January 31st
Why We’re Excited: Hop Along have been favorites of indie music listeners for the better part of a decade. At the center of the project has always been Frances Quinlan, who actually first used the moniker for her solo work. Likewise sees her returning to solo status, now a fully developed songwriter with a powerfully unique voice. Early previews suggest a record Hop Along fans will find familiar yet fresh, a sure way to solidify Quinlan as a sleeper indie force. –Ben Kaye
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Torres – Silver Tongue
Release Date: January 31st
Why We’re Excited: Mackenzie Scott, also known as Torres, adds layers of electronic grooves and understated guitars to a basic background of indie folk until you’re left with a sprawling canvas of invoked doom, devotion, and certainty. The couple of singles we got late in 2019, led by “Good Scare”, seem like a good indication that Silver Tongue, her fourth album, will continue showcasing softly elaborate rhymes and melodies that work on their own terms, guided by drama-fueled vocals and industrial backdrops. –Laura Dzubay
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La Roux – Supervision
Release Date: February 7th
Why We’re Excited: British synthpop musician La Roux has only released two albums during the more than a decade she has spent in the music industry, but they’ve each been showcases for pristine songwriting and joyful ’80s influences. Her biggest single, 2009’s “Bulletproof”, sounds as fresh as it did 10 years ago. The two new singles from her upcoming record are gentler and grander — “Gullible Fool” is seven minutes long — but still outrageously hooky, suggesting a path of musical growth that will yield something beautiful. –Kayleigh Hughes
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Beach Bunny – Honeymoon
Release Date: February 14th
Why We’re Excited: On the backs of four self-released EPs, Beach Bunny built up a ton of buzz out in Chicago over the last half-decade. After popping up on festival bills all over the place, they eventually landed a deal with Mom+Pop. Youthfully earnest and irresistibly catchy, the quartet’s indie pop has the unfussy joy of a band making music because it’s just fun and cathartic to do so. Lead single “Dream Boy” was one of our favorite tracks of 2019, so of course we’re looking forward to the full effort. –Ben Kaye
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Huey Lewis & the News – Weather
Release Date: February 14th
Why We’re Excited: Baby boomers have been catching a lot of well-earned shit lately, but they’re still the generation that gave us the artificial heart, the World Wide Web, and (most importantly) Huey Lewis & the News. The man single-handedly responsible for making me remember 2000 karaoke dramady Duets returns with his band’s first record in 10 years, one that promises a return to the bluesy barroom harmonies that made records like Sports and Fore! ’80s radio staples. –Tyler Clark
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Monsta X – All About Luv
Release Date: February 14th
Why We’re Excited: K-pop has been around since the early ’90s, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the average American music fan finally caught on to this global-dominating genre. As bands like BTS and Blackpink set records for album and ticket sales, groups like the six-member Monsta X patiently waited their turn. However, with an album, All About Luv, ready to drop next month, don’t be surprised if the talented, versatile pop act don’t claim more hearts and ears for the red-hot genre from overseas very, very soon. –Matt Melis
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Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Release Date: February 14th
Why We’re Excited: Aussie psych-rockers Tame Impala are finally back after a five-year break. Their forthcoming album, The Slow Rush, is the “rush” we didn’t realize we’ve been craving until now. Riding on the high of recent singles “It Might Be Time”, “Borderline”, and “Posthumous Forgiveness”, it’s apparent this album will be more experimental than ever — in an “Oooh, this is as refreshing as a newly discovered cocktail on a summer day” kind of way. Nevertheless, we’re convinced The Slow Rush will also highlight that true Tame Impala steez that’s a fine balance between mellow and effervescent. –Gabrielle Pharms
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The 1975 – Notes on a Conditional Form
Release Date: February 21st April 24th
Why We’re Excited: As is the tradition of the English pop-rock band, their soon to be released fourth studio album, Notes on a Conditional Form, opens with an eponymous title track, this time a four-minute speech from 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, sharing: “Now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time to speak clearly.” And if that doesn’t give you a sense of where the album is headed, may we also offer the band’s single “People” that launches off with frontman Matt Healy screaming, “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” and also reminding us to stop fucking with the kids, because the world could use a little civil disobedience purposely punctuated with guitar riffs right now. –Erica Campbell
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BTS – Map of the Soul: 7
BTS, photo courtesy of band
Release Date: February 21st
Why We’re Excited: BTS’ latest EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, made history last year as South Korea’s best-selling album of all time. It’s a daunting achievement for any artist to follow up, but The Beatles-level K-pop sensation has proven time and time again that they’re more than up for the task. Hopefully, 7 will gift us with more addictive hooks and pitch-perfect production while continuing BTS’ pattern of exploring interesting new styles with each release. –Laura Dzubay
Grimes – Miss_Anthrop0cene
Release Date: February 21st
Why We’re Excited: If Grimes taught us anything for 2020, between her unlikely relationship with Elon Musk, holding Azealia Banks hostage in the tech billionaire’s house, and calling her highly acclaimed 2015 record Art Angels a “piece of crap,” it’s to expect the unexpected and then still brace ourselves for the shock. So far, she has released singles inspired by nu-metal, artificial intelligence, and even North Korea’s all-female military band, Moranbong, for Miss_Anthrop0cene, on which, she wrote on Instagram, “Each song will be a different embodiment of human extinction as depicted through a Pop star Demonology.” –Natalie Barr
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Young Thug – Punk
Young Thug, photo by Philip Cosores
Release Date: February
Why We’re Excited: Whether or not you consider last year’s So Much Fun to be Thugger’s “official” debut is moot; with Jeffery Williams, it’s all part of the ride. So, part of the thrill is whether or not its alleged counterpart, Punk, will even materialize; remember HY!£UN35? Mainly the drunk uncle of our warped-sung rap era is still hanging with his peers in prolific, tuneful (£UN3FUL?) bursts, and there’s at least a real chance he’ll include punk songs. –Dan Weiss
Alanis Morissette – Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Release Date: May 1st
Why We’re Excited: Riding the wave of her atomic smash Jagged Little Pill’s 25th anniversary, the Broadway show based on it, and one of the year’s hottest package tours (with Liz Phair and Garbage), an Alanis comeback is as nigh as it will ever be. But she’s been more than a one-album artist, and 1998’s worldlier Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and bangers like “Eight Easy Steps” are as rad as anything else she’s done. Throw another on us. –Dan Weiss
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Moses Sumney – Græ
Release Date: May 15th
Why We’re Excited: Moses Sumney describes his new double LP, Græ, as a “conceptual patchwork about grayness.” It makes sense, as this ambiguous space is a place he often finds himself in. At age 10, Sumney moved from California to Accra, Ghana. He struggled to adjust, often getting teased for his American accent. Similarly, his music has no true home — no defining genre. Aromanticism, his 2017 debut, is filled with glittery, electric reflection and layered harmonies that travel across celestial dreamscapes that dramatically crash and soar. He strings together elements of folk, art pop, and electro-soul that prevent him from being labeled. Whether it be socially or musically, Sumney exists in his own gray area, allowing him to mold and grow into whatever he pleases. Like Sumney, Græ will no doubt create in its own unique, ineffable in-between. –Samantha Small
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Best Coast – Always Tomorrow
Best Coast, photo courtesy of band
Release Date: TBA
Why We’re Excited: Best Coast’s return is long overdue. The band haven’t released an album since 2015’s California Nights, and Always Tomorrow shows a different side to them. While Best Coast became one of the most influential indie bands of the 2010s and won over fans with songs about heartache, Bethany Cosentino has a more optimistic outlook on the new record, singing about feeling free after a breakup on lead single “For the First Time”. After having a wildly successful decade, Always Tomorrow will answer what Best Coast’s transition into the 2020s will sound like. –Tatiana Tenreyro
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