It’s time to start looking ahead at what we can expect from 2019. The answer: a whole lot of goodness if all of this lot keep their promises and release the albums we’ve been waiting for. Here’s to 2019 and, hopefully, a busy year for great records.
Tame Impala – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBC
What’s on it: We’ve no idea – Kevin Parker has suggested we won’t know until it’s time for the record to be released, because he likes “that the first time people hear it is the kind of recorded glory.”
What can we expect: Maybe some big collaborations? Kevin’s been working with a lot of people – Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, SZA, Theophilus London – since ‘Currents’ so his new network of musical pals might pop up somewhere.
Stormzy – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBC
What’s on it: Stormzy’s keeping tight-lipped about the whole thing so you’ll have to wait to find out.
What can we expect: The man himself isn’t saying much but producer Fraser T. Smith has said not to expect him to just redo ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’. “It’s going to be an incredibly exciting journey and an incredibly exciting sophomore album,” he told Music Week.
Grimes – ‘TBA’
What’s on it: Grimes shared snippets of two songs this summer that could make the final cut, calling them a “cheesy love song” and an “ethereal chav jam that’s like a cyberpunk interpretation of the Bajirao Mastani movie.” Obviously.
What can we expect: There’s not much definite info around currently but Grimes herself told a fan the next record would be “highly collaborative and most glorious light” so expect some special guests cropping up.
My Bloody Valentine – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: No word of any of the tracks yet but the group did play a new song at Meltdown this summer that could feature.
What can we expect: The band haven’t given too many details on what to expect, other than a lot of new material in the coming months. Kevin Shields has revealed the band are set to work on another new record immediately after finishing up this one.
Migos – ‘Culture III’
Release date: January.
What’s on it: No tracklist has been confirmed at present.
What can we expect: The trio haven’t given us much to go on at present but we’d expect some collaborations to crop up – perhaps with Cardi B, who’s worked with Migos before and is married to Offset, or maybe with Drake, who the three rappers have been on tour with in the US.
Kanye West – ‘Yandhi’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Supposedly, collaborations with the late XXXTentacion and controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, but knowing Kanye, that could all change.
What can we expect: We’d suggest expecting the unexpected – Yeezy is likely to surprise us all, whether that’s for better or worse.
Lana Del Rey – ‘Norman Fucking Rockwell’
Release date: “The top of 2019”
What’s on it: We’ve already heard quite a few songs from the record, including the mournful ‘Venice Bitch’, classic LDR bop ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’, and piano ballad ‘How To Disappear’. She’s also teased another track called ‘Sylvia Plath’ and a collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly, which could end up on the record.
What can we expect: “It was in the vein of a Laurel Canyon sound,” she told Radio 1 when ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’ was released. “And it’s kind of transformed a little bit because there’s some surf elements to some of the songs – it’s not really surfy like Dick Dale but a lot of electric guitar, a little Red Hot Chili Peppers influence in there.”
The 1975 – ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’
Release date: Potentially June 1, but that could change.
What’s on it: We’ll have to wait until ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ is released for more info, but Matty Healy has said ’28’, originally by Drive Like I Do (aka The 1975 before they were The 1975) will make an appearance.
What can we expect: A “nighttime” record, according to the band’s manager.
Rihanna – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Apparently RiRi has been busy working on two albums – one of “chart-friendly songs” and another of “moody and experimental tracks.”
What can we expect: If reports are to be believed, a lot of dancehall. Apparently Rihanna’s been in the studio with some of the biggest producers and artists in the genre to help make the record another certified banger.
The Distillers – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: A new album hasn’t exactly been confirmed as yet but the reunited punks did release a new single in ‘Man Vs Magnet’ and ‘Blood In Gutters’ earlier this year, so we’d imagine at least one of those tracks would feature on an eventual LP.
What can we expect: No-holds-barred, fearless punk with a pop edge landing somewhere between the band’s last record, 2003’s ‘Coral Fang’, and frontwoman Brody Dalle’s solo album, judging by the two new songs.
Slipknot – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA, but Corey Taylor has suggested the record will be out in summer.
What’s on it: The monstrous new song ‘All Out Life’, we’d imagine.
What can we expect: Speaking to Zane Lowe on Beats 1, Taylor promised something dark, heavy, melodic, fierce, angry, and “raw as hell.” In an interview with Metal Hammer, he added: “Some of this shit is just so hard and dirty fast. It’s fucking really good. It’s also us at our most ambitious, our most experimental, also us doing what we fucking do best which is basically when everybody thinks they’ve got us figured out, we just smack them in the face with everything we’ve got.”
Dua Lipa – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: The pop star’s keeping schtum about her second record’s contents for now.
What can we expect: Dua told GQ: “It is a pop album that you’re going to be able to dance to, but a lot of the songs are sad – they’re about heartbreak and they’re about going through some emotional manipulation.”
The Raconteurs – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Your guess is as good as ours.
What can we expect: It’s hard to say with The Raconteurs – they’re not the most predictable of bands and it will have been over a decade since their last album by the time we got hold of this newie so everything could have changed. Will Jack White’s hip-hop experiments from his latest solo album ‘Boarding House Reach’ continue over to this record?
Chance The Rapper – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Chance has confirmed the record will have seven tracks. What they are is still a mystery at present.
What can we expect: An appearance from Kanye seems likely after the pair have been in the studio together in Chicago.
Cardi B – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Possibly her latest single and Black Panther-quoting anthem, ‘Money’.
What can we expect: Confidence, sauciness, and some slamming tunes. Details about the follow-up to ‘Invasion Of Privacy’ are scarce but, with the momentum Cardi’s on right now, we’d expect it to be challenging for album of the year.
Adele – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA, but its rumoured to be released around Christmas 2019.
What’s on it: Nothing’s made its way out of the studio yet.
What can we expect: If it’s classic Adele, some powerhouse ballads that move you to tears, whether you like it or not.
Foals – ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: No tracks have been confirmed at present.
What can we expect: Not one, but two albums. While teasing the record, the band suggested it would be released as Part 1 and Part 2. On Instagram, they confirmed to a querying fan that meant two albums rather than one split in half. Aside from that, we don’t know much about the records yet, although frontman Yannis Philippakis has said the band needed to “go through some sort of violent change” in whatever they did next.
Solange – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: It’s currently a mystery.
What can we expect: Solange told the New York Times last year her follow-up to ‘A Seat At The Table’ had “a lot of jazz at the core”, as well as “electronic and hip-hop drum and bass because I want it to bang and make your trunk rattle.” She also teased a potential surprise release, so keep your eyes peeled.
Mark Ronson – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Country-disco Miley Cyrus collab ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’, tracks with Lykke Li, The xx’s Romy Madley-Croft, and King Princess, and plenty of other sad bangers.
What can we expect: Ronson hasn’t become one of pop’s go-to producers without knowing his way around a hook and some classic songwriting. It seems impossible that his new solo album won’t showcase both of those, while the tracks were inspired by his divorce.
Childish Gambino – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Maybe ‘This Is America’, maybe ‘Summertime Magic’ or ‘Feels Like Summer’.
What can we expect: Will Gambino’s next, and possibly last, album continue down the politically-charged lane of ‘This Is America’ or opt for more feel-good, brighter moments like ‘Summer Pack’? It could go either way or be a mixed bag of the two. Whatever he does, expect it to be a magnificent addition to his ever-growing legacy.
Sleater-Kinney – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: We’ve not been given any hints yet.
What can we expect: A St. Vincent-produced masterpiece, unless something goes very wrong. The iconic band recently confirmed Annie Clark was behind the mixing desk on the follow-up to 2016’s ‘No Cities To Love’, setting some sections of the internet into a merry spin.
Liam Gallagher – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: Nothing’s confirmed at yet but expect Liam to stick to what he does best – absolute anthems.
What can we expect: In February, he told NME it would be “a bit more up-tempo, a bit more in-yer-face [and] less apologetic” than ‘As You Were’. He also suggested he’d like to do a “proper out-and-out punk rock album”, so we’ll see how far he takes that.
King Princess – ‘TBA’
Release date: TBA
What’s on it: There’s no confirmed tracklist but ‘Pussy Is God’ could make an appearance.
What can we expect: Some of the smartest, most instantly loveable pop around right now, if Mikaela Straus’ work so far is anything to go by. She also told NME last year her debut would see her re-embracing her hometown of New York.
Giggs – ‘Big Bad’
Release date: February 22
What’s on it: The rapper is keeping shtum on the tracklist so far.
What can we expect: All we’ve got to go on at the moment is a trailer for the record. It’s soundtracked by what is presumably music from the record and it sounds powerfully menacing, all whirring melodies and dark, grinding beats.