The 20 Most Anticipated Albums of Winter 2024
The beginning of a new year brings with it a tidal wave of promise—of better days, of new opportunities, self-improvement, and leaving the worst of past years behind us. And for us, that means the thrill of knowing there are 12 months of new music ahead of us. While 2024 is just barely yawning and stretching into life, and our favorite albums of 2023 still fresh in our minds and ears, there’s already a long list of albums we’re excited to hear, including a lot that may or may not end up being pushed back (still waiting on that new album from The Cure). We start every year at Treble with a list of our most anticipated albums of the still-young year, but this year, we’re planning on doing this once per season—after all, the release calendar is continuously growing longer. So we’ll offer another list of this kind in a couple months once the winter frost begins to thaw, but in the meantime, here’s our list of our 20 most anticipated albums of winter 2024.
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums included are chosen by our editors and contributors.
Escuela Grind: DDEEAATTHHMMEETTAALL
(January 12; MNRK Heavy)
Escuela Grind are hands-down one of the most fun bands in metal right now, their sophomore album Memory Theater landing on our list of the best metal albums of that year due to the endless listenability of its raw, explosive grindcore rippers. Their new EP is gearing up to be just as thrilling, if somewhat more concise, in no small part due to the appearance of Napalm Death’s Barney Greenaway on early single “Meat Magnet.” Though it features only four tracks, there’s no doubt about the ferocity of the overall package.
Listen: Escuela Grind – “Meat Magnet”
Nicholas Craven & Boldy James – Penalty of Leadership
(January 12; Nicholas Craven Productions)
Detroit emcee Boldy James has been on a consistent hot streak since 2020, releasing around a dozen excellent records, including 2021’s incredible Bo Jackson. In 2022, Boldy teamed up with Montreal producer Nicholas Craven for the outstanding Fair Exchange No Robbery, and their follow-up is shaping up to be an early highlight for hip-hop this year. Its early singles “Brand New Chanel Kicks” and “No Pun Intended” are rich and soulful standouts, with Craven’s immersive production backing Boldy’s characteristically poignant but stoic storytelling.
Listen: Nicholas Craven & Boldy James – “No Pun Intended”
glass beach – Plastic Death
(January 19; Run for Cover)
L.A. progressive indie rock group glass beach left a big impression with “The CIA,” the epic, intricate and above-all thrilling first single from their upcoming sophomore album Plastic Death. (Which we promptly dubbed an Essential Track.) The group’s upcoming album finds them drawing from prog, hardcore and jazz as they escalate their vision of an ambitiously surrealistic yet emotionally gripping kind of indie rock. Plastic Death is shaping up to be something big.
Listen: glass beach – “The CIA”
Slift – Ilion
(January 19; Sub Pop)
French heavy psych band Slift are set to release their third album in January, which marks their first through venerated indie label Sub Pop. They’re an undeniably heavy band, with soaring and thunderous epics that recall the likes of Boston’s cosmic wizards Elder, which makes them part of a Sub Pop tradition of heady, heavy music that includes Earth and Comets on Fire. But the title track to Ilion is proof of their undeniable heft, 11 minutes of mind-expanding riffage and acid-laced roar. Slift are starting the year off loud.
Listen: Slift – “Ilion”
Sleater-Kinney – Little Rope
(January 19; Loma Vista)
With 2021’s Path of Wellness, Sleater-Kinney transitioned into a new era of their career, offering up their first album without drummer Janet Weiss since 1996’s Call the Doctor. It also signaled a shift toward more nuanced songwriting, which carries over into their follow-up, Little Rope, a record informed by grief and loss. Not that there isn’t some bombast and roar to go around, as evident on early single “Hell,” which finds Carrie Brownstein’s riffs as explosive as ever.
Listen: Sleater-Kinney – “Say It Like You Mean It”
Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore
(January 26; 4AD)
One of the hardest touring bands in indie music, Future Islands took an inevitable break after 2020’s As Long As You Are, released mid-lockdown when a group of road warriors like themselves was unable to bring that energy to the stage. And since then, frontman Sam Herring has appeared on albums by Algiers and billy woods, as well as making his acting debut in The Changeling. But as the group make their long-awaited return, early singles “The Tower” and “The Fight” are showcases for their penchant for melody and dramatic showmanship, the likes of which will be a joy to witness onstage again.
Listen: Future Islands – “The Tower”
The Smile: Wall of Eyes
(January 26; XL)
Less than two years ago, The Smile released A Light for Attracting Attention, a loose yet invigorating debut album that felt connected to Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s work as two-fifths of Radiohead, but with a looseness and sense of agitated energy that nonetheless established it as a unique project all its own. The nimble, rhythmic grooves of Tom Skinner certainly didn’t hurt either. With their second album, the group returns energized with a set of road-tested material, which includes the cinematic title track and the epic first single “Bending Hectic,” which we named one of the best songs of 2023.
Listen: The Smile – “Wall of Eyes”
Ty Segall – Three Bells
(January 26; Drag City)
Ty Segall’s a prolific artist with a penchant for ripping, glam-tinged garage rock and occasional forays into more subdued acoustic material. His fifteenth album (depending on how you classify the various cassettes, comps, soundtracks and otherwise in his catalog) swirls together various different aspects of his sound—intricate acoustic sounds, hypnotic psychedelia, thunderous fuzz and even some epic, progressive material—into a set of songs that finds Segall at his most adventurous. Early single “Void,” stretching over six minutes long, offers a glimpse into the weird places that Segall goes on his latest.
Listen: Ty Segall – “Void”
J Mascis – What Do We Do Now
(February 2; Sub Pop)
For more than 15 years, Dinosaur Jr. has been on a second-act hot streak that’s resulted in some spectacular albums, like 2007’s Beyond and Farm. But guitarist/singer J Mascis returns to his own solo material with the release of What Do We Do Now, his first in six years. Self-recorded in his own Bisquiteen Studios, the album features guests such as Ken Mauri of the B-52’s and steel player Matthew “Doc” Dunn, and early singles “Can’t Believe We’re Here” and “Set Me Down” find the veteran indie rock icon toning down the fuzz ever so slightly while rocking as hard as ever.
Listen: J Mascis – “Can’t Believe We’re Here”
Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh & Tyshawn Sorey – Compassion
(February 2; ECM)
Pianist Vijay Iyer has helped to craft some of the most dazzling records in jazz and improvised music in recent years, most recently teaming up with Arooj Aftab and Shahzad Ismaily for last year’s wonderful Love in Exile. His next project finds Iyer returning to the trio of 2021’s Uneasy, which also features bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, whose approach is rooted in that of a more traditional jazz trio. Their sounds are stark and spacious but nonetheless breathtaking on moments like the title track, which showcases the care and chemistry of this incredible group of musicians.
Listen: Vijay Iyer Trio – “Compassion”
Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She
(February 9; Loma Vista)
Chelsea Wolfe’s last proper album was 2019’s all-acoustic Birth of Violence, which she followed with the 2021 Converge collaboration Bloodmoon: I, as well as her first film score, last year’s X with Tyler Bates. She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, her first album of electrified darkwave in nearly seven years, has been a long time coming, but the first singles she’s shared thus far are absolutely stunning, including the mesmerizing “Tunnel Lights” and the intense “Whispers in the Echo Chamber.”
Listen: Chelsea Wolfe – “Tunnel Lights”
Helado Negro – Phasor
(February 9; 4AD)
Helado Negro leaned further into hypnotic psychedelia and dancefloor pulses on his outstanding 2021 album Far In, the likes of which is undoubtedly evident on “LFO,” his recent single paying tribute to both Fender amp-builder Lupe Lopez and influential composer Pauline Oliveros. Where his previous album was created in lockdown however, Phasor is intended as a celebration of all things physical, an album intended to be experienced in person, but even on headphones, what he’s released thus far sounds fantastic.
Listen: Helado Negro – “LFO”
Omni – Souvenir
(February 16; Sub Pop)
Atlanta trio Omni have a distinctive approach to post-punk that combines a taut, rhythmic sensibility with a sense of space that never feels too technical—even when their dynamics are fully dialed in. It’s been a little over four years since we last had the opportunity to fully take in their signature pulse and jerk, and the twitchy jangle of first single “Exacto” is a welcome reminder of how satisfying a sound that is.
Listen: Omni – “Exacto”
Idles –TANGK
(February 16; Partisan)
Idles have traveled some distance from the bombastic post-punk bashers of their debut album Brutalism, and their last album Crawler found the Bristol group exploring a brooding tension without as many overt climaxes or shout-along choruses. They’re evolving in interesting ways, and TANGK—which features production from Kenny Beats (Denzel Curry, Freddie Gibbs) and Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) as well as the group’s guitarist Mark Bowen—includes guests such as LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Nancy Whang, while exploring more mature songwriting in songs like “Grace.”
Listen: Idles – “Grace”
Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive
(February 23; Nonesuch)
Two years after the outstanding Life on Earth, New Orleans singer/songwriter Alynda Segarra returns with their ninth album, The Past Is Still Alive. In a press release, Segarra described it as “an album grappling with time, memory, love and loss,” and recorded it just a month after the death of their father. First single “Alibi” is heavy with emotion but gorgeously melodic, a warm and infectious first single that showcases Segarra’s ability to deliver beautifully devastating material in a highly accessible manner.
Listen: Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Alibi”
MGMT – Loss of Life
(February 23; Mom + Pop)
Loss of Life arrives six years after MGMT’s last album, Little Dark Age, which marks the longest gap between albums to date for the psych-pop duo. Yet in a press release, they described its creation as being “relatively painless” as well as capping their level of adult contemporary at 20 percent. First single “Mother Nature” is a warm and tuneful first taste of the album, more heavily composed of acoustic guitars rather than the big synths that they’re known for. Nonetheless, it’s an easy first single to love.
Listen: MGMT – “Mother Nature”
Mary Timony – Untame the Tiger
(February 23; Merge)
Mary Timony’s a three-decade veteran of indie rock, with a stacked catalog of work with the likes of Helium, Autoclave, Ex Hex and Wild Flag, in addition to her own solo work. Untame the Tiger is her first album under her own name in 17 years and her first for Merge Records, which has released music by two of her other bands. “Dominoes,” the album’s first single, showcases her gift for tuneful pop music with subtle arrangements and a simplicity that’s both true to her vast body of work and altogether novel.
Listen: Mary Timony – “Dominoes”
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven
(March 1; Epitaph)
Though Mannequin Pussy haven’t released a full-length album since 2019’s Patience, they’ve grown into an even more sophisticated and versatile band in that time, both a live powerhouse and an even stronger set of songwriters at that. The group released the title track to I Got Heaven last year, which was more or less immediately cemented on our best songs of 2023 list for its blend of lyrical poignancy and raw power. Yet in following that with “I Don’t Know You,” the Philadelphia group offered a glimpse of a more nuanced and layered approach, which suggests that the band are pushing their boundaries in every possible direction.
Listen: Mannequin Pussy – “I Got Heaven”
Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites
(March 1; Third Man)
Sheer Mag are one of the best pure rock ‘n’ roll bands in America right now, with an infectious commitment to big riffs and uproarious live shows—the likes of which are captured in the road-warrior narrative of the title track to their new album Playing Favorites. A recent Essential Track pick, the song is a kind of behind-the-scenes ode to living the life of a touring band, with plenty of stellar guitar work to go around. And as their first full-length to be released on Third Man (which also recently released the latest from Best of 2023 favorites Hotline TNT), the album is shaping up to be a leveling up for a band that’s been kicking ass since day one.
Listen: Sheer Mag – “Playing Favorites”
Judas Priest – Invincible Shield
(March 8; Sony Music)
Any year that involves new music from Judas Priest is one worth being excited about. This year marks 50 years since the release of their 1974 debut, and though their career has taken some twists and turns, they still rip. (And they still bring it live, for that matter.) Invincible Shield is the group’s first in six years, following their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and early singles “Trial By Fire” and “Panic Attack” are chock full of riffs and bombast, with Rob Halford’s vocals in top form.
Listen: Judas Priest – “Panic Attack”
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