As politicians measure their nuke buttons, lets hope all this panic pushes artists to put out their projects. Our predictions are usually pretty much on point: only Kanye West’s Cruel Winter didn’t emerge after last year’s Album Anticipations. What will we witness in 2018?

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Arctic Monkeys – Sixth Album – Date TBC

Bassist Nick O’Malley let slip that the album will be out this year. He said “if it isn’t, we’ve got problems.” Since AM all those four years ago, those chilly chimps have been collectively quiet. Alex Turner revisited The Last Shadow Puppets. Matt Helders collaborated with Iggy Pop, Queens of the Stone Age and Lady Gaga. Whilst Jamie Cook married a Page Three girl. But now, (with their headline slot at Firefly Festival), an Arctic Monkeys return is imminent. Can this LP top their penetratingly popular previous project? Where will this take them in success and sound? Where? WHERE IS IT?

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T.D.E. – Black Panther: The Album – 09.02.18

Marvel have recruited Kendrick Lamar to produce Black Panther: The Album. Fellow Top Dawg Entertainment stars Anthony Tiffith, SZA and Jay Rock are involved, alongside James Blake, Vince Staples, Future, and many more. K Dot, is the obvious option for partnering with Black Panther. Director Ryan Coogler stated that his “artistic themes align with those we explore in the film.” Comments on Lamar’s personal work are seldom separated from statements of race. Afrocentric ideas are key in Lamar’s music and this film. We just hope this soundtrack won’t be as flat as The Fate of the Furious or Suicide Squad‘s efforts. How will the T.D.E. team go from Black Hippy to Black Panther?

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The Prodigy – Seventh Album – Date TBC

Big beat bad boys The Prodigy have promised a new album for 2018. A UK tour in December has got the hype thrashing like your uncle in a 90s rave. The boisterous LP tracks ‘Resonate’, ‘Need Some 1’ and ‘Boom Tap’ have already made appearances at some of last year’s live performances. This album will be their seventh, and a follow up to 2015’s The Day Is My Enemy. Liam Howlett and the gang will release the project at sometime early this year under his Take Me To The Hospital label. All six of their previous albums have charted at number 1, this should be no different.

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Moose Blood – I Don’t Think I Can Do This Anymore – 09.02.18

After their ex-drummer was shrouded in sexual harassment allegations, it seemed as though Moose Blood would never make another album. Thankfully, he’s out. Now, we have a confirmed new third album, as well as a confirmed new fourth member. The band claim that not giving up on writing music was what helped pick them up emotionally after the shock downfall. Their guitarist Mark Osborne said “Whatever surrounds your life in a negative way, you process it and deal with it and get it out in something that’s positive.” A lot has changed for them since our exclusive gig review, and they now claim to be “extra miserable.” A UK tour is set with The Dangerous Summer providing support. ‘Talk In Your Sleep’ was the first single from the album, hear it here:

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Cypress Hill – Elephants On Acid – Date TBC

Nowadays, the group might all look like elephants on acid, but the album title refers to a real experiment from 1962: Tusko the elephant tripped out at Lincoln Park Zoo. Perhaps the group have returned with a higher level of consciousness and understanding. Regardless, DJ Muggs, B-Real, Sen Dog and Eric Bobo are legends in the game. Their Latino American (and marijuana) influenced hip-hop shaped the West Coast scene in the 1990s. They haven’t put out an album together since 2010 however.  The anticlimax of Prophets of Rage and the overabundance of gimmicky weed songs have turned many fans away from the iconic group. But they’re back with more bong hits number one hits. The album is recorded, so it’s release is only around the corner of 2018.

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Honourable Mentions

• BROCKHAMPTON – Team Effort – Date TBC

• Pale Waves – All the Things I Never Said EP – 16th March – Album late 2018

• MGMT – Little Dark Age – Date TBC

• Tors – Debut album – Date TBC

• Earl Sweatshirt – Third album – Date TBC

• Greg Wanders – Debut EP/Album – Date TBC

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Written by: James Wijesinghe