Pigeons & Planes' Most Anticipated Albums of 2015

Remember what it felt like when A$AP Rocky dropped his Live. Love. ASAP mixtape? It wasn't exactly the most commercially viable release—nothing you could imagine as a chart-topping crossover hit—but it was full of energy, style, and a charisma that made Rocky an instant star.

His follow-up to that was a proper debut album, Long. Live. ASAP, and it was a departure from the rawness that made him so intriguing. It was also a sign that he could transition from hyped up sensation to a legitimate crossover star, but for a lot of Rocky fans, it wasn't as exciting. It felt like he was trying to be too much to too many different people, and while he actually pulled off a dope Skrillex collaboration and a radio hit about fucking, it wasn't what his longtime followers were craving.

But lately, A$AP Rocky has been sounding more like the old A$AP Rocky. "Multiply" and "Lord Pretty Flaco Jodye 2" suggest that Rocky is back to the basics, and he's sounding as good as ever, but now with a little more confidence and a lot less to prove.—Confusion

We put Sampha's debut album on our most most antcipated list at the beginning of 2014, and we're still waiting. Even though Sampha didn't release any solo songs in 2014, we're still incredibly excited about the possibility of a Sampha album. Guest appearances on SBTRKT's album and Emile Haynie's wonderful "A Kiss Goodbye" reminded us of the uniquely fragile and soulful beauty of Sampha's voice, but what hope do we have that he will release that solo album we so crave? Well XL producer and engineer Rodaidh McDonald tweeted a picture of Sampha in the studio in London with the caption "Day 4," which hopefully means something is on the way. Fingers crossed.—Constant Gardner

Before June 2014, we'd never heard of Ibeyi, but then they got signed to XL Recordings and released the attention grabbing songs and videos for "Oya" and "River." Having followed those tracks up with the equally excellent "Mama Says" and confirming that they recorded their album with XL boss Richard Russell, we can't wait to hear the French-Cuban twin sisters (read our interview with them here) debut effort.

Pre-order their self-titled debut album, due out February 17, here.—Constant Gardner

At the end of 2013, HudMo and Lunice put their acclaimed group TNGHT on hiatus to focus on their solo albums. While Lunice's rumored fall 2014 release period has come and gone with only nothing more than a fly single ("Can't Wait To") to show for it, Hudson Mohawke's at least said his album was done. There isn't much in the way of information on what will be on the horizon, but he's knocked out a few supreme feats of music rolodexery in his "Chimes" remix and the massive "Rap Monument," and has been working on Kanye's next project. With the past success and acclaim on his previous work, his remixes, and the (G.O.O.D.) potential for guest vocalists on his forthcoming material, HudMo's album project is shaping up to be a tentpole moment for music in 2015.—khal

We originally got familiar with Shamir when Brooklyn indie label GODMODE put a couple of his songs on their Soundcloud, which was followed by the incredibly high quality Northtown EP in July. Not long after, Shamir announced his signing to the always excellent XL Recordings and he later confirmed that he had nearly finished working on his debut album. With XL re-releasing Northtown, Shamir dropped "On The Regular," the first single from his forthcoming album, and surprised us with fun-filled rapping to partner his beautiful singing voice.

We don't know what other musical styles Shamir will explore on his debut album, but we're confident that he'll do them justice.—Constant Gardner

Jamie xx did a lot in 2014. On the solo production side Jamie shared the excellent "Sleep Sound" (plus a moving video), "Girl," and "All Under One Roof." As one third of The xx he took part in an intimate 25 show residency at the Park Avenue Armory in New York and was also recording the third The xx album.

2015, however, looks set to be even bigger. Jamie xx confirmed to The Fader that a solo album is coming soon, and if he keeps the quality as high as he did in 2014 (and we're sure that he will), his solo debut album could be one of the best of the year.—Constant Gardner

What does a Modest Mouse album sound like in 2015? If lead single "Lampshades On Fire" is any indication, it sounds exactly how you'd expect to. Fans of the band's early work like The Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon & Antarctica probably aren't too excited about Modest Mouse these days—the band has become a little more predictable and formulaic, and their sound is more polished and less visceral.

But for a band as popular as Modest Mouse, they've done a good job maintaining a slightly unhinged indie rock feel, and while it might not be as exciting as it was in the late '90s or early 2000s, it's still better than 90% of the rock music coming out right now.—Confusion

It feels like forever ago that Grimes released Visions, and even though it's been almost three years, she still has us eager with anticipation. She's been quiet, and one of the only new songs she had shared, "Go," was polarizing. Unlike the songs of Visions, "Go" seemed more radio-friendly and on-trend, rather than challenging or experimental.

Grimes explained later that "Go" was originally written for Rihanna, who ultimately rejected the song, which came as a relief to some. Though little is known about what she's got up her sleeve for her sophomore album—other than the fact that there'll be at least one song that's "glam rock" and that she's been playing more guitar—it's almost guaranteed that Grimes will have a few more surprises in store.—Joyce

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While it might've made more sense for Brodinski to drop an album in early 2014 so that he capitalized on the hype from Kanye's Yeezus, his forthcoming debut album Brava dropping in 2015 might actually make more sense. In the year and a half since Yeezus (which featured Brodinski production on "Black Skinhead" and "Send It Up") was released the sounds of hip-hop and electronic music have blended more and more, opening a lane for Brodinski to really highlight how his hard techno vibes work perfectly with hip-hop vocals. Brava's set to feature the likes of Makonnen, Slim Thug, SD, and Young Scooter, and will separate the casual turn up crowd from those who are really trying to push progression in these scenes.—khal

Ever since we were first introduced to Tobias Jesso Jr. in August of 2013, the Canadian songwriter has been one of the most consistently impressive new acts in music. His songs are simple and beautiful, and all he needs is his voice and a slightly out-of-tune piano to deliver a compelling, sometimes heartbreaking story.

So far he’s released three fantastic singles, and this year he’ll finally deliver his debut album, Goon, scheduled to come out on March 17. And while Jesso has proven his strengths as a songwriter, he’ll get some help on the production side from some big-name producers like Girls bassist Chet “JR” White, Ariel Rechtshaid, Patrick Carney, and the New Pornographers’ John Collins.—Katie K

Pre-order Goon here.

This Action Bronson album just might surprise some people. It's almost unbelievable that Bronson hasn't put out an album yet, but after a string of rock-solid mixtapes, does he even need to? He's one of the most entertaining live performers around, and he could probably put out free music for the rest of his career and live comfortably off of tour money, features, brand partnerships, and merch.

With this album, Action Bronson has the potential to take things a step further. With producer Mark Ronson involved, this album could be a turning point for Bronson. It's hard to imagine him veering too far from his strengths—good rapping, hilarious imagery, and NYC personality—but instead of sounding like another mixtape, this could be Bronson's first real stab at a collection of songs that carry more weight and show off the dynamic musicality (imagine blues, psychedelic, funk, and soul filtered through gritty rap sensibility) that he's hinted at in the past. Shit, even if it just sounds like another Action Bronson mixtape, that'd still probably make it one of the strongest albums of the year.—Confusion

Frank Ocean's debut channel ORANGE may be the best album to date, in this young century. His sophomore follow-up has been more than two years in the making, a project that has embodied the struggle between mainstream success and artistic integrity. His amazing showdown with Chipotle was one thing, but Ocean also parted ways with the manager and publicist with him for channel ORANGE.

The morsels we have had from Ocean, however, have been fantastic—there was his collaboration with Diplo and Mick Jones, plus a snippet called "memrise." Other than that, radio silence. What we do know is this: Ocean wants to pick up where he left off. He said as much in an interview last year: "At the end of channel ORANGE there’s ‘Golden Girl,’ and it’s this beach scene, and I kind of wanted to extend that feeling to the next album altogether, and kind of make it that theme. So I’m going to Bora Bora when I get back.”

Possible collaborators include Lil B and Hit-Boy.—Graham

With his profile rising in the US thanks to a collaboration with A$AP Mob's Young Lord and support from artists like Theophilus London, Ratking, and A-Trak, Skepta's new album Konnichiwa, his fifth to date, could be one of his most important. Scheduled to drop on March 1, and featuring Dev Hynes and Mike Skinner (from The Streets), if subsequent tracks can build on the success of "That's Not Me" and "It Ain't Safe," the album will be a hit with Skepta's core audience and get a whole new section of the rap world to pay attention.

Check out the video below to hear Skepta and Jammer's thoughts on grime crossing over to the US, Konnichiwa, and more, plus hear a sneak peek of the track with Dev Hynes right at the end.—Constant Gardner

Acid Rap was one of the best projects of 2013, and Chance The Rapper quickly became one of the most formidable new acts, all without the help of a label. Unlike a lot of artists on this list, Chance hasn't been shy to share new music, putting songs on Soundcloud on a regular basis and involving us in the progression of his sound.

Now, alongside his band The Social Experiment, he'll soon be releasing Surf. Chance won't be in the spotlight for this one, though; he's said that he and the band are "letting Nico [Segal, a.k.a Donnie Trumpet] hold the reigns and carry it." He's also suggested that the likes of Migos, J. Cole, and Frank Ocean may appear on Surf. Taking that into account, on top of how "Sunday Candy" sounds, and it's gearing up to become one hell of an album.—Joyce

Purity Ring has been very quiet since the release of their 2012 debut Shrines. Since then, electronic pop has taken on many forms, but there's still nobody who sounds quite like the combination of vocalist Megan James and producer Corin Roddick. With no details, all we have to go by is their Danny Brown collaboration and the song they released at the end of last year, "push pull" That's enough to have us excited.—Confusion

Expectations don't get much higher. After good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar is widely regarded as one of the best rappers alive. He's got the technical skills, the content, and the charisma, and he packaged it all into an album with a weight to it unlike any other of the past years. How will he follow it up? His single "I" takes things in a much more uplifting direction, but trades in the dark, contemplative production for something a little more fluffy. The song he performed on The Colbert Report, however, took on a very different tone. With his follow-up to GKMC, Kendrick Lamar knows what he has to do. Talking to Complex last year, he sounded not only aware of what he had to do, but confident that he'd be able to do it.—Confusion

With the exception of a few songs and a string of 2013 tour dates, Twin Shadow (aka George Lewis Jr.) has been relatively quiet since the release of 2012's Confess. Then this summer he announced another North American tour, only to postpone it a few months later. But Lewis had good reason for continuing his stay out of the spotlight: he was putting the final touches on a new album. He said:

"Towards the end of recording this third Twin Shadow album, I came into a strong feeling—a place of creative change. I wanted to give you an uncompromising experience at every turn. To do this, I had to put the brakes on the tour, the planned album release, and reconsider where Twin Shadow was headed."

Shortly after this announcement he released his fantastic new single “Turn Me Up,” a sultry, R&B production with Lewis’ signature epic chorus. And if it’s any indication about what we can expect on Eclipse, it’s safe to say Lewis has crafted yet another impressive album.—Katie K

Noah Lennox no longer needs to be referred to as Animal Collective's Noah Lennox. His Panda Bear side project has achieved a success all its own, starting with 2007's genius Person Pitch and bumping noisily along through Tomboy (2011).

We are now days away from Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper, and it's a critical moment for the artist. Will his previous album's experimentation win out over melodic meditation? Will listeners have to eat their sonic vegetables, or will Panda Bear return to the seraphic electronica that blew minds in 2007?

So far, he's found a middle ground. The tracks we've heard ("Mr. Noah," "Boys Latin," and "Sequential Circuits") are a return to the vocal psychedelia that made Panda Bear's early work so alluring and mysterious. But the songs have a cutting edge to them, demanding a listeners attention. The record also got a stamp of approval from BBC Radio's Annie Mac, who says "it's easily the best record from the Animal Collective stable since Merriweather Post Pavilion." Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper will be released this week.—Graham

Late in 2014 The Libertines announced that they had signed a deal with Virgin EMI and hoped to release a new album in 2015. They signed the contract in Thailand, where Pete is in rehab—see pictures below. “I don’t know what to say, I’m so happy,” said Pete in a press release, and do you know what? We are too. Good luck getting clean Pete, we’re looking forward to hearing what The Libertines 2.0 sounds like and then reliving the days when being in a rock band was the coolest thing imaginable.—Constant Gardner

Pusha T ended 2013 by not only releasing his excellent debut solo album My Name Is My Name, but also stating that he was already hard at work on the follow-up, King Push. With this hefty jump-start, it seemed entirely plausible that the album would drop sometime in 2014. While Pusha did share the LP’s first single—the Kanye West-produced “Lunch Money”—King Push still hasn't arrived.

In an interview with Rolling Stone right before Christmas, Pusha finally gave us an update on the record: "It’s amazing. I feel like the sound will be second to none... I’ve been working on it constantly,” he stated before confirming that the album will be out spring 2015. “Everybody’s gonna be really locked in and shocked to see how I’ve raised the level of musicality from My Name Is My Name to King Push.”

With Pusha T sounding in top form, it should be well worth the wait.—Katie K

Obviously.

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