The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2020

The movie business is being upended by the global pandemic but the music business is just humming along after pretty much converting to digital last decade. There are some major releases that do not even get physical releases now. Amazon said they would not be storing any CD's or vinyl records in their warhouses to save space for essiental product and that was met mostly with a shrug. I was a little surprised that Alicia Keys delayed her album that was supposed to come out last week for two months, just days after announcing it was coming at all. No one really knows how long we will be stuck inside, but there actually is a bunch of noteworthy albums coming out this spring to keep us entertained until the quarantine is listed. I am certainly not renting The Hunt for twenty bucks, that is like three and a half months of Hulu. Here are the ones I am most looking for:


1. Gaslighter - Dixie Chicks (My 1): Has it really been fourteen years since the last Dixie Chicks album? I guess it does not seem that long because Natalie Maines released a solo album while Emily Robison and Martie Maguire released two albums under the name Court Yard Hounds in between. The title track lead single makes it sound like they have not skipped a beat and are just as angry as they were during the Bush era. And to think, most people actually miss the Bush era compared with what is going on now.

2. Women In Music Pt.III - Haim (April 24): Ha, WiMP III. Clever title. Haim sprinkled three quality single across 2019 and those are finally culminating with their third album. Okay, the fourth song that was released with the album announcement was the weakest, but I am still looking forward to it.

3. Gigaton - Pearl Jam (This Week): Well that was a weird first single. Maybe we should have guessed end times were upon us when Pearl Jam released a song with a dance-able bass-line. While they will likely never reach the heights of those first three classic albums, late period Pearl Jam has been pretty solid.

4. Pick Me Off the Floor - Norah Jones (May 8): Thanks to that massive first (and technically only) hit, Norah Jones has has the luxury of doing pretty much what ever she wants since. This time around she worked with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and if it is like past collaborations, it should end up being pretty good.

5. Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple (TBD): Not quite Dixie Chicks long but it has been way took long Fiona Apple has released an album. Nothing is know but the title, based on a television quote of all things (but still not as weird as when she wrote poem length album titles) but just the thought of an album from Fiona will at very least put her on the list.


Here is everything else that is at least worth a spin on Spotify:

Last Week
After Hours - The Weeknd
3.15.20 - Childish Gambino

Tomorrow
Local Honey - Brian Fallon
Love Is An Art - Vanessa Carlton
Stain Cloud - Waxahatchie
Aporia - Sufjan Stevens
Walking Proof - Lilly Hiatt
Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (25th Anniversary Digital Deluxe Edition) - Ol' Dirty Bastard

April 3
Migration Stories - M. Ward
The Mike & Micky Show Live - The Monkees
Born to Sing: 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition - En Vogue

April 10
The Way it Feels - Maddie and Tae
LIFERS - Local H

April 17
Italian Ice - Nicole Atkins
One World - Billy Ocean
The Rainbow Children (Reissue) - Prince
One Night alone... (Reissue) - Prince

April 24
Notes On A Conditional Form - The 1975
Three. Two. One. - Lennon Stella
First Rose Of Spring - Willie Nelson
MTV Unplugged Live at Hull City Hall - Liam Gallagher

May 1
Hate For Sale - The Pretenders

May 8
Petals for armor - Hayley Williams
Recover - The Naked and Famous
That’s How Rumors Get Started - Margo Price

May 15
Alicia - Alicia Keys
Reunions - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Van Weezer - Weezer

May 29
Imploding The Mirage - The Killers

June 5
What's Your Pleasure - Jessie Ware
Surface Sounds - KALEO

June 12
Canyons - Gone West


TBD
Brother Sister - Watkins Family Hour
Ariana Grande
Daryl Hall and John Oats
Lorde
The Cure


Of course this could be the quarter Dr. Dre releases Detox.