Albums can be tough to keep track of. The A.V. Club would like to officially go on record (no pun intended) as acknowledging this fact; each week, let alone each month, brings a deluge of new releases into record stores and digital streaming services.
Trying to keep up with all of them is a fool’s errand. The best you can do is scan lists of upcoming releases and set a few notification reminders on your computer or phone to alert you when something of interest is on the horizon. And even then, let’s be honest: It’s very easy to hit the mental equivalent of the snooze button on your internal calendar.
So consider this our small attempt to help you get a leg up on the most intriguing releases in the coming year. Setting aside the fact that a lot of the biggest artists out there have an annoying tendency to surprise drop new albums without warning (just a small head’s up next time, Beyoncé, please), most of the best acts out there still give you advance notice when they’ve got a record coming out.
So here’s an opportunity to mark the days: From Jack White to Spoon, from Big Thief to Bloc Party, these are some of the most noteworthy albums set to come out in the coming year. It’s mostly the first half of 2022, because frankly, the back half hasn’t been announced yet. But we’ve also got some promised LPs that just lack a firm release date (hi, Kim Petras!); check back with us soon, and we’ll update this list as soon as we’ve got the info.
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