Alicia Keys, Beach House, and 13 more albums we can’t wait to hear in December

It’s been a long time coming. Outkast’s Big Boy and Organized Noize’s Sleepy Brown have been collaborating since even before Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was a glint in LaFace Records’ eye. And on their first proper record as a duo, the artists have stayed true to their roots, recording The Big Sleepover wholly at Stankonia Studios, and bringing in folks like Killer Mike and Big Rube to participate. Early singles like “The Big Sleep Is Over” have been promising, but really, these two don’t need to promise anything. Not when they’ve delivered so consistently over the years. [Alex McLevy]

The 11 tracks of spare, twangy Americana that made up 2020’s Love Is The King receive the live treatment on Jeff Tweedy’s new deluxe release. It combines the original album, recorded during lockdown with minimal arrangements and family members as backing contributors, with a new live reworking of all the songs, as reimagined by a full band, lending a lush new sound to the songs. For those who missed the record during the pandemic’s peak, here’s a chance to catch up—and for those already engaged with this music, here’s arguably an even more compelling version. (Plus, a moving cover of Neil Young’s “Old Country Waltz.”) [Alex McLevy]

Few pandemic-era releases made as massive an impact as the posthumous album from Chicago’s Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die. Released last summer, it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and went on to become arguably the most successful posthumous releases in decades, with five singles in the top 10 simultaneously—a feat previously only achieved by The Beatles and Drake. And the rapper left behind an even deeper catalogue of tracks, more of which will see the light of day on Fighting Demons. [Alex McLevy]

, Moses Sumney’s towering two-part album, was one of the . So this live album, recorded in the pastoral remove of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, is an instant must-hear: Composed of 14 songs—spread out between Grae and his debut record, Aromanticism—Sumney describes it in appropriately isolated terms, with “the trees as our audience, the grasshoppers our background singers.” Anyone who has seen him live knows the power of his music when performed live, the ways he explores and follows his muse in unexpected ways. It’s about time everyone else got to hear that, too. [Alex McLevy]

More than 50(!) years after Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s first record together, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, came out, the musician and band again join forces for Barn, whose title doubles as the recording site: a restored 19th-century barn located deep in the Rockies. And as lead single “The Song Of The Seasons” immediately establishes, the rolling Americana and signature tenor are all there, once more backed by his able bandmates. An accompanying film will provide a more in-depth look, but, as always with Young, the music is the draw. [Alex McLevy]

On Interior, Teen Daze’s Jamison Isaak crafts an “ode to electric futures glimpsed in ecstatic heights,” as the press release states. The first single, “Swimming,” boasts a mix of ambient synth pop, with a subtle bass and plinking synths. Overall, it’s understated and sleek. The second single, “2 AM (Real Live) (feat. Cecile Believe),” dives into more staple features of French house music, with the incorporation of disco and funk elements, including a heavier, groovy bass presence. Envisioned for booming clubs and futuristic dance floors, Isaak seeks to create music that “teenagers in Akira might be listening to.” [Gabrielle Sanchez]

The seemingly endlessly prolific Conway The Machine is back with another album, little more than half a year after releasing . But this one has been a long time coming: It’s his much-teased, long-delayed Shady Records debut, God Don’t Make Mistakes. Single “Piano Love,” produced by The Alchemist, should be a good indication of what we can expect from the New York rapper’s latest—though part of what keeps Conway so exciting as an artist, through release after release, is just how happy he is to throw a wrench into the works of what’s expected. [Alex McLevy]

One-fourth of a bold new double album from the famed Smiths guitarist, solo artist, and occasional Modest Mouse bandmate, the Fever Dreams Pt. 2 EP looks to continue Johnny Marr’s impressive run of solo releases that began in 2011 (if you don’t count his one release with The Healers from 2003) with . Marr is refining his sonic palette, as well: single “Sensory Street” has a throbbing ‘80s electro-soul vibe, while “” is a classic rocker straight from his past. [Alex McLevy]