Upcoming Albums: Check out the Top Albums Dropping Soon

9 Min Read

From Wet Leg’s triumphant self-titled debut to Big Thief’s amply-titled Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, 2022 has been an epic year for album releases. Throw in blockbusters by Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Weeknd, and our record players have been spinning non-stop.

Despite how spoiled we’ve been with new album releases this year from musical powerhouses such as Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, and Harry Styles, the best is yet to come. With upcoming albums by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Freddie Gibbs, and Taylor Swift, the year is set to go out with a bang. Here are the seven best albums coming up.

#1 Midnights (Taylor Swift)

New music by Taylor Swift always seems to bring the world to a halt. Slated for an October 21st release, T-Swizzle’s latest project, Midnights, follows her 2020 double-platinum Evermore, one of her two releases that year. While the 2021 “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings of Red and Fearless have kept Swifties at bay, for some fans, it’s been a painfully long two years without new music.

Midnights is sure to be one of—if not the—biggest new releases dropping soon. Even more exciting, though, is Swift’s confirmed reunion with long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff.¹ As one of the music industry’s most prolific producers, Antonoff has been credited with such Swift releases as:

Sweeter Than Fiction

1989

Reputation

Lover

Folklore

Evermore

Red (Taylor’s Version)

Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Swift recently announced that the album would be available in four different album covers––jade green, blood moon, mahogany, and lavender.² What’s more, the four unique back covers come together to make a clock. We wouldn’t blame you if you bought all four so you’d never have to worry about the time. (Spoiler alert: It’s always Swift o’clock.)

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#2 The Car (Arctic Monkeys)

Clear your schedules because Arctic Monkeys will be dropping their highly-anticipated new album on the same day as Midnights.³ The Arctic Monkeys’ last project, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, is over four years old. This came five years after AM, which featured their smash hit “Do I Wanna Know?.” Arctic Monkeys are in no rush to put out new music—but with tunes this good, we think it’s more than worth the wait.

Arctic Monkeys are one of the most coveted rock acts still active today. Since 2006, the British band has won seven Brit Awards, been nominated for five Grammy Awards, and was most recently named by Rolling Stone to have two of the top 500 albums of all time.⁴

Like each of Arctic Monkeys’ projects, The Car, recorded in London’s RAK Studios, was written by frontman Alex Turner and produced by James Ford. Ford’s discography includes other rock A-Listers like Gorillaz, Declan McKenna, and Mumford & Sons.

As a teaser, Arctic Monkeys have released The Car’s tracklist:

01 There’d Better Be a Mirrorball
02 I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am
03 Sculptures of Anything Goes
04 Jet Skis on the Moat
05 Body Paint
06 The Car
07 Big Ideas
08 Hello You
09 Mr Schwartz
10 Perfect Sense

We don’t know about you, but our engines are revved and ready to take this upcoming album for a spin as soon as it drops.

#3 Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava; Laminated Denim; Changes (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard)

Widely regarded as one of the most unique bands out there, Australia’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard will be making an expectedly unusual move come October: they’ll be dropping three albums in the same month.⁵

In this three-for-one deal, you’ll find:

Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava (October 7th)
Laminated Denim (October 12th)
Changes (October 28th)

These albums will be the rising indie rock band’s third, fourth, and fifth album releases of the year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, as the famously prolific band has dropped 20 studio albums, 13 live albums, and two compilations since 2012––quite a far cry from Arctic Monkeys. Is this amount of music obscene? Yes. Do we appreciate it? Also yes.

Not much more information is known about the incoming trilogy––not even what genre they might show off. Having experimented with such genres as psychedelic rock, heavy metal, and jazz fusion, King Gizzard knows how to keep their fanbase guessing.

#4 It's Only Me (Lil Baby)

The sky's the limit for Lil Baby. His last solo studio album, My Turn, has been certified quadruple platinum since dropping over two years ago.⁶ Lil Baby has been busy during this gap, though.

Just a few of the Atlanta rapper’s recent accomplishments include:

Collaborating with Lil Durk on an 18-track album called The Voice of Heroes
Touring with Chris Brown on the nationwide One of Them Ones tour
Appearing on DJ Khaled’s God Did alongside Drake
Garnering attention as the subject of the Amazon Original documentary Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby

By all accounts, It’s Only Me promises to be one of the biggest albums coming out soon and possibly one of the year's biggest releases. Lil Baby announced its October 14th release alongside the music video for his single, “Detox,” which boasts his skills as a boxer, yogi, and financial expert. Lil Baby is nothing, if not a well-rounded individual.

#5 Return of the Dream Canteen (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Dropping on October 14th, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 13th studio album is aptly-titled. After a ten-year absence, lead-guitarist John Frusciante has made a triumphant return to the legendary band. Released earlier in 2022, Unlimited Love marked Frusciante's homecoming. Just six months later, Return of the Dream Canteen will solidify the return of SoCal’s dream team.

Also reuniting with the band is legendary producer Rick Rubin, who produced Californication, By the Way, and the Grammy-winning Stadium Arcadium. The Def Jam Records founder has also won Grammy awards for:⁷

Unchained by Johnny Cash

Not Ready to Make Nice by Dixie Chicks

Taking the Long Way by Dixie Chicks

FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake

21 by Adele

The New Abnormal by The Strokes

His Grammy repertoire also includes “Producer of the Year” in 2007, when he won four Grammy awards, as well as in 2009. Rubin has brought his expertise to just about every Chili Peppers project over the last thirty years (are we really that old?). The stage is set for what will be one of the best rock releases of the year—and likely another run at the Grammy Awards.

#6 $oul $old $eperately (Freddie Gibbs)

Freddie Gibbs is a veteran of the game, beginning his career in 2004. Nonetheless, his upcoming album will mark his first release under a major label (Warner). Gibbs released his early mixtapes under Yung Jeezy’s CTE World and his recent albums under his own label, ESGN. Dropping on September 30th, $oul $old $eperately marks the beginning of a new era for Gibbs.

This new project follows Gibbs’ 2020 collaboration with The Alchemist, Alfredo, which earned a grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Hoping to continue the success, Gibbs has assembled an all-star roster of producers, including:⁹

Pharrell
The Alchemist
Madlib
Boi-1da
Jake One
Tay Keith
DJ Paul
Kaytranada

Gibbs claimed, “I got the best rap album of the year.”⁹ With these heavy hitters in the picture, the potential is certainly there. We think Gibbs is gunning for far more than just another nomination.

#7 BROCKHAMPTON (Title TBA)

BROCKHAMPTON, arguably the best boy band since One Direction, announced their final album would be coming out in 2022.¹⁰ This news came following their penultimate performance at Coachella earlier this year. Since their inception in 2010, BROCKHAMPTON has been largely unpredictable, and their finale has been shrouded in mystery.

In the latter half of 2022, no intel on an album title or release date remains. Kevin Abstract, the founder and de-facto leader of the rap group, has stated that he recorded the entire album by himself in New York. On top of that, BROCKHAMPTON is relatively well-known for making false, tongue-cheek claims about the state of the band. All this to say, take BROCKHAMPTON news with a grain of salt.

If this mysterious upcoming album is indeed their last, we’ll be sad to see them go. Their previous album, Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine, re-entered Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart a year and a half after its release following a delayed vinyl launch.¹¹

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