New year, new music. Them’s the rules. In 2018 we can expect a boatload of exciting stuff from faces old and new - head below to get the basics on just a few of the records we’re excited to get our hands on in the next 12 months.
Screaming Females - All At Once (Don Giovanni)
‘Rose Mountain’, Screaming Females’ 2015 album, placed them at a crossroads. It brought their melodicism to the forefront and gave as much credence to Marissa Paternoster’s powerful vocals as it did the guitarist’s typically exhilarating playing. Where next? Back to the sludgier riffage of ‘Ugly’? Or into that hook-filled yonder?
Expected:February 23.
Danny Brown - TBA
Following up 2016’s ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ won’t be easy. Its unsettling, thrilling mash up of Brown’s caustic wordplay and icy production reinforced his position as one of the most exciting rappers working today. But that was also the case after ‘XXX’ and ‘Old’. In a recent Complex interview, the Detroit native said of his new LP: “I would just say it's being produced by one producer, who’s legendary in hip-hop. And it's gonna be a big deal.”
Expected: Dunno.
Kamaiyah - Don’t Ever Get It Twisted (Interscope)
The Oakland rapper’s first album proper has been left in limbo by sample issues, leaving her to put out the excellent ‘Before I Wake’ mixtape as a stopgap. But ‘Don’t Ever Get It Twisted’ is the main course and, given the confidence with which she doubled down on her punchy persona on ‘Before I Wake’, designed to eclipse her efforts to date.
Expected: Dunno.
Justin Timberlake - Man of the Woods (RCA)
So the unveiling didn’t quite go to plan. The record’s teaser became a Bon Iver meme almost immediately, while the spectre of another glitzy pop performer going country is hardly a welcome one. But the producers are here - Timbaland’s back, the Neptunes are on board - and Timberlake has something to prove after the limp ‘20/20 Experience’. We’ll wait and see.
Expected: February 2
Young Fathers - TBA
The follow up to 'White Men Are Black Men Too' is finished. We know that much. And we know that the first song from it, Lord, was another gorgeous, outward-looking slice of hip-hop. Beyond that we just have to trust that the trio have more surprises up their sleeves. A safe bet, we’d wager at this stage.
Expected: Dunno.
Jack White - TBA
Work is ongoing on the follow up to ‘Lazaretto’, but what direction White will take is unclear. “Good gardening music or roofing music or, you know, back-alley stabbing music,” he’s said of it. The beefed-up blues of his previous LP might fall by the wayside, then, but the attitude should remain. Given the hit rate for his label - Third Man - and their vinyl releases, we should at least expect something well constructed. He’s back on the live scene, too.
Expected: Dunno.
Superchunk - What A Time To Be Alive (Merge)
This year finds Superchunk back for the first time since 2013, following up two of the best albums in a celebrated career and with teeth bared. ‘What A Time To Be Alive’ is, according to the band, “about a lot of things, of course, but mainly dealing with anxiety and worse in the face of incipient authoritarianism.” The title track, and two recent 7” releases, suggest they’ve lost none of their power-pop magic, while the LP features a Merge who’s who, with A Giant Dog’s Sabrina Ellis, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Magnetic Fields leader Stephin Merritt among its guests.
Expected: February 16
Ought - Room Inside The World (Merge)
The Montreal post-punks’ third LP is their first for Merge and follows up frontman Tim Darcy’s excellent solo bow last year: ‘Saturday Night’. We can expect the same knotty melodic ticks and obtuse words, but the thrill with Ought is always found in their ability to make these shapes feel new and exciting.
Expected: February 16
Turnstile - Time & Space (Roadrunner)
Detractors will tell you that Turnstile are one dimensional. Not having it. Yes, their pit-ready hardcore is derived from some dog-eared blueprints but they do it so well. ‘Time & Space’ is their second LP and first for metal giants Roadrunner, while producer-du-jour Will Yip is on hand, along with pop-house giant Diplo (!) for Right To Be. The songs we’ve heard so far are subtle expansions on a theme - let’s see how the whole thing stacks up.
Expected: February 23
Loma - Loma (Sub Pop)
Early indications are that this will be a moody, low-key gem. Loma pulls together Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg and tourmates Cross Record - Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski - for an album that promises rich vistas and off-kilter melodies. The track records of those involved were enough to ensure our interest, the first songs ensured our full attention.
Expected: February 16
U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited (4AD)
Meg Remy’s second album for 4AD is set to expand her palette further, incorporating everything from disco to the rich, horn-backed pop classicism of its second single Velvet 4 Sale. Lyrically, the songwriter will pit themes of violence, power and lies against deft melodic work and warm production.
Expected: February 16
Kississippi – Sunset Blush (SideOneDummy)
It feels like a while since the Philadelphia indie-punk scene dropped the ball. Kississippi, helmed by Zoe Reynolds, seem unlikely to be the band to change that. ‘Sunset Blush’ has been teased with the effervescent Cut Yr Teeth, a single that delivers biting words alongside addictive hooks and a promise of more where they came from.
Expected: April
HC McEntire - Lionheart (Merge)
A couple of years after the arrival of Mount Moriah’s stunning ‘How To Dance’, Heather McEntire has gone it alone. Inspired by Kathleen Hannah and time spent on the road as part of Angel Olsen’s band, ‘Lionheart’ is an album with a collaborative spirit that nevertheless cuts to the quick of what its author is about: powerful vocals, sumptuous alt-country sounds and searching lyrics.
Expected: January 26
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