The 8 Albums We’re Most Excited For In 2019

We’re hoping good things are in store this year, musically and otherwise, but here are just a few of the full-length albums we’re most excited about—including a few, like Carly Rae Jepsen’s untitled Emotion follow-up and Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow, that we feel like we’ve been waiting on for ages. Others come on the heels of strong 2018 debuts, like the first major-label release by singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers. And, as always, any year that brings us a new Solange album is a good one. Here’s what we’re most excited to play on repeat in 2019.

Carly Rae Jepsen — TBD

CRJ stans have been waiting what feels like an eternity for a follow-up to 2015’s near-perfect Emotion, and with the late 2018 release of new single “Party For One”, which also served as a teaser for a brand-new album, it sounds like this will be the year we finally get our wish.

Release date: TBD

Maggie Rogers — Heard It In A Past Life

Maggie Rogers proved herself to be an exciting new talent in 2018, and after two self-released collections of songs, her major-label debut on Capitol Records will be coming in early 2019. It includes five previously-released singles, and boast impressive collaborators: Rostam Batmanglij and Greg Kurstin (who has formerly worked with Sia, Pink, Lily Allen, Adele, and more), among others.

Release date: January 18

Girlpool — What Chaos Is Imaginary

The third full-length release from Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad seems like it will surely embody the duo’s continuously evolving sound, especially in light of Cleo Tucker’s ongoing gender transition. Lead single “Hire” is tight, polished and confident, reminiscent of the astute songwriting of Elliott Smith. We can’t wait to see all the other ways in which they’ve evolved as artists since 2017’s Powerplant.

Release date: February 1

Jenny Lewis — On The Line

Jenny Lewis’s fourth solo release will supposedly drop sometime in the spring, and the former Rilo Kiley frontwoman has already booked an extensive 25-date North American tour to support it. Boasting such collaborators as Beck, Ryan Adams and Ringo Starr, we hope On The Line is as honest and vulnerable as 2014’s The Voyager (and if she could bring back the painted, rainbow-themed pantsuits from that tour, that would be great, too).

Release date: Spring 2019, TBD

Solange — TBD

There’s a lot of pressure on the follow-up to Solange Knowles’ critically-acclaimed 2016 release A Seat at the Table, and while we don’t have a lot of details yet, it sounds like this might be the year we get to hear it. Knowles told the New York Times last year that it had “a lot of jazz at the core”, and also teased a potential surprise release.

Release date: TBD

Sleater-Kinney — TBD

When Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, made an announcement via Twitter and Instagram that she would be producing a new Sleater-Kinney album, to be released later this year, fans of both music projects went wild. There are virtually no details at this point, but it seems safe to pin our hopes on a St. Vincent + Sleater-Kinney collab that is nothing short of electro-riot grrrl magic.

Release date: TBD

Priests — The Seduction of Kansas

Following the splash of 2017’s Nothing Feels Natural, Washington, D.C.’s Priests seem poised to continue their exploration of identity and power through the medium of 2019’s The Seduction of Kansas, to be released on their own Sister Polygon Records.

Release date: April 8

Sharon Van Etten — Remind Me Tomorrow

Sharon Van Etten’s first album in five years follows a period of wide-ranging personal and professional growth: she went back to school to study psychology and became a mother. While much of what defined her previous full-lengths were songs that stung and ached like festering wounds, Remind Me Tomorrow seems to be the product of a period of relative stability and growth—uncharted territory for an artist who once sang, “Break my legs so I won’t walk to you / Cut my tongue so I can’t talk to you”. Van Etten’s talents are unparalleled regardless of her subject matter, though, and we can’t wait to see what her new work has in store.

Release date: January 18