The start of every new year comes with a few musical 'trends'. We get very excited about the new acts that are going to emerge over the coming weeks and months - lists are made, people are tipped - but it's not just about the fresh blood. It's also about the more established, familiar names and what they might have in store. With that in mind, here’s a far from exhaustive list of thirty three albums we’re expecting we may get over the next twelve months that we think you should be excited about.

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Our Siggers has already been out there dropping new music in the form of twin pop bops ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Burning Bridges’ - early smoke signals for a second full-length set to follow in 2022. With a run of huge UK shows planned for March, it’s safe to say we should maybe expect it to be with us at some point in the spring. Call it an ‘educated guess’ we should be able to confirm really quite soon, if we’re right. SA

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Caroline’s ‘Pang’ remains a bit of a modern classic round these parts, so obviously we’re quite excited to see what comes next. Dropping the Really Very Good ‘Bunny Is A Rider’ earlier in 2021, she also debuted some new material at her recent London show (more on that here). While we don’t know exactly when we’ll see it, we’re under the impression a new album is ‘on the way’ soon. Exciting stuff. SA

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→ RELEASE DATE: 4th March 2022

Nilüfer Yanya’s first album might only have arrived back in 2019, but that already feels like an age ago. Nothing to worry about there, though. The follow up to one of the standout debuts of that year has already been announced. Titled ‘PAINLESS’, it’ll be with us on 4th March 2022. We’ve also got a track from it to, ‘stabilise’ - a song based on the jolly and uplifting central theme of “no one coming to save you ever” - Nilüfer’s own words, there. The album is “a record about emotion” - “I think it’s more open about that in a way that Miss Universe wasn’t because there’s so many cloaks and sleeves with the concept I built around it,” she explains. “I’m not as scared to admit my feelings”. SA

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Foals have long since established themselves at indie rock’s top table, but following up on 2019’s double album extravaganza with their first record as a three piece, anything could follow. Even… erm… disco? We caught up with Yannis to ask the important questions about what comes next for one of Britain's biggest bands. Follow the link below to find out. SA

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What is going on with The 1975? No, not Dork’s new strapline, but an honest question based on a touch of confusion and a lot of whispering. At the start of last year’s Covid-sponsored madness, the band were building up to the release of their fourth album - and second instalment of the Music For Cars ‘series’ - ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’. Though the album still hit its May release date, those final laps were compromised by lockdowns, restrictions and a total pause on live music. With no opportunity to take the album on tour proper, everything seemed to get a bit… well… unpredictable. And let’s be honest, Dear Reader, The 1975 have never been the most predictable of bands in the first place.

When Dork last talked to frontman Matty Healy ‘on the record’ around the release of ‘Notes’, he was making a lot of noise about doing something under the band’s pre-fame guise, Drive Like I Do. Probably not a full album, the idea had been whispered, teased and even hoaxed for a good while previously. For once, it started to feel like it might happen. Rough dates were suggested, even an Instagram account appeared. And then, well, nothing.

Since then, the digging has started once more. Matty started sharing teasy looking artwork on Instagram - images that were also posted by the band’s long-term creative collaborator Samuel Burgess-Johnson. He also appeared just a couple of weeks ago, supporting Phoebe Bridgers at an LA show, with ‘new songs’ in tow. There’s an impression, shall we say, that a new album from The 1975 will be with us next year, with a tour to accompany it. Something’s happening, anyway. Keep your eyes peeled for the traditional teasing ‘soon’. SA

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What are we expecting from Arctic Monkeys then? Hard to say. After the iconic blast of uber-bangers that was 2013’s AM, the 70s-infused retro-futurism of Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino in 2018 was, shall we say, a surprising manoeuvre. We will tastefully not reignite the drama here (we’re nothing but tasteful here at, erm, the magazine called Dork) but in the interest of journalistic integrity let it be noted that when it came to Tranquility Base, indie was a house divided. Was this a sign of Arctic Monkeys’ sonic evolution, a truly fun concept album about a space hotel, or the overwrought stylings of a band who perhaps needed a little sleep and a gentle reintroduction to the real world? Here, on the cusp of a follow-up, we’re no closer to an answer. And that makes it very difficult indeed to speculate on what might come next.

The only thing we can broadly agree on is that Alex Turner’s lyrical flair never wavered, which means it’s probably safe to assume we’ll get a knowing line here and there, the occasional flash of elastic wit amid a string of poetic observations about… well, lord knows what. It would certainly be unusual for a massive indie band to follow up a weird concept album with another, perhaps even weirder concept album, but once again for the people in the back; the last one was a record about a space hotel. There was literally no way we could have predicted that. Are we thinking an underwater Butlins for this one? A Travelodge in hell? Could be. Or it could be what we were sort of expecting last time around - a slew of absolutely unrivalled indie hits. LK

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There’s not really a lot of solid information on new music from Florence - she’s not dropped anything new, and even failed to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of her album ‘Ceremonials’ recently - but, BUT, she’s been announced to headline a few big European festivals in 2022. And why would she be doing that if she didn’t have something new to play, hmm? Exactly. We’d keep an eye on her movements as we get closer to the summer, just in case. SA

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→ RELEASE DATE: 18th March 2022

Charli XCX has been pushing the cutting edge of mainstream pop for years now, but something about the forthcoming ‘Crash’ feels different. Her final album for her current deal with Atlantic Records, its first taster ‘Good Ones’ was everything we’ve always wanted. Pure, direct pop brilliance, it instantly became one of Charli’s most iconic songs. Followed up with Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek collab ‘New Shapes’, it’s an album that has its fair share of all star names involved. There’s regular contributor AG Cook, The 1975’s drummer and production wizz-kid George Daniel and fellow pop-icon Rina Sawayama. We’re expecting big things come March. SA