March 2024 Release Radar
February is over — it’s time to start warming up!
Albums On Deck
March is typically where we start to see a spike in releases. Between all of the reviews for 2024 to-date, plus the four pending reviews below, January and February gave me 12 albums, combined. Currently, I have 13 flagged for March. It’s always nice to enjoy the slower schedule to start the year after the rush that September-onward usually entails.
But now it’s time to pick it back up a bit. Starting with the four albums I’ve been sitting on:
Jennifer Lopez - This is Me…Now
Amaranthe - The Catalyst
MGMT - Loss of Life
Ghetts - On Purpose, With Purpose
Expect the J-Lo review tomorrow. I already have some initial thoughts, but I’m going to give it another listen and read through some lyrics before actually writing the review today.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping I can pull off a M-W-F release schedule next week to clear out the last of February’s releases, starting with Amaranthe, a Symphonic/Power Metal six-piece fronted by Elize Ryd. Their last release was 2020’s Manifest, which is currently pending re-scoring.
MGMT should give us some solid Indie Rock with strong notes of Synth, Electronica, and Psychedelic. This will be the first actual studio album for the group since 2018’s Little Dark Age. They did also release an album in 2022 called 11-11-11, which was a live album recorded on the titular date as part of an art exhibition. It featured original music, so I reviewed it anyhow and rated it Green. There’s just a lot of asterisks attached to it because I don’t normally deal with live albums.
Finally, Ghetts is a British Hip-Hop and Grime artist whose album got pushed back a couple of weeks from its initial early-Feb release date. Ghetts is an artist I’m unfamiliar with, but I strive to try out new artists regularly throughout the year, because now and then I find one that is immediately a new favorite.
March Release Radar
3/1
New Years Day
Everything Everything
Faye Webster
3/8
Sonata Arctica
Judas Priest
Norah Jones
Ariana Grande
3/15
Dragonforce
Kacey Musgraves
3/22
Empress Of
Fletcher
Waxahatchee
3/29
Beyonce
March is going to be a mixed bag. We’ll be kicking off the month with New Years Day, a Hard Rock and Alt/Industrial Metal act whose frontwoman, Ash Costello, sports a signature half-red, half-black head of hair. Their last album, in 2019, was great, and I’ve been looking forward to this one. They’ll be accompanied by the Art Rock of Everything Everything and the Indie Folk of Faye Webster, both new artists for me.
March’s metal offerings will be rounded out by Power Metal acts Sonata Arctica and Dragonforce alongside legendary Heavy Metal band Judas Priest, with all three launching on the 8th and 15th. Sonata was one of my favorites for a long time, until their quality tanked after the departure of guitarist Jani Liimatainen,1 but I still listen to each album at least once because I can’t help but hope; I still love Kakko’s vocals. Dragonforce has become a pretty legendary act, as well, and this album promises a Power (and Speed?) Metal cover of a Taylor Swift song. I feel I don’t need to say anything further about Judas Priest, though.
March 8th is rounded out by releases from Norah Jones and Ariana Grande, both being artists of color with serious name recognition, though I feel Jones has largely flown under the radar since her early hits in the aughts.
Releasing alongside Dragonforce on the 15th is a new offering from Kacey Musgraves, whose 2021 star-crossed proved to be one of the best concept albums that year, subsequently rating a Purple from me, and ranking 6th overall that year as the top non-Metal album.
Another previous Top-10 artist, Fletcher, is dropping her sophomore effort on March 22nd. I’m expecting good things from both. But considering that both of their last albums had similar conceptual arcs, I’m hoping they diverge a bit this time around.
Empress Of and Waxahatchee are both new artists for me, but both have earned a decent reputation it seems. They’ll continue the run of Female artists that starts with Musgraves until we end the month with…
Queen Bey, herself. Beyonce has reportedly recorded a Country album. We’ll just have to see how that came out, but I’ll be shocked if it’s anything less than absolute fire.
Beyond March
The full radar is always available, and lists offerings which are still months away. Here are five things to expect in the coming months:
Taylor Swift dominates the post-March forecast, with her album release on April 19th making it hard to even consider any other albums important for the rest of the month.
This applies doubly for My Dying Bride, who are also dropping an album on the 19th of April. Their initial stream count may be negatively impacted by their competition.
Alien Ant Farm is still dropping an album a week after Taylor, but I’m concerned nobody will notice. Still.
Sia and Anette Olzon are the earliest releases flagged for May thus far, and I don’t expect those albums to be remotely similar.
Lennie Kravitz bumped the release of his newest album from mid-March to May 24th due to his participation with the soundtrack of Netflix’s Rustin, a biopic on Bayard Rustin. Rustin was a black gay man who influenced the Civil Rights movement from behind the scenes. Rustin released on Nov 3, 2023.
If you haven’t listened to Liimatainen’s 2022 solo album, My Father’s Son, you’re missing out!