By Sid Chandrasekar ’18, Contributor
New releases haven’t skipped a beat with the start of 2016, and with several track releases and announcements for the New Year, 2016 playlists should be filling out soon enough. December of 2015 showed us releases from Pusha T (King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude) and Ariana Grande (Christmas & Chill). Grande’s Christmas EP contained 6 pop-centric songs while Pusha T’s album had 10 rap tracks. In the world of instrumental music, the full soundtrack of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in late December; containing 23 tracks, the album is a compilation of brilliant orchestral sounds.
On January 1, Rachel Platten released her pop album, Wildfire (main single, “Fight Song,” released in 2015). Newly released, the album has already garnered attention from the media. The Irish Times described her album to have “pop songs built to withstand a wrecking ball.” With that said, standouts of Wildfire seem to be “Stand by You,” “Congratulations” and “Better Place.”
On January 8, Kanye West released his 2-in-1 track titled “Real Friends & No More Parties in LA.” His R&B tracks seem to be singles from his upcoming album, Swish, which is set to release on February 11. “Facts,” released on New Year’s Eve, will also make an appearance on the album.
As for new songs set to release this month, Sia’s newest album’s cover art has recently been announced. Titled This is Acting, it is sure to not disappoint. Sia, songwriter for some of the biggest hits (i.e. “Diamonds” by Rihanna and “Titanium” by David Guetta) claims that her new album contains songs that she could not give up to other artists. For January 29, Charlie Puth has released snippets of his new collaboration with Selena Gomez. It appears to be pop heavy and does not yet have a title.
2016 looks like a strong year for music in all genres. Maybe some more artists will “pull a Beyoncé” and drop an album with no promotion.
Sources:
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/rachel-platten-wildfire-pop-songs-built-to-withstand-a-wrecking-ball-1.2475200
Image Source: http://hiphopmusicexclusives.com/2016/01/16/kanye-west-real-friends-no-more-parties-in-la-feat-kendrick-lamar/
