Almost every single industry has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, to the point where listing all of them has become a daunting task. And while some might think that the music industry hasn’t been hit as hard as, say, film and television, that is definitely not the case—as evidenced in part by the recent cancellations/delays of major festivals like Coachella and SXSW. We’re also starting to see the other ways in which the music industry has been impacted by the pandemic, and it goes beyond the obvious-but-necessary cancellation of large festivals. In addition to cancelling or postponing upcoming tours, several artists are shifting the release dates of their upcoming albums, including high-profile releases from Lady Gaga and HAIM.
In a statement shared with her Twitter followers today, Lady Gaga says she’s “made the incredibly tough decision to postpone the release of Chromatica,” her sixth studio album. The artist says she’ll announce a new 2020 release date soon, and in the meantime she urges everyone to “spend this time focusing on solutions.” Lady Gaga also revealed that she had planned a secret Coachella set which had to be scrapped when the fest was cancelled.
HAIM also released a statement on Twitter regarding the release of their long-awaited third studio album, Women In Music Pt. III, which was originally scheduled to arrive on April 24. Over the past year, the sister trio debuted a series of music videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and while they were very good, we began to wonder if they were actually releasing a new album anytime soon or if they had just pivoted to video. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait even longer, as the album will not arrive until “later this summer”:
Stereogum has a helpful roundup of more release date shifts, including a pair of albums that will now arrive earlier than expected: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, originally slated for April 3, will now hit on March 27 (this Friday!), while Sufjan Stevens’ Aporia, also set for April 3, is officially available as of today, March 24.