Happy New Year! 2023 is in the rear view and the music industry is just crawling out of its holiday hangover, with normal operations and overloaded release weeks looking to start up again in the middle of January. While we wait for that, here’s my look at what records I’m looking forward to in 2024. This list is primarily albums that have either been officially announced or at least hinted at by artists and labels. There are also a few fingers-crossed guesses, as well as artists who are due for a new record, or ones who keep saying they’re going to release something new soon. Not on this list: My Bloody Valentine (I’ve believed you too many times, Kevin Shields), or many of the very prolific Indie Basement regulars who usually put out at least one record a year but haven’t made any announcements yet (see: OSEES, King Gizzard, Kelley Stoltz, Luke Haines), though there are a couple exceptions to the rule. And as the year progresses, as always, there will be even more albums announced that we had no idea about.

I picked 42 albums/artists here, including indie vets, bands who are trying to overcome the Sophomore Slump, and a few promising debuts. Read my list, with song streams where applicable, below.

For even more anticipated albums, check out BrooklynVegan’s list of 86 Albums We’re Anticipating in 2024.

If you still need to catch up on last year, check out Indie Basement’s Top Albums of 2023.

INDIE BASEMENT – MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2024

The Bevis Frond – Focus On Nature
due 3/1 via Fire

Nearly 40 years into their career, The Bevis Frond (Nick Saloman for all intents and purposes) have carved out a distinct, ringing, ragged sound which falls somewhere between Teenage Fanclub and Dinosaur Jr (two bands who have cited The Bevis Frond as an influence). Focus on Nature is the band’s 26th album (depending on how/what you count) and the title track is a great example of what they do and not a bad place for the uninitiated to start.

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Black Grape – Orange Head
due 1/19 via DGAFF Recordings

Shaun Ryder and maraca-strapped sidekick Bez have two albums coming out this year that we know of: the debut from Mantra of the Cosmos, their supergroup with Andy Bell of Ride and drummer Zak Starkey; and Orange Head, the fourth album from their post-Happy-Mondays group Black Grape that also features rapper Kermit. Ryder is as well known for appearing on British reality TV (and hosting a series on UFOs) as he is for music these days, but he’s still got the absurdist lyrical gift that made Factory Records founder Tony Wilson compare him to W.B. Yeats.

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Bolis Pupul – Letter to Yu
due 3/8 via DEEWEE

Anyone who has seen Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul live knows that Bolis is no mere sideman and is an integral part of their recorded music and very fun live show. He’s released a few singles over the years on Soulwax’s DEEWEE label, but Letter to Yu is his full-length debut, inspired by his Chinese heritage. On it, he retraces his late mother’s path through her Hong Kong birthplace via sultry, smooth synthpop. Soulwax co-produced.

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Bolts Of Melody – Film Noir
due 1/19 via Outer Battery Records

Back in the early-2000s when Swervedriver were on hiatus, frontman Adam Franklin explored his cinematic influences via Bolts of Melody. The Swervies are still going but he’s revived Bolts for the project’s first album in a decade, which features contributions from Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis and Besnard Lakes.

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Buffalo Tom – Jump Rope
due TBA

Northeast alt-rock stalwarts Buffalo Tom have been matching anthemic choruses to fuzzy guitars for over 30 years and are gearing up to release their 10th album, Jump Rope, later this year. We won’t have to wait long to hear the first single, “Helmet,” either (January 10 to be specific).

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The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
due ???

Sure, Robert Smith has been been saying “this year” for at least five years in regards to a new Cure album, but now that the album has a title, Songs of a Lost World, and the band played a handful of songs from it live in 2023, maybe, just maybe, we’ll really get it this year. You can do it, Bob!

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David Nance & Mowed Sound – S/T
Due 2/9 via Third Man

The Omaha singer, songwriter and guitarist has been putting his own ragged, garage-punk-inspired spin on heartland rock for over a decade, and despite releasing records on respected labels like Ba Da Bing and Trouble in Mind he still feels like a cult artist. Maybe that will change with this one, his first with new band Mowed Sound that will be out on Jack White’s Third Man Records. Anyone who’s seen Nance live knows he should be playing bigger rooms. “The whole album is a big magic trick,” Nance says. “Most of these songs were written as country songs and then were perverted into different forms…but it sure as shit isn’t a country record.”

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DIIV

DIIV finally left their cave last fall, ending a four-year hibernation to tour with Depeche Mode, and while out released new song “Soul Net.” A nearly 10-minute hazy jam, the song is the first new music from the group since Deceiver and hopefully the first taste of their fourth album. Just three more songs at that length and they’ve got it.

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Ducks LTD – Harm’s Way
due 2/9 via Carpark

Jangly Toronto duo Ducks Ltd wrote much of their second album while on tour with Nation of Language, Illuminati Hotties, and Archers of Loaf. “When we got signed, we had played maybe five or six shows ever. After last year, it’s in the hundreds. That experience can change your perception of your own music and songwriting,” says the band’s Tom McGreevy. “In the past when we got stuck on a song we had a tendency to look at our favorite records to see how they tackled it. But now, instead of asking ‘what would Orange Juice do?’, we’d ask, ‘what would we do?” Where their debut was made with a drum machine, Harm’s Way features more of a live band feel with contributions from Ratboys‘ Julia Steiner and Marcus Nuccio, Dehd‘s Jason Bala, and more.

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Gossip – Real Power
due 3/22 via Columbia

“When we began, so much about Gossip was about running away—that was always in the music,” says Gossip singer Beth Ditto of the band’s first album in 12 years. “We survived. We came from nothing, and we got the fuck out of there. And to be here 20 years later and still making music together is just incredible.” Like 2009’s Music for Men, Real Power was made with producer Rick Rubin at his studio in Kauai before and after covid lockdown.

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Grandaddy – Blu Wav
due 2/16 via Dangerbird

It was unclear whether Grandaddy would ever make another album after the death of bassist Kevin Garcia sidelined their 2017 comeback, but Jason Lytle and the rest of the group have gotten back at it. Blue Wav‘s title is a mashup of “bluegrass” and “new wave,” but first single “Watercooler” just sounds like prime Grandaddy. There is one noticeable new element: “There’s an inordinate amount of pedal steel,” Jason says. “It’s a first for Grandaddy, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about this fact.”

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Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free
due 1/24 via Rough Trade

While Sadness Sets Me Free is Gruff Rhys’ eighth solo album, it’s his 25th album when you include his records with Super Furry Animals, Neon Neon, soundtracks and more. “I’ve reverted to a rich seam of inspiration relating to shedding some light on sadness and the general terror of cosmic loneliness,” Gruff says, adding, “At this point I quite like working with serendipity. Not in a cosmic way, [but] I try and leave things open to chance encounters and chance geography…I’m always looking for ways to make a different-sounding record.”

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Guided by Voices – LP #40
due TBA via GBV Inc

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of indie stalwarts Guided by Voices and 2024 will feature an equally impressive milestone — their 40th album. While that works out to one a year, GBV have taken a few years off, and they’ve been very prolific in the last decade, often releasing three albums a year. (Frontman Robert Pollard, meanwhile, hit 100 albums back in 2017.) What can we expect? More of the same, probably, which given the current lineup’s recent batting average, is a good thing.

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Halo Maud – Celebrate
due 3/22 via Heavenly

French artist Halo Maud had an eventful 2023 that saw her collaborate with The Chemical Brothers on four amazing songs on their new album, and give birth to her first child. Personally, that will be hard to top for her but I am very excited for her second album. “I called the album Celebrate because I danced a lot while creating it,” Maud says. “I now feel that I can release it into the air. I hope that it will alight in your hands and ears, keep you company and resonate within you through multiple waves.”

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Heartworms

London post-punks Heartworms released their great debut EP in early 2023 and finished up the year with another banger, “May I Comply.” The latter, produced by Speedy Wunderground founder Dan Carey, is the first taste of what will be the band’s debut album. That hasn’t been officially announced yet but hopefully they’ll be playing songs from it while on tour in North America opening for The Kills.

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Helado Negro – Phasor
due 2/9 via 4AD

Vintage synths figure prominently into Roberto Carlos Lange’s ninth album as Helado Negro (and his second for 4AD) — in particular Salvatore Matirano’s SAL-MAR which he got to experience first-hand at the University of Illinois. “I was enthralled by it,” Lange says. “It gave me special insight into what stimulates me.” The first single “Phasor” is set to stun.

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The High Llamas – Hey Panda
due 3/29 via Drag City

Early on The High Llamas were constantly tagged (not exactly unjustly) as Beach Boys devotees, but over the last 30 years, Sean O’Hagan has honed his own unique sound with equal parts Morricone and Krautrock amongst those surfy harmonies. For the first High Llamas album in eight years, O’Hagan has added some very 2024 sounds to the mix, citing Tierra Whack and Tyler The Creator as sonic touchstones.

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IDLES – TANGK
due 2/16 via Partisan

IDLES made big strides with 2021’s CRAWLER, that saw them flexing more moves than just (awesome) shouty punk. For its follow-up they’re looking to expand their reach even further, working again with Kenny Beats but adding Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich alongside the band’s Mark Bowan. They also got some assist from James Murphy and Nancy Whang of tourmates LCD Soundsystem on TANGK‘s first single, “Dancer.” Says frontman Joe Talbot, “This is our album of gratitude and power. All love songs. All is love.”

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J Mascis – What Do We Do Now?
Due 2/2 via Sub Pop

“When I’m writing for the band, I’m always trying to think of doing things Lou and Murph would fit into,” J Mascis says of the difference between how he approaches Dinosaur Jr. songs and solo material. “Usually, I try to do the solo stuff more simply so I can play it by myself, but I really wanted to add the drums. Once that started, everything else just fell into place. So it ended up sounding a lot more like a band record. I dunno why I did that exactly, but it’s just what happened.” Mascis’ fourth solo album does differentiate itself from Dinosaur Jr. records with an emphasis on piano which, judging by what we’ve heard, is a natural fit for J’s style.

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The Jesus and Mary Chain – Glasgow Eyes
due 3/8 via Fuzz Club

This year marks The Jesus & Mary Chain’s 40th anniversary and to celebrate they’re releasing their eighth album which finds them adding more electronics to their signature sound, and even a little jazz. “Don’t expect ‘the Mary Chain goes jazz,’” says singer Jim Reid. “People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record…our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there – we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.” Despite a clunky title, first single “JAMCOD” is pretty good:

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King Hannah

London duo King Hannah mesmerized us with their 2022 debut album but sat out most of 2023, at least from public view. They checked in on Instagram back in November saying they were “this close” to finishing their second album, adding they “really like it.”

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Kirin J Callinan – If I Could Sing
due 2/2 via Worse Records

After making a covers album with gear purchased from — and returned to — Guitar Center in 2020, Aussie wildman Kirin J Callinan will soon finally be back with his first album of original material seven years. He may be nearing 40, but KJC doesn’t seem to have mellowed one iota if any of the album’s already released songs (and accompanying gonzo videos) are any indication.

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Klaus Johann Grobe

We haven’t gotten a new album from great Swiss krautrock-disco duo Klaus Johann Grobe in six years and while there’s been no official word on it, they did recently update their profile picture on their socials, so something must be up. If it’s as good as their 2019 single “Downtown,” we’ll be in for a treat.

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Laetitia Sadier – Rooting for Love
due 2/23 via Drag City

Laetitia Sadier is busy, between Stereolab gigs, with her new group Modern Cosmology, and her first solo album in seven years. The record features frequent solo collaborators Xavi Muñoz, Hannes Plattemier and Emma Mario, along with players from Lætita’s Source Ensemble.

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The Lemonheads

Evan Dando has kept The Lemonheads’ flame alive with covers albums and tours, but the ’90s alt-rock icons haven’t released an album of original material since 2006. Following reissues of the band’s classic records, interest is as high as it’s been in years, and he spent much of 2023 working on a new record in his new homebase of Brazil. His label, Fire Records, says we’ll get that record this year and new single “Fear of Living” is a promising first taste.

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Lee “Scratch” Perry – King Perry
due 2/2 via False Idols

Dub icon Lee “Scratch” Perry left Planet Earth in 2021 but had been working on music that is just now seeing the light of day. Whether King Perry will be the last record remains to be seen (probably not), but it is likely to be the most exciting of posthumous releases, as it’s out via Tricky’s False Idols label and features contributions from Tricky (who co-produced a few songs), Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder, Marta and more. “100lbs of Summer,” featuring Greentea Peng, bodes very well for the rest of the album.

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Liam Gallagher x John Squire

Liam Gallagher is not waiting around for his brother Noel this year. He’ll be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ debut album on tour, and has also made an album with another Manchester legend, The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. The first taste, “Just Another Rainbow,” is just what you’d expect (which is not a bad thing):

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The Libertines – All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
due 4/5 via Casablanca/Republic

Peter Doherty, Carl Barât, John Hassall, and Gary Powell are back with the first Libertines album in nearly a decade. Says Barât: “Our first record was born out of panic, and disbelief that we were actually allowed to be in a studio; the second was born of total strife and misery; the third was born of complexity; this one feels like we were all actually in the same place, at the same speed, and we really connected.” The singles so far back this up.

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Marika Hackman – Big Sigh
due 1/12 via Chrysalis

Judging by the singles she’s released from it so far, Marika Hackman’s fourth album splits the difference, sonically, between her elegant debut album and her more pop-oriented 2019 album Any Human Friend. Co-produced by Sam Petts-Davies (Thom Yorke, Warpaint) and long-term collaborator Charlie Andrew (Alt-J), Hackman played every instrument except for brass and strings.

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Mary Timony – Untame the Tiger
due 2/23 via Merge

Mary Timony (Helium, Ex Hex, Wild Flag) made her first solo album in 15 years while being the prime caregiver for her ailing parents. “Since I had to confront the reality of loss, I realized what was important to me about being alive, and I became less scared,” she says. “The record became my anchor in a time when I was losing so much around me. It felt like all I had—a guide that helped me through, and gave me hope.” Untame the Tiger features behind the boards help from Jawbox’s J Robbins, Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) and John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Kurt Vile).

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MGMT – Loss of Life
due 2/23 via Mom+Pop

It’s a good time to be MGMT. The 20-year nostalgia cycle is hitting mid-’00s indie, and last year’s Saltburn featured their hit “Time to Pretend” prominently in a montage. While they are not trying to recreate the hipsteria that surrounded Oracular Spectacular, the band don’t get enough credit for the albums that came after, and both of Loss of Life‘s singles, “Mother Nature” and “Bubblegum Dog,” are fun. MGMT in 2023 are still worth celebrating.

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Mildlife – Chorus
due 3/1 via Heavenly

Are you a sucker for ’70s prog-disco like I am? Can’t get enough of groovy basslines and spacey ’70s keyboards? Love Alan Parsons Project’s “Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You?” (See also: Klaus Johnann Grobe elsewhere in this post.) Australia’s Mildlife put you deep in the shag carpet better than almost anybody. Chorus‘ first single, “Musica” is like a lost Italian classic from 1977.

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Omni – Souvenir
due 2/16 via Sub Pop

Atlanta trio Omni have been off the radar for a while, but “Exacto,” the lead single from the band’s first album in five years, finds them sharp as ever. Their precision, angular sound is softened just a bit with a scooch more emphasis on pop melody; everything feels punched-up, from the drums to the big hooks, to the razored lyrics about a bitter breakup: “Come here and cut me out / There’s no dotted line.”

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Pylon Reenactment Society – Magnet Factory
due 2/9 via Strolling Bones

Athens, GA post-punks Pylon called it quits when guitarist Randall Bewley died in 2009, but for the last decade singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay has led Pylon Reenactment Society, that includes Kay Stanton, Jason NeSmith and Gregory Sanders, who all also play in Casper & The Cookies. The group perform Pylon songs as well as new ones in the spirit of the old band and their debut album includes a few songs from the ’70s and ’80s the original band never got around to recording, like “3×3”:

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Real Estate – Daniel
due 2/23 via Domino

New Jersey jangle-rock practitioners Real Estate made their sixth album in Nashville with producer Daniel Tashian, who has worked with everyone from Kacey Musgraves to Burt Bacharach. The band cite R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People and ’90s soft rock as sonic touchstones for this one, but catchy first single “Water Underground” is pure Real Estate.

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Ride

Shoegaze greats Ride will soon be on tour in North America with The Charlatans, playing their classic debut album Nowhere in full, but it’s been nearly five years since This is Not a Safe Place , and they’ve been playing a few new songs live on UK tours. No official word yet, but sounds like it won’t be long till there is:

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Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites
due 3/1 via Third Man

After two albums of Thin Lizzy-inspired punk on their own Wilsuns Recording Company label, Philly’s Sheer Mag have signed to Jack White’s Third Man for their third album, which finds them growing beyond their glammy beginnings. “Nobody seems to write straight up rock bangers anymore,” says bandleader Tina Halliday of the album, “more than anything else, we want this record to put huge, catchy songwriting front and center.” Playing Favorites‘ very catchy title track marries their signature sound with early-’90s janglepop. “After nearly ten years of touring together, we felt qualified to write a song about doing it,” the band say. “It’s a good introduction to the next era of Sheer Mag.”

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The Smile – Wall of Eyes
due 1/24 via XL

Though Colin Greenwood recently hinted that Radiohead might be back sooner than later, for now we’re still in The Smile era, with Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner enjoying their honeymoon period of chemistry. (If you saw The Smile live in 2023, the fun they were having on stage was hard to deny.) That chemistry is changing, too, as Wall of Eyes is the first Yorke/Greenwood record in decades not to be made with Nigel Godrich, since Radiohead’s debut album. It still feels like the general public doesn’t quite realize who The Smile are, but that could change with this one.

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Ty Segall – Three Bells
due 1/24 via Drag City

These days, Ty Segall rarely does the same thing twice. (Twice in a row, at least.) 2019’s First Taste featured zero guitars, 2021’s Harmonizer was heavy on vintage synths, and 2022’s Hello, Hi went acoustic. For Three Bells he worked with Bitchin Bajas’ Cooper Crain and half of the album was co-written with his wife, Denee. We’ve heard three songs from it so far which, while still bearing Ty’s melodic stamp, are unlike anything he’s done before.

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THE UMBRELLAS – FAIRWEATHER FRIEND
due 1/26 via Slumberland

The debut album from San Francisco’s The Umbrellas had the songs and the influences — C-86 janglepop & K-style twee punk — but you could tell they were a more ferocious live band than the thin production let on. Judging by the songs they’ve shared from their second album, there is no lack of oomph this time…or lack of big hooks.

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Wet Leg

Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg burst onto the scene in 2021 with the inescapable “Chaise Longue” and spent all of 2022 on the road in support of their Grammy-winning debut album. Reports that their second album was already in the can turned out to be misunderstood jokes, which is good; their batteries surely needed recharging, and Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers had a relatively light 2023, sticking mainly to the European summer festival circuit. Eyes will be on them this year, though, for new music. Can they beat the Sophomore Slump?

Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia?
due 3/1 via Republic

Yard Act made waves in 2022 with their excellent debut album that nodded to Pulp and lots of mid-’00s post-punk revival bands, but don’t expect more of the same, exactly, for its follow-up. “The main reason that ‘post-punk’ was the vehicle for Album One was because it was really affordable to do and affordable to tour on a minimal set up, even down to me not playing guitar to save space in the car, which is when the words really came to the fore,” says frontman James Smith. “But we always liked so much other music. I think The Overload hints at that, but this time we’ve had the confidence to embrace it.”