Fall Music Preview: The Season’s Hottest Albums
Metallica meet Lou Reed, Drake gets personal, Coldplay find a new groove, and more
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Wilco – ‘The Whole Love’ (9/27)
Wilco's first album on their own label opens with one kind of extreme, the mounting Stooges-like turmoil of "Art of Almost," and ends with another: the 12-minute acoustic ballad "One Sunday Morning." "A lot has been made of our experimentation," says singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy. "But I've always thought that anything I create I should be able to carry with me. A song that works with just a voice and guitar is ideal for communication." The rest of The Whole Love could probably fit in Tweedy's backpack. In between the first and last tracks are 10 compact packages of punkish jangle ("Standing O"), cosmic-country introspection ("Rising Red Lung") and jaunty hum-along pleasure ("Whole Love"), like the roots rock and forward-pop kicks on 1996's Being There rinsed through the eerie sonic drama of 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. "That's the story of almost every Wilco record," bassist John Stirratt says of those contrasting strains. "It's a question of editing and choosing things that need to belong."
By David Fricke
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Mastodon – ‘The Hunter’ (9/27)
After four fantasy-themed concept albums, the Atlanta metalheads came up with an even crazier idea for their fifth LP. "It's about nothing," says singer-guitarist Brent Hinds. Along with loads of monster riffs and frenzied solos, the album also makes room for moments of surprising gentleness. The title track, a tribute to Hinds' late brother, features delicate fingerpicking and paraphrases the Beatles ("All the love I make is equal to the love I take"). Another departure, "Creature Lives," pairs spacey synths and a churchlike choir for a sound that's unlike anything in Mastodon's catalog. "This album sounds like a mixtape," says drummer Brann Dailor. "But in a really weird way, it all jives together."
By David Peisner
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Blink-182 – ‘Neighborhoods’ (9/27)
The reunited pop-punk trio's first album in eight years was supposed to come out this past spring – but then drummer Travis Barker brought in a fresh batch of beats that inspired them to keep working. "He had these rhythms that we built songs on top of," says singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge. "It's all well worth the wait." Blink have been road-testing highlights from the set all summer, including the arena-scale single "Up All Night," the surprisingly catchy prog experiment "Ghost on the Dancefloor" and the honey-sweet love song "After Midnight." "We always had more potential than we were living up to," says DeLonge. "Hopefully from this point forward, we'll be able to show that."
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J. Cole – ‘Cole World: The Sideline Story’ (9/27)
North Carolina rapper – and Jay-Z protégé – J. Cole produced most of the hard-knock beats on his massively hyped debut, which has been more than two years in the making. "The amount of time worked out to be a blessing," says Cole, who landed two big-name guests at the last minute: Missy Elliott, on the libidinous "Nobody's Perfect," and Jigga himself, on the dubstep-y "Mr. Nice Watch." On "Lost Ones," Cole tackles abortion from both a woman's and a man's perspective. "Rap is so one-dimensional," Cole says. "I'm just trying to expand the boundaries."
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Feist – ‘Metals’ (10/4)
In February, Leslie Feist and a few friends headed to Big Sur to finish her follow-up to 2007's sleeper hit, The Reminder. Recorded in a converted barn in the mountains, the resulting disc is beautifully raw. "Those songs are barely mixed," says Feist. "It was what happened in that room." The album has a lovelorn mood, from the bluesy first single, "How Come You Never Go There," to the ragged rave-up of "The Bad in Each Other." "It's about good people screwing each other up," says Feist. "Some of it comes from the hard-earned calluses of life, but it's not a matter of ill will."
By Monica Herrera
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Various Artists – ‘The Lost Notebook of Hank Williams’ (10/4)
When Hank Williams died on New Year's Day in 1953, he left behind a trunk full of unpublished lyrics. Nearly 60 years later, Bob Dylan has recruited an all-star lineup – including Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Levon Helm and Merle Haggard – to write and record new songs based on Williams' words. (Dylan himself tackled the melancholy "The Love That Faded.") "When I saw the lyrics, I could instantly tell they were in Hank's signature style," says Williams' granddaughter Holly, who sings the mournful "Blue Is My Heart." "They're written in simple English, and there's a heartbreaking, lonely undertone to them."
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Ryan Adams – ‘Ashes & Fire’ (10/11)
"I don't golf," says Adams, "so whenever my friends and I want to hang out, we go to the studio." Last winter, he knocked out some new country-rock tunes for fun. "The songs were almost there," he says, "but I didn't like the sound." The solution? Beatles/Stones engineer Glyn Johns, who ended up producing Adams' first proper LP since 2008. Recorded live in Hollywood, the mellow set features top-notch session work from Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and Norah Jones – whose vocals brighten three tracks. "She's like my amazing kid sister," Adams says of Jones. "In another lifetime, I would convince her to be in a band with me."
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Mayer Hawthorne – ‘How Do You Do’ (10/11)
The songs are sharper and the vocals stronger on the L.A DJ-turned-soul-revivalist's second LP. "I actually learned how to sing a little bit," says Hawthorne, who swaggers through Smokey Robinson-ish jams like "You're Not Ready." "I approach music from a hip-hop-DJ perspective. That automatically makes everything sound new and different."
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Bjork – ‘Biophilia’ (10/11)
"I've always been interested in science," says Björk, whose seventh album translates that fascination into icy electro tunes about topics like plate tectonics, DNA replication and lunar cycles – and includes an iPad game for each song. "I had been using similar methods for a while," she says. "This helped put me on my toes."
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Peter Gabriel – ‘New Blood’ (10/11)
Gabriel had so much fun making his 2010 orchestral covers LP, Scratch My Back, that he went on to rerecord his own hits – including "In Your Eyes" and "Solsbury Hill" – with a 46-piece orchestra. "A lot of people have been put off by the idea of the orchestra – some artist just trying to get some veteran respectability," he says. "But we're trying to explore things here and see if we can do it differently."
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Evanescence – ‘Evanescence’ (10/11)
After four years away from music, Amy Lee is back – with a new band (co-founder Ben Moody left after 2003's Fallen). "I was trying to find myself," the singer says. "I just needed to be normal for a bit." On Evanescence's third LP, Lee added an electro-pop twist to her signature doomy sound. "I started getting inspired by MGMT, and I've always loved Portishead and Massive Attack," she says. "I finally found the sweet spot when I combined those with Evanescence."
Click to stream Evanescence's "What You Want":
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btArFSaqsnY]
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Joe Jonas – ‘Fast Life’ (10/11)
When the middle Jonas Brother started working on his solo debut last year, he had "a Michael Bublé-type singer-songwriter record" in mind. But hot producers including Danja and Rob Knox – both former Justin Timberlake collaborators – guided him toward R&B-flavored dance tunes instead. "As me and my bros grow up, so do our fans," says Jonas, 22. "I think they're ready for something new."
Stream Joe Jonas' "Love Slayer":
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F20035442
Love Slayer -
Jane’s Addiction – ‘The Great Escape Artist’ (10/18)
It's taken Jane's Addiction eight years and four bass players – including TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek – to release the follow-up to 2003's Strays. But Perry Farrell is confident about the finished product. "It's a strange mixture of that post-punk goth darkness Jane's had with Muse and Radiohead," he says. The disc has a loose concept about a Harry Houdini-style escape artist. "It could be about escaping to the outdoors," says Farrell, "or we might even be able to escape the expectations of old Jane's fans with another great record."
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Patrick Stump – ‘Soul Punk’ (10/18)
Fall Out Boy fans expecting "Sugar, We're Goin' Down, Part 2" are in for a shock. "This is an eclectic pop record," says the emo crew's frontman, who shows off a Prince-esque falsetto on cuts like "This City." "I don't want to remake records I made 10 years ago. If this one isn't for you, maybe the next one will be."
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Coldplay – ‘Mylo Xyloto’ (10/24)
Longtime collaborator Brian Eno set the ground rules for Coldplay's fifth LP, recorded over the past two years in London. "He wrote a list of 10 commandments on the wall to keep us from treading the same ground," says drummer Will Champion. "One was 'Thou shalt make music like an Italian cook, with simple and strong flavours.'" The first two singles – "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" and "Paradise" – amp Coldplay's Imax-size ballads with massive synths and trunk-rattling drums. "We deliberately tried to embrace new instruments and techniques, using elements from dance and hip-hop and bringing them into our world," says the drummer. Elsewhere, guitarist Jonny Buckland steps up, playing nimble runs on "Hurts Like Heaven" and wailing on "Major Minus." "He's become the guitarist that we always knew was in there," says Champion. "Chris [Martin] wrote a fantastic song called 'Up in Flames,' but then Jonny added a gorgeous riff, and now it's one of my favorite songs we've ever done. It kills me." The album has a loose concept about art in troubled times, but who the hell is Mylo Xyloto? "He could be the protagonist – but it's deliberately ambiguous. It forces you to use your imagination."
By Austin Scaggs
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Drake – ‘Take Care’ (10/24)
Drake isn't knocking his debut album. Really, he isn't. "But I think I got caught up in making it seem big and first-album-ish," the Toronto MC says of 2010's smash Thank Me Later. "I may not have delved into anything because I was busy living it." Drake's mission for his second LP is to dig deeper into how it feels to be a young superstar. Collaborators include Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Abel Tesfaye of mysterious R&B act the Weeknd – and Stevie Wonder, who plays a keyboard solo on a song called "Doing It Wrong." The production, mostly courtesy of Drake's longtime associates 40, T-Minus and Boi-1da, runs from stripped-down melancholy ("Marvin's Room," which recounts a sloppy drunk-dial) to frosty bombast ("Headlines," about being rich, high and lonely). Drake credits his hometown, far off the hip-hop grid, with inspiring the album's reflective mood. "In the studio, I don't distract with TV or anything," he says. "I sit on a couch, under a lamp, and there's Persian rugs and weed. That does it for me."
By Jonah Weiner
Stream Drake feat. Rick Ross' "Free Spirit":
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhlNG5qJy8I]
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Kelly Clarkson – ‘Stronger’ (10/24)
"It's got some urban influences, some pop rock, a little country," Clarkson says of her fifth LP. That's not all: The title track dips into dance – "The bed feels warmer sleeping here alone," she sings over trance-y synths. And the single "Mr. Know It All" is a classic R&B kiss-off. "I'm trying to hone in on my inner Tina Turner," says Clarkson. "I wish I could hone in on her freaking legs – that would be even better."
Listen to Kelly Clarkson's "Mr. Know It All":
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wSKBNP-pEg]
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Justice – ‘Audio, Video, Disco’ (10/25)
Last year, Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé – the duo behind 2007's gloriously catchy "D.A.N.C.E." – began recording their second LP in Paris. "We didn't use any samples," says Augé. Instead, they layered harmony-drenched vocals over huge house beats and stadium-ready guitar riffs. "We're not, like, Steve Vai," Augé adds, "but we're just good enough."
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She & Him – ‘A Very She & Him Christmas’ (10/25)
During a break while recording She & Him's new Christmas album, Zooey Deschanel picked up a ukulele and played a spare take on "Silver Bells." Thankfully, tape was still rolling, and "Silver Bells" became a highlight of the set, on which Deschanel and M. Ward tackle holiday classics ("Baby It's Cold Outside") and more obscure tunes (NRBQ's "Christmas Wish"). Says Deschanel, "It feels like sitting in a living room on Christmas listening to carols by the fire."
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Deer Tick – ‘Divine Providence’ (10/25)
"It's my favorite Deer Tick record," frontman John McCauley says of the Rhode Island indie-roots crew's raucous fourth disc. The rowdiest tune? "Let's All Go to the Bar," with McCauley advocating getting drunk during a hurricane: "I don't care if you puke in my ride/Just as long as you take your piss outside." This time, guitarist Ian O'Neill and drummer Dennis Ryan sing some tunes. Says McCauley, "It's nice to know all the expectations don't fall on me anymore."
Stream Deer Tick's "Miss K":
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F21695715
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Young Jeezy – ‘Thug Motivation 103’ (October)
Jeezy made his name with pitch-dark stories about slinging drugs, but he's switching things up on his long-delayed fourth album. "I grew up a lot mentally," says the rapper, 33. "Everybody knows I ain't standing on the corner no more, so that's out." This summer, Jeezy locked himself in an Atlanta studio for six weeks and cut an album that reflects his positive new outlook – from the celebratory single "Shake Life" to "Never Be the Same," a somber farewell to street-level hustling. "I lost a lot of friends," Jeezy says. "I don't think the game can ever repay me for that."
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Wale – ‘Ambition’ (11/1)
"You're listening to a 26-year-old that wants to be the greatest," says the Washington, D.C., rapper, who recently signed up with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group crew. Wale's second LP features plenty of boasting – "I'm sorta like Socrates in a Prada tee," he raps over brass blasts on "Legendary" – but also makes room for introspective tunes like "DC or Nothing," about broken families in his hometown. "I can't even listen to that one," he says. "It'll fuck me up."
Stream Wale's "Chain Music," "Bait," and "Bad Girls Club" here:
https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F940995
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Lou Reed & Metallica – ‘Lulu’ (11/1)
"Everything is cut live – us staring at each other, playing," Lou Reed says of his new collaboration with the world's biggest metal band: 10 songs about extreme desire and violence, originally written by Reed for a theatrical production in Berlin and recorded with magnum-concert force at Metallica's studio north of San Francisco. "It's like going back to the garage when you're 15 years old," adds drummer Lars Ulrich, sitting next to Reed one day during the sessions. "A very expensive garage," Reed cracks dryly.
Reed and Metallica first played together at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concerts in New York. "We knew we were made for each other," Reed contends. Indeed, the wildest thing about Lulu may be how natural he and the band sound together: the way James Hetfield's Viking bellow dogs Reed's parched vocal desperation in "Cheat on Me"; Metallica's perfect whiplash against the masochistic pleading in "Mistress Dread." "It was all about the lyrics," Hetfield says of the riffs and arrangements Metallica contributed to Reed's songs. "What is he trying to get across here? What is the feel? Whatever the feel is, let's amplify it."
By David Fricke
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Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ (11/8)
"I've got a certain style, and I've got no control over what I write," says the former Oasis guitarist, who quit his old group after a vicious backstage fight with brother Liam two years ago. "I'm not technically proficient enough to attempt all kinds of music." Which is good news for Oasis fans, who will find plenty of familiar echoes of the Beatles and the Kinks on Gallagher's new band's debut LP, whose standout cuts include the melodic heartbreak ballad "The Death of You and Me." "I wish I could write a fucking record like [the Stooges'] Raw Power, [Pink Floyd's] Wish You Were Here – or have the ability of a musical chameleon," adds Gallagher. "But fuck it, I can't."
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Florence + the Machine – ‘Ceremonies’ (11/15)
"The first record was quite ethereal and floaty," singer Florence Welch says of her band's 2009 breakthrough LP, Lungs. "For this one, I wanted something tougher, almost violent. I didn't want to shy away from using big beats." Working with producer Paul Epworth, fresh off Adele's summer smash "Rolling in the Deep," Welch immersed herself in old-school electronic acts like Suicide and Silver Apples – and makes good on her promise. Cuts such as lead single "What the Water Gave Me" and "Shake It Out" marry heavy guitars and dense rhythm tracks with Welch's tormented-heroine imagery and the band's trademark harp. While recording at London's Abbey Road studios, Welch amused herself between takes by watching out-of-towners ogle the famed crosswalk outside. "People were crawling over it and lying down in the middle," the singer says. "It was part of my entertainment to go watch the tourists."
By David Browne
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Mary J. Blige – ‘My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act I)’ (11/21)
Seventeen years after her breakthrough LP, My Life, which she recorded while battling drugs and domestic violence, the older, wiser R&B queen is back with a sequel. "The first My Life, I didn't understand why I was in so much pain," says Blige. "This one adds another level of understanding." The album ranges from signature self-empowerment tunes like "Masterpiece" to sexier cuts like "Midnight Drive," featuring a rap verse from Blige's alter ego Brooklyn. And she's already thinking about a sequel to the sequel: "We're going to do Act II, because it's just too much good music."
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Common – ‘The Dreamer, The Believer’ (11/22)
The Chicago rapper's ninth LP was produced entirely by old pal No I.D. – the first time they worked together since the Nineties. "He reminded me of what we approached this culture for," says Common. "I went back to the fundamentals of hip-hop." No I.D.'s vintage-sounding beats inspired the rapper on tracks like the upbeat single "Ghetto Dreams." "The songs got a knock to 'em," Common adds, "but they're also lush and rich in musicality and melody."
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Nicole Scherzinger – ‘Killer Love’ (November)
After years of setbacks, including an entire shelved album, the Pussycat Doll – who is invading living rooms this fall as a judge on The X Factor – has finally finished her solo debut, with help from hitmakers including RedOne. The disc ranges from the surprisingly stark piano ballad "AmenJena" (Scherzinger belts, "I want to try and say things I've never had the courage to say") to the Caribbean-girl sass of lead single "Right There." "At this point," says Scherzinger, "I've gone through so much that I want to show different personalities in every song." And the secret to balancing music with her new TV gig? "I've learned how to sleep sitting up."
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Will.i.am – Title TBD (November)
"People want to feel good, no matter how gloomy it may be out there," says the Black Eyed Peas' partyer-in-chief. "They want to escape, and that's the music I'm making." With the Peas on break, Will.i.am has been recording his fourth solo LP in Paris, London, New York and L.A. – and while he hasn't released any music from the disc yet, fans can expect plenty of his trademark pounding beats and radio-dominating hooks. "There's some electro, some rock, some dance," adds Will. "I ain't trying to put people to sleep!"
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Rick Ross – ‘God Forgives, I Don’t’ (November)
The Miami MC is bigger than ever after last year's smash Teflon Don – and he has no intention of slowing down on his fifth LP. "My vision for this album is so clear, everything's falling into place," says Ross. While he has yet to confirm track-list details, Ross has been cranking hard on the album between tour dates with Lil Wayne. Says the rapper, "I'm excited to see the response to this album – I expect it to be bigger than my previous one."
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Leona Lewis – Title TBD (December)
Lewis is best known for Mariah Carey-style powerhouse pop ballads, but the British singer is headed to the dance floor on her third LP – from the sweeping house beat of the lead single, "Collide," to the island groove of standout cut "Burn." "I had just gotten out of a time when I was really sad," says Lewis, who recently broke up with her pre-fame boyfriend of more than a decade. "I wanted to sing something euphoric and that you can dance to, and kind of forget everything."
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Also Released
Jason Derulo's Future History (9/27)
Daryl Hall's Laughing Down Crying (9/27)
Merle Haggard's Working in Tennessee (10/4)
Indigo Girls' Beauty Queen Sister (10/4)
Jack's Mannequin's People and Things (10/4)
Scotty McCreery's Clear as Day (10/4)
Crooked Fingers' Breaks in the Armor (10/11)
Various Artists' ZZ Top: A Tribute From Friends (10/11)
Chris Isaak's Beyond The Sun (10/18)
Shelby Lynne's Revelation Road (10/18)
Brian Wilson's In the Key of Disney (10/25)
Yelawolf's Radioactive (10/25)
Miranda Lambert's Four the Record (11/1)
Megadeth's Th1rt3en (11/1)
Meshell Ndegeocello's Weather (11/8)
Sigur Ros' Inni (11/8)
Pegi Young's Bracing For Impact (11/8)
Robin Thicke's Love After War (11/15)
Nickelback's Here and Now (11/21)
Various Artists' Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International (11/22)
Taio Cruz – Title TBD (November)
Nas – Life Is Good (Fall)