Which Way Will the Music Breeze Take Us This Year?

Every year artists drop new music. This is not a new thing, but it feels like I just can’t keep up with everything because so much good music is being released. This is especially true for me because I am getting more into music as I get older. So, trying to keep up with all these artists and what they are releasing while also trying to find new artists can be overwhelming. Good news for you, I’ve got you covered. I am going to give the rundown of all the new music that has been announced for 2024 that we should all be excited about (at least I am). 

There have been announcements of music from March all the way to the end of May. Some of the March releases include artists such as Bleachers, Justin Timberlake, and Shakira. Both Shakira and Justin Timberlake haven’t released music since 2018, and all of them have been around for at least 10 years. So, it will be exciting to see what their music holds for us. Will they still have their sound from six years ago, or will there be a shift in their music? April holds some rock and indie vibes for us with Vampire Weekend and Girl in Red. Sia and Maya Hawke round it out with May releases. You saw that right, Maya Hawke, daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and actress in Little Women and Stranger Things. She has two other studio albums that were released in 2020 and 2022. I didn’t realize that she made music, let alone two albums. This is just part of the list that I have in store for you. 

Diving a bit deeper into these artists’ upcoming albums, Ariana Grande is releasing Eternal Sunshine, her seventh studio album, on Mar. 8. She is slowly teasing the 13 tracks that are said to be on this record.  So far, she has revealed nine of those 13 that will be included. They have all been shared on her Instagram story, one of which being the single “Yes, and?” that she released on Jan. 12 and came with a lot of backlash. Since the start of January, she has lost a total of 369,630 followers on Instagram. This was due to the rumors surrounding her and her costar, Ethan Slater, in the upcoming movie Wicked. They had worked closely with each other during the filming and are seen to be having a romantic relationship. It is believed that she was separated from her husband when they first got together. However, Slater had had a child with his wife only a few months prior to these rumors. So, people are saying that Grande was the “other woman” in Slater’s relationship and caused their divorce. Personally, I’m not sure we’ll ever know if the rumors are true, but they are both grown adults and can make adult decisions. If they chose to cheat on their significant others, then that’s what they did. As she states in her single, “Your business is yours and mine is mine / Why do you care so much whose d*ck I ride.” However, she is in an industry where all eyes are on her, and if there is even speculation about something controversial, people will talk. Even though there was this controversy around her, it seems as though many people are excited about this album, and I am too. I hadn’t followed what she was doing until I heard about this controversy. The last time I knew what she was doing was when I was watching her play Cat in Victorious and Sam and Cat (that’s a very long time ago, I know). I am very disconnected from her work even though I had heard her popular songs from her newer albums, I have never listened to the full album. So, I am excited to see what this one will bring.

The next big album to drop is Beyoncé’s Act II on Mar. 29. She used her Superbowl Verizon commercial to announce her new album. Such a power move if you ask me. Round of applause. During the commercial, at the end, after trying to “break the internet,” she said, “Drop the new music.” Quickly after, her website was updated with a new album shown as Act II. It seems to be a second part of her Renaissance project. In July of 2022, when she unveiled Renaissance, she made an Instagram post that said it would be a three-part project and referred to it as Act I. She has been on tour and created the concert film for Act I, which has a 90s dance vibe but Act II is thought to have a country rock vibe in line with the two singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” that were also dropped after the commercial aired. These new drops are definitely introducing me to new artists because I have never really been a Beyoncé fan. I know her hits like “Crazy in Love,” “Single Ladies,” and “Halo,” which I think most people do, but I don’t know the rest of her discography. After hearing “Texas Hold ’Em” all over TikTok, I finally decided to give it a listen. If the rest of the album is like that song, I will thoroughly enjoy it. It has the country vibe without it being the twangy country I don’t like. We can only wait and see when she drops the album in March.

After all of that March excitement, we move to April. This month will be a big one for me because my two favorite artists are releasing new albums. To start the month off, Conan Gray is releasing Found Heaven, his third studio album, on Apr. 5. He announced the album in a very Taylor Swift puzzle way. She loves putting out easter eggs everywhere and having her fans do different puzzles. His puzzle included posters around the world in various record stores with a letter on each. Then when navigating to his website, there would be a place to upload photos of the posters so fans could guess the title of the new album. Fun, right? I was having a ball trying to go through every picture to find the letters and put them into word unscramblers. It may have made me a bit crazy, but that’s the whole point. To get fans excited and invested in it. He entered his Found Heaven era in May 2023 with the release of “Never Ending Song” followed by “Winner” in August, then ending the 2023 releases with “Killing Me” on Halloween. All of which are amazing songs, making me even more excited for this album. After announcing the album, he also announced the release of the single “Lonely Dancers.” This is the fourth single to be released from this record and is another taste of the possible synth-pop album. This song gives a more pop vibe to the softer, melancholy of his first two albums. Both albums had heartbreaking lyrics and Found Heaven does not fail to deliver that either, but it is hidden with the 80s dance feel to it (so hopefully you don’t cry while listening to this one). This album may display a wider range of his vocals as the song starts with him in a lower register than in the rest of his discography (except for the other singles released from this album). I am so excited for Found Heaven that I haven’t stopped jumping up and down since it was announced.

Now, for the artist I am the most annoying about, the beloved Taylor Swift. Her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be released on Apr. 19. She announced this album after receiving her 13^th (her lucky number) Grammy. This album is going to be huge for the Swifties because it is speculated to be the breakup album about her ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, due to the possible reference to a group chat he was in, “The Tortured Man Club.” The 19-track titles seem to refer to past songs, lyrics, and situations. For example, “So Long, London” appears to be a nod to “London Boy” from her Lover album, which was a love song for Alwyn. This is also the fifth track on the album, which is a known spot for her most vulnerable songs, like “You’re on Your Own Kid” from her most recent Midnightsalbum. Two songs that have similar theories are “Florida!!!” and “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” which are speculated to be about the Eras Tour shows she did in Tampa that took place shortly after the breakup was announced. With the announcement of the bonus track “The Bolter,” fans have already come up with theories that sparked from a video when the two were leaving a bar and “bolting.” This theory came about because the definition of “bolter”  is a horse given to running away or a person who ends his or her affiliation with a political party. Fans are taking this to mean that he ran from their relationship. I mean, I can see it. The latest announcement for bonus tracks is “The Albatross” at her show in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 23. Quickly, as Swifties do, theories have arisen about what this word even means. Albatross has multiple meanings including an oceanic bird (who often resides in Australia, in the area where Swift made the announcement), a source of frustration and guilt, or if someone gets called an albatross, it usually means that they are a psychological burden. So, is this a sly towards Alwyn that he is a psychological burden, or is it going to be one of the songs where she admits her intrusive thoughts that she is the burden (a la “Anti-Hero”)? This album is going to be exciting. Not only so we can decipher if these theories are true, but also because she has been keeping this from us for two years! She mentioned in her speech at the Grammys that she started working on this album immediately after turning in Midnights. I thought she would be announcing Reputation (Taylor’s Version), but this is a great alternative. I haven’t been a Swiftie long enough to be there for new album releases, so if I haven’t been annoying enough about her, then good luck for the next couple of months because I will be relentless.

There is a lot of music to come, and it’s just the first half of the year! This is just a roundup of some music I am personally excited about. There is a cluster of genres being released this year, so there is something for just about anyone to be excited about. Prepare for me to blab about all of them as they come out (especially Taylor Swift and Conan Gray). Dance the night away or prepare to cry in your room, whichever way the music breeze decides to blow. Either way, this year is going to hold some amazing music. 

• Ariana Grande
• beyonce
• Conan Gray
• entertainment
• music
• Taylor Swift