Mariah Carey to LANY: 9 more albums releasing in 2020

As we prepare to step into the fourth and final quarter of 2020, there are plenty of big album releases to look forward to before the year is done. Say goodbye to sizzling summer hits and say hello to autumn and winter’s most promising upcoming releases. Here are nine albums to look forward to before the year is over...

Alicia Keys - Alicia (September 18): Keys said working on the album, her seventh to date, was the “best therapy I ever had.” It features R’n’B star Miguel on the single ‘Show Me Love’, hitmaker Khalid on the single ‘So Done’, and Ed Sheeran as a co-writer on the single ‘Underdog’. Originally set to release in March, the album was postponed due to the pandemic.

Ava Max - Heaven & Hell (September 18): Though Ava Max’s debut single ‘Sweet but Psycho’ received some criticism for its depiction of mental health, it managed to go to No 1 in 22 countries, including the UK, and peaked at No 10 on the US Billboard 100. Now the breakout pop star is ready to release her debut album ‘Heaven & Hell’, which features a couple of songs co-written by Charlie Puth (‘So Am I’ and ‘Tattoo’).

Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets to My Downfall (September 25): MGK’s fifth album leans more heavily into his pop punk influences, rather than rap. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker produces the album (and features on drums), which will be released by Bad Boy and Interscope. ‘Tickets to My Downfall’ comes after 2019’s ‘Hotel Diablo’, where MGK ends with the track ‘I Think I’m Okay’, a collaboration with English rocker Yungblud and Barker. Other collaborations to expect include The Used’s Bert McCracken and another Yungblud feature.

Mariah Carey - The Rarities (October 2): The pop diva’s eighth compilation album ‘The Rarities’ is part of her #MC30 campaign, celebrating the 30th anniversary of her self-titled debut album ‘Mariah Carey’ (1990). The double-disc album will feature previously unreleased material as well as her Tokyo Dome live performance from her ‘Daydream World Tour’ in 1996.

LANY - Mama’s Boy (October 2): LANY’s follow-up to their 2018 album, ‘Malibu Nights’, is ‘Mama’s Boy’, an exploration of their geographical roots. “We’re all from the middle of nowhere,” Paul Klein told Buro247. “Of course, there’s going to be a typical love song, something I believe we do really well, but there are also songs that are broader. For example, there’s a song in the album about what it’s going to look like when our parents pass on. So, I’m just really excited because we’ve had this collection of songs for months now that we want to put out.”

Melanie C - Melanie C (October 2): The former Spice Girl has decided to turn her eighth studio album into her first self-titled release. “I’m making a pop-dance record and I’m a mature artist, so I have to accept that some radio stations are not going to be playing me anymore. That’s something to overcome. But I want people to enjoy this album, I want people to dance to it, I want people to be empowered by it. And when coronavirus has done one, I want to get out there and perform it live,” Mel C told BBC Music in August.

Blackpink - The Album (October 2): Blackpink have already been making waves in the K-Pop world and beyond with their EPs, but ‘The Album’ is their debut studio album. Two singles have already launched, ‘How You Like That’ and ‘Ice Cream’ with Selena Gomez (which was co-written by Ariana Grande). The album is highly in demand, reaching more than 800,000 pre-orders in only six days.

Bruce Springsteen - Letters to You (October 23): It’s the big two-oh for Bruce Springsteen: ‘Letter to You’ marks the New Jersey rock star’s 20th studio album. Springsteen and the E Street Band recorded the album live in studio with no overdubs. Three of the tracks had originally been written before Springsteen’s 1973 debut album ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ.’ These are ‘If I was a Priest’, ‘Janey Needs a Shooter’ and ‘Song for Orphans’.

Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (October 23): The British virtual band will release the album as part of their ‘Song Machines’ project, which features previously unannounced artists and spans several genres. Collaborating artists on the album include Beck, Schoolboy Q, St Vincent, Elton John and 6lack.