Twenty One Pilots, The Killers and Lana del Rey: 15 Most Anticipated Albums of 2020

The return of legendary Ozzy Osbourne, new material from Green Day and Lana del Rey, and fresh records from Atlas Weekend performers.

We look at the major albums due out in the new year. 

Ozzy Osbourne 

Album title: Ordinary Man

Release date: January

The return of the legendary musician. It is his first solo release in the past ten years. The first singles have already shown that the material is charged and aggressive — in the spirit of classic Ozzy. 

Interestingly, the musician's desire to record a new album came after Post Malone invited him to record the joint track Take What You Want. The former Black Sabbath frontman worked on the new material with Post Malone's producer Andrew Watt, and with musicians from Guns N' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

"I just lay there feeling sorry for myself for several months. This will be the best album I've ever made," Ozzy himself said about the album, while his wife Sharon added that the collaboration with the rapper was a big boost for him, because he felt useless.

Green Day 

Album title: Father of All Motherfuckers

Release date: February 7

The frontman of the legendary punk band Billie Joe Armstrong has repeatedly promised to bring back the rock of the 70s — in particular, Motown soul and glam rock. The sound of the band's new record will be filled with exactly that. In addition, however, listeners will hear dance rhythms, New Wave and vintage R&B.

In terms of length, this will be the band's shortest record, just 26 minutes. "Punks, freaks and executioners! Dirt and stench. The lyrics are like a party and a life of 'who gives a fuck.' A party of life and death. No politics. Survival in chaos. Something real," is how Armstrong describes the album. 

This will be the band's first record since 2016. And next summer Green Day will tour with Weezer, Fall Out Boy and The Interrupters.

Tame Impala 

Album title: The Slow Rush

Release date: February 14

The band has already released four singles from the new album, and so far listener reactions have been quite mixed. Many people don't get most of the tracks at all, while devoted fans argue for their genius and believe their idols will release a great work that can be listened to for years. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone, band leader Kevin Parker said that the sound of the new album will be the most stylistically diverse to date. 

The band has not released an album since 2015. Back then, the record Currents made them mega-popular, and Tame Impala gained the status of a cult indie rock band; now their work is awaited with enormous impatience. Things have gone even better for frontman Kevin Parker: Rihanna covered the band's songs, A$AP Rocky sampled them, and the musician himself worked on albums by Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Travis Scott.

The 1975

Album title: Notes on a Conditional Form

Release date: February 21

One of the most beloved bands in American music media is preparing its fourth studio album. According to the musicians, it is inspired by British night culture. 

Frontman Matty Healy said the record may remind listeners of grime project The Streets and the electronic music of Burial. By the way, they have already released the single 1975, in which the words of Greta Thunberg can be heard.  

As for the lyrics of the new record, they are reflections on political and interpersonal relationships. The sound sometimes leans toward classic punk and even dubstep. 

King Krule 

Album title: Man Alive!

Release date: February 21

At the end of last year, King Krule released the mysterious short film "Hey, World!", created in collaboration with his girlfriend and muse, photographer/director Charlotte Patmore. Filled with fragments of rare new songs about natural and industrial scenes, it appears to be the first teaser for the musician's new album. 

"Along with news of a tour planned for March, it seems likely that we will be entering another disarmed underground world of Archie Marshall's in the coming months," writes Pitchfork journalist Eric Torres. 

For his fresh single, the musician shot a black-and-white video and played the lead role himself. He is tied to a cross and burned at the stake by knights. There is a view that the video references Robert Eggers' film The Lighthouse, which is also black and white. In fact, however, the source of inspiration is The Passion of Joan of Arc by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. 

Morrissey

Album title: I Am Not a Dog on a Chain

Release date: March 20

Last year Morrissey released an album of covers of songs he grew up on. It received a mixed reaction from critics and the public, so everyone is cautiously waiting for his new original material. 

The former frontman of The Smiths has in recent years become a media anti-hero. He is used to speaking against public opinion, supporting nationalists against whom the entire civilized world has turned, and so on. 

"This is the best of me... too good to be true... too true to be good," the musician said about his 13th album. 

"At the moment, this is his boldest album," says the album's producer Joe Chiccarelli. "Morrissey has once again expanded his boundaries, both musically and poetically. And he is once again proving that as a songwriter and singer he occupies a category of his own. No one can be Morrissey except Morrissey!"

The Killers 

Album title: Imploding The Mirage

Release date: spring 

The American indie rockers are gearing up for a tour and promise a new full-length release as early as spring this year. Frontman Brandon Flowers said the record was recorded in Utah, the city where he fell in love with music. The new The Killers are expected to feature a lot of synthesizer sound. 

"I wouldn't call this album conceptual, but the record does have a certain idea," says drummer Ronnie Vannucci. "I can't say exactly what it is, but this album will be much better and more fun, and that makes us happy. Although I like the dark tracks too. Brandon and I wrote them. The fact that we don't have a guitarist and bassist made the songs sound different."

Run The Jewels

Album title: RTJ4

Release date: first half of the year 

"Hard as fuck" is how one of the members of the rap duo, El-P, described the new album on Twitter. He also added that work on the record is not yet finished, but the musicians have made serious progress. It is also already known that the album will consist of "about eleven jams", and its running time will be less than forty minutes.   

The duo was formed in 2013 and since then has become one of the most respected acts in the US. They have already released three full-length albums, blending boom bap, electronics, aggressive samples and bone-crushing delivery. Their lyrics combine social messages, humor and battle verses with memorable punchlines.

Lana del Rey 

Album title: White Hot Forever

Release date: unknown 

The singer released one of the best albums of 2019. Although Norman Fucking Rockwell! was not rated high enough in Ukraine, it caused a real sensation in the US and made it into the year-end top lists of all the leading music media.  

Before she had even fully celebrated the success of her fresh record, Lana announced that her new long-play would come out in 2020. She noted that it will not be a fully traditional album. "It will be less songs and more of a spoken-word record in the spirit of free verse," the singer said. 

The album will cost about one dollar. According to the singer, the album was written for the sake of an idea, not for money. 

Dua Lipa 

Album title: Future Nostalgia

Release date: unknown

This year we will find out whether the pop singer survives the so-called "sophomore slump". After all, her debut release caused a real sensation and made her a genuine global star. 

Dua Lipa, who performed in Kyiv before the 2018 Champions League final, says that you will be able to dance to her new record, although many of the songs from the album will be sad, because happy events do not give her the inspiration she needs to create.  

As the singer herself admits, while recording the new material she drew inspiration from Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Moloko, Blondie and OutKast.

Deftones

Album title: unknown

Release date: unknown

One of the leading nu-metal bands has signed up for a number of summer festivals around the world. They have also promised to release an album very soon. 

"Of course the album will come out in 2020, hopefully sooner rather than later," said frontman Chino Moreno. "Our main task is to make sure everything is done well. We will be performing it for the next two or three years after release, so we want to be sure that it is the best it can be, and that everyone is happy, including ourselves."

He also added that in the summer of 2019 they wrote almost all of the music in the studio, and over the last few months they have been working on lyrics, melodies and vocal parts.

Twenty One Pilots

Album title: unknown

Release date: unknown

The headliners of Atlas Weekend are preparing a new record. According to the American duo, the new album will differ significantly from their previous one, Trench, which became one of the best of 2018. 

According to frontman Tyler Joseph, the new long-play will revisit the themes familiar to the band, though without rephrasing them. The group will also present a "new character and a new direction." He also said that he writes melodies for the new album when he wakes up in the middle of the night. 

The Cure 

Album title: unknown

Release date: unknown

The frontman of the cult band Robert Smith said they are currently working on three new records at once, after which they will retire. 

The first album, according to Smith, should come out very soon. He described the second as more advanced, consisting of "free pieces" and having a pronounced, stronger sound. The third he called "crazy"  It has the working title "Live From the Moon," but it will undoubtedly change its name. 

A reminder that the band's last album came out back in 2008. 

Kasabian 

Album title: unknown

Release date: unknown

One of the band's leaders, guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, said that Kasabian completed work on their seventh album at the end of 2019. The musician, who recently launched his solo project THE S.L.P, said that his long-play influenced the work on Kasabian's upcoming record. 

"I've already recorded some fragments and I know they would not exist without this album. The work has begun. This is devastating music. Now is the time. I've returned to working with Kasabian and the world needs this kind of unity. This next level really excites the band, like I've seen the Earth from space. I looked there again. I have a completely new view of how and what we can create. Let's see what comes out," he said last autumn.   

The band's last album, For Crying Out Loud, came out in 2017.

Yungblud

Album title: unknown

Release date: unknown

Another performer at the upcoming Atlas Weekend and one of the major discoveries of 2019 plans to release a new album in 2020. Dominic Harrison told Rock Sound magazine that the new album is a "nod to David Bowie." 

"What to expect from the new records? Something unexpected! Typical Yungblud. Typical me. I'm just trying to push the boundaries with a new sound and new themes. This is a coming-of-age record. 

This is a record about the experience I've had. I've aged five years in the last year and gone through so much. After all this nonsense, I just realized that it's just a strange time in my life, and everything will eventually be fine," he said.