25 albums to get excited about in 2014

First things first: Happy New Year!

Now that’s out the way, let’s get stuck into the serious business of looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us all.

After a pretty impressive 2013 for big albums – Bowie, My Bloody Valentine, Daft Punk, Jay Z, Kanye, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Beyonce to name but a few – can we expect a similarly massive 2014?

Below I’ve listed 25 of the biggest albums that I’m excited about this year – although some of them are only very tentatively rumoured, so they might not see a 2014 release.

Let me know which albums you’re looking forward to the most in 2014 in the comments at the bottom – or join the discussion over on Facebook, Twitter and Google+…

Coldplay – TBA (Spring)
Rumours have been circulating recently that Chris Martin and co are readying their sixth album for release in 2014 – probably in the Spring to provide the springboard for summer festival domination. As there’s been no build-up or press yet we can probably expect them to follow the David Bowie / MBV / Beyonce blueprint and release it suddenly.

Lily Allen – TBA (Summer)
After making a storming comeback at the end of last year with the controversial ‘Hard Out Here’ and the John Lewis Christmas ad, Lily Allen is well set to make a splash in 2014. She’s already confirmed herself for Glastonbury, so the smart money is on her third album coming out to coincide with that.

Adele – TBA (TBA)
Obviously there’s been no official word on a new Adele album yet, but we know the mega-selling singer has been in the studio with One Republic’s Ryan Tedder recently so we could potentially see album number three in 2014. The expectation levels will be huge, so don’t be too surprised if this is another sudden release album – all the better to shift a load of units before the reviews are in!

Foo Fighters – TBA (TBA)
Dave Grohl has been bigging up the Foo’s follow-up to 2011’s Wasting Light, telling XFM back in August that they are making an album ’ in a way that no-one’s ever done before and we’re pretty excited about it’. No further news, but a big album from Foo Fighters is all but guaranteed in 2014 so watch this space.

Lana Del Rey – Ultra-Violence (TBA)
During a screening of her short film ‘Tropico’ last month Lana Del Rey revealed the title of her second album as Ultra-Violence. That’s literally all we know at the minute but expect the LDR promotional machine to click in to gear soon.

U2 – TBA (February/March)
There’s no title yet, but all the talk seems to point to U2’s new album back with Island Records being the first big event album of 2014 – with rumours of a huge SuperBowl-related unveiling. Danger Mouse has been involved in the recording, so just for that reason it should be interesting.

Dr Dre – Detox (TBA)
This album has been rumoured since 2001, and has been the feature of many articles like this one over the years so don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s very possible that Dre has the album ready but, seeing as the hip-hop world has moved on so much over the years, is reluctant to release it – it’s not like he needs the money really is it!?

Jay Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne 2 (TBA)
The follow-up to the dynamic duo’s 2011 hit joint album has reportedly been in the works for a while, but with both rappers having busy 2013’s it was apparently put on the back burner. Hopefully we’ll see it out at some point in 2014.

Kanye West – TBA (TBA)
Staying with Kanye, it would seem silly not to expect him to drop something massive in 2014. As well as a possible Watch The Throne sequel and the much-rumoured Cruel Winter, Kanye has also been rumoured to be already working out his next move post-Yeezus/

Metallica – TBA (TBA)
Rock titans Metallica have been on a mega promo tour since the release of their last album Death Magnetic five years ago – which has included the release of the 3D movie ‘Through The Never’. Recent interviews with the band have suggested that they have 2014 earmarked for new material though, so a new album could well be in the offing over the next 12 months.

The Black Keys – TBA (TBA)
The Black Keys hit their stride with the hugely successful El Camino in 2011, and were expected to release a follow-up last year after front-man Dan Auerbach said they were aiming to record it in just ‘two weeks’. That was January 2013 though, so it’s a pretty safe bet that the Ohio band will be back with something new in 2014.

Broken Bells – After The Disco (January)
The early signs are that Danger Mouse and James Mercer have cracked it with their second Broken Bells album, following the slightly disappointing debut. With lead single ‘Holding On For Life’ and the title track both showing a masterful sci-fi disco approach, and a very cool futuristic short film to accompany it all – After The Disco should be an early 2014 hit.

Johnny Cash – Out Among The Stars (March)
Johnny Cash’s ‘lost’ album – Out Among The Stars – was recorded between 1981 and 1984 but never saw the light of day under Columbia Records. Now the label have struck a deal with the late Country legends’ estate and the album will be released on 24 March.

Florence and The Machine – TBA (TBA)
Her famous two year break is up in 2014, and Florence Welch has a bit of work to do to reclaim her position as the foremost warbling songstress in a world seemingly now overrun by warbling songstresses. The good news for Flo is that she’s a guaranteed seller, so expect some heavy investment from her label to promote her ‘comeback’.

Interpol – TBA (TBA)
They’ve been Tweeting about it for what seems like forever, so hopefully 2014 will finally see a new Interpol album.

Jack White / The Raconteurs / The Dead Weather – TBA (TBA)
After the success of his solo album Blunderbuss, Jack White seemed to go a bit quiet – which hopefully means he has got something special planned. It’s common knowledge that he has been working with his ‘side projects’ The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather – and although an album from the latter has been rumoured for a 2015 release don’t be surprised if 2014 sees new material from both. A new solo album isn’t beyond the realms of possibility either….

The Kills – TBA (TBA)
Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince have previously confirmed they are working on the follow-up to 2011’s Blood Pressures and are hoping for a 2014 release.

Radiohead – TBA (TBA)
Predicting a new Radiohead album can be a dangerous business. The Oxford group are pretty much in a league of their own and have demonstrated in the past they’re not afraid to challenge music industry conventions, so at this point in time anything is possible. Talk of new material has been floating around since the band’s brief session at Jack White’s studio last year, and with Thom’s Atoms For Peace duties over for now we can at least hope for some Radiohead activity in 2014.

Wu-Tang Clan – TBA (TBA)
After celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal debut Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) last year, the RZA said in November that a new Wu-Tang album is ’45 days away’. By my maths that means it should be dropping in the next couple of weeks…

The Horrors – TBA (TBA)
Skying was awesome, so I’m excited to hear what The Horrors have got up their sleeves for the follow-up. A few months ago we heard from the band that they were working on the new album, which was originally slated for a 2013 release,

DIIV – TBA (TBA)
Back in August DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith said they were planning to release the ‘darker’ follow-up to their excellent 2012 debut Oshiin in 2014. Since then the singer has been the subject of a high profile drugs bust, which may or may not hinder the album’s release. Time will tell though I guess…

Flying Lotus – TBA (TBA)
Super-producer FlyLo shared a bunch of free tracks last month, including a remix of Kanye’s ‘Black Skinheads’ last month (which you can still get here) and then Tweeted that a new album proper is due for release in 2014. As well as that, he also has an album under his rapper alter-ego Captain Murphy in the works – so this year could be a busy one for Flying Lotus.

Damon Albarn – TBA (TBA)
The Blur front-man has just started teasing his first ever solo album with a couple of not particularly revealing videos. No doubt he’ll be releasing more info on the project over the next weeks/months…

Kasabian – TBA (Summer)
2013 was a quiet year for the Leicester band, but with a huge homecoming show arranged for the summer it seems entirely plausible that the release of the new album they’ve been working on will happen around about the same time.

The Stone Roses – TBA (TBA)
I think it’s almost time to give up on that new album the Madchester legends have been promising us since they reunited a couple of years ago. If we don’t get anything new in 2014 then I’m giving up the ghost and moving on!