I know what you’re thinking … Can we skip the fall and just escape to 2021 already?
I’m with you in spirit, but if the last several months have taught us anything, it’s that we have no way of knowing when things will improve. And, if you have been taking some time in 2020 to discover new music, you’ve probably been thankful that you took those opportunities to be present in the moment, uncertain as the bigger picture may be. While release schedules have been flipped on their heads — and god only knows how many tours and festivals have been canceled or postponed into oblivion — artists have still managed to drop some remarkable music in 2020. No doubt some of it has actually been inspired by these uncertain times.
In just the first half of the year or so, we saw great pop records from Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, and Perfume Genius, triumphant returns from veteran favorites like Fiona Apple, Pearl Jam, and Run the Jewels, and even the re-emergence of legacy acts like The Pretenders and The Psychedelic Furs. There have also been no shortage of must-catch newer artists, such as Rina Sawayama, 070 Shake, and Beach Bunny, dropping dynamic records. Suffice it to say, if you’ve found nothing new worth listening to this year, you probably haven’t been looking hard enough.
So, yes, 2020 has been terrifying and unnerving on many levels. That goes without saying. But we offer you a small, good thing, and that’s the hope that things will get better soon, and even if they don’t, that there will be new music this fall to help us through. So, take a break, turn off the news, and sit down with one of these records about to drop this fall.
Here are 25 that we are looking forward to.
–Matt Melis
Editorial Director
