The New Year’s most anticipated releases

Every year, more than 20,000 albums are churned out, be it the independent blood, sweat and tears of artistes who’ve spent years trying to make it big or yet another well-packaged product of the pop music factory.

And it’s hard to pinpoint the direction in which the listeners are swaying, as the international music charts prove that people are listening to everything and anything these days without pledging allegiance to any one genre.

Last year, amid the Lady Gagas and Beyoncés was the legendary Barbra Streisand, renowned chanteuse of love songs and “misty water-coloured memories”, who topped both the UK and US charts for a while with her 63rd album, Love Is The Answer. In fact, it debuted at No 1 and brought the tally of her number of gold albums to a great 51.

Then there was Taylor Swift — a teenager with some awesome songwriting skills, singing love songs that straddle country and pop — who was leading in sales with her second album Fearless. She garnered five American Music Awards and won the Country Music Association Awards’ Crystal Milestone Award for “outstanding achievement in country music” as well as the awards for Music Video of the Year, Album of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. It would seem as if the world wants to get a little bit country and Taylor is the one to serve it up.

But hold on — catching up quickly since debuting worldwide in November on reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent is Susan Boyle, who took the world by storm with her plain looks and spectacular vocals. The worldwide sales of her album, I Dreamed a Dream, was reportedly at 4.5 million units at last count and may just beat Swift’s 4.8 million units come end-January. This only proves that the world isn’t looking for a teen sensation, a big name or funky music videos.

So what is the world thirsting for? A little bit of country, a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll, a little funk? Well, after centuries of popular music, perhaps the world is searching for (in the words of Queen) “a kinda magic” that music used to have, that made us want to get up and dance, laugh, cry, feel… something.

And maybe that is why these three ladies sailed the charts the way they did. Ol’ Babs chart-topping feat was not because of her reputation — if that be the case, Whitney Houston should’ve done pretty well last year too with her comeback album. It was her signature vocal styling that did the trick — totally inimitable and therefore unavailable from a new generation of artistes. Swift, on the other hand, proved that not all teenage music sensations are pre-packaged, that the art of songwriting is not yet lost in the new century, while Boyle showed us that talent comes from anywhere, and that music still has that magic of taking you from a dreary realm to one that is brighter and filled with hope.

And now with talk of recovery in the economy, hope is in the air, and with any luck, the New Year’s offerings will reflect this.

No doubt young Charice Pempengco is a vision of hope — the young Filipino YouTube sensation-turned-superstar is set to release her international debut album anytime between January and February. To be launched under Warner Bros’ 143/Reprise Records, which already have Josh Groban and Michael Bublé in its talent stable, not much is known about the album save for the fact that it includes her rendition of Dianne Warren-composed Note To God (which is playing on the airwaves now) and Pyramid, a single penned by Sean Kingston (of Beautiful Girls fame). Other renowned names working on her album include the legendary David Foster, Billy Steinberg (the man behind Madonna’s Like A Virgin, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors and Whitney Houston’s So Emotional) and Klaus Derendorf (Josh Groban’s Closer).

Another young talent to look out for is Nick Jonas, the youngest of The Jonas Brothers, who’s formed Nick Jonas & The Administration, a band that made its slamming debut at the Grammy Nominations concert last month. No release date yet on its debut album, but be sure that the Jonas bro is pulling out all creative stops for his passion project that is described as a blend of funk, R&B and pop. Word is that the band includes members of Prince’s NPG.

This year will also see some old names coming back. Peter Gabriel returns with Scratch My Back, his first album since Up seven years ago. Due out on Feb 15, the album comprises covers of songs by the likes of David Bowie, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Neil Young and Radiohead, reworked in orchestral arrangements.

Speaking of Radiohead, the English alternative rock band was hard at work in the studio last year and apparently are still in there with producer Nigel Godrich. Fans should expect them to emerge with a well-crafted project later this year.

For those who love funky grooves and smooth vocals, be prepared to usher in the new age of Usher, fresh from a divorce which has undoubtedly inspired his upcoming album Raymond vs Raymond, slated for a March release. First single? Papers.

Soulful, sophisticated, sexy, seductive — Sade Adu and her namesake band make a comeback this Feb 8. Called Soldier of Love, this is the band’s fifth studio album — the last being Lovers Rock which garnered much acclaim, including a Grammy for Best Pop Vocals.

The boys of duo Outkast return this year, again with separate albums. And if fans want them to unite to give us what we loved in Stankonia (2000), Aquemini (1998) or even Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), they’ll have to give both albums huge support as Andre 3000 and Big Boi told the press that only if both albums are well received will they reunite to give their fans an Outkast album. Boi, talk about demanding.

And since we’re talking about people with weird monikers, here’s another one — Jacknife Lee. He’s the Grammy Award-winning music producer and remixer who’s working hard with REM on the band’s 15th album. Leader of the Shiny Happy People, Michael Stipe, even posted a YouTube video of the band in the studio… as proof of life?

Apart from these notables, others tabbed for album releases this year also include Nine Inch Nails, Blink 182, Janet Jackson, No Doubt and Christina Aguilera… things are looking up indeed.

This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 788, Jan 11 – 17, 2010