Spring Music Preview: 40 Notable Upcoming Albums

Listed below in alphabetical order are some of the most noteworthy albums expected to arrive between now and mid-May. Release dates (when available) are for the U.S. unless otherwise noted.

Albums with announced release dates

8:58
8:58
March 30 (ACP)

Electronic music pioneers Orbital recently disbanded (again) after 25 years in the business, but one half of that brother duo, Paul Hartnoll, has restarted his solo career under the name 8:58 after first releasing a solo LP, The Ideal Condition, under his given name in 2007. His first 8:58 album will feature a new version of one of that previous album's tracks, "Please," featuring vocals from The Cure's Robert Smith and Witchknot's Lianne Hall. Other contributors on 8:58—which, unlike the more acoustic Ideal Condition, doesn't sound all that different from Hartnoll's work with Orbital—include Ed Harcourt, The Unthanks (guesting on a cover of The Cure's "A Forest"), and actor Cillian Murphy.

WATCH:

"8:58"

WATCH:
"The Clock" [feat. Cillian Murphy]

Action Bronson
Mr. Wonderful
March 24 (Vice/Atlantic)

The rapper and food-lover's major-label debut will feature Chance the Rapper, Chauncy Sherod, and Party Supplies. The latter is also one of the album's producers, along with the Alchemist, Mark Ronson, and Noah "40" Shebib. Will there be a Billy Joel sample? Why yes, there will.

LISTEN:
"Baby Blue" feat. Chance The Rapper

LISTEN:

"Terry"

WATCH:

"Actin Crazy"

WATCH:

"Easy Rider"

Alabama Shakes
Sound and Color
April 21 (ATO)

After receiving three Grammy nominations for their 2012 debut album Boys & Girls, the Alabama-based four-piece are finally ready for a follow-up. The 12-song set was recorded in Nashville with young producer Blake Mills (Sky Ferriera).

LISTEN:
"Don't Wanna Fight"

Courtney Barnett
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
March 23 (Mom + Pop)

Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett first gained international acclaim for her songwriting skills with her 2013 compilation The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas. Recorded in her native Melbourne, this new record marks her proper full-length debut.

LISTEN:
"Depreston"

WATCH:

"Pedestrian at Best"

Best Coast
California Nights
May 5 (Harvest)

The Los Angeles-based indie-rock duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno make the jump to a major label for the first time with this third album, which is their first full-length release since 2012's The Only Place.

WATCH:
"California Nights"

WATCH:

"Heaven Sent" (lyric video)

Blur
The Magic Whip
April 28 (Parlophone)

After flirting with reunions (including performances and a few new songs) over the past six years, the veteran Britpop band surprised fans a few weeks ago by announcing that they had completed work on a new album. Recorded in a Hong Kong studio in just five days but then fine-tuned over the course of the past year, The Magic Whip will be Blur's first studio LP since 2003's Think Tank and their first album with guitarist Graham Coxon since 1999's 13. Expect a world tour to follow.

WATCH:
"Go Out"

Zac Brown Band
Jekyll + Hyde
April 28 (Republic)

The first album in three years for the country rockers is their first released in conjunction with a new record label run by fashion designer John Varvatos. Guests on the 16-track set—which is said to lean more heavily on the rock side of country-rock—include Soundgarden's Chris Cornell and Sara Bareilles.

Built to Spill
Untethered Moon
April 21 (Warner Bros.)

Built to Spill's most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released back in 2009, and there have been reports about work in the studio in the years since, but nothing has surfaced. That changes next month when eighth album Untethered Moon finally arrives. It is the band's first LP with the new rhythm section of Jason Albertini (bass) and Steve Gere (drums). Frontman Doug Martsch produced the record alongside Sam Coomes.

LISTEN:
"Living Zoo"

Chromatics
Dear Tommy
tbd (Italians Do It Better)

Chromatics, one of several synth-pop projects led by Johnny Jewel (and perhaps best known for their contribution to the Drive soundtrack), were expected to release their follow-up to the excellent 2012 album Kill for Love in February, though that release date seems to have slipped a bit. The 17-track album will contain a new version of "Cherry" from last year's After Dark 2 compilation. Jewel may also release Body Work, a new album from his Glass Candy project, later this year, and has his soundtrack to the Ryan Gosling-directed Lost River due out at the end of this month.

LISTEN:
"I Can Never Be Myself When You're Around"

LISTEN:

"Just Like You"

The Cribs
For All My Sisters
March 24 (Arts & Crafts)

Cars frontman Ric Ocasek produced this follow-up to 2012's In the Belly of the Brazen Bull for the English all-brother indie-rock trio. The new set is inspired by 1980s pop.

LISTEN:

"Burning for No One"

LISTEN:
"An Ivory Hand"

Mikal Cronin
MCIII
May 5 (Merge)

Frequent Ty Segall collaborator Mikal Cronin may not be quite as prolific as his colleague, but May's MCIII will be Cronin's third album in four years. The new album's bigger sound is all Cronin: he plays every instrument on the record, aside from an appearance by a string quartet (though he handled the arrangements himself). The second half of the album features a six-song suite about his school days.

LISTEN:
"ii) Gold"

LISTEN:

"Made My Mind Up"

Death Cab for Cutie
Kintsugi
March 31 (Atlantic)

The band's first album since 2011's Codes and Keys will also be their last with founding guitarist/producer Chris Walla, who has left the band after 17 years. He did, however, stick around long enough to contribute every one of Kintsugi's 11 tracks—though it's the first DCFC album he didn't produce (with those duties falling to Rich Costey instead). Death Cab plan to continue on as a trio rather than replace Walla.

LISTEN:

"The Ghosts of Beverly Drive"

LISTEN:
"No Room in Frame"

WATCH:

"Black Sun"

Django Django
Born Under Saturn
May 5 (Ribbon)

After picking up a Mercury Prize nomination for their self-titled debut album in 2012, the London-based art-rockers are set to return with a follow-up this spring.

WATCH:
"First Light"

East India Youth
Culture of Volume
April 7 (XL Recordings)

English electronica artist William Doyle, who records under the name East India Youth, returns with a follow-up to his Mercury Prize-nominated debut Total Strife Forever. The new set—Doyle's first release for XL—features 10 tracks mixed by Graham Sutton (These New Puritans).

LISTEN:
"Turn Away"

WATCH:

"Carousel"

Faith No More
Sol Invictus
May 19 (Reclamation/Ipecac)

1980s/'90s rock band Faith No More called it quits in 1998 after releasing six albums, including their 1989 hit The Real Thing. The band reunited nearly six years ago and has performed on and off since then, but only now have they returned to the studio. The result, due this spring following the start of a tour, will be their first album in 18 years. Sol Invictus was produced by the band's bassist Bill Gould and, like all Faith No More releases since 1989, features Mike Patton on lead vocals.

LISTEN:
"Motherfucker"

LISTEN:

"Superhero"

WATCH:

WATCH:

The Go! Team
The Scene Between
March 24 (Memphis Industries)

One of indie music's most exuberant bands, England's The Go! Team returns this spring with their fourth album and first since 2011's Rolling Blackouts.

LISTEN:

"Blowtorch"

LISTEN:
"What D'You Say?"

WATCH:

"The Scene Between"

WATCH:

Album trailer

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
March 31 (Constellation)

The acclaimed Canadian post-rock band's follow-up to 2012's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (and 6th album overall) is a four-song LP clocking in at just 40 minutes—the band's shortest album since their 1997 debut.

LISTEN:
"Peasantry or 'Light! Inside of Light!'" (excerpt)

Hot Chip
Why Make Sense?
May 18 (Domino)

The London band's follow-up to 2012's In Our Heads—perhaps their strongest record to date—features a unique packaging approach for the physical formats: every copy will feature one-of-a-kind artwork. A special edition comes with a separate EP (helpfully titled Separate) with four additional songs. Mark Ralph returns as co-producer from the previous LP.

WATCH:
"Huarache Lights"

JEFF the Brotherhood
Wasted On The Dream
March 24 (Infinity Cat)

With an album cover like that, how could we resist including the eighth album (and second as major-label signees) from the Nashville brother duo of Jake and Jamin Orrall. Whereas the brothers spent just one week in the studio to record their previous album Hypnotic Nights, Wasted on the Dream is the result of a much lengthier writing and recording process, and the result is what the band describes as their most fully realized album to date. There's just one slight hitch on the way to record stores: the Brotherhood were just dropped by label Warner Bros., which resulted in a delay of a few weeks. (The album will now come out on the duo's own Infinity Cat label.)

LISTEN:

"Black Cherry Pie"

LISTEN:

"Coat Check Girl"

LISTEN:
"What's a Creep"

Kendrick Lamar
[Untitled]
March 23 (Aftermath/Interscope)

His stunning major-label debut Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was easily one of the top releases of 2012 (and earned seven Grammy nominations), but fans hoping that the L.A. rapper's follow-up would arrive late last year were disappointed. But a recent tweet by Lamar reveals that the album—complete with minimalist title and artwork, which may or may not change—will drop in just a few weeks. Production may come from Dr. Dre and Top Dawg Entertainment's in-house crew, but the identities of the 16 songs have not been revealed, aside from the recently released cut "The Blacker the Berry." (It isn't even clear if his Grammy-winning single "i" will make the album.)

LISTEN:
"The Blacker the Berry"

Lightning Bolt
Fantasy Empire
March 24 (Thrill Jockey)

The noise-rock duo of Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson haven't released a full-length album since 2009's Earthly Delights. Their latest, album #6 overall, is their first release for new label Thrill Jockey, and the label describes it as both stranger and more reflective of their live shows than past releases.

LISTEN:
Full album stream (NPR)

Laura Marling
Short Movie
March 24 (Ribbon)

The singer-songwriter returns with a follow-up to Once I Was an Eagle, one of 2013's best-reviewed albums. And Short Movie may be just as good, if early reviews are to be trusted.

LISTEN:
"I Feel Your Love"

WATCH:

"False Hope"

WATCH:

"Short Movie"

Mac McCaughan
Non-Believers
May 5 (Merge)

Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan has spent the better part of the past three decades playing in bands such as Superchunk and Portastatic. The latter was at one point basically a solo project for McCaughan, but now he kicks off his solo career in earnest with the introspective Non-Believers.

LISTEN:
"Lost Again"

WATCH:

Album trailer

METZ
II
May 5 (Sub Pop)

The Toronto-based noise-rock trio METZ impressed reviewers with their self-titled 2012 debut. While the band still isn't very fond of album titles, they do seem willing to embrace an even heavier sound on this second effort, which was recorded last year following nearly two straight years on the road.

LISTEN:
"Acetate"

WATCH:

Album trailer

Modest Mouse
Strangers to Ourselves
March 17 (Epic)

Nearly eight years to the day since the release of their previous studio album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, Modest Mouse will finally return with new material in the form of the 15-song Strangers to Ourselves. The new album (just the sixth in the band's 22-year existence) will not include previously reported collaborations with Big Boi and Krist Novoselic, though those could still surface in a future project. In fact, the band plans to follow Strangers with another new "partner" album in the immediate future, with work on that second new LP "pretty far along" as of this week.

LISTEN:

"The Best Room"

LISTEN:

"The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box"

LISTEN:
"Lampshades on Fire"

LISTEN:

"Of Course We Know"

WATCH:

"Coyotes"

The Mountain Goats
Beat the Champ
April 7 (Merge)

For his 15th Mountain Goats album (following an atypically long three-year break during which time he wrote a novel, ), John Darnielle has adopted a unifying (if unlikely) theme: most of the songs on Beat the Champ are about professional wrestling.

LISTEN:
"Heel Turn 2"

LISTEN:

"The Legend of Chavo Guerrero"

Mumford & Sons
Wilder Mind
May 4 (Glassnote)

M&S have ditched their trademark banjo and gone electric for their third album and first since 2012's Grammy-winning Babel. James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco) produced the 12-song LP, and the band describes Wilder's heavier sound—which includes some synths and even a drum machine—as a "natural departure" for the group. Much of the new material was written at the Brooklyn studio of The National's Aaron Dessner.

LISTEN:
"Believe"

My Morning Jacket
The Waterfall
May 4 (ATO)

My Morning Jacket's first album since 2011's Circuital finds the band working once again with producer Tucker Martine. The theme of the record is change, or, as frontman Jim James describes it, "the sound of the page turning and not being sure what’s coming next."

LISTEN:
"Big Decisions"

Passion Pit
Kindred
April 21 (Columbia)

The 10-song Kindred is the third album for Michael Angelakos & co., following 2012's Gossamer.

LISTEN:
"Lifted Up (1985)"

LISTEN:

"Where the Sky Hangs"

WATCH:

Album trailer

Prefuse 73
Forsyth Gardens EP
April 28 (Temporary Residence)
Rivington Não Rio
May 12 (Temporary Residence)

It'll be a busy 2015 for Guillermo Scott Herren and his Prefuse 73 project. A new album in May will be bookended by two EPs: one next month, and a second, titled Every Color of Darkness, on July 14. All three releases come on his new label, Temporary Residence Ltd.

LISTEN:
"Infrared"

LISTEN:

"Storms Over Raqqa"

LISTEN:

"You Are Now Poison"

Speedy Ortiz
Foil Deer
April 21 (Carpark)

The Massachusetts indie rockers earned strong reviews for their 2013 debut Major Arcana, and now return with a second album. The band, known for frontwoman Sadie Dupuis' complex, smart, and original lyrics, now features a new guitarist, with Devin McKnight replacing the previous album's Matt Robidoux.

LISTEN:
"The Graduates"

LISTEN:

"Raising The Skate"

Squarepusher
Damogen Furies
April 21 (Warp)

Tom Jenkinson's latest Squarepusher release for Warp (his 14th to date and first since 2012's Ufabulum) is on the shorter side, clocking in at just 8 tracks and 43 minutes.

LISTEN:
"Rayc Fire 2"

Sufjan Stevens
Carrie & Lowell
March 31 (Asthmatic Kitty)

Billed as a return to his "folk roots," Carrie & Lowell is also a return, period: it'll be Stevens' first proper album since 2010's The Age of Adz, ending an unusually long absence for the once-prolific artist. (Not that he has been away completely; he has been working with his side project Sisyphus, among other endeavors.) The new 11-song set is titled after Stevens' mother and stepfather and features contributions from artists like Laura Veirs and Sean Carey. Expect the lead single to arrive about a month from now.

LISTEN:

"No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross"

WATCH:
Album trailer

Toro Y Moi
What For?
April 7 (Carpark)

Chaz Bundick hasn't released a Toro Y Moi album since 2013's Anything In Return, though he did put out an LP last year, Michael, under the name Les Sins (which he uses for his more electronic/dance efforts).

LISTEN:
"Buffalo"

WATCH:

"Empty Nesters"

Twin Shadow
Eclipse
March 17 (Warner Bros.)

How will the jump to a major label change George Lewis, Jr.'s sound on his third Twin Shadow album (and first since 2012's Confess)? Find out next week with the arrival of Eclipse, his bigger, dramatic, 1980s-influenced Warner Bros. debut. A tour (rescheduled from last year) will follow.

LISTEN:

Full album stream (NPR)

WATCH:
"Turn Me Up"

Waxahatchee
Ivy Tripp
April 7 (Merge)

Katie Crutchfield will release her third album as Waxahatchee next month on her new label, Merge. The new LP follows the Alabama native's 2013 sophomore set Cerulean Salt. A North American tour begins on the day of the album's release.

LISTEN:
"Air"

LISTEN:

"Under a Rock"

Brian Wilson
No Pier Pressure
Capitol (April 7)

No Pier Pressure is Brian Wilson's first album of originals since 2008's That Lucky Old Sun. He originally wrote it as a Beach Boys album, but when their latest reunion ended, Wilson re-conceived the record as a solo album with a variety of collaborators—including a few Beach Boys members, plus Kacey Musgraves, Nate Ruess (of fun.), and both members of She & Him. (Though Wilson also recorded with Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey, their contributions did not make the final tracklist.) A tour follows in June.

WATCH:
"The Right Time" (lyric video)

Wire
Wire
April 13 (Pinkflag)

After reworking some of their older unreleased material in 2013 for Change Becomes Us, the veteran UK act began writing new songs, perfecting them on the road before committing them to tape in the studio. The result is this self-titled 13th album, their first LP to feature new guitarist Matthew Simms (It Hugs Back) as part of the songwriting process.

LISTEN:
"Joust & Jostle"

Young Fathers
White Men Are Black Men Too
April 7 (Ninja Tune)

The relatively unknown Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers gained a bit more exposure last year when they unexpectedly won the Mercury Prize for their debut album Dead. They immediately returned to the studio, and the result is this quick (though oddly named) follow-up.

LISTEN:
"Rain or Shine"

Possible additional releases (but no release dates yet)

James Blake
Radio Silence

Previous album:

Overgrown 82 (2013)

It looks like we are getting even closer to a third album from James Blake (last seen winning the Mercury Prize for 2013's Overgrown and releasing the 2014 EP 200 Press). The new set is expected to include collaborations with Kanye West and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, and could hit stores this spring, though recent rumors of an April release date were denied by Blake's manager.

Chance the Rapper
Surf

Previous album:

Acid Rap 86 (2013)

The Chicago rapper's 2013 mixtape Acid Rap was our highest-scoring hip hop album of that year, besting even Kanye West. For a follow-up, he has recorded a new album with his four-piece band The Social Experiment, and he plans to release it for free (though Surf's original late-2014 release window came and went without it showing up). Chance's proper solo debut could also surface this year.

Drake
Views From the 6

Previous album:

Nothing Was the Same 79 (2013)

Drake may have announced the title for his fourth album last summer, but that was before he had recorded a single track for it. Since then, he has logged plenty of time in the studio, but it was a different album—the surprise mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late—that surfaced last month. Views From the 6, his fourth studio set, is still expected to surface in the near future.

Giorgio Moroder
74 Is the New 24

Previous album:

Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder (1985)

The hugely influential dance music producer and songwriter is undergoing an unlikely career revival as a septuagenarian, thanks in no small part to an appearance on Daft Punk's most recent album. His first new album in three decades is expected to arrive this spring, and it'll feature collaborations with Sia, Charli XCX, Foxes, Kylie Minogue, and Britney Spears. Watch the video for the title track or another for "Right Here, Right Now" featuring Minogue.

Raekwon
Fly International Luxurious Art

Previous album:

Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang 73 (2011)

The Wu-Tang member's sixth solo album technically has a release date: April 28th. But without a tracklist, an album cover, or even an appearance in any online store, that may not exactly be set in stone. When it does show up, the album is expected to feature Akon, French Montana, and Busta Rhymes.

Rihanna
Home

Previous album:

Unapologetic 61 (2012)

After releasing a new album every November from 2009-2012, Rihanna failed to do so in 2013 ... and was absent again in 2014. But album #8 could arrive at any time, and when it does, it should include her recent single with Paul McCartney and Kanye West, "FourFiveSeconds". Rihanna will also feature on the soundtrack to the upcoming animated film Home, in which she stars.

Kanye West
So Help Me God

Previous album:

Yeezus 84 (2013)

West's follow-up to Yeezus will show up as a "surprise" release at some point in 2015. The rapper has been collaborating with big names in recent months, including Paul McCartney, Rihanna, Sia, and Madonna (who recently confirmed that she would appear on West's album), though the final tracklist is still a question mark aside from "Only One", "Wolves", and the just-released "All Day" featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom, and McCartney.

What are you looking forward to?

Which albums are on your most-anticipated list for the spring? Let us know in the comments section below.