The pandemic has led to a lot of downtime for bands and musicians in the absence of full touring schedules. Many have channeled their energies into writing and producing new material. 2021 is shaping up to be a great year for new music so let’s dive into five artists who have albums coming.
Singer/songwriter Jack Antonoff is set to drop a new album later this year after releasing a surprise collaboration with fellow New Jersey resident Bruce Springsteen in November called ‘Chinatown’. Antonoff, a prolific writer collaborating with the likes of Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey in recent years, is also known as a member of Fun. and Steel Train. But it’s with Bleachers he’s at his best channeling a nostalgic feel for the 80s and 90s while incorporating soaring memorable hooks. The new album will be the first since the 2017 release of Gone Now and their MTV Unplugged collection.
In December it was announced The Bitter Truth will be coming March 21 and is the first full album of new material from the band in a decade. On 2017s Synthesis, Amy Lee & company explored songs from the bands extensive catalog with orchestral instruments and elements of electronica. The new album has the band reuniting with Nick Raskulinecz who worked on their 2011 self titled release and is known for his work with Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains and others. In August of 2020 we got a taste with the release ‘Use My Voice’.
The band first caught everyone’s attention in 2016 when their song ‘Highway Tune’ was featured on the Showtime hit show ‘Shameless’. (The EP Black Smoke Rising followed in spring of 2017 along with a big feature on Apple Music and a tour with rockers The Struts. Fans hungry for some rock and roll were drawn in and comparisons to Led Zeppelin inevitably followed. Their full length debut Anthem of the Peaceful Army dropped in 2018 and earned several Grammy nominations. Fast forward to 2021 and their follow up The Battle at Garden’s Gate is ready for action. Expect the album to be available everywhere on April 16.
Kings of Leon has always been a family affair. The Followills, brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared along with cousin Matthew, announced their new album When You See Yourself will be released to the public on March 5. The accomplished quartet has 12 Grammy nominations under their belt with four big wins. Their first new album since 2016s Walls finds them reuniting with producer Markus Dravs who has worked with everyone from Coldplay to Arcade Fire to Bjork. Check out the new singles ‘The Bandit’ and ‘100,000 People’ which were released in January the same day of the album announcement.
We heard from French indie alt darlings Phoenix in 2020 when they released a single featured in the Apple Original Films movie On The Rocks starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones and directed by Sofia Coppola. Their last album Ti Amo was released in 2017. Their breakthrough album in the states Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix earned them a Grammy and led to singles ‘1901’ & ‘Listomania’ being mainstays at Alt radio ever since. In January they dropped a teaser on their Instagram announcing that they were in the studio working on album number 7. No release date has been announced but we’re ready when they are.
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