2019 is well underway now and our favourite pop artists are gearing up to bring us some fresh new music. American singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers kicked off the year with her excellent debut record that does stand a chance to become one of the best albums of the year, but she does have some fierce competition waiting to unleash undoubtedly memorable pop moments! This is what we can expect in 2019 with a new album by Ariana Grande very soon and hopefully (keep everything crossed) some new material by Frank Ocean too!


Ariana Grande – Thank u, next
Release date: 8th February
There is no stopping Ariana Grande at the moment. The pop star wasn’t messing around when she said she wanted to let go of the traditional album cycle in the pop world in favour of the release pattern rappers in hiphop use, where they basically put out mixtapes whenever they feel like it. Not even six months after the album Sweetener, Ariana has the next one ready and first two singles ‘thank u, next’ and ‘7 rings’ already hit number 1 in the Billboard hot 100 and broke international streaming records. She also shared the gorgeous, soulful and sultry ballad ‘imagine’. Grande co-wrote all 12 tracks on the album and works with friends Tayla Parx and Victoria Monét, hit writer and producer Max Martin and TB Hits. With a title like ‘Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’ of course our anticipation grows and grows!

Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water
Release date: 15th February
Avril Lavigne is back! The original skater girl released her most recent album at the end of 2013, but after 5 years of silence she returned with the single ‘Head Above Water’. On the gut wrenching ballad she recalls her battle with Lyme disease, while also having to deal with a divorce. It is good to know though that Avril came out of it stronger and that she has a more mature and soulful sound this time around, judging by the second single ‘Tell Me It’s Over’. Avril co-wrote all 12 tracks on the upcoming album, working with a broad spectrum of top notch musicians and producers. I am pretty sure that this album will be worth the wait, even 5 years!

Hozier – Wasteland, Baby!
Release date: 1st of March
Irish singer-songwriter Hozier had his big break back in 2013 when his single ‘Take Me To Church’ became a massive international hit. He released his first LP in 2014 and dropped some EPs in the years after, but we had to wait until 2019 for his second full studio album. The album features already released singles and songs like ‘Nina Cried Power’, Movement’, ‘Almost (Sweet Music)’ and ‘Shrike’. The new material sounds just as intriguing as promising and will probably be quite the ride!

Sigrid – Sucker Punch
Release date: 8th March
The debut LP by Norwegian pop star Sigrid has been a long time coming. She experienced her first success when the single ‘Don’t Kill My Vibe’ (which will be included on the album too) became a hit in Norway. After A Bit of Pop Music named her most promising artist for the year 2018, she had an international hit with the insanely catchy pop tune ‘Strangers’. An EP followed a couple of months later and in fall last year she returned with the title track ‘Sucker Punch’. She kicked off 2019 nicely when she dropped the latest single ‘Don’t Feel Like Crying’. At this stage it is simply impossible that this album won’t serve pop perfection.

Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell
Expected release date: 29th March
Lana Del Rey fans never really have to wait long for her to put out another album. Ever since her big breakthrough with the record Born To Die at the start of 2012, Del Rey has graced us with new music almost every single year. At the end of 2018 she gave us two new singles, the beautiful ballad ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’ and the almost 10 minutes long experiment ‘Venice Bitch’. At the start of this year she shared ‘Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It’. Norman Fucking Rockwell is expected to be more experimental than any other Lana Del Rey record before and we are so ready!

Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go
Release date: 29th March
With the successful EP Don’t Smile At Me (2017) and hit singles like ‘Lovely’ and ‘When The Party’s Over’ to her name, all eyes are on 17-year-old Billie Eilish to finally release her debut album. The young singer and songwriter has already proven to be just as convincing on ballads as on more experimental electronic uptempos like ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’ and the latest creepy tune ‘Bury A Friend’. I simply can’t wait to hear what more this extraordinary songwriting and vocal talent has in store for us.

Mark Ronson – Late Night Feelings
Expected release date: March
Mark Ronson is getting ready to bring us a brand new album, his first since the launch of Uptown Special in January of 2015. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t kept himself very busy in the past few years. He produced for artists like Lady Gaga, started a new collaboration with Diplo (under the name Silk City) and worked on his own new album Late Night Feelings full of what he described as ‘sad bangers’, inspired by going through a divorce. The first single, ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ featuring Miley Cyrus already became a big hit and the album is said to feature Lykke Li, King Princess and The xx’s Romy!

Freya Ridings – Freya Ridings
Expected release date: 31st of May
London based singer-songwriter Freya Ridings had her big break last year when her gorgeous ballad ‘Lost Without You’ became a hit in her home country. With two live albums already under her belt, she is finally getting ready to drop her first studio LP. In an interview with A Bit of Pop Music she explained how the songs she wrote mostly on piano, will get a more cinematic sound the record. “There is a natural growth and progression in the production with more drums, strings and voices that I can’t wait to share”, she added. Well, we can’t wait to hear it and more of those beautiful deep vocals too!

Marina – TBA
Release date: TBA
Marina (formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds) has us waiting for new solo material for almost four years now! With every single Instagram post her fans seem to get more desperate for new material, but so far she has only given us two Clean Bandit collaborations; ‘Disconnect’ and more recently ‘Baby’. At the end of last year, Marina promised in an interview that a new single would come out in January. Where though!? She did tease a new track on social media that is reportedly titled ‘Enjoy Your Life’. The snippet sounded like a glorious synth pop banger. Marina, please give us something, anything!

Madonna – Magic?
Release date: TBA
As always, the rumour mill around Madonna’s comeback is in full force. The Queen of Pop did not release any new material since her 2015 album Rebel Heart and after four years the world is ready for more! Madonna is apparently spending a lot of her time in Portugal and her new music is said to be inspired by Portuguese Fado. On her social media we have seen that she was back in the studio with producer Mirwais, with whom she collaborated on her Music and American Life albums. Madonna’s 14th studio album is rumoured to be titled Magic and is supposed to be in its mastering stages. Exciting times!

Miley Cyrus – TBA
Release Date: TBA
Miley Cyrus’s most recent album Younger Now did not become the success her team must have hoped for, although it did have at least a handful of great tunes. Miley already moved on though with the successful collaboration with Mark Ronson, ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’. The American super star collaborated with the British producer for her own album too, while she reportedly also had studio time with Mike Will Made It (who produced her Bangerz album) and Andrew Wyatt. In terms of genres this album could still go anywhere, but we wouldn’t mind if Miley’s album offers more songs in a similar style to ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ because… what a sad banger!

Rihanna – TBA
Release date: TBA
While Rihanna fans were used to getting a new album by their idol almost every year, they have to hold their breath for a little longer now. Her most recent record, ANTI, was released in January 2016, although we did get to hear collaborations with artists like DJ Khaled, Mike Will Made It and N.E.R.D more recently. Rihanna has not shared much information on the follow up, other than that it is going to see the light of day in 2019. There are rumours going around that her new record will be dancehall inspired, while others have said that it is going to be a double disc with on one side of radiofriendly bangers and on the other more experimental work. Producer The Dream confirmed that the album is nearly done. Bring it on already!

Ellie Goulding – TBA
Release date: TBA
Ellie Goulding graced us with her most recent third album Delirium back in November 2015, which saw her make a move to more radiofriendly and generic pop than on her previous work. She collaborated with big hit writers and did some high profile collaborations with Kygo, Calvin Harris (twice actually) and Major Lazer. After dropping the first single of her new project, ‘Close To Me’ with Diplo and Swae Lee, Goulding announced that she wrote her new album alone for the most part, returning to her roots. Well, that sure sounds like music to these ears!

Solange – TBA
Release date: TBA
According to several rumours, Solange already finished her next studio album! The R&B and soul artist dropped her 2016 record A Seat At The Table mostly as a surprise and toured the world with the stunning collection of songs with strong messages and statements. About the follow up she said there would be a lot of jazz at its core, but with the drums and bass of hip hop and electronic music. The New York Times predicted the album to already see the light of day at the end of 2018, but that never happened. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long!

Adam Lambert – TBA
Release date: TBA
It must be hard to find time to record a new solo album when you are often on the road performing as the frontman of Queen. Adam Lambert currently has three albums to his name of which the most recent one, The Original High, appeared in 2015. The last solo material we heard from him was the one off single ‘Two Fux’ that followed two years later. About time for a new album, Mr. Lambert! In interviews he has described the music he has worked on as eclectic, taking inspiration from a handful of different genres, including rock, disco and contemporary pop. We don’t really care as long as Adam sings it!

Lady Gaga – TBA
Release date: TBA
Lady Gaga made a massive comeback with the success of the film A Star Is Born in which she has the leading role, as well as delivering most of the songs on the soundtrack. We are still in the middle of award season, in which Gaga will hopefully pick up more than one award, but we are also already looking forward to her next pop project! Her Las Vegas double residency (one pop show and one Jazz evening) sparked rumours that she might actually release two albums this year with a similar concept. She has been working in the studio with DJ White Shadow, Sophie, Boys Noize and more so it is hard to tell what direction the chameleon queen is going in this time, but needless to say we are excited no matter what genre she comes up with.

Frank Ocean – TBA
Release date: TBA
To be honest, you never really know when Frank Ocean is going to drop new music, so including him in this list is more wishful thinking than anything else, but there is a good possibility he will return with new music in 2019. His most recent record, Blonde, came out in 2016 and he spend 2017 focussing on a radio show in which he premiered a handful of new tracks too. Of course he kept busy working in the studio, so he might have cooked up something for a while now, but he is known for his unconventional release strategies as well as out of the box soundscapes and melting of different genres. New Frank Ocean music is always an event!