The LP continues to be alluring in part because it’s difficult to make a great one. When confronting new albums by artists with something to prove, we listen not just for new songs but also to understand the statements they are trying to make. By hearing them wrestle with a range of moods and styles on a larger canvas, we understand better how their music might fit into our own lives.
Much has been said about what streaming media means in terms of convenience—near-infinite choice, algorithmic discovery, frictionless delivery, playlists crafted for every mood. But albums endure because they raise the stakes, both for musicians and for listeners. They take time, and they can be challenging. The following 10 songs come from artists, mostly veterans, who have records expected in the coming months. Most have been announced, a couple are only rumored. Each song, while intriguing on its own, serves as a clue about what we’ll be listening for and how we might engage with the LP when it arrives.
No one has mastered music in the streaming era like Drake, but he had a quiet 2019. In a recent interview with the Rap Radar podcast, he hinted that a new album will come this year. “War,” a song released on Christmas Eve, may or may not be on it, but the single draws from his strengths, using a beat from a fashionable but underexposed musical style (in this case, the rap sub-genre U.K. drill) as a foundation for his relaxed but forceful vocal style.
The Weeknd, aka singer Abel Tesfaye, became a major star in the 2010s. “Blinding Lights,” which arrived in late November and might land on his rumored fourth studio album, is a good illustration of why he has become such a mainstream force. Co-produced by Swedish hitmaker Max Martin, it points toward sounds from the 1980s, bringing to mind new wave groups like Depeche Mode and the Human League, and it’s miles away from the murky R&B of the Weeknd’s early days.
If Drake and The Weeknd are preparing albums that they hope will extend their dominance, other artists are turning to the form to regain relevance after being out of the spotlight. Grimes, the singer born Claire Boucher, made many 2010s critic’s lists with her records “Visions” (2012) and “Art Angels” (2015), on which she crafted alien pop that embraced the sound of technology while maintaining a deeply human core. “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth,” a single from “Miss Anthropocene” (4AD), due in February, finds her unsettlingly dreamy aesthetic intact.
Tame Impala, the Australian rock band led by Kevin Parker, has also been silent on the album front since 2015. The bewitching “Posthumous Forgiveness,” a recent single released in advance of the group’s fourth LP, “The Slow Rush” (Interscope/Modular), slated for February, is slow and atmospheric and showcases Tame Impala’s ability to blur genre lines, mixing swirling psychedelia with the smoothness of R&B.
Kesha (born Kesha Sebert ) was a pop force in the early years of the last decade. In 2014, she sued to be released from her contract, alleging that her producer, Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald), abused her “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally,” and she didn’t release new music for several years. (Mr. Gottwald denied her allegations and filed a countersuit for defamation that is still pending; Ms. Sebert’s various claims were eventually dropped or dismissed.) Her 2017 album “Rainbow” was her return to music, and “High Road” (RCA/Kemosabe), coming Jan. 31, is the follow-up. “Resentment,” an early single from the record, is a powerful countrified ballad built around acoustic guitar with contributions from rootsy singer Sturgill Simpson and background vocals from Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, evincing a convincing warmth and maturity.
Another acoustic-leaning song from a singer who made her name with other styles comes from Halsey, aka Ashley Nicolette Frangipane. She’s had some big hits, but her two full-length albums have been inconsistent. “Finally//Beautiful Stranger,” a gliding power ballad that puts Ms. Frangipane’s distinctive, conversational phrasing front-and-center, will appear on “Manic” (Capitol), her new full-length album, set for release on Jan. 17.
The LP can be a tool for reinvention, and with certain chameleon artists you never know what to expect from the next one. Since their self-titled 2013 debut, English band The 1975 have hopped from one genre to the next, borrowing from punk, new wave, R&B and indie rock. “Frail State of Mind,” from “Notes on a Conditional Form” (Dirty Hit/Polydor), due in February, is an electro-pop number built around a drum loop and ethereal background vocals, evoking the warped sound of early James Blake.
In his lengthy career, Dan Bejar’s project Destroyer has touched on dark synth-pop, English folk, and explosive rock modeled after Bruce Springsteen. “Crimson Tide,” from his “Have We Met” (Merge/Dead Oceans) due Jan. 31, finds the Vancouver native returning to the sparkling new romantic sound he introduced on his 2011 LP “Kaputt,” delivering droll lines about desire and existential despair over an icy arrangement.
Caribou, the project of fellow Canadian Dan Snaith, started out making ambient, moved to psychedelic rock, and more recently has turned to muted but pulsating dance music. “You and I,” from the late February release “Suddenly” (Merge), the first album from Caribou since 2014, combines gentle balladry with heavily processed interludes that twist the groove into odd shapes.
Moses Sumney’s 2017 release “Aromanticism” marked him as a singer and songwriter to watch, as he moved easily between rustic acoustic settings, baroque Beach Boys-style harmony, and soul-inflected balladry. “Polly,” a single from his second album, “græ” (Jagjaguwar), a two-record set being released in two parts in February and May, mixes all those sounds in a single song, hinting that an ambitious LP may be on the way. As with other artists here, Mr. Sumney has taken his time to get the next full-length release right, knowing that it could shape how his work is received for years to come.
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2020-01-01 12:00:00Z
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