2015 brought with it Jamie xx’s In Colour, Grimes’ Art Angels, Tame Impala’s Currents and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. It also brought the album that made everyone like Justin Bieber, with his release of Purpose, and Adele returned with 25. As 2016 rears its head, here are some of the albums we are most looking forward to throughout the year.
Set to be released next month, The 1975’s sophomore album, I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, is sure to leave many disc jockeys tongue-tied. However, from the eclectic musical styles expressed in the record’s first three singles – ‘Love Me’, ‘UGH!’ and ‘The Sound’ – the 17-track album is also sure to leave fans of the Manchester group duly satisfied. Described by frontman Matt Healy as a record about “bold decisions, conviction, and not having any fear,” you can expect every track to be exquisitely experimental, whilst also retaining the same poetic flavour that was so evident in the group’s self-titled debut in 2013.
I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It is set to be released on 26th February 2016 via Dirty Hit and Interscope.
Anneka Honeyball, News Editor.
Since releasing her debut album Goddess in 2013, BANKS has become a confident and provocative voice in the contemporary electronic/alternative music sphere. With a discography comprised of tracks such as ‘Beggin’ For Thread’ and ‘Drowning’, BANKS evokes a dark, intriguing sound that is synchronously epic and subtle. Releasing the lead single from her upcoming second studio album late last year, ‘Better’ demonstrates the artist furthering her crunchy, seductive vocals for an explosive result. Although an exact date is not set, BANKS confirmed last year that the LP will be available “early, early next year”, meaning it could drop any moment now. For now, we shall sit on the edge of our seats with anticipation as the teasing, captivating echoes of ‘Better’ gets us excited for the sound to come.
Lewis Taplin, Deputy Editor.
Following ARTPOP – an experimental dance-charged explosion that was globally dubbed a flop worldwide by the media – was always going to be a challenging task. However, since the 2013 release of ARTPOP, Gaga has achieved incredible feats in the entertainment world. From performing at the 2015 Oscars to widespread praise to winning a Grammy for her collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett. From being awarded Billboard’s Woman of the Year to winning a Golden Globe for her performance in American Horror Story: Hotel. And most recently being nominated for an Oscar for her song ‘Til It Happens To You’, which features on The Hunting Ground, a documentary about campus rape. The future for Gaga, viewed sceptically by many in 2013, has gone now full-circle. For the new album, it is rumoured that Gaga has been working with RedOne (who helped create many of her early hits), Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers, all hinting at the disco-infused pop anthems that are likely to spawn from the upcoming release. No release date and no title confirmed, but still one of our most anticipated albums for this year.
Lewis Taplin, Deputy Editor.
With hats being tipped to influences from Beck and Bryan Ferry, this year electronic quartet Metronomy are set to release a follow up to 2013’s Love Letters. Love Letters brought with it a shift in tone from 2012’s The English Riviera, with romanticised guitar licks and gentle melodies being balanced by the band’s more electronic sound. Frontman Joseph Mount has said that the new album will serve as an antidote of sorts to the minimalism found on Love Letters, with a “big and poppy sound.” Similar to Tame Impala’s frontman Kevin Parker’s labelling of Currents as an album to get people dancing to, Mount says the next one will be “a confident dance record.” Standing as their fifth record to date, it looks like it’s going to be a big, bold year for Metronomy.
Amy Wootten, Records Editor.
Following the landslide success of Jamie xx’s debut solo album, In Colour, being nominated for the Mercury Prize and just a few Brit nominations, it was last year reported that The xx were headed back to the studio to work on an album for 2016. Their self-titled debut came to be in 2009, closely followed by 2011’s Coexist. There’s a definitive difference between the two albums, and opinions are often torn as to which is the better. Forming a bond with their debut, I’ll always stand that it’s their best work to date, with the more chilled out (yet more intricate) sound on Coexist not holding that exciting element that their initial sound did. It appears that the trio have been working on the new album for around a year now, so here’s hoping it brings something fresh and exciting to the table.
Amy Wootten, Records Editor.
