As summer comes to a close, the upcoming school year is not the only thing to look forward to. Here are some highly anticipated albums to pre-save to your playlist

A Matter of Time – Laufey

Bringing jazz back to the newer generation in a more consumable fashion with her pop undertones, Laufey’s newest album, A Matter of Time, will be released on all streaming platforms on Friday, Aug. 22. 

As of now, four of the 14 tracks available for listening include “Lover Girl,” “Silver Lining,” “Snow White” and “Tough Luck.” Of the four, “Silver Lining” was the first, released on Saturday, April 3, more than a month before the official announcement of the album through Instagram on May 14. 

 These snippets of the album showcase Laufey’s continuation of a jazz-inspired style, combined with lyrics of a modern-day pop ballad. In “Lover Girl,” she dives deeper into her personal relationships and experiences of falling in love using a similar sound and composition to her hit, “From The Start,” released May 2023.   

Since gaining her fame from TikTok, the singer-songwriter has been continuously releasing strong, successful projects that are well-loved. Her 2023 album, Bewitched, was successful among listeners and critics, earning a Grammy for Traditional Pop Vocal Album in 2024. 

Considering her past successes and strong singles, expectations are high for another impactful album. 

Essex Honey – Blood Orange

Following his spike in popularity from the song “Champagne Coast,” being utilized in multiple TikTok trends in the Summer of 2024, Dev Hynes, who goes by the stage name Blood Orange, is set to release his newest album, Essex Honey, on Friday, Aug. 29.

The project contains his latest singles “Mind Loaded,” “Somewhere in Between” and “The Field.” Several star-studded features included on the album are Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar, The Durutti Column, Load, Mustafa and Tariq Al-Sabir.

All three tracks reflect his recognizable sound: hypnotizing vocals atop layers of various instruments and sounds, creating his production staple. 

From the tracks released, the album’s tone seems to stray away from Hynes’s prior alternative albums, Cupid Deluxe, released in 2013, and Freetown Sound, released in 2016. The singles possess a more slow-paced quality, with a melancholy tone, similar to his songs “Chance” and “Chosen,” featuring Polachek.

The singer and producer’s discography comprises a majority of alternative albums, except for his previous album, Angel Pulse, which was labeled by Apple Music as R&B/Soul. Despite the genre change, his sound remained consistent and easily recognizable.

Hynes is now turning back to the alternative R&B genre in this approaching 14-track album that already holds an abundance of promise.  

Son of Spergy – Daniel Caesar

R&B singer Daniel Caesar officially announced the release of his fifth studio album titled Son of Spergy through a story on his Instagram, posted July 19. The project is speculated to be released by the end of this year, despite Caesar not disclosing a set release date. 

Shortly before announcing his album through a video on Instagram, he released the project’s lead single, “Have a Baby (With Me),” on July 25, which already surpassed 5 million streams on Spotify. Parallel to his most popular songs like “Japanese Denim” and “Rearrange My World,” featuring Rex Orange County, the tune explores romance but takes a melancholy approach that exhibits the decline of a relationship. 

His most streamed album on Spotify, “Freudian,” features two of the most popular love songs among young couples, “Best Part” featuring H.E.R., and “Get You” featuring Kali Uchis. 

Despite releasing one single from the record, the artist’s change in tone alludes to the project leaning toward songs focusing on the loss of love, as opposed to the romantic side seen in his previous projects.

With hopes of more singles on the way, anticipation surrounding the record remains high, with growing curiosity regarding the release date.