Sooner or later, one must come to realize what a great year 2015 was. Incredible new albums, promising debuts, long awaited reunions and the list goes on. However, as much as we, humans, love to dwell on fading moments and immerse ourselves in what may be some kind of future nostalgia, this time around, we can look to the (near) future and notice that it’ll be just as cool. So welcome to 2016, where great moments await. Here’s what’s going on this year:

1. MGMT are back

The duo’s latest huge show was back in 2014 when the played Coachella, one year after releasing their 3rd opus. But on Christmas day, MGMT offered us this, whatever that means:

 

2. A new album by Animal Collective

Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin are back with a tenth studio album, their first since 2012’s Centipede Hz. To be fair, Animal Collective animal-collective-painting-with-754haven’t been completely out of sight: they’ve released some EPs and live albums here and there. Nonetheless, Painting With, which is due February 19th, is certainly expected to be their most significant release since their last LP. The experimental pop band also
debuted a single off Painting With called “FloriDada” at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport on November 25th, 2015. The album will feature sax master Colin Stetson as well as Velvet Underground legend John Cale. Animal Collective are still true to their upbeat signature sound and joyful melodies, and they sound better than ever. Listen for yourself:

 

3. A new Frank Ocean album (finally)

Alright, now this one’s kind of tricky. We’ve been teased so much in 2015, we don’t know what or who to believe anymore. Frank Ocean had 150406-frank-ocean-640x886announced a new album back in April, presumably to be titled Boys Don’t Cry and which was supposed to drop in July. But as summer turned into fall, hearts were broken and tears were shed. The world felt cheated and betrayed, for it had no Ocean to Swim Good in. Keep in mind, however, that the 28 year old isn’t the only RnB or Hip Hop artist to tease the whole world: Rihanna with Anti, Kanye with Swish… it seems either writer’s block or perfectionism are hitting hard on the music industry. Although, Frank Ocean has been completely absent in 2015. Not a single release, no major award nomination or tour, and this is probably why he’s the one we’d like most to come back. Fast. Many collabs are rumoured to feature on the album. The most credible one: Hudson Mohawke. The producer uploaded a series of beats called frank o0000oocean in December then quickly deleted the Reddit thread. At least, if this rumour’s true, the album’s worth the wait.

 

 

4. Coachella Reunions

The most hipster festival in the world just got slightly more hipster: Coachella is bringing the past to 2016, and this edition should be an amazing one. Two major acts are reuniting this year, and, just like for any other news ever, there will be haters. Set to appear at both Coachella and Panorama (basically the NY edition of Coachella), and headline at least one of them are Dance-Punk pioneers LCD Soundsystem and Hard Rock legends Guns N Roses. The news is confirmed, and James Murphy even shared a Christmas song along with a cute message, hinting at a big year ahead for LCD Soundsystem. Also, the whole festival lineup is a killer.

coachella-2016

 

5. A new Red Hot Chilli Peppers record

2015’s been a rough year for Rock fans. Scott Weiland, Lemmy, B.B. and others leaving us, countless feuds and scandals… 2016 better be a silver lining year for the Rock family. And it looks like it will: one of the greatest bands ever are releasing one their greatest albums ever. RHCP have consecrated 2015 to working on the I’m With You follow-up. The band’s been recording with legendary producer Danger Mouse, who’s worked with everyone from the Black Keys to MF Doom, and frontman Anthony Keidis had this to say about the experience:

“He’s very good about coming up with super-modern ideas, but he’ll also touch on the acoustic guitar in the control room and strip the song down to its acoustic essentials, which is a beautiful place to be.”

The album should sound great, no only thanks to a dream producing crew, but also because the band described the songs as being “as good as any songs [they]’ve ever written”.

 

6. A Justice comeback

That Forrest Gump quote? Yeah, well, it also applies to the music industry. Justice were expected to release a comeback record in 2015… but they didn’t. If last year’s predictions were based on speculations, this time we actually have legitimate reasons to expect a 2016 full length from the French duo. Busy P, head of Ed Banger Records, to which Justice are signed, confirmed they were working on a new album. In fact, according to him, the duo are “locked in the studio everyday”, so we’re hoping to hear the much anticipated comeback in 2016.

 

7. Radiohead’s new album and tour

OK, we know we said that last year, but this time around, we’re pretty sure we’re right. Even though it’s all been behind-the-scenes action, 2015 was a busy year for Radiohead. The Brits recorded tons of new material, worked on a James Bond soundtrack, which was unfortunately (wrongfully) rejected, and Thom Yorke rocked the Paris climate summit with incredible performances alongside Flea and Atoms for Peace. The band spent a lot of time in studio, and some expected them to finish their album before the new year, but we understand these things take time. Fortunately, however, we’re confident Radiohead will grace us with another breathtaking full length in 2016, based on statements by guitarist Johnny Greenwood:

“We have finished recording of the new album but we keep reevaluating the work we’ve done, […] We hope we’ll get it right soon, and after that we’ll start planning the next year’s tour.”

Even though those comments we’re cleared up by frontman Thom Yorke, we still think 12 months will be enough time for the band to give us one the most awaited albums of the year.

 

8. A new one by The xx

Jamie xx may have released one of the best albums of 2015, and certainly one of the best solo debuts of the decade so far, but the man just never stops. Even with a Mercury Prize nomination for In Colour, he’s hungry for more. Back in the studio with Romy and Oliver, Jamie xx seems to have gotten his main project back on track and working on a new record. The xx announced, on November 18th, the release of a new album which is expected to be released in 2016, as guitarist Romy Madley Croft suggested.

 

9. Gorillaz return

Damon Albarn is the busiest person on the planet. After releasing a great solo debut in 2014, he produced the effort of one of the world’s most wonderful voices, Adele, reassembled one of the greatest band of all time, Blur, and is now putting back together the best fictional bands ever, Gorillaz. Albarn announced the comeback in 2014, by saying he was “in the process of reactivating” the band and hoping for a 2016 album, although many thought this was utopian. However, in 2015, animator Jamie Hewlett shared a bunch of new sketches of the famous monkey band, and commented “Yes. Gorillaz return.” 

#Murdoc in colour??

A photo posted by hewll (@hewll) on

 

10. The Strokes’ new release

Albert Hammond, Jr. has been working solo, and Julian Casablancas was doing his thing with The Voidz, but now, the Strokes are in the studio, and are expected to release an album this year. Casablancas announced the band was working on new music at Washington D.C.’s Landmark Festival on September 27th last year, despite the fact that guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. claimed the band didn’t plan on recording any new material back in July. We’re glad they changed their minds.