We’re midway through 2015 and it has proven to be a pretty good year for music with artists like Muse, Fall Out Boy and Kendrick Lamar releasing some great albums. We bring you the 5 albums we’re looking forward to in the second half of 2015:
1. Owl City- “Mobile Orchestra”
The electro-synthy-pop sounds of Vanilla Twilight and Fireflies made Adam Young’s musical project ‘Owl City’ a feature in most of the playlists around the world, though he had always enjoyed a popular presence on social media since he started posting songs online in 2007. ‘Mobile Orchestra’, his fifth studio album after a bunch of singles and EP releases, is set for release on July 10. The album will mostly remain true to the ear-pleasing electronica sounds that Owl City is known for but who’s to say that’s a bad thing?!
2. Halsey- “Badlands”
Ashley Frangipane, or Halsey, as she’s known by her stage name, is out earning plaudits as a powerful live performer and for her edgy, confessional lyrics. In the span of a year, she has been signed by a major record label, went on a tour with “The Kooks” and is now out again on tour with “Imagine Dragons”, promoting her album as she goes. Halsey proclaims herself to not be a particularly gifted vocalist but all of that takes a backseat when you are enveloped in the experience of her songs- they’re hauntingly beautiful with thoughtful lyrics and an entire concept around them. The same is expected out of ‘Badlands’, which the singer herself has described as “an angry, female pop record”.
3. Lana Del Rey- “Honeymoon”
She crept up on the music scene and made her way to the top before anyone could really figure out what was up. Ever since “Video Games”, Lana Del Rey- born Elizabeth Grant- has been a much-talked- about feature of the industry. From being praised for her melancholy songs, labelled an anti-feminist for the characters in her music and to serving up two huge albums- she has been there, done that. After being featured on ‘The Great Gatsby’s soundtrack with “Young and Beautiful” and 2014’s “Ultraviolence”, Lana is set to stir up another musical storm with her next album due later this year. Titled “Honeymoon”, it’s bound to be an interesting affair even if not anything else.
4. Ariana Grande- “Moonlight”
Although her sophomore album “My Everything”- which spawned five hit singles- released just about a year ago, Ariana Grande is ready to serve up more music and might release an album in the later half of this year. The pop-princess who’s been reigning the charts and drawing comparisons to Mariah Carey for her soaring vocals has been dropping hints about her upcoming release, titled “Moonlight” on social media platforms. She even dropped a 9 second teaser of a new song that seemed to have captured people’s attention for sounding like a dance tune. Although a 2015 release hasn’t been confirmed with a date, it’s safe to say that the songstress will drop at least a few singles even if not the whole album before we’ve seen the end of this year.
5. Kanye West- “SWISH”
Kanye West, forever embroiled in some controversy or another, is as strange a musician as he is a person. He is as critically acclaimed as a musician as he is often despised for his antics. 2014 was the only year after 2009 that Kanye West didn’t release any new albums- collaborations or solo. It’s only fair for there to be a lot of expectations of his possible 2015 release titled “SWISH”. This will also be his first album post his wildly-publicised wedding to Kim Kardashian the birth of his daughter North West, and it will be interesting to note the changes, if any, towards his approach to the album.
Shubham Kaushik
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