The 25 Most Anticipated Album Releases of 2015 (Part 2: N-Z)

In his second instalment, LYALL CUKIER looks ahead to the biggest releases of 2015.

If you were foolish enough to miss the first instalment, don’t panic – the link is here. For those of you who have been patiently waiting since then, here’s part two:

New Order (release date tbd, expected spring)

New Order – one of the most influential bands of the 1980s – return this spring with their 10^th album release. The group’s 1983 track, “Blue Monday” remains to this day as the best-selling 12” single of all time, while their fusion of new wave aesthetics and ‘80s club culture proved to be one of the defining sounds of the era.

Panda Bear: ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’ (12^th January)

Founding member of Animal Collective, Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) released his fifth solo LP in early January. The hazy, spatial textures of ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’ are typically Lennox: bridging the gap between psychedelia, experimentation and electronica.

Passion Pit: ‘Kindred’ (April 2015) 

Passion Pit follow up ‘Manners’ (2009) and ‘Gossamer’ (2012) with ‘Kindred’, due to be released this April. The group’s frontman, Michael Angelakos, uploaded some demos in late 2014 under the moniker, Eastern Shift, but the Cambridge band (Cambridge, Massachusetts, that is) return in a couple of month’s time.

PJ Harvey (release date tbd)

PJ Harvey is currently recording her ninth LP in London’s Somerset House – a public installation behind one-way aquarium glass. Unconventional it may be, but the two-time Mercury Prize winner has fashioned a career in music that has consistently pushed the boundaries of contemporary songwriting.

Pond: ‘Man It Feels Like Space Again’ (23^rd January) 

Produced by Kevin Parker (Tame Impala frontman), Australian band, Pond, released their sixth LP only a couple of weeks ago. Fusing alternative rock and psychedelia, the band’s latest effort has already been met with critical acclaim.

Radiohead (release date tbd)

Thom Yorke et al. reportedly release their ninth studio album in 2015, with recording having begun toward the back end of 2014. From ‘Pablo Honey’, to ‘Kid A’, to 2011’s ‘The King of Limbs’, Radiohead are often cited as the most influential group of the 1990s and 2000s, and, according to Paste Magazine, number 3 on its list of ‘The 50 Best British Artists of All Time’ (behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, no less). This is one to really get excited about.

https://soundcloud.com/radiohead/03-separator-four-tet-rmx

Sky Ferreira (release date tbd)

The synthpop singer-songwriter revealed on Twitter last July that she had begun recording on her follow-up to her 2013 LP, ‘Night Time, My Time’. Her dreamy, ethereal sound that characterised her debut reappears in her latest demo track, ‘Guardian’, of which she gave a sneak peak on Instagram.

Tame Impala (release date tbd)

Last autumn, Pitchfork Media listed Tame Impala’s second LP, ‘Lonerism’ (2012), as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far. And the Australian group is expected to return with its third studio release some time in 2015.

The Chemical Brothers (release date tbd) 

Grammy award-winning duo, The Chemical Brothers, revealed in December 2014 that a new album is scheduled for release at some point in the coming year. Architects of tracks like ‘Galvanize’ and ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’, the group’s amalgam of breakbeat, electronica and alternative dance has seen TCB pack out arenas and festival slots ever since the 1990s.

The Prodigy: ‘The Day is My Enemy’ (31^st March)

The Prodigy, much like The Chemical Brothers, dominated the British dance scene of the 1990s, but their music has taken on a more industrial, underground aesthetic. Tracks like ‘Breathe’ and ‘Out of Space’ provided the soundtrack for the counter-cultural rave scene of the era, before the group went on to gain universal popularity. Their new LP, ‘The Day Is My Enemy’ is due to be released at the end of March.

The xx (release date tbd)

Mercury Prize winning outfit, The xx, are expected to release a third album at some point in 2015. The dream pop trio, hailing from Wandsworth, have been recording in Reykjavik, London, Los Angeles and Texas, while the band’s percussionist (and prominent DJ/producer), Jamie xx, is also said to be releasing something of his own in 2015.

Will Butler: ‘Policy’ (10^th March)

Arcade Fire member, Will Butler (brother of frontman, Win), will make his solo debut in mid-March, with ‘Policy’. Having earned an Academy Award nomination for his original score in Spike Jonze’s film, Her, it is with much anticipation that we wait for the multi-instrumentalist’s first LP.