In the new issue of Music Week, we take a look at the albums and tours that are set to define 2020.
The 1975, Sam Smith and Halsey are all among the acts set to return with new records this year, and subscribers can read about what they’re cooking up in the full feature.
Here, we’ve pulled out five of the most hotly-anticipated albums of 2020, beginning with Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, from which lead single Don’t Start Now has already made a flying start, peaking at No.2 and selling 470,943 units to date, according to the Official Charts Company…
DUA LIPA
FUTURE NOSTALGIA | (WARNER RECORDS) | DUE: TBC?
Dua Lipa enters her sophomore campaign as a fully rounded pop proposition. She’s bagged BRITs, sold more than 550,000 copies of her debut and booked arena dates for May and June. By that point, the new LP should be embedded in the Top 10. On the singles chart, Don’t Start Now is chasing No.1. Given her ambition to make music that could sit alongside “classic pop” by Madonna, Moloko and Blondie, there should be plenty more where that came from.
ADELE
TBC | (COLUMBIA) | DUE: TBC?
Adele contributed the two biggest albums of the last decade, 21 (5,175,320 copies sold, according to the Official Charts Company) and 25 (a mere 3,582,854), so her long-awaited fourth record – and first after her initial XL/Beggars deal – has retail and the biz salivating at the prospect of another blockbuster. A rumoured November 2019 release date passed without the singer dropping anything more than a few heavy hints she was working on new music, but 2020 should be the year. Watch this space.
JUSTIN BIEBER
?TBC | (DEF JAM/VIRGIN EMI) | DUE: TBC
Bieber broke UK streaming records when he last released an album (2015’s Purpose amassed 21 million sales globally), so his first long-player in more than four years should see the Canadian superstar amass some big numbers. Lead track Yummy has already made a chart impact and he’s confirmed dates in North America. The campaign’s 10-part YouTube docu-series Justin Bieber – Seasons (a deal reportedly worth $20 million) will be closely scrutinised by every true Belieber on the planet.
BTS
MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 | (BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT) | DUE: February 21?
BTS scored a No.1 with last year’s Map Of The Soul: Persona album. The LP’s tally of 84,753 sales (OCC) is impressive, but following collaborations and co-writes with Halsey and Ed Sheeran, the Wembley Stadium headliners will surely go even bigger this time. Could the K-pop sensations up their features game even further?
ELLIE GOULDING
TBC | (POLYDOR) | DUE: TBC
?Ellie Goulding was actually talking up a new album this time last year but, in the end, she only released a handful of singles in 2019. The delay does mean, however, that she goes into 2020 off the back of renewed momentum, courtesy of her cover of Joni Mitchell’s River, which hit No.1 in December despite only being available on Amazon Music. Goulding says Mitchell is a key influence on her long-awaited fourth album, which should add a new dimension to her penchant for high-quality dance-pop bangers.
