12 huge albums still to come in 2017

Q4 is here

2017 has already been a cracking year for music, but there’s still several months to go. Here are the massive albums we can’t wait to get on the office stereo before the year’s out.

1
Beck, ‘Colors’

When it’s out: October 13
What to expect: Lots of speculation around this one, which has been said to sound like The Strokes. In fact, there’s much excitement about 10th album from the Californian alt-pop genius that the internet exploded when an eagle-eyed fan spotted a pre-order page for ‘Colour’. For his part, the man himself has promised that it’ll be upbeat and poppy and ain’t nobody got a problem with that.
He says: “[The album is] simple and uplifting and galvanising, where the spirit moves you, that kind of feeling. Those are the hardest. This new record I focused on that feeling. It’s the easiest to fail at. Or to come off on one hand disingenuous, or on the other hand just trite, or, you know, there’s that fine line between platitude and just the truth. And that fine line between making a big commotion and a bunch of movement and just actual unadulterated joy.”

2
St Vincent ‘Masseduction’ – ‘October 13’

When it’s out: October 13
What to expect: It’ll be pretty heavy. Not in terms of music – that’ll probably develop the fantastically complex, yet catchy and light electropop that we’ve come to expect from Annie Clark – but in terms of themes, as she recently promised that the album will draw thematically on the current batshit state of the world.
She says: “I think it’ll be the deepest, boldest work I’ve ever done. I feel the playing field is really open for creative people to do whatever you want, and that risk will be rewarded – especially now that we have such high stakes from a political and geopolitical standpoint.”

3
Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, ‘Lotta Sea Lice’

When it’s out: October 13
What to expect: Apart from loads of hair, you can bet your bottom dollar on breezy, rough-and-ready guitar pop. The duo, who have both released fantastic albums in the last year, have embarked on a joint tour, combining their slacker-pop forces to create… like, medium effort pop?
They say: “We started bumping into each other on the festival circuit all around the wide world and we became friends. He hit me up when he was coming to Melbourne next and said he thought we could work together” – Courtney Barnett

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4
Jessie Ware, ‘Glasshouse’

When it’s out: October 20
What to expect: If lead single ‘Midnight’ is anything to go by, we can expect a massive step up from the already fantastic London R&B singer. The track opens with her usual brand of sultry neo-soul, before blossoming into an extraordinarily lush pop banger that cribs form Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’/Elton John’s ‘Benny and the Jets’ (depending on your age), fizzing with ambient production.
She says: “‘Midnight’ “is the song I’ve always wanted to be able to sing but perhaps didn’t have the confidence until now.”

5
Niall Horan, ‘Flicker’

When it’s out: October 20
What to expect: Guitar-led soft-rock balladry from the former One Directioner.
He says: “I wanted this album to be completely personal, and therefore the best way for me to get what I wanted out of the songs was to write them with friends.”

6
Shamir, ‘Revelations’

When it’s out: November 3
What to expect: The 22-year-old LA disco prince has swapped the blasting effervescence of his 2015 debut ‘Ratchet’ for lo-fi guitar music recorded on a 4-track.
He says: “A lot of people think I’m crazy. I guess I kind of am. But I also know what’s best for me, and that’s more important than fame and money.”

7
Sam Smith, ‘The Thrill Of It All’

When it’s out: November 3
What to expect: Sweeping ballads about being sad and in love, featuring titles including: ‘Nothing Left For You’ and ‘Baby, You Make Me Crazy’.
He says: “The new album is a whisky by yourself in a dark room, at night, thinking about life. I went into a deep place. I don’t think I’m going to go into that place ever again, because it got a bit too deep.”

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8
Taylor Swift, ‘Reputation’

When it’s out: November 10
What to expect: Taylor transitioned fully from country to pop with fifth album ‘1989’, and the material we’ve heard so far from its followup has been heavier and altogether more unusual – with some fans comparing the latest, ‘…Ready For It?’ to the production on ‘Yeezus’, the sixth album by her on-and-off media nemesis Kanye West. Expect ‘Reputation’ to deal with her various public beefs in full.
She says: “There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation.”

9
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, ‘Who Built The Moon’

When it’s out: November 24
What to expect: Masterful guitar rock that sounds like a slightly more mature Oasis, if the previous High Flying Birds albums are anything to go by. Noel was reportedly tweaking and refining the album even as it was being mixed; he’s not a man prone to overthinking things, so this level of scrutiny has been billed a new way of working for him. Excitingly, it will see his and Liam’s album going head-to-head.
He says: “I’m not sure I’ll make another record another way [from now on]. “It’s brilliant and like I say, the record sounds better for [being so perfected], which I’m sure you’ll agree with when you hear it!”

10
Björk, ‘Utopia’

When it’s out: November TBC
What to expect: After the heartbreak of Björk’s 2015 album ‘Vulnicura’, her ninth – ‘Utopia’ – has been billed as the antidote. Lead single ‘The Gate’ suggests plenty of ethereal loveliness.
What she says: “This is like my Tinder album. It’s about that search (for utopia) – and about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy on every level is obviously utopia, you know? I mean, it’s real. It’s when the dream becomes real.”

11
Tove Lo, ‘Blue Lips’ – TBC

When it’s out: November TBC
What to expect: The Swedish pop star’s latest has been advertised as a two-part accompaniment to her 2016 album ‘Lady Wood’, which itself had two distinct halves. Lead single ‘Disco Tits’ promises a salaciously glitzy vibe.
She says: “The third and fourth chapters are ‘Light Beams’ and ‘Pitch Black.’ ‘Light Beams’ stands for the last song of a set, or when you give your relationship a last go. You take a second hit and go even higher into whatever feeling you’re trying to chase and ending on top. ‘Pitch Black’ is when you get off the stage, go in your room, close the door, and it’s just quiet. The relationship is over and you’re coming down.”

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12
Sky Ferreira, ‘Masochism’

When it’s out: Later this year
What to expect: That title might change – it’s not been officially announced, just gleaned via an interview with Dazed – but does hint at the potentially dark tone of this long-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s Night Time, My Time. She’s been working the record with Bobby Gillespie, so perhaps the Primal Scream frontman has been giving her lessons in doing your own thing, in your own time.
She says: “I refuse to put out something that isn’t honest. It’s not something that I can force out. If I was to do it any sooner I either would have been compromising myself & anyone listening.”

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