Here Are The Albums You Need In 2016

Bryget Chrisfield and Hannah Story take a look at the year's most anticipated album releases.

Sia

Will there be enough pop bangers on This Is Acting to match 1000 Forms Of Fear? Will Sia take home even more ARIAs than in 2014 for this record of songs written for and rejected by the likes of Adele, Rihanna, et cetera? We shall see, but from the sound of Cheap Thrills and Alive, the answer is yes. Yes she will. Sia is queen. (This Is Acting, Jan via Monkey Puzzle)

DMA's

It's hard to believe this band is yet to drop an album, hey? Especially considering they're playing Coachella this year and made NME's 'ones to watch' in 2016 list all on the strength of their debut, self-titled EP. Boom! Lay Down, the first taste from this Newtown threesome's debut outing, promises more catchy riffs and elongated vowel sounds from our very own DMA's (aka the band Noel Gallagher once threatened to boo). (Hill's End, Feb via I Oh You)

Kanye West

Writing a follow-up to Yeezus must have been as difficult as writing a follow-up to The College Dropout, or say, every Kanye record ever, especially considering the earworm that is Facts, as released on New Year's Eve. We only have high expectations. Yeezy now has family life to write about — here's hoping son Saint gets his own song, akin to North's Only One. (SWISH, TBC via Universal)

Elizabeth Rose

Following the success of her self-titled EP, Elizabeth Rose's debut album Intra is about to drop. The three album tracks we've already heard — Shoulda Coulda Woulda (M-Phazes collab), Another Earth (Chrome Sparks collab) and Division — are all shades of danceable brilliance. If you don't reckon you're familiar with Rose's work, you're probably mistaken (her glorious vocal contributions shimmy atop I Didn't Believe by Flight Facilities and The Aston Shuffle's Back & Forth). (Intra, Mar via Midnight Feature)

RÜFÜS

So eagerly awaited is the second full-length release by RÜFÜS (RÜFÜS DU SOL in North America) that office-mates started enquiring about advance copies at the end of last year! We're actually streaming it through our headphones right now so can promise you that Bloom won't disappoint. But you've already got it on pre-order, right? This Sydney trio's debut (Atlas) peaked at number one in this country and its follow-up is also bound to trouble the charts. (Bloom, Jan via Sweat It Out)

Scott & Charlene's Wedding

He was labelled an "Australian slack-pop prince" by Spin magazine and we're frothing for Craig Dermody (Spider Vomit, Divorced) and co's forthcoming release. Scott & Charlene's previous second album Any Port In A Storm (2013) led to Kurt Vile comparisons and you might well have caught this band warming up Vile's stages around the country of late. (Title TBC, TBC via Bedroom Suck)

Tonight Alive

They blew us away during their early set at Soundwave last year so we're pretty pumped for Tonight Alive's forthcoming third album, Limitless. Lead single Human Interaction perfectly showcases Jenna McDougall's flawless vocals and emotive ability. They've already had a track on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack (The Edge) so this album should cement Tonight Alive as an international concern (their last album The Other Side reached number 43 on the US Billboard 200 and #59 in the UK). (Limitless, Mar via Sony)

Frank Ocean

Will anything Frank Ocean does ever live up to the absurdly high benchmark he set with his breakout 2012's Channel ORANGE? We'll soon find out. We're expecting smooth socially conscious R&B from the Californian. PLEASE HURRY UP FRANK. (Boys Don't Cry, TBC via Universal)

Hands Like Houses

These tricky to genre-define Australian legends (who are definitely on the heavy side of the spectrum) have been steadily gaining Stateside attention with each album so let's see if their third offering results in a further rise up the charts (2013's Unimagine hit #4 on the US Hard Rock chart). A Facebook post sees Hands Like Houses admitting of their next LP, "We knew from pretty early on that this album would make us or it would break us — and it nearly did". (Dissonants, Feb via UNFD)

The Jezabels

Second album The Brink marked a maturation for the Sydney band, a moodier, but somehow lighter record than their debut Prisoner, and we're hoping Synthia takes that even further. Probably more synth (GEDDIT), but also hopefully more opportunity for Hayley Mary to show off her haunting vocals, a la first single Come Alive. (Synthia, Feb via MGM)

Drake

Mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late was a ~sensitive~ way to kick off 2015, but this year we're hoping Drake's all about the bangers: a la Hotline Bling and his earlier records. It'll probably just be Tyga/Meek Mill/whoever diss tracks on top of R&B beats, but fingers crossed he releases another video to launch another thousand memes. (Views From The 6, TBC via Universal)

The Temper Trap

For their next set, The Temper Trap's manager Danny Rogers reveals in a clip on the band's website that they've been working with "a range of different people with different backgrounds". Singer Dougy Mandagi then confirms they've worked with Malay (Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE) in LA and also Damian Taylor (Björk, The Killers). Will their third album reach the lofty heights of Sweet Disposition? Let's see, shall we? (Title TBC, TBC via Liberation)

Bloc Party

Kele found "spirituality" and a swag of new band mates for his fifth Bloc Party record, seemingly a miracle after the band's hiatus in 2013. The new look Bloc Party is going for more of a soft indie-rock thing, as evidenced by The Good News, but perhaps some new blood has called for a little bit of sonic experimentation. (Hymns, Jan via Infectious Music)

Urthboy

The warped beats of Long Loud Hours featuring Bertie Blackman bode well for Urthboy's forthcoming fifth long-player. His slant on hip hop is always imaginative and edgy and Tim Levinson (the name on Urthboy's library card) illuminated via Facebook: "My new album is all about how connected we are to our past, whether we're conscious of it or not." (Title TBC, TBC via Elefant Traks)

Rihanna

RiRi wont tell anyone exactly when her record is coming out, but she's been dropping teaser videos for months now. If Bitch Better Have My Money and FourFiveSeconds featuring Yeezy and Paul McCartney are anything to go by, we've got a particularly badass Rihanna record waiting for us. (Anti, TBC via Universal)

Primal Scream

You haven't yet visited Primal Scream's website to watch the Chaosmosis trailer, have you? Well, what are waiting for!? The Scottish band's last long-player More Light (2013) acted as a sonic reminder of what's wrong with all the band's imitators (everything), because Bobby Gillespie and co seem incapable of missteps according to our ears. Bring on album number 11 and sign us up for a picture disc! (Chaosmosis, Mar via First International)

Luca Brasi

Nic White and Lincoln Le Fevre have produced this loud and proud Tassie export in the past. They gave us a sneak peak of what we can expect from their upcoming third album via their new single Aeroplane, which has been available for streaming since last November. Let's all watch with interest to see whether three's a charm for Luca Brasi. (Title TBC, May via Poison City) 

The Gooch Palms

After touring across the US through 2015, and recording Introverted Extroverts in Michigan, the Newcastle duo are looking to follow up their 2013 debut Novo's with something that will hopefully capture the velocity of their live sets like first single Tiny Insight. (Introverted Extroverts, Jun via Summer Camp Records)

Animal Collective

A tenth Animal Collective album? What next? More strange sounds arranged strangely to strange effect? What is this madness? They finished recording the album in LA last July, they've dropped first single FloriDada, and they've got three album covers for you to choose from, featuring the band members, as painted by Brian DeGraw. (Painting With, Feb via Domino)

Violent Soho

Just pre-order this record already. Like Soda gave you the first taste, complete with lawn bowling grandmas, and now it's time for a full-length record to match the power of 2013's Hungry Ghost and the bluster of 2010's Violent Soho. And hey, they were taking album name suggestions back in August — maybe we'll have our first album named in honour of Bronwyn Bishop. (Title TBC, TBC via I Oh You)

Allday

So according to Allday’s Twitter (@alldaychubbyboy – you should totally follow him ‘cause he’s hilarious!) his computer, containing all his raps, broke on 3 Jan. But then he got it back four days later and zero files were lost so his album is still on track. Phew! The rapper did some impressive feats last year (on Troye Sivan’s For Him and Asta’s Dynamite for instance), but what we really wanna know is: will Allday’s rap over a sampled fart make the cut?  (Title TBC, TBC via UNFD)

Sixx: AM

RIP Mötley Crüe. Dry your eyes though, mates, ‘cause bassist Nikki Sixx’s side-project, Sixx: AM – which is rounded out by lead singer James Michael and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist DJ Ashba – are putting the finishing touches on a new double album (which will be released in two parts: Volume One and Volume Two). Sixx: AM’s first two albums were companion soundtracks to Sixx’s books (The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star and This Is Gonna Hurt). This will be their sixxth [sic] release. (Volume One and Volume Two, TBC via Eleven Seven) 

Bob Evans

On January 11 at 6.09pm Bob Evans posted a picture of himself in the studio with the caption, “And so it begins... XXBOBXX #new album” (we’re pretty impressed he embraced a hashtag). Kevin Mitchell has already released four long-players and two EPs under this nom de plume and we’re watching with interest to see if he can come up with another video concept as adorable as the Nowhere Without You one that featured unconventional puppets such as an alarm clock, television, coffee, kettle and even a worn out high top sneaker. (Yep, we watched it again in the name of research– so good!) (Title TBC, TBC via EMI)

Crystal Castles

We’re still mourning Alice Glass leaving this Canadian duo. When Ethan Kath dropped Frail featuring ‘Edith’, some fans speculated Edith was in fact Kath manipulating his own vocals. Then Crystal Castles mark two dropped another track Deicide and Edith Frances was announced as the band’s new frontvixen. She sounds a hellavu lot like Glass, but will Crystal Castles ever have another ‘moment’ comparable to that Alice Practice sync in Skins Series 2? (Title TBC, TBC via Shock)

Paul Dempsey

He has a brand new website that went live on 14 Jan (pauldempseymusic.com) and if you head there you can watch a clip of Paul Dempsey recording a new solo album at The Loft, Chicago (Wilco’s studio). This upcoming second solo long-player is produced by Dempsey and Tom Schick (Ryan Adams, Mavis Staples) and the sound snippet you can hear sort of sounds like a piano and guitar caught in a whirlwind – we like!  (Title TBC, TBC via EMI)  

PJ Harvey

News of PJ Harvey’s ninth studio record landed back in December and was greeted with delighted squeals at The Music HQ. Excitement levels escalated when we watched the brief clip of Harvey performing a dark, dynamic teaser track. If you wanna totally geek out in advance of the release, read Harvey’s poetry book The Hollow Of The Hand, that was written during her 2011 – 2014 travels during which she created the songs for this upcoming, Flood-produced set. We only wish we were in London between 16 Jan and 14 Feb, 2015 while Harvey recorded her ninth album at Somerset House and allowed visitors to watch the creative process through one-way glazed windows. (Title TBC, TBC via Universal)

L-FRESH The LION

You can listen to two songs — Get Mine (ft Parvyn Kaur Singh) and Hold Up (ft Remi) — from L-FRESH The Lion’s forthcoming second set and we recommend you do so sharpish. Dude has such a unique voice in the hip hop world and he’s not afraid to take it there and make a statement while we dance along and listen up. L-FRESH The Lion’s debut album was called One, will its follow-up be Two? (Title TBC, TBC via Elefant Traks)

Radiohead

Sam Smith may not know who Thom Yorke is (see his lame comments after The Golden Globes), but the rest of the planet surely froths that all signs seem to suggest Radiohead could release album number nine any day now. They’ve set up a new company called Dawn Chorus, which the band also did ahead of their previous two record releases (2007’s In Rainbows and 2011’s The King Of Limbs). Meanwhile, if you need a Yorke fix, listen to Radiohead’s stunning-but-rejected Spectre theme song.  (Title TBC, TBC via Independent) 

The Last Shadow Puppets

Just the other day we were watching that swoon-worthy YouTube footage of bromance bros Miles Kane and Alex Turner dancing to The Strokes’ Barely Legal in Hyde Park (last June) then The Last Shadow Puppets dropped a single! Watch the Bad Habits video: Kane lurches at the mic like a punch-drunk psycho killer and we wanna make a GIF out of Turner’s sultry-but-casual moves at the start. Who else could get away with splicing a wacky announcement – “There’s a black Infiniti parked outside blocking somebody in” – in the middle of a song!? If their upcoming second album is Bad Habits repeated 12 times we’re still buying it. And, nope, we’re not messin’.  (Title TBC, TBC via Domino) 

The Peep Tempel

When this band’s caterwauling vocalist Blake Scott performed Carol with the EG Allstars to close out The Age Music Victoria Awards last year, we all bolted to the front to yell, “FUCK it!” in the appropriate places. And thank goodness the band is hitting the studio next month to record a follow-up to their extraordinary second album, Tales, ‘cause we need new ring tones (true story!).  (Title TBC, TBC via Wing Sing)

Also expect albums in 2016 from:

Abbath, Alessia Cara, Architects, Ben Harper, Dark Funeral, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero's, Ela Stiles, Emma Louise, Entombed AD, Flume, Hellyeah, Katatonia, Lontalius, M83, Massacre, Melody Pool, Olympia, PJ Harvey, Red Fang, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Screamfeeder, SPOD, Spookyland, Stonefield, Storm The Sky, Summer Flake, Terrible Truths, The 1975, The Bennies, Totally Mild and Yeasayer.