23 albums we can't wait to listen to this fall

How do you possibly top a music-packed summer that gave us That Album? Well, you could do worse than a new season promising long-awaited releases from Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, Björk, Kid Cudi, the 1975, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and so many more. Here, we round up 23 new albums we can't wait to hunker down with this fall.

We've rounded up the most anticipated releases of the fall.

SEPTEMBER

Björk — Fossora (Sept. 30)

Mushrooms! Motherhood! So much clarinet. Björk is gonna Björk, and the Icelandic iconoclast's 10th studio album is no exception: dense, intrepid, wildly unpredictable, strangely moving. She has called Fossora (the feminine form of the Latin word for "digger") her post-divorce return to Earth. But this is her version of Earth, a world as lush and labyrinthine as you'd expect from the woman who went hunting for mysteries nearly three decades ago and never came back. —Jason Lamphier

Kid Cudi — Entergalactic (Sept. 30)

The man on the moon's latest album is accompanied by an animated Netflix special about falling madly, cosmically in love — so as you might imagine, many of its songs celebrate the joys of infatuation. But it's not all meet-cutes and butterflies: As the rapper recently told EW, Entergalactic also contains some "great Kid Cudi rap records" that have nothing to do with romance. —Christian Holub

The Pixies — Doggerel (Sept. 30)

The Pixies walked a familiar path for beloved transgressive '80s alt-rockers: seminal albums (Surfer Rosa, Doolittle) followed by less-celebrated — though occasionally admirable — attempts to step out of their own shadow. The band's latest is Doggerel (adj. "marked by triviality or inferiority" — perhaps an ironic nod), their eighth studio album and first outing in three years. Here, they eschew punkish grit and instead embrace a more refined breed of guttural energy, sometimes speckled with folk and even pop, but always pulsing with sonic and lyrical adoration for the genre they've forever inspired. —Allaire Nuss

Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Cool It Down (Sept. 30)

On their first album in nine years, Yeah Yeah Yeahs return with a fever to tell stories about a new kind of future. Cool It Down ruminates on the current state of the world and our path forward, touching on the climate crisis, a hunger for closeness following pandemic-driven separation, and radical optimism. Its eight tracks of disco beats and spoken-word poetry veer from operatic and euphoric to subtle and somber. —Jessica Wang

OCTOBER

Broken Bells — Into the Blue (Oct. 7)

James Mercer (The Shins) and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) reunite for their third full-length, and first since 2014's After the Disco. True to its title, Into the Blue is chock-full of songs that evoke sadness, resignation, and peace. The title track and "Invisible Exit" serve up placid beats and chilled-out atmospherics, while the seven-minute "Love on the Run" is an epic meditation on hope in the face of defeat. —Christian Holub

Charlie Puth — Charlie (Oct. 7)

After two albums and a steady stream of successful singles, Charlie Puth hopes to usher in a new era with his latest, most personal effort yet. Self-produced by the singer, Charlie's 12 tracks grapple with love and loss, chronicling the disintegration of two significant relationships in early 2020. Still, Puth manages to find light in the darkness, culling together a collection of introspective bops that will tug at fans' heartstrings and live rent-free in their heads. —Emlyn Travis

Willow — <CopingMechanism> (Oct. 7)

Willow is among the most notable names of pop-punk's broad-stroke "emo" renaissance, and not just for that MGK song. Her raw R&B-infused vocals, like a dagger draped in silk, are a megaphone for Gen Z's caustic angst, and her latest single, "curious/furious," off her forthcoming album, <CopingMechanism>, only carries that baton farther. Its throat-clenched cries ("I never want to talk about it / I just want to sit in my room instead") beckon us to scream and clap in the same swoop — and hint at what could be her most fully realized record yet. —Allaire Nuss

The 1975 — Being Funny in a Foreign Language (Oct. 14)

The Cheshire, England quartet — who recently celebrated their 20th anniversary — reinvent themselves on their most emotionally vulnerable, soul-searching record to date, tackling love and its many forms. Filled to the brim with strings, saxophone solos, dreamy AM-radio guitar melodies, and singer Matt Healy's humorously heartbreaking prose, Being Funny in a Foreign Language presents an impressive level of musical mastery from the band. As its title suggests, they're like eager polyglots able to induce chuckles in their non-native tongue yet still retain that signature 1975 charm fans know and adore. —Emlyn Travis

Brian Eno — ForeveAndEverNoMore (Oct. 14)

ForeveAndEverNoMore represents a new beginning and a premature end. It's the glam-rock-icon-turned-ambient-auteur's first solo album in five years, and his first in 17 on which he sings on most of the tracks. Eno's vocals here are ominously round, as if from an oracle, yet somber enough to lull, as he warns of a climate waning. When he performed the lead single "There Were Bells" at the Acropolis in Athens last year, wildfires raged nearby and his synths sighed as if in near-defeat; unlike the political powers that be, we couldn't look away if we tried. —Allaire Nuss

Lil Baby — It's Only Me (Oct. 14)

Fresh off his Amazon Prime Video documentary Untrapped, a co-headlining tour with Chris Brown, spots at Coachella and Lollapalooza, and a Grammy win earlier this year (for his work on Kanye West's "Hurricane"), Lil Baby is capitalizing on the momentum with his third album, It's Only Me. The Atlanta rapper's flame has been burning hot the past few years — he's collaborated with everyone from Drake and DJ Khaled to Lil Durk and Nicki Minaj — and with his latest single, "Detox," climbing the charts, he's poised to take the hip-hop crown this fall. —Gerrad Hall

Red Hot Chili Peppers — Return of the Dream Canteen (Oct. 14)

Red Hot Chili Peppers' second album this year, the double LP Return of the Dream Canteen, takes the band back to its roots. John Frusciante announces his homecoming after a 10-year break with his iconic SoCal guitar licks, "Tippa My Tongue" is a sexed-up funk-fest reminiscent of their 1991 hit "Give It Away," and "Eddie" is a soulful tribute to Eddie Van Halen that Flea conceived the day after the late rock legend's passing. —Keith Langston

Tove Lo — Dirt Femme (Oct. 14)

On Dirt Femme, Tove Lo buries herself in the nuances of her femininity. The album's 12 electro-tinged tracks take listeners on a winding, vulnerable journey exploring love, monogamy, and life's contradictions, with First Aid Kit, SG Lewis, and Channel Tres chipping in guest vocals. Once again, the Swedish pop provocateur demonstrates her gift for balancing infectious dance-floor fodder with an off-kilter indie sensibility. —Jessica Wang

Arctic Monkeys — The Car (Oct. 21)

With The Car, Arctic Monkeys deliver their most cinematic ride yet. The Sheffield, England outfit's seventh album is an expansive, nostalgia-drenched day trip that cooly cruises down the sonic highways previously paved by its lounge-y predecessor Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino. Lead singer Alex Turner's suave vocals and piercing witticisms are bolstered by sweeping strings and swirling guitar riffs, and shaded with an ever-present eeriness that suggests something darker lurks beneath the production's shimmering surface. —Emlyn Travis

Babyface — Girls Night Out (Oct. 21)

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds has compared working on his latest record to his halcyon days writing and producing for Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, and Brandy for the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Much like that '90s R&B touchtone, Girls Night Out assembles a who's who of female talent — Kehlani, Ari Lennox, Ella Mai — for a set of buttery, mid-tempo jams perfect for foreplay and laundry-folding. One of Babyface's many superpowers is knowing when to step back and let a diva dab her brow, and he wields it again here. Don't let the album's title fool you — these are grown-ass women, working through it and raising a glass to sisterhood. —Jason Lamphier

Carly Rae Jepsen — The Loneliest Time (Oct. 21)

Shortly into her career, it became clear to Carly Rae Jepsen that she might never again match the chart-conquering success of her 2012 breakout single, "Call Me Maybe." Her response seems to have been to simply make the music she wants, Hot 100 be damned, and the results have paid off (case in point: her 2015 fan favorite Emotion). The Loneliest Time has a lot to live up to, but the fist-pumping heartbreak anthem "Talking to Yourself" will have you running straight off the treadmill, while the zen "Western Wind" reflects on the bliss of being in a good relationship. Call her happy. —Christian Holub

Dry Cleaning — Stumpwork (Oct. 21)

Are Dry Cleaning really writing melancholic, Smiths-inspired guitar ditties about pet tortoises on the lam ("Gary Ashby")? Deadpan, sax-laced, post-punk poetry observing how "gym shorts reveal more, more, more, more, more" ("Anna Calls From the Arctic")? Are these songs literal? Metaphorical? Ironic? Sincere? Are they f---ing with us? If their recent singles are any indication, the acclaimed London quartet will continue to elicit more questions than answers, somehow making the mundane seem magical. —Jason Lamphier

Meghan Trainor — Takin' It Back (October 21)

She used to be all about that bass, but now she's all about that baby. Meghan Trainor's experiences as a wife and mother make their way onto the Grammy winner's fourth album, Takin' It Back, a throwback to the doo-wop of her 2015 debut album but with some modern flair (what, did you think it was just gonna be lullabies?). The singer-songwriter's personal maturity is evident in the more mature sound of the LP's first single, "Bad for Me." The good news? Takin' It Back seems anything but bad for Trainor's fans. —Gerrad Hall

Taylor Swift — Midnights (Oct. 21)

Taylor Swift's 10th studio album will return to the diaristic form of her pre-Folklore oeuvre, focusing on 13 midnights scattered throughout her life. True to fashion, the genre-bending songstress is keeping details close to the vest, but with its that's-so-'70s aesthetic and song titles including "Vigilante S---," "Mastermind," and "Question...?," frenzied fans are in for a wild (and hopefully groovy?) ride. Let the guessing games begin. —Lauren Huff

Tegan and Sara — crybaby (Oct. 21)

Where Tegan and Sara's previous record, Hey, I'm Just Like You, featured the duo refining their teenage demos into polished, synthed-up serenades, their 10th LP, crybaby, offers a more abstract take on adolescent ideations. The twins taunt, tease, and sneer in upbeat singles "I Can't Grow Up" and "F---ing Up What Matters" like a flower-loaded pistol turned 180 degrees. But their tender tracks are still woven throughout with a familiar truth: We all need to keep evolving. —Allaire Nuss

Junior Boys — Waiting Game (Oct. 28)

On their latest LP, the Canadian kings of icy dance-noir turn the dial down — way down. Employing old-school tape machines and special noise-reducing mixing equipment, producers Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus have cooked up a crisp, aqueous collection of "peripheral music" that favors depth and precision over BPMs and bass drops. "I like the idea of people putting it on at home and exhaling in relief," Greenspan said in a press release for Waiting Game. Interpret that as you will, but if you've ever wondered what Sly Stone and Kraftwerk would sound like if they teamed up for a stoner-synth-funk record, here you go. —Jason Lamphier

NOVEMBER

Phoenix — Alpha Zulu (Nov. 4)

Tired: admiring art in a museum. Wired: making art in a museum. Which is exactly what Phoenix did when they set up shop in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (located within the Palais du Louvre) to record Alpha Zulu. Drawing inspiration from their très chic environs, the French foursome's self-produced seventh album is jam-packed with snappy, feel-good, eccentric indie pop, like their recent rollicking single "Tonight," featuring Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig. —Emlyn Travis

Louis Tomlinson — Faith in the Future (Nov. 11)

Louis Tomlinson's sophomore solo album is full of lyrics that would feel right at home on a sixth, grown-up One Direction album — but longtime fans and non-boy-band worshippers alike will find plenty to savor on Faith in the Future. The singer croons about change on lead single "Bigger Than Me," past love on "Chicago," and hope on "Lucky Again." Described by Tomlinson as the music he wants to make, the record is decked out in dreamy vibes that make for a dancier listen than his first solo outing, Walls. —Ashley Boucher

Weyes Blood — And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Nov. 18)

Why do birds suddenly appear every time Weyes Blood is near? Okay, well at least on "God Turn Me Into a Flower," the chirpy, gorgeous standout on Natalie Mering's latest Karen Carpenter–indebted LP, the second of a planned trilogy. While its predecessor, 2019's Titanic Rising, turned its penetrative gaze towards some sort of impending doom (talk about foresight!), And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow looks inward, chronicling our search for connection and growing narcissism amid post-COVID, algorithmic chaos ("We're in a fully functional shit show," Mering has said when describing the album). Can the honey-voiced retro-pop singer's shattered heart — and our hearts — ever be repaired? When her feathered friends start warbling over those silky, impossibly beautiful synth arpeggios, you'll want to believe the answer is yes. —Jason Lamphier

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