April albums: New music you need to hear this month from AJ Tracey to Taylor Swift

From long-awaited debuts to a posthumous tribute, there’s plenty to look forward to in the next few weeks
Royal Blood, London Grammar, Demi Lovato and AJ Tracey all have new music on the way
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Jochan Embley1 April 2021

Spring is finally here after a long winter and as the weather starts to warm up, we’ve got a suitably sizzling selection of new music to look forward to.

Here, we’ve picked out 10 releases we’re intrigued to hear in April, from long-awaited debuts to a posthumous tribute to an Afrobeat legend.

Demi Lovato — Dancing with the Devil… The Art of Starting Over (April 2)

Anyone who’s seen Demi Lovato’s new documentary (if you haven’t, we’d highly recommend it) will know that the US singer has been to hell and back over the past couple of years. She’ll confront some of those demons, and look forward to what we all hope will be a brighter future, with her first album since 2017.

Dry Cleaning — New Long Leg (April 2)

Big fan of moody post-punk with scathingly deadpan spoken-word vocals? Then this south London four-piece are the band for you. New Long Leg is their debut album, building on a fair bit of hype that’s been building with the release of a couple of excellent EPs since 2019.

Brockhampton — Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine (April 9)

They’ve been teasing it for what feels like forever, releasing a string of non-album singles to keep us entertained in the meantime, but now the US hip-hop group have finally confirmed their upcoming record is just around the corner. The lively first single features a killer Danny Brown verse and is hugely promising.

Taylor Swift — Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (April 9)

The Taylor Swift powerplay continues. The megastar’s first major step in taking back control of her masters is to release a re-recorded version of her 2008 album Fearless, featuring all 19 tracks from the initial platinum edition, plus seven more songs, six of which were scrapped during the original recording sessions.

London Grammar — Californian Soil (April 16)

It’s been pushed back a few times already, but we should finally be able to wrap our ears around the new London Grammar album in April. The lyrics on this upcoming third album from the Nottingham trio are inspired by vocalist Hannah Reid’s wrangling with misogyny in the music industry, and how she ended up “gaining possession of [her] own life”.

AJ Tracey — Flu Game (April 16)

One of the biggest rappers in the UK scene is back with his second album. The west London artist has a big act to follow — his self-titled debut from 2019 had some massive hits on it, particularly the inescapably catchy Ladbroke Grove — but will have the help of some top-tier features, from Mabel and Digga D to T-Pain and Kehlani.

Tom Jones — Surrounded By Time (April 23)

Forty-one albums deep and still going strong, Sir Tom is back with his latest full-length release. This doesn’t seem like a by-the-numbers pension-booster from the octogenarian though — the record comprises 12 intriguing reimaginings of songs that have influenced and impacted Jones throughout his long and varied career.

Girl In Red — If I Could Make It Go Quiet (April 30)

Not many artists can claim to have two tracks with more than 150m Spotify streams each before they even release their debut album, but that’s the slightly boggling position Girl In Red finds herself in. The 22-year-old Norwegian will carry many of the lyrical themes that have won her such a huge following — from mental health to queer love — into this record, but pair them with a more widely enriched sonic palette.

Royal Blood — Typhoons (April 30)

Royal Blood’s upcoming third album will still feature that humongous bass tone at the heart of it all, but the first few singles hint at something of a new direction for the Brighton two-piece — there’s a whiff of disco, funk and synth pop in among all the typically massive riffs and thumping drums.

Tony Allen — There Is No End (April 30)

Set to be released a year to the day since the world said goodbye to Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, this posthumous album will feature some of his biggest admirers. Skepta, Danny Brown, Damon Albarn and Sampa The Great are among those getting involved in what will be a celebration of Allen’s incredible legacy.

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