ADRIAN THRILLS checks out what’s in store for music lovers in 2022
From returning rockers to the trailblazers of pop, 2022 is shaping up as another great year for new albums…
ELVIS COSTELLO
The new year begins with an old-school rock and roll album from one of our greatest songwriters. Having played one of the last big shows before lockdown, at Hammersmith Apollo in 2020, Elvis Costello has kept himself busy, releasing the Hey Clockface and Spanish Model LPs in the past two years.
He’s now back with backing band The Imposters on The Boy Named If. The two tracks already out, Magnificent Hurt and Paint The Red Rose Blue, suggest a reliably melodic return.
Out January 14 on EMI.
Having played one of the last big shows before lockdown, at Hammersmith Apollo in 2020, Elvis Costello has kept himself busy, releasing the Hey Clockface and Spanish Model LPs in the past two years
YEARS & YEARS
Once a trio, Years & Years are now the vehicle for a solo Olly Alexander, who continues to juggle an acting career and his music. Having starred in TV drama It’s A Sin, he’s now concentrating on his third album, Night Call, which is set to be a dancefloor-friendly treat in thrall to disco pioneer Sylvester and French house music.
January 21, Polydor.
BASTILLE
The Amazon documentary ReOrchestrated reiterated Bastille singer Dan Smith’s position as one of British pop’s more enterprising performers, and his band’s fourth album, Give Me The Future, should cement his stature.
He describes the record as ‘a tribute to humanity in a tech age’, and early indications point to a beats-driven spectacular with references to sci-fi films Metropolis and The Matrix, and nods to Daft Punk and Phil Collins.
February 4, Virgin EMI.
CAMILA CABELLO
The Cuban-American singer has been teasing her third album, Familia, since last summer. Her July single, Don’t Go Yet, was an upbeat Latin number powered by handclaps and trumpets.
The follow-up, La Buena Vida, used flamenco stylings to further distance Cabello from her former role in girl group Fifth Harmony. Having starred in an adaptation of Cinderella, she’s ready to storm the pop world again.
Early 2022, Sony.
Camila Cabello has been teasing her third album, Familia, since last summer. Her July single, Don’t Go Yet, was an upbeat Latin number powered by handclaps and trumpets
FOXES
A desire for freedom is set to be one of the defining characteristics of post-lockdown pop, and Southampton singer Louisa Rose Allen, aka Foxes, yearned for a return to the good times on recent single Sister Ray, an early taster for her forthcoming album The Kick.
The single was inspired by the Velvet Underground song of the same name, but Allen’s haunting vocals and pounding electronics owed more to Swedish singer Robyn.
February 11, PIAS.
A desire for freedom is set to be one of the defining characteristics of post-lockdown pop, and Southampton singer Louisa Rose Allen, aka Foxes, yearned for a return to the good times on recent single Sister Ray, an early taster for her forthcoming album The Kick
EDDIE VEDDER
Vedder has used his fitful solo career to break away from his day-job fronting Seattle rock band Pearl Jam. His first solo LP was the soundtrack to a Sean Penn film, his second a collection of ukulele tunes.
Now, with third effort Earthling, he is setting the dial a little closer to home with guitar-driven heartland sounds. Recent single The Haves was an anguished ballad showcasing a voice that remains one of the most emotionally resonant in rock.
February 11, Seattle Surf.
TEARS FOR FEARS
The electronic duo behind the 1980s hits Shout and Mad World have never been especially prolific, but that hasn’t stopped Tears For Fears from being an unlikely influence on modern rap and dance.
Kanye West, David Guetta and Drake have all sampled their music — and ears should prick up at the arrival of The Tipping Point, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal’s first new album in 18 years.
February 25, Concord.
The electronic duo behind the 1980s hits Shout and Mad World have never been especially prolific, but that hasn’t stopped Tears For Fears from being an unlikely influence on modern rap and dance
CHARLI XCX
The Cambridge-born singer was responsible for pop’s first quarantine album when she released How I’m Feeling Now in spring 2020. Made at home, it was rough and ready. The follow-up, Crash, should be a more polished affair.
Recent single New Shapes cast Charli as part of a futuristic girl trio with U.S. musician Caroline Polachek and French singer Christine And The Queens.
March 18, Asylum.
JACK WHITE
The songwriter behind Seven Nation Army, the White Stripes anthem sung in football stadia, is set for a busy 2022, with two LPs in the pipeline. In April, he releases Fear Of The Dawn, with recent single Taking Me Back indicating an album of back-to-basics rock.
All White has revealed about his second album, Entering Heaven Alive, is that it will sound different, hinting at a revival of the funk and electronic pop of 2018’s Boarding House Reach.
April 8 and July 22, Third Man.
Jack White, the songwriter behind Seven Nation Army, the White Stripes anthem sung in football stadia, is set for a busy 2022, with two LPs in the pipeline
TAYLOR SWIFT
The pace at which Swift is re-recording her old albums following a legal dispute suggests we’ll see two more note-for-note revamps in 2022.
Speculation among fans, prompted by ‘cookies’ in her videos and online posts, points to 2010’s Speak Now and her fifth album 1989 — although Taylor enjoys springing surprises. One track from 1989, the moody ballad Wildest Dreams, has already emerged as a single.
Summer 2022 on Universal.
The pace at which Taylor Swift is re-recording her old albums following a legal dispute suggests we’ll see two more note-for-note revamps in 2022
LIAM GALLAGHER
The ex-Oasis singer is determined to party like it’s 1996. In an echo of his former band’s two shows that year at Knebworth Park, Liam Gallagher returns to the Hertfordshire stately home for the first time as a solo artist next June.
Before that, he’s releasing his fourth solo LP, C’Mon You Know, with full-throttle tunes and bags of rock and roll attitude bound to be on the agenda. ‘I’m not reinventing the wheel,’ says Liam of his flourishing solo career. ‘I’m just giving it a new polish.’
May 27 on Warner.
The ex-Oasis singer is determined to party like it’s 1996. In an echo of his former band’s two shows that year at Knebworth Park, Liam Gallagher returns to the Hertfordshire stately home for the first time as a solo artist next June
ARCTIC MONKEYS
‘Pretty much’ finished and due in 2022, according to drummer Matt Helders, the seventh Arctic Monkeys album is hard to call.
The Sheffield band followed their most poppy album, 2013’s AM, with their strangest, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, so another hairpin turn can’t be ruled out.
With an August tour including the Reading and Leeds Festivals, a summer release is likely.
Summer 2022 on Domino.
‘Pretty much’ finished and due in 2022, according to drummer Matt Helders, the seventh Arctic Monkeys album is hard to call
GWEN STEFANI
The No Doubt singer has promised that her first solo album in five years is in the works, and the two singles released so far, Let Me Reintroduce Myself and Slow Clap, indicate a return to her pop and reggae roots.
‘I’m still the original old me,’ she sang on the former, while the cheerleader chants on the latter harked back to her 2005 single Hollaback Girl.
Late 2022 on Interscope.
No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani has promised that her first solo album in five years is in the works, and the two singles released so far, Let Me Reintroduce Myself and Slow Clap, indicate a return to her pop and reggae roots