Cultural return | The expected albums

There are the releases that we wait for, that we hope for, and returns on record that we no longer expected. A look at what we’ll have to listen to over the coming months.

Kali Uchis

Suave, sensual and sophisticated, Kali Uchis’ music draws as much from the pop side of R&B as from Latin or Caribbean music. The singer-songwriter and director (she directs her music videos as well as the production of her albums) has just released a fourth album entitled Orchidsmainly in Spanish, where it flirts with tradition (Te Mata) and reggaeton (Munekitawith among others the Dominican rapper El Alfa, and Lips Mordidos with Karol G). There is something on this record to give you momentum to get through the winter.

Green Day

Billy Joe Armstrong is getting older, like everyone else, but Green Day is one of the rare groups from the pop punk-rock movement to keep its bite. Saviors, his album to be released on January 19, promises to be less frenetic than the previous ones from the Californian trio – the guys have all passed the 50-year mark, after all – but retains its tone and gains in depth and grandeur. At least that’s what the extracts revealed at the time of writing suggest. Note that another interesting trio, The Smile (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner), released their second album the following week (the 26th).

Four women, four returns

The winter will be marked by the returns of four women from worlds in the antipodes who have not published records for a while. Mônica Freire proposes February 23 Ilhada, an album where she combines her Middle Eastern heritage with her Brazilian roots for the first time. Térez Montcalm, who has mainly made a career in France in recent years, ends a discographic silence of more than a decade by publishing Step Out (February 16), which will remind our ears of his unique voice and sensitivity. Susie Arioli will do the same, in a more swing register, on February 23, with Embraceable. Known as part of the duo Forêt, Émilie Laforest also returns in February (9th) with a solo album which promises to be atmospheric and personal.

Usher

Usher achieved phenomenal success with his R&B pop around the turn of the millennium. On an artistic level, however, he has had a checkered career: he has published several ordinary albums between his best records. Coming Home arrives almost eight years later Hard II Love, his previous solo album. It will launch on February 11, the day the Atlanta singer will headline the 58 halftime show^e Super Bowl, presented at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Coming Home must include Good Goodhis collaboration with Summer Walker and 21 Savages, and Risk It Alltaken from the soundtrack of the film adaptation of the musical The Color Purplewith HE R.

Sheryl Crow

Five years ago, Sheryl Crow said she no longer wanted to record a record. The game was no longer worth the candle, she asserted, in an industry now driven by songs. So she only sent one song to Mike Elizondo (Maroon 5, Keith Urban) to start and, one thing led to another, accumulated enough for an entire album. Evolutionto be released on March 29, announces changes: it is the first of her records that she has not produced herself for a long time and it also risks moving away from her rock, folk and country roots. Alarm Clockthe first extract, is even pop right down to the treatment of his voice… We will see if this shift will convince those who love the artist closer to his roots.

Beyries

Singing in French was until now the exception rather than the rule for Beyries. That will change this year since she will launch an album all in French on February 9. His first in his career. She gave a taste of it by revealing two titles: Time (whose lyrics are signed by the actor Maxime Le Flaguais, his long-time collaborator, who signs all the texts) and Alone without you. Two pieces that highlight her sensitive singing and burning with authenticity. This bodes well for his album titled Fire in the lilacs and the upcoming tour.

Also expected

Added to these releases are those of records which do not yet have an official publication date, but which are expected in the coming months. Maybe by summer. Dua Lipa, who released a dance track last fall called Houdini, is part of the lot, just like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, SZA, Vampire Weekend, A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd. And after his two concerts last June in Montreal, The Cure will perhaps publish the album that he has been saying is imminent for years!