Here are the biggest albums on the way this month
Summer is almost upon us, and while much of the music world may still be on tenterhooks waiting for news of super-releases like the Adele and Rihanna albums, the rest of us trundle on regardless. At this point, both seem like works of fiction, anyway.
Besides, there's plenty of other exciting stuff to look forward to - here are 5 albums that you can look forward to hearing in the coming weeks.
ST. VINCENT – 'Daddy's Home' | May 14th
Annie Clark's sixth album will see yet another stylistic and musical reinvention, 14 years after her debut album 'Marry Me'. The songs on 'Daddy's Home' were inspired by the release of her father from prison in 2019 (he was jailed in 2010 for his role in a stock-manipulation scheme worth $43 million), which led her back to his record collection – i.e. the songs she listened to most as a child. With buzzwords like 'gritty', 'grimy' and 'sleazy' leading the charge on this album, you can expect something very different to her usual fare.
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THE BLACK KEYS – 'Delta Kream' | May 14th
It's a new Black Keys album, but for those expecting another 'Lonely Boy' or 'Gold on the Ceiling', hold your horses. This time, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have turned their attention to the blues classics that they have been audibly influenced by over the years – so 'Delta Kream' is a covers album and essentially a tribute to Mississippi hill country blues artists including R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Ought to be worth a listen, whether you're into blues music or not.
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OLIVIA RODRIGO – 'Sour' | May 21st
She conquered the world with 'Driver's License', but can Olivia Rodrigo keep that momentum going for a full-length album? The 18-year-old Disney star's debut record is released this month and will feature both her global number one hit, its follow-up 'Deja Vu' and nine other tracks. She has said that she wants it to be a cross between 'mainstream pop, folk music and alternative rock'; we don't have to wait too much longer to find out.
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GRUFF RHYS – 'Seeking New Gods' | May 21st
Whether you're ready to let go of the possibility of a Super Furry Animals reunion or not, Gruff Rhys doesn't care. The Welshman has been prolific with his solo output and his seventh album 'Seeking New Gods' takes a typically peculiar slant. Originally envisaged as a 'biography' of a volcano in East Asia (Mount Paektu), its concept grew to encompass other themes and Rhys has described it as an album “about memory and time”.
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MOBY – 'Reprise' | May 28th
He's 19 albums into his career and showing no signs of stopping. Rather than a record of completely new material, however, Moby has gone down the 'reimagining' route; 'Reprise' is a collection of orchestral and acoustic arrangements of some of his biggest hits, many of them featuring guest artists like Gregory Porter, Kris Kristofferson and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. A lazy concept? Perhaps, but we're also intrigued to hear it.