Big albums to get excited about in 2018

Get ready for a massive 12 months in music

As Christmas approaches, so album releases for this year are slowing down to the bare minimum of festive themed records, greatest hits collections and the odd big name record. Just because the music world is taking a little break doesn’t mean there’s nothing to get excited about, though. Next year already looks set to be embarrassingly good, quite frankly, with some major new releases already on the cards. Let us guide you through some of the biggest and most exciting albums confirmed, expected or just anticipated to be gifted to us in 2018.

1
 

Jack White

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Nothing has been confirmed at present apart from the first single ‘Connected By Love’.
What has he said about it? “It’s good gardening music or roofing music or, you know, back-alley stabbing music. I’m trying to think of some good activities that people haven’t written songs for yet.”

2
 

Manic Street Preachers

When’s it out? April 6
What’s on it? “Widescreen melancholia”, apparently.
What have they said about it? A statement accompanying the record’s announcement said: “The main themes of ‘Resistance is Futile’ are memory and loss; forgotten history; confused reality and art as a hiding place and inspiration. It’s obsessively melodic – in many ways referencing both the naive energy of ‘Generation Terrorists’ and the orchestral sweep of ‘Everything Must Go’.”

3
 

Charli XCX

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? We’d expect massive single ‘Boys’ to be on there, but the tracklist is still under wraps.
What has she said about it? “I’m not going to touch the album until two months before it’s going to come out, because if I started working on it again I would probably write another four albums.”

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4
 

Fall Out Boy

When’s it out? January 19
What’s on it? The Britney Spears-referencing ‘Young And Menace’, and the electro-rock of ‘Champion’.
What have they said about it? “Sonically, we are sewing multiple eras of – both our own band and own influences – together in a way that is completely new to us through both the production and writing process.” – Pete Wentz

5
 

Peace

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? The band have yet to confirm any details, but they’ve been playing three new songs live of late – ‘Kindness Is The New Rock’n’Roll’, ‘When You Were Young’ and ‘Mental Head’.
What have they said about it? “It’s definitely like no record I’ve heard before. It doesn’t sound like anything that I can put my finger on – which is a good thing but it’s a scary thing as well.” – Harry Koisser

6
 

My Bloody Valentine

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? There are no precise details confirmed, but the band have said it will likely be seven or eight tracks, and clock in at 40 minutes.
What have they said about it? “In some respects, some of it is a bit straightforward. The MBV album that we did in 2013 feels more meandery and not as concise. This one is like if somebody took that and dropped some acid on it or created a dimensional clash or something. It’s more all over the place… The record I am making now is not so much about death and change as freedom of the soul.” – Kevin Shields

7
 

Craig David

When’s it out? January 26
What’s on it? Collaborations with Bastille, AJ Tracey and Kaytranada, amongst others.
What has he said about it? “These songs feel like they’ll stand the test of time.”

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8
 

Vampire Weekend

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? “Quite a cast characters”, according to frontman Ezra Koenig.
What have they said about it? “I wanted to do something that at least has elements of spring time you know because life has to keep going.” – Ezra Koenig

9
 

Major Lazer

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Collaborations with The Weeknd and Travis Scott, plus singles ‘Cold Water’, ‘Believer’, ‘Run Up’ and ‘Know No Better’.
What have they said about it? Not a whole lot.

10
 

The Prodigy

When’s it out? Early 2018
What’s on it? No details as yet, but expect a first single before 2017 is out.
What have they said about it? Not much, besides confirming it’s on the way.

11
 

Interpol

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? They’ve been playing a new song ‘Real Life’ at their recent ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ anniversary gigs, so that seems a shoe-in for inclusion.
What have they said about it? Drummer Sam Fogarino told Pitchfork Radio they were working on “fist in the air arena rock ballads, all the way”.

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12
 

Nicki Minaj

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? There are no confirmed tracks from the work-in-progress at the moment.
What has she said about it? “I know it’s going to be my best body of work.”

13
 

Bastille

When’s it out? TBA

What’s on it? “Middle-of-the-night torch songs” with “slightly nostalgic rave beats from the Fatboy Slim, Prodigy era”, apparently.
What have they said about it? “Sometimes it’s necessary for your sanity to hone in on the things that you love and the people you enjoy hanging out with. It’s going to be a much more intimate, probably slightly more inward looking and fun record. It’s an apocalyptic party record.” – Dan Smith

14
 

Arctic Monkeys

When’s it out? TBA

What’s on it? Right now, we’re very much in the dark on this.
What have they said about it? Not much so far, but bassist Nick O’Malley has confirmed the band have been recording at a “secret location”.

15
 

The 1975

When’s it out? TBA, but possibly June 1.
What’s on it? A song called ‘Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America’, according to Matty Healy’s Instagram.
What have they said about it? “Our first three albums are the story of a person; it’s always kind of been my story. It spanned adolescence to maturity, success and trying to mediate the two, and the third one is where we are now. “I haven’t really decided the statement of where we are now yet. It’s sort of difficult to understand the present.” – Matty Healy

16
 

Julian Casablancas Voidz

When’s it out? Early 2018
What’s on it? Expect addictive new song ‘Wink’ to feature, as well as the fresh cuts aired on their recent South American tour.
What have they said about it? “It’s sounding more sleek and polished, but it’s still futuristic prison-jazz.” – Julian Casablancas

17
 

MGMT

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Gothy comeback single ‘Little Dark Age’ is the only confirmed track so far, but expect ‘When You Die’ and ‘Me And Michael’, which were part of the band’s summer setlists, to feature too.
What have they said about it? “We felt like we had reached a flow, it was the sort of chemistry, the kind of magic feeling we had when we started the band.” – Ben Goldwasser

18
 

The Vaccines

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? They aired three glossy tracks from the record over the summer – ‘Surfing In The Sky’, ‘Your Love Is My Favourite Band’, ‘Rolling Stones’.
What have they said about it? “It sort of builds on the musicality of ‘English Graffiti’, but I think there’s a lot more of spirit and energy from ‘What Did You Expect…’ [It’s about] sex and love, and love lost.” – Justin Young

19
 

Cardi B

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Cardi is currently working on the record, but she’s got “six or seven solid” tracks so far.
What has she said about it? She told Rolling Stone the record will mix Spanish and reggae music of her childhood with trap.

20
 

Chvrches

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? They’ve been working with pop mega-producer Greg Kurstin so expect the follow-up to ‘Every Open Eye’ to be a glimmering pop force to be reckoned with.
What have they said about it? “[Kurstin] pushed what we were doing to be bigger in some ways, but he also pushed us to be weirder. He’d be like, ‘If the vocal melodies are as sweet and as precise as this, why don’t we make these other sounds so f***ed up and gnarly and strange?’ I loved that.” – Lauren Mayberry

21
 

Selena Gomez

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it?No tracklisting has been confirmed at present, but hopefully every track is as banging as the Talking Heads-sampling ‘Bad Liar’.
What has she said about it? “I think it’s fair to say that people know the year I’ve had, and I’ve poured my heart into my music and I wanted it to be fresh. It wasn’t really about charts for me or numbers. It was more just about what I could creatively do for my music. So, yes, I can successfully say that my inspiration for this next album is in full motion and it will be very soon.”

22
 

Franz Ferdinand

When’s it out? February 9
What’s on it? New members (Dino Bardot and Julian Corrie replaced Nick McCarthy this year), a new producer (Phoenix collaborator Phillipe Zdar), and new tunes like the dancefloor-ready title track.
What have they said about it? “This one sounds quite different from our previous records – it’s a bit wider and less of a ‘straight up guitar’ album. It’s just a taster. There are many more surprises to come.” – Alex Kapranos

23
 

The Breeders

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Details are scarce, but the legendary band recently put out a song called ‘Wait In The Car’, a hooky, smart piece of rock, that will likely feature somewhere on the record.
What have they said about it? Not a whole lot, at present.

24
 

Spiritualized

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? Jason Pierce told The Quietus earlier this year that he didn’t even know how to put the new album into words, so your guess is as good as anyone’s.
What have they said about it? “I wanted to make a record that made sense. There’s so much music out there. Every time I put on one of my favourite records I kind of think ‘what’s the point?’ because everybody’s said everything. I wanted to make this record really, really worthy of existing and worthy of being out there.” – Jason Pierce

25
 

Sunflower Bean

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it? The dreamy ‘I Was A Fool’, and other fresh new cuts the New York trip previewed on tour with Wolf Alice earlier this year.
What have they said about it? “I think musically, we’re delving into escapism and fantasy, but lyrically we’re becoming a little bit more topical.” – Nick Kivlen

26
 

Pale Waves

When’s it out? TBA
What’s on it?
No details have been confirmed as yet, but we’d be surprised if at least one of their singles so far didn’t make the cut.
What have they said about it? “For the album, I’ve full-on unleashed everything. Once people hear the album, it’s stepping into Heather’s world, and they’ll really understand me as a person. It’s really exciting but scary at the same time.” – Heather Baron-Gracie

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