MUSIC

Unconfirmed Albums We're Hoping for in 2020

Kendrick Lamar, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, and more.

Kendrick LamarMTV Video Music Awards, Press Room, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Aug 2017

Photo by: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

We've already been over a handful of the new albums 2020 will definitely have in store for us, but there's surely plenty more where those came from.

In addition to the plethora of albums we know for sure are coming out in the new year, many artists have given subtle hints that they plan to release new records. None of these have been confirmed, but we've compiled clues to round-out our list of probable records we're dying to hear.

Justin Bieber

The Biebs has confirmed JB5 is coming in 2020, although the details still remain under wraps. We can predict that the album will feature the song "Yummy," a new single expected to drop January 3. It'll be his first LP since 2015's Purpose.

Haim

Sister trio Haim have released a steady stream of new singles this year, including "Hallelujah." All signs are pointing to a new album in the new year. It would mark their first full-length since 2017's Something to Tell You.

HAIM - Now I'm In Itwww.youtube.com


Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison became an unignorable force in indie rock upon the release of her debut album as Soccer Mommy, Clean. She's released a couple of new singles, including "yellow is the color of her eyes," and it seems a new record is on the horizon.

Soccer Mommy - lucy (Official Audio)www.youtube.com


Hinds

Spanish rockers Hinds released their second album, I Don't Run, in 2018, and they're due for a follow-up. They released a new song this month called "Riding Solo."

Hinds - Riding Solowww.youtube.com


Kali Uchis

Kali Uchis dropped one of the best R&B albums of 2018 with her debut LP, Isolation. She just treated fans to a new song, "Solita," which leads us to believe that a new album might be imminent.

Kali Uchis - Solita (Official Video)www.youtube.com


The Weeknd

The Weeknd recently released two new singles, "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights," and it seems a follow-up to 2018's My Dear Melancholy might be on its way.

The Weeknd - Heartless (Official Video)www.youtube.com


Charli XCX

2019 saw the release of Charli XCX's third studio album, Charli, but it appears she's ready to dive right back in. "i think i want to release 2 albums next year... or at least MAKE 2 albums next year," she tweeted in November. "i feel very inspired at the moment."

King Krule

UK experimental rocker Archy Marshall, better known as King Krule, released his magnum opus The Ooz back in 2017. He just recently followed it up with a short film he wrote himself called "Hey World!" that features four new original songs.

Hey World!www.youtube.com


Kendrick Lamar

If you ask us, Kendrick is one of the decade's defining artists. If the rumors are true, it looks like he'll be starting the 2020s on the right foot. Fans are speculating that the accomplished rapper will release his follow-up to 2017's DAMN. in the new year.

Iron Maiden

Clues have circulated suggesting that the heavy metal legends will return with their 17th studio album in 2020. Their latest, The Book of Souls, was released in 2015.

Sky Ferreira

OK, so maybe this one's a long shot. Sky Ferreira has been promising a follow-up to 2013's Night Time, My Time for so long that it almost seems like a lost cause at this point, but 2019 saw rare festival performances from her and even a new single, "Downhill Lullaby." We won't hold our breath, but we can still dream that SF2 is on its way.

Sky Ferreira - Downhill Lullaby (Audio)www.youtube.com

MUSIC

Beck's "Hyperspace" Drags at Times, But Who Cares?

The man is a legend that we're not worthy of critiquing

Beck

Chances are no two reviewers have the same opinion about Beck Hansen.

After all, malleability has always been Hansen's superpower. His seemingly endless capacity for amalgamating genres makes it impossible for music journalists to review his work without seeming pretentious. While Morning Phase and Sea Change are (almost) unanimously considered his greatest triumphs, critics have remained divided on what constitutes Beck's worst album. Some think it to be the oddball psychedelic folk-hop of Stereopathetic Soulmanure, while others think the satirical, lo-fi, anti-folk of One Foot In The Grave is well-deserving of the title. In Pitchfork's case, 2017's Colors sucks, but even then, the album was universally lauded and spawned two major GRAMMY victories.

With that said, Beck's Hyperspace is a rather vanilla release from the polymath, considering his rampant experimentation in the past. The project is filled with profound moments that will impress some critics and leave others unphased. It follows a thematic steadiness similar to Colors in that it is one singular mood. Colors was unbridled in its blistering euphoria, while Hyperspace is a thick cloud of bitter nostalgia, heartbreak, and melancholy. It's wrapped in the lush lo-fi production chops of Pharrell Williams, but the project never seems to breathe and ascend above the clouds it creates.

Beck - Uneventful Dayswww.youtube.com

Beck wants to remain under his cloud for now, and the album slowly caves under its one-sided emotional baggage. "You threw the keys to the kingdom, over a skyscraper wall, sowing seeds somewhere obsolete in the everlasting nothing," he sings over 808's on the dreary album closer. There are stagnant/tepid moments on Hyperspace that are surprising in light of the monumental talent at work here. There are beautiful moments of clarity on songs like "Stratosphere" and "See-Through," but it's difficult to appreciate those amidst the album's exhaustive opacity.

But Beck is also going through a monumental shift in his life, and any of us would look towards the stars for meaning if we were as starved for elucidation as he seems to be. Beck doesn't know how he got here, and he desperately wants to. "I don't even know what's wrong," he sings on "Uneventful Days." The project's honesty makes its dull moments at least feel authentic, and this authenticity inevitably saves the album from itself.

Yet critics, once again, remain divided. NME has already given the project four stars, praising the minimalist production and smart collaborations with Sky Ferrera and Coldplay's Chris Martin, while NPRcalls the album stiff and monotonous. But Beck's refusal to be boxed-in is his greatest strength, and no single review can effectively capture all that he is even 26 years into his career Hyperspace is a fine album; it's just not his "best album," and for Beck to have a standard of that caliber as a baseline reminds us how much of a juggernaut he's become.