2025 Release Radar
Flopping into the New Year!
It’s a new year! One that, if you’re American, ought to fill you with existential dread. But, hey, if the world is going to burn, at least we can enjoy the soundtrack, right?
((I hate that the intro paragraph I used last year is still so accurate…so I haven’t changed it…))
As this is the first release radar of the year, I’m going to divide this one a bit differently. Let’s look, first, at the albums earmarked for January; after that, we’ll examine the announced albums we can see further afield.
January 2025 Release Radar
1/17
Rebecca Black
1/24
Larkin Poe
Harakiri for the Sky
Avatarium
The Weeknd
That’s right, we’re kicking off 2025 with Rebecca Black! She’s not the same kid who tortured our ears with “Friday” way back when; she’s a legit Hyper Pop artist who has honed her skills. I actually enjoyed 2023’s Let Her Burn, despite that Hyper Pop can be a bit much. This album will likely release before I have my Top 40 rankings out; and I’ll need time to listen to it after it releases, anyhow, so don’t expect this first review until about the end of the month.
Four of January’s five (flagged) releases all hit on the same day, and two of those (Harakiri for the Sky and Avatarium) are brand new to me. The former is a Post-Black Metal band from Austria, and the latter is a blend of Doom Metal and Prog Rock from Sweden. They both sound delicious.
Larkin Poe is a Roots Rock and Americana group. I first heard them with 2022’s Blood Harmony, which ranked 26th in that year’s countdown. They’re a family act — two sisters from Georgia who have since relocated to Tennessee.
Lastly, we have The Weeknd, who needs no introduction, as his “Blinding Lights” is one of the most streamed songs on Spotify. Period. Ever. This one is a potential issue, though, as Tesfaye has become a potentially problematic figure between his homophobic lyrics and what has come out about the environment on the set of his show, The Idol. But I don’t want to blacklist him just yet. I’m gonna give him a little longer.
The Year to Come
The rest of the radar is, currently, spotty at best. March should be a big month, but we currently have only four albums for the whole month, plus one listed for April. These dates will fill out quite a lot by the time they roll around.
2/7
Dream Theater
Jinjer
Marko Hietala
2/14
Lacuna Coil
2/21
Tate McRae
2/28
Architects
Avantasia
Lisa
3/7
Spiritbox
The Cat Empire
Sasami
3/14
Coheed & Cambria
4/11
Elvenking
February gives us several high profile Metal releases, including Dream Theater, Jinjer, Lacuna Coil, and Architects. Tate McRae has been garnering a sizable cult reputation, and I think she’s primed to blow up in a big way. Lisa is a member of Blackpink, and could be a fun listen.
March will provide two highly anticipated releases for me, even with just four albums on the books: Spiritbox ought to be incredible, and it will be disappointing if it isn’t. And Coheed & Cambria’s last album is going to be hard to beat, but I’ve been ready for the next one since releasing 2022’s Top 40, in which C&C ranked 5th.
And then, there are the vague, undefined announcements:
Brad Paisley
Run the Jewels
Avantasia
Blue October
Breaking Benjamin
Chevelle
Converge
Epica
Helloween
Jon Bellion
Steven Wilson (Q1 or early Q2)
Saosin
RaeLynn
The Maine
Tool
VNV Nation (Q1)
Alestorm (summer)
Miley Cyrus
ASAP Rocky
Oddly enough, last year’s ‘undefined’ list also started with Brad Paisley…for the same album. Its release date was later narrowed down, but then it never appeared. Neither did RTJ5 — we’re rapidly approaching the two-year mark since Killer Mike stated in an interview that the album was practically done.
Not all of these will actually get an album out this year, but I’m hopeful.
2024 Wrap-Up
There are still a handful of posts being finalized in order to put a nice little bow on the 2024 calendar year. The light release schedule in January helps to make this feasible.
I have six 2024 reviews left to post, as well:
Rachel Platten
Rendezvous Point
Sturgill Simpson
Sunburst
The Smashing Pumpkins
Fish in a Birdcage
Those will be up by the end of next week, along with a summary of bucket resolutions. The Top 40 albums list will get rolling by the 22nd, so we’ll wrap up the last full week of January with a full week of countdown.
Note that, as much as I was hyped for her new album, Shireen has been removed from this list; her album, Elytra, does not meet my criteria. While it is comprised of new music and has a length of ten tracks running for 50 minutes, there are, technically, only three songs on the album. Tracks 4-10 are all remixes by various artists of tracks 1-3. In my opinion, that does not qualify as a legitimate LP.
That said, those three songs are all very good, and if Witch Rock sounds like your cup of tea, you need to go check out Shireen.
The full radar is always available, and lists offerings which are still months away. I try to keep it updated as I notice things. Tune in at the end of January and February, because the year will begin to take shape a bit better as March and April releases are announced.
Please feel free to comment below, or on any of this year’s radar posts, if there’s an album that I need to add to the list.