From local indie fares to global pop superstitions – so much good stuff is coming our way.
Even the most talented psychologists of the time would predict the clusterfuck of 2020. It was a year marked by chaos and uncertainty – and the music industry feels great.
Live music and tours have gone, and are still largely off the table, leaving leaflets and promoters in a steady state. World tours were canceled, records were released, and the year as we knew it was nothing as we expected.
That doesn’t mean it was a terrible year for music – in fact, it was an amazing year. From veterans like Fiona Apple putting out best career records to newcomers like Spacemate at Fremantle putting the stamp on the local scene, there was too much great music for you to enjoy. chall.
2021 is already looking strong, with plenty of popular local acts returning long ago and global superstitions about to release new music. Here are the charts (some named, some just predicted) that we’re really looking forward to this year.
Youth Gang
It comes, we feel it in our bones. Continuing to 2017 sweetheart and great compliment Go further in lightness going forward – the band have been busy reporting their time in the London studio on their benefits, and recently introduced their new guitarist Tom Hobden, who has replaced Joji Malani.
Former Dave Le’aupepe had previously said the record would be reached in 2020 – but look, last year was a shit fight for everyone, so we won’t delay them. There is no official word yet on when the new music will arrive, but we think it will be sooner rather than later in the year.
Middle Children
Middle Kids ’‘ Edge Of Town ’was one in a million songs – just an incredibly perfect slice of Aussie indie pop. Their first time in 2018 Lost Friends he won the J award for Album of the Year, and he deserves it.
They have just named their second album, with the title Today we are the biggest, hitting the shelves on March 19th. The band recorded the new one in LA with producers Lars Stalfors, who previously worked with Soccer Mommy and Purity Ring. They released the final single ‘RU 4 Me’ last year, and today they have followed up with another excellent single – the exciting ‘Questions’.
Kendrick Lamar
We haven’t heard much new music from Lamar since he won the Black panther soundtrack about 20 years ago in 2018. That said, last year it was locked into a number of festival shows including an advanced slot at Glastonbury, so we can only be of the idea that he had new music ready for release last year.
Kung Fu Kenny has been very tense about new music, but most critics are skipping that the sequel to 2017’s DAMN. come this year.
Mallrat
If ‘Rockstar’ 2020 is the first look at Mallrat’s debut album, we’re in for a good time. It wasn’t an official single, but as she’s been deep into writing and recording the new album for a while now, it’s a good sign of what’s to come.
She seems to have worked with a number of producers and writers for the album – including Tommy English, whom you may be familiar with from her work on Kacey Musgraves’ ‘High Horse’. So we may not know when it is coming, but we know it will be good.
SZA
SZA has been very busy since the release of its first wildfire Ctrl back in 2017, freezing collabs with acts like the Weeknd, DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar, and stacking more. She has recently released ‘Hit Different’ and ‘Good Days’ – the last of which is very strong. Expect more to come soon.
Amy Shark
To the public, Amy Shark’s ‘Adore You’ and ‘I Said Hi’ failed to get out of nowhere. In fact, it was the result of a steady, 10-year erosion in the music industry. The next record A love monster dominant albums and ARIAs that year, bringing home the big album of Album of the Year.
Her new album Cry Forever landing on April 30, and judging by singles like ‘Everybody Rise’ and ‘C’MON’ it’s going to be another Big Pop Moment.
Adele
It’s been five years since Adele started 25, which is a long, long time in the pop music game. When it was announced last year that she was going to host Saturday Night Live, Fans and critics fled to the barricades in anticipation of the new musical attack – but alas, nothing happened.
However, she signed her host gig by saying “peace be upon you until next year”, so there is a strong likelihood that her fourth album will arrive in 2021. We bet about it.
Balach Baker
At the start of 2020, Baker Boy – Danzal Baker – said he was completing his first expected run. Again, 2020 intervened, but at least we got the two super singles in ‘Move’ and ‘Better Days’, with the latter collaborating with Sampa The Great and Dallas Woods.
Baker has not provided an update on when the full-length will arrive, but we’d like to see it before the year is out.
Flume
Harley Streten reportedly went down to work on his new record during a lockout last year.
“I’ve just been putting out demos and trying to bring so much music together before the closing ends and I hope to come out with something that will show me,” he said. e edm.com Last April. “And we’ll see what happens, but yes, I hope to make a record before the end of the year.”
Well Flume, the new year has broken – so we get it.
Odette
We’ll soon be waiting for Odette’s new album: Herald It is expected to be released on February 5th. We’ve already had two cuts from it, the Hermitude collaboration ‘Feverbreak’, R&B dream ‘Dwell’, and just last Friday she released the ‘Amends’.
Mark it in your diaries – Herald there will be a special moment in Australian music this year.
Genesis Owusu
For a few years now, Canberra’s Genesis Owusu has been delivering one of the most explosive live shows Australia has to offer. Now, he is preparing to release his first single, Smiling toothless.
The 15-way release will see him flex his muscles over R&B, ’80s rock, punk, and even folk – expecting a ride as wild as any sweaty festival slot. It is expected to drop March 5th.
Rihanna… As usual
We could just insert in last year’s expected Albums entry for Rihanna here and be done with it. We got a little glimpse of the singer Rihanna last year with her feature on the PARTYNEXTDOOR track ‘BELIEVE IT’, but we don’t have any real updates yet following the fame of 2016 ANTI. Look at this place, and pray.
Lorde
Like Rihanna, it feels like we’ve been waiting for Lorde’s third album for decades – goodbye Twitter accounts are wondering if the singer has released the Album. Fans were excited last year when she announced she would be releasing something soon… just to be a little disappointed when it was revealed that it was a book about the trip her recent trip to Antarctica, not a record.
That said, Lorde said she was well inspired by the tour, which seems to be a “pre-runner” to her next album, meaning we could hear new music sooner than we think.
Billie Eilish
In an interview with Vanity Fair In December last year, Eilish revealed that she and her brother / colleague Finneas were in the midst of writing 16 songs for her new album that has not yet been announced. “We’ve been working and I love them all,” Eilish told the magazine.
Eilish has not attracted attention since she released her first Grammy album CAN WE ASLEEP, WHY ARE WE TAKING IT? in early 2019, releasing a series of singles featuring a recent ‘therefore I am’ beat, which we are sure to see the end of the hottest 100 points this year.
She’s not showing that she’s slowing down yet, so there’s every chance that 2021 could reveal her second record.
Jules LeFevre is the editor of Junkee Music. Follow her on Twitter.