In this digital age of music – with unauthorised internet leaks, unannounced surprise releases and that pesky, perpetual ‘TBA’ in the release date column – the romance has been taken out of counting down the days until your favourite artists’ new LP drops.

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But while many bands and solo artists remain overly secretive and protective, teasing us year after year with the prospect of an overdue follow-up album, there’s still plenty to look forward to on the 2015 music landscape.

We’ve run the rule over the albums that will almost certainly come out this year and handpicked the 10 most anticipated releases – from debuts and follow-ups to critically acclaimed albums, to long-awaited comebacks and reinventions. 

Tame Impala

Title: TBA

Release date: TBA

Last album: Lonerism (2012)

Perth’s finest, Tame Impala’s first two psychedelic rock masterpieces – Innerspeaker (2010) and Lonerism (2012) – were critically lauded and massively popular here and in the key US and UK markets. The band’s management has confirmed a third LP will be out this year, and although singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin remains tight-lipped about the details, it will undoubtedly be one of 2015’s most feverishly awaited releases. Cue multiple Triple J Hottest 100 entries this time next year.

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Faith No More

Title: TBA

Release date: April

Last album: Album of the Year (1997)

The prolific, irreverent and avant-garde Mike Patton has released albums with several side projects – Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk – since Faith No More’s 1989-97 heyday, but none have quenched the now 18-year thirst for FNM’s trademark alt-rock anthems. With the subtly-title ‘Motherf**ker’ released last month as the lead single, it’s safe to say Patton won’t be pulling any punches despite Faith No More’s nearly two-decade absence from the studio.

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Muse

Title: TBA

Release date: TBA

Last album: The 2nd Law (2012)

After challenging for the mantle of ‘world’s biggest band’ in the late-2000s, Muse alienated millions by overdoing the symphonic and prog rock elements on 2009’s The Resistance and contributing a string of dreadful tracks to the Twilight movie soundtracks. Introducing funk and dubstep on 2012’s The 2nd Law didn’t bring those fans back – perhaps the wretched ‘next Radiohead’ tag had given the band a complex? Mercifully, front-man Matt Bellamy has stated, “straight rock is coming back to us” for the Devon trio’s seventh album, perhaps signalling a return to something closer to the brilliant Black Holes and Revelations (2006). 

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Modest Mouse

Title: Strangers to Ourselves

Release date: March 3

Last album: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

It’s been a whopping eight years since Washington indie legends Modest Mouse’s last LP, with only the No One’s First and You’re Next (2009) EP to tide us over since then. While it’s probably overly ambitious to hope for another ‘Float On’ on the Isaac Brock-led band’s sixth album, the early signs are good if lead single ‘Lampshades on Fire’ can be used as a barometer.

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Kendrick Lamar

Title: TBA

Release date: TBA

Last album: good kid, M.A.A.D city­ (2012)

Kendrick Lamar exploded three years ago upon the release of sophomore LP good kid, M.A.A.D city, which has been hailed as one of the great hip hop albums and recently ranked No.2 in the influential Pitchfork’s list of best albums of 2010-14. While huge hits ‘Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe’ and ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’ had darker undertones, the first single from his as-yet untitled third album – i – is upbeat and positive, but still laced with the genius that made good kid a breakthrough success.

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Courtney Barnett

Title: TBA

Release date: TBA

Last album: N/A

A darling on the indie scene here and overseas thanks to clever, irreverent and Aussie accent-soaked singles ‘Avant Gardener’ and ‘History Eraser’, and a trio of excellent EPs, Melbourne’s Courtney Barnett recorded her debut LP in April last year but release details remain tantalisingly elusive. It should be an ARIA contender and an automatic J Award nominee.

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Madonna

Title: Rebel Heart

Release date: March 10

Last album: MDNA (2012)

Despite unexpected early demo leaks, Madonna’s latest offering is guaranteed to reach a huge audience. Few can question her credentials after a career spanning more than three decades – the 56-year-old has reinvented herself countless times and her albums still routinely go to No.1. But she hasn’t had a truly ubiquitous single since 2005’s ‘Hung Up’, and the pop legend will be hell-bent on returning to relevance with Rebel Heart, her 13th full-length. ‘Bitch I’m Madonna’, which features Nicki Minaj, is the first official taste of the new album. 

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Mark Ronson

Title: Uptown Special

Release date: January 19

Last album: Record Collection (2010)

Perhaps more famous as a producer – working with artists as diverse as Adele, Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs, Duran Duran, Q-Tip, Lily Allen and, most recently, Paul McCartney – Mark Ronson’s collaborative LP Record Collection was one of 2010’s best. He’s back with his name on the album sleeve for the fifth time with Uptown Special, which features songs with Steve Wonder, Bruno Mars, Mystikal and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. As an intriguing aside, Pullitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon wrote lyrics for more than half of the songs.

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James Bay

Title: Chaos and the Calm

Release date: March 23

Last album: N/A

Hertfordshire native James Bay’s debut will be one of the most hotly anticipated of 2015 after he collected the Brit Awards Critic’s Choice gong – usually a precursor to swift superstardom – on the strength of three outstanding EPs. Comparisons with Ed Sheeran are obvious (read: lazy) but there’s more depth to the soulful singer-songwriter’s music, which harks back to ’70s greats Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carly Simon and Carole King.

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Run the Jewels

Title: Meow the Jewels

Release date: TBA

Last album: Run the Jewels 2 (2014)

Run the Jewels, the two-man juggernaut made up of El-P and Killer Mike, released arguably the hip hop album of 2014 – the bombastic Run the Jewels 2 – and half-jokingly said they’d remix the album with cat sounds if someone stumped up the cash. But a Kickstarter campaign took just over a month to raise the required funds, and it appears the album will go ahead with a star-studded list of producers in tow. El-P has already been out to a local shelter to audition felines for a part on Meow the Jewels.

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