Halle-frickin’-lujah…2020 is now officially in our rearview and the new year has begun. Which means that there’s a ton of new music that will bless our eager ears in the days, weeks and months to come.
Below, we’ve identified the 30 albums we’re most excited to lay our ears upon in 2021, based on the information available to date, which is admittedly scarce for select titles. As the respective album details and as-yet-to-be-announced release dates emerge, we’ll provide additional coverage, streams and reviews.
In the meantime, explore the first half of the list below and the second half here. And of course, be sure to let us know which forthcoming albums are on your wishlist for the year ahead!
ADELE | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Alasdair McLellan
What We Know So Far: More than five years have passed since the mighty, multi-platinum-many-times-over Ms. Adkins released her third studio affair 25 back in November 2015, so one would assume that the clock is ticking louder and louder for its inevitable follow-up. During her opening monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live this past October, Adele addressed why she wasn’t also assuming musical guest duties (admirably performed instead by H.E.R.) by explaining, “my album’s not done yet.” “Yet” being the operative word here, suggesting that progress toward the finished product is indeed being made.
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TORI AMOS | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Desmond Murray
What We Know So Far: Although her sixteenth studio album and successor to 2017’s Native Invader failed to materialize in 2020, Tori Amos remained plenty busy this year, with the spring unveiling of her acclaimed memoir Resistance: A Songwriter’s Story of Hope, Change, and Courage and her timely holiday-themed EP Christmastide that emerged last month. Though no details about the album have surfaced to date, Amos has alluded to plans for a 2021 tour, most recently upon speaking with Rolling Stone just a few weeks ago. And when there’s a tour, there’s most often a new album to tour in support of. Fingers crossed.
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JULIEN BAKER | Little Oblivions
Release Date: February 26th
What We Know So Far: The follow-up to Baker’s second album Turn Out The Lights (2017) and her collaborative, eponymous 2018 EP with boygenius colleagues Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, Little Oblivions is preceded by the introspective lead single “Faith Healer,” which the singer-songwriter explains is inspired by “parallels between the escapism of substance abuse and the other various means of escapism that had occupied a similar, if less easily identifiable, space in my psyche.”
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BLACK COFFEE | Subconsciously
Release Date: February 5th
What We Know So Far: South African DJ and producer Black Coffee has methodically built momentum behind his forthcoming long player by releasing four sterling, guest-supported singles dating back to September 2019. If the lush soundscapes and inspired vocals of “LaLaLa” (featuring Usher), “SBCNCSLY” (Sabrina Claudio), “Ready For You” (Celeste) and “10 Missed Calls” (Pharrell Williams, Jozzy) offer any indication, Subconsciously will constitute must-hear material upon its arrival this February.
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EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS | Hunter And The Dog Star
Release Date: February 19th
Photo: Todd Crusham
What We Know So Far: Preceded by lead single “My Power,” the band’s fifth studio album is “a collection of songs reflecting the mystery of self-expression, loyalty, companionship and love in the darkest sky just before dawn,” according to Brickell. In other words, a fitting musical companion as we leave a bleak year behind and transition, with hope in our hearts, toward a fresh start in 2021.
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CELESTE | Not Your Muse
Release Date: February 26th
What We Know So Far: The heavy weight of expectation accompanies the forthcoming release of the California-born, UK-bred singer-songwriter’s inaugural album, as she is the most recent recipient of the BRIT Award for Rising Star and BBC Music’s Introducing Artist of the Year. “For me, (Not Your Muse) is the beginning of me finding my voice, the one that empowers me and hopefully those who it reaches,” she shared via Twitter. “Each song that has been written can pinpoint a very specific moment in my life, so I look forward to you all hearing those stories.”
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CHVRCHES | CHV4 (Working Title)
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Danny Clinch
What We Know So Far: The Glaswegian trio have spent the pandemic-induced lockdown recording their fourth studio album—the follow-up to 2018’s Love Is Dead—remotely and separately. “It’s been a learning curve,” vocalist Lauren Mayberry explained during a recent DIY interview. “But if anything—it’s kinda weird—it feels like we’re more connected and united in terms of what we’re trying to do than we have been in a long time. Maybe everyone’s grasping for any kind of interaction, or any kind of thing that’s familiar, but it’s been nice to feel like everyone’s pulling in the same direction and to have something positive to focus on. The tunes aren’t necessarily that positive, but then it wouldn’t really be CHVRCHES if they were.”
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THE CURE | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
What We Know So Far: Twelve long years have elapsed since Robert Smith and crew blessed the world with their most recent studio album, 2008’s 4:13 Dream, and the collective patience of the band’s legion of devotees may (finally) be rewarded in 2021 with the arrival of the band’s fourteenth studio LP. Speaking with BBC Radio 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq this past September, Smith offered quick updates about a handful of forthcoming projects, sharing that, “Our whole idea for this year was really finishing off the album we started last year, me finishing off the solo album and also, finishing digitizing decades of stuff in order to make this film with Tim Pope about the history of the band. So, it’s actually benefited me because there have been no other distractions, so I’ve actually got a lot of what I wanted to do, done.”
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D’ANGELO | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Mary Ellen Matthews
What We Know So Far: File this under “wishful thinking,” but rumors of D’Angelo’s much-anticipated follow-up to 2014’s masterful Black Messiah have been percolating for nearly two years. No concrete information has surfaced thus far, but as with Black Messiah, there’s a good chance that the acclaimed soulman will simply unleash the new project with no advance warning or fanfare.
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LANA DEL REY | Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Release Date: March 19th
Photo: Pamela Cochrane
What We Know So Far: Though its release date has been delayed a few times now, all signs point to the acclaimed songstress’ seventh studio album surfacing soon, with the official pre-order and video for the title track set to be available January 11th. In the meantime, lead single “Let Me Love You Like A Woman” offers more than enough to whet our appetites for the new project, which its creator describes as “folky … beautiful … super different from Norman F**king Rockwell!"
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DR. DRE | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Scott Council
What We Know So Far: Not much, beyond a recent tweet from Detroit emcee Page Kennedy, who claims to have heard the legendary producer’s fourth studio album. Whether it drops in 2021 or not, Dre’s follow-up to 2015’s star-studded affair Compton will surely be the hip-hop event of the year, with his esteemed proteges and fellow trailblazers Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Anderson .Paak, among others, likely along for the must-listen ride.
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DUBSTAR | Two
Release Date: TBD
What We Know So Far: This enduringly dynamic duo scored not one, but two entries in our playlist featuring the 100 Essential Songs of 2020 with the poignant, back-to-back punch of “Hygiene Strip” and “I Can See You Outside,” further stoking our impatience for their forthcoming fifth studio album. With their proven penchant for crafting stirring, sophisticated pop continuing to evolve in thrilling ways nearly three decades into their recording career, Sarah Blackwood and Chris Wilkie’s planned follow-up to 2018’s captivating “comeback” project One promises to deliver much-needed inspiration for pandemic-weary minds, hearts and souls.
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BILLIE EILISH | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Darkroom/Interscope
What We Know So Far: After Eilish’s debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? ravaged the competition at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards with multiple wins across all of the major categories, expectations were sky-high for Eilish’s next musical move. But the 19-years-young singer-songwriter has remained cool, calm & collected in the wake of her unprecedented success, steadily releasing a handful of memorable singles over the past year or so, while recording her sophomore album. “Billie and I are full steam ahead on her next record, I’m working on my own album too," Eilish’s brother and musical partner Finneas recently confided to Australia’s Herald-Sun. “Billie’s album, and my album, they won’t be a bummer COVID record. I have a desperate desire not to release them during COVID-19. It’s the vaccine record! I want it to be the album everyone’s out dancing in the streets to.” We can’t wait.
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FOO FIGHTERS | Medicine At Midnight
Release Date: February 5th
Photo: Danny Clinch
What We Know So Far: Originally slated to arrive in 2020 but placed on hold due to the pandemic, Dave Grohl and company’s tenth studio album and follow-up to 2017’s Concrete and Gold find them stretching their sound while offering an uplifting musical antidote to these troubled times. “Since it’s our tenth record and 25th anniversary, we decided years ago that we wanted to do something that sounded fresh,” Grohl recently told NME. “A lot of our favorite records have these big grooves and riffs. I hate to call it a funk or dance record, but it’s more energetic in a lot of ways than anything we’ve ever done and it was really designed to be that Saturday night party album. It was written and sequenced in a way that you put on, and nine songs later you’ll just put it on again.” Music really is the best medicine, isn’t it? Sign us up.
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GARBAGE | Title TBD
Release Date: TBD
Photo: Joseph Cultice
What We Know So Far: Earlier this year, the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of their eponymous, breakthrough debut album Garbage (1995) and now they’ve apparently set their sights on completing their upcoming seventh studio LP, the follow-up to 2016’s Strange Little Birds. “We have a new record being mixed as we speak that’s going to come out next year,” Shirley Manson told Rolling Stone back in August. “We’ve got three more songs to go and then we’re done. And then we’ll concentrate on the artwork and start planning for next year.”
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