Happy returns
IN 2017, we were treated to new albums from huge stars such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, U2, Kasabian and Ed Sheeran.
Can 2018 match it for major comebacks? Damn right.
Florence Welch of The Machine has announced her first book – poetry collection Useless Magic. It’s due out in July.
Don’t be surprised if La Machine drops a new album around the same time – she’s announced live shows for Australia too. “You can guess what that means,” a source told me.
Jess Glynne has been quiet since her stellar debut I Cry When I Laugh in 2015. But Ed Sheeran has written two songs for the follow-up, with hip-hop producers PartyNextDoor and Skrillex also in the studio with the ginger titan.
Is Kylie going country on her first album since 2014? She’s been in Nashville, admitting some songs are inspired by “a little bit of heartbreak” after splitting from actor Joshua Sasse. The new album reunites her with Girls Aloud hitmakers Xenomania, as well as Taylor Swift songwriter Nathan Chapman. After returning with fine single Trigger Bang, Lily Allen will continue to swap politics for pop with a typically personal fourth album. She says the album will be called The Fourth Wall and is about the break-up of her marriage, drug abuse and her children.
Having been away for so long before his 2016 comeback, you can’t keep Craig David down. His new album The Time Is Now is out on January 26. Guests include AJ Tracey and Bastille, who are also set to release another new album this year.
If Bastille are prolific, you can’t say the same for Arctic Monkeys. The stunning AM album was back in 2013, but they’ve been recording. Typically for the elusive Arctics, details are scant, with drummer Matt Helders only confirming they’ve been recording in a secret location. The 1975 singer Matt Healy is more forthcoming about their third album Music For Cars.
Healy calls it the final part of a trilogy about growing up, saying: “I haven’t really decided where we are now. It’s sort of difficult to understand the present.”
Three years after being breakout stars, Years And Years are set to return, with Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant among the co-writers. Expect euphoricsounding pop with lyrical heartbreak. Singer Olly Alexander says: “All the best pop has a crying soul at the heart, so that hasn’t changed too much.”
The Rolling Stones return with their first album of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang – expect UK shows too.
Plan B is never easy to predict. Once he seemed everywhere, but it’s been six years since his Ill Manors film and album. Out in April, Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose sees him mix the singing from his hits with the rap of his early career.
Major Lazer team up with The Weeknd and Travis Scott on their new album, said to be called Music Is The Weapon.
Manic Street Preachers release LP Resistance Is Futile in April, trailed by single International Blue, while February sees Franz Ferdinand’s first LP in five years. We’ve heard Always Ascending, and it’s worth the wait. The Prodigy, The Vaccines, The Wombats, Fall Out Boy, Interpol and Vampire Weekend also return this year.