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12 albums we can’t wait to hear in November
The best of the month's releases, including new records from PinkPantheress, Beirut and Dolly Parton
Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and Katy Perry blasting out of tinny speakers in every school playing field and pub garden of the UK. If you want a different soundtrack for your fireworks this year, PinkPantheress, Baby Queen and Dolly Parton have got you covered. And if you really want an alt-bonfire party, so have Beirut, Orbiting Human Circus and Brandy – who’s already thinking about Christmas.
Here are our picks of the best new albums releasing this November.
3 November
Tkay Maidza – Sweet Justice
Maidza’s sophomore album has been a long time coming. Since she released Tkay in 2016, the Australian artist has been hard at work on her artistry, developing her sound and visuals in tandem to become one of the most exciting voices in hip hop. Each of the four singles we’ve had from Sweet Justice so far has showcased an artist who is as confident in her writing as she is in her delivery, and knows exactly the level of hip hop royalty that she is aiming to become. Caitlin
Lol Tolhurst, Budgie and Jacknife Lee – Los Angeles
That’s Lol Tolhurst of The Cure, Budgie of Siouxsie And The Banshees, and Jackknife Lee of everyone from R.E.M. and Modest Mouse to Twin Atlantic and Taylor Swift. And the pedigree doesn’t stop there. Featuring guest vocals from Bobby Gillespie, James Murphy, The Edge, Pan Amsterdam, Isaac Brock and half of Idles, Los Angeles is the supergroup for people who don’t like supergroups. Or, as they put it, “like the Three Tenors, but with drummers”. Paul
Hotline TNT – Cartwheel
Jangle meets fuzz on this New York band’s second album. The singles hint at an utterly massive live sound that, as ever, really puts the noise in noise rock. John
10 November
PinkPantheress – Heaven Knows
PinkPantheress expertly straddles the line between drum and bass and singer-songwriter pop. Creative, dance-friendly beats meet revealing, emotional lyrics in both of the singles released so far from her debut album, Heaven Knows. Lead single ‘Mosquito’ in particular lets her conversational songwriting and unique vocals shine. This will be an interesting moment for the Gen Z star, to see whether she can move from a string of viral singles to a cohesive body of work. We’re inclined to believe that she’ll succeed. Caitlin
Beirut – Hadsel
Beirut’s new album comes with the most Beirut backstory possible. Lead singer Zach Condon found himself lost and troubled after the 2019 Gallipoli tour, so he hid himself away on a remote Norwegian island and learned how to play a 19th century octagonal wooden church organ, called a Hadselkirke. What better way to ring in winter? Paul
Brandy – Christmas with Brandy
Contemporary R&B’s vocal bible, Brandy returns with a new project to close out the year. The art of the Christmas album is something I think the genre is lacking – with the swing from the emotionally saccharine lyrics of earlier R&B to the gritty emotionally unavailable themes of alt R&B, the Christmas album has not been a focal project in a long while. Leave it to a veteran to bring it back in style. Three years since her last project, Christmas With Brandy arrives with a tracklist promising smooth vocals, and a very special featured artist: her daughter Sy’rai. Maxine
Aïsha Devi – Death Is Home
If you don’t know Swiss artist Aïsha Devi, she’s the co-founder of a label called Danse Noire, which aptly captures the darker sounds bubbling in the depths of the dance floor in her own music. It’s ominous and snarling, but also weirdly meditative and hypnotic. John
Baby Queen – Quarter Life Crisis
South African-born, London-based singer-songwriter Baby Queen caught the attention of the internet with her sharp lyricism and blunt honesty about life in your early 20s. Her debut album seems set to further explore the highs and lows of young womanhood, from obsessive lead single ‘Dream Girl’ to upbeat title track ‘Quarter Life Crisis’. Here’s an artist who knows how to pair any negative emotion with a great beat. Caitlin
17 November
Dolly Parton – Rockstar
56 years on from Dolly Parton’s first-ever album, the country star is back with a new record in an unexpected genre. The 77-year-old musician shows no signs of stopping as she prepares to drop her 49th record, Rockstar will see the country legend collaborate with rock’s biggest names on a collection of 21 covers and nine brand-new tracks. From ‘Every Breath You Take’ with Sting to ‘Heart Of Glass’ with Debbie Harry – she even recorded a rendition of ‘Wrecking Ball’ with her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus. Savannah
Orbiting Human Circus – Quartet Plus Two
Whatever joke there is to be made about Neutral Milk Hotel, Orbiting Human Circus is now the new punchline. Leaving NMH behind a decade ago, multi-instrumentalist Julian Koster started a fictional podcast, starring himself, about a man who works in the Eiffel Tower and talks to members of a vintage flying radio show in his head (played, variously, by Charlie Day and Tim Robbins). This is the soundtrack to whatever that is – reworking classic jazz compositions for the singing saw. Sold yet? Paul
Vince Clarke – Songs Of Silence
If this is what Vince Clarke has been keeping buried for so long, you have to wonder what he was doing in Erasure in the first place. Recorded as a lockdown album, Songs Of Silence was made as experiment – made only using a Eurorack modular synthesiser, and having each track based entirely around one note. More baroque soundtrack than synth pop, this is the sound of an artist ripping everything up and starting again. Paul
Danny Brown – Quaranta
On 17 November, punk rap renegade Danny Brown will release his highly anticipated return album, Quaranta, which is the Italian word for the number 40 (his age when the album was written). After a reformative time in rehab earlier this year, the rapper is returning with a new outlook on his work and his life, promising to continue his distinct vulnerable yet uncompromising rap style that combines elements of punk, experimental hip hop, and psych rap. This will be the rapper’s second project this year, following Scaring The Hoes, the collaborative album with JPEGMAFIA, which was released in March. Maxine
Tickets are on sale now or soon for many of the names on this month’s list at ticketmaster.co.uk, with a lot of major tours and dates still to be announced.
