Summer is official almost here, which means one thing! It’s time to break out our happy dance and to prep our playlist with a round-up of summer’s most awaited albums coming soon to record stores and headsets near you! Here are some summer releases we are more than excited to listen to while we are on our daily commute or on a much-needed summertime retreat.
Florence & the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Florence fans celebrate! On June 1st, the Grammy-winning Brit band will release their third studio album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, a much-anticipated follow-up to 2011's Ceremonials. Featuring 11 songs, including the previously released single What Kind of Man, the record was produced by music maven Markus Dravs, who has worked with massive bands like Coldplay, Arcade Fire, and Bjork. The album was inspired by anguish of heartbreak, as proved by the powerfully infuriated lead single, What Kind of Man. Florence was admittedly "lost in a sea of tears and confusion," and she sought counsel on how to manage her feelings from taxi drivers and her bff Taylor Swift. The album is undeniably massive in scope, keeping the orchestral drums prominent and digging deep from an intimate, emotional place that has proven to produce some of the best work.
Carly Rae Jepsen – E. MO. TION (E. MO. TION)
The Call Me Maybe singer-songwriter has recently announced the summer release of her sophomore album, E·MO·TION (E·MO·TION), which will take us back to the '80s, drawing inspiration from Cyndi Lauper. Carly Rae Jepsen has spoken before about how Sinead O’Connor‘s cover of Prince‘s Nothing Compares 2U has swayed her music and writing, including her latest album. According to Jepsen, her heart and soul does stick very much in the ’80s, because she feels that era had the purest pop at its finest, the “emotional ’80s” as we would like to call it.
Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean’s new album is tentatively scheduled for a July release, but knowing Frank's meticulousness nothing's set in stone. What we know is that Ocean will be performing on the festival circuit later this summer, which might mean he'll be playing new music! Other than that, we're left wondering as to what he has in store. Will this be another throng of expressive, soulfully sung ballads? Ocean has not released an album since 2012, when he put out major label debut Channel Orange. That album was the follow up to Nostalgia, Ultra released as a mixtape in 2011. In November 2014 Frank Ocean released new song Memrise.
Kurt Cobain
There should be a brand-new Kurt Cobain album this summer, according to Montage of Heck director Brett Morgen. The filmmaker behind the awaited HBO documentary about the legendary Nirvana frontman let the record plans slip during a conversation with Bedford + Bowery. After listening to more than 200 hours of Cobain's unreleased tracks during the creating of the biography, director Brett Morgen has gathered the former lead-singer of Nirvana's songs into an album that's pending an official release date and will comprise completely of solo Cobain tunes. Apparently it will feel like you’re kind of hanging out with Kurt Cobain on a scorching summer day in Olympia, Washington as he fiddles about.
Lianne La Havas – Blood
In a modern, technology-filled artificial pop and electronically driven time in music, Lianne La Havas brings her own flavour to the music scene. She combines jazzy chord progressions with a funky bass line and soulful vocals that make the kind of music that surpasses current popular trends. Her 2012 debut Is Your Love Big Enough? placed her on the map, but her more recent work has her sounding more self-assured, motivated, and more polished than ever! La Havas is back on the scene giving her fans new music with the British songstress’ long-awaited sophomore venture, Blood, which is scheduled to drop July 31, giving us 10 brand-new tunes to groove to in the summer.
Jamie XX – In Colour
Jamie xx, one third of The XX, has been constructing this solo debut album for a while now. First, there were the prevalent remixes and edits, then the solo tunes and the spectacular Gil Scott-Heron remix album We're New Here. Jamie is a talent to be reckoned with in the electronic music scene and with the news of the new album, Jamie join forces with fellow XX bandmate Romy Madley Croft, which really took things to the next level as seen in the new video, Loud Places.
Enjoy our picks for the most sizzling summer jams ever! The hot season’s here, it’s time to get down and get sunburnt and to go on fun music-filled escapades.
by: Adeline Tan
