The 13 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2022

Fall is the perfect time for cozy vibes and new music to soundtrack the days of hanging out by bonfires and enjoying warm beverages. One of the season’s most anticipated projects is Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights, which she recently announced while accepting the top prize at the MTV Video Music Awards. Carly Rae Jepsen will also release new album, which she says finds her at her most “introspective.” Indie darlings the 1975 and Arctic Monkeys have albums due, and we can also expect new work from stars like WILLOW, Noah Cyrus, Blackpink, and John Legend. Here are some of the most exciting albums coming out this fall.

Age/Sex/Location, Ari Lennox (Sept. 9)

The R&B artist took some time off between her critically-acclaimed 2019 Shea Butter Baby and her new album, Age/Sex/Location. Since her last album, she’s appeared as a featured artist on albums for people like Jazmine Sullivan, Summer Walker, Khalid, and more. If her Jermaine Dupri-produced single “Pressure” and her latest track, “Hoodie,” tell us anything about the new album, it’s that her peers should keep an eye out for her return.

Legend, John Legend (Sept. 9)

John Legend’s double album, Legend, is packed to the brim with features from the likes of Saweetie, Jazmine Sullivan, R&B newcomer Muni Long, Ty Dolla $ign, Jhené Aiko, Rapsody, Rick Ross, Jada Kingdom, and Amber Mark. The album is also executive produced by OneRepublic frontman and industry hitmaker Ryan Tedder. A press release for the album said the project is “suffused with an unapologetic spirit of sensuality and joy, informed by the full vulnerability of pain, praise, and healing.”

Hold The Girl, Rina Sawayama (Sept. 16)

Rina Sawayama became a critical darling in 2020 with her groundbreaking album, SAWAYAMA, leaving fans fired up about what the genre-bending artist will do next.

Born Pink, Blackpink (Sept. 16)

Blackpink is set for world domination. They’re talented dancers, they make infectious music, and have a devoted following across every social media platform. After a short hiatus and some solo projects, the quartet has regrouped to release a highly-anticipated second album, Born Pink.

Read More: Everything We Know About Blackpink’s New Album Born Pink

The Hardest Part, Noah Cyrus (Sept. 16)

Noah Cyrus has broken out as a star in her own right, further distancing herself from her sister, Miley. After the release of her debut EP in 2018, curious ears have wondered what she will do on a full-length album. She opened up to Rolling Stone about battling an addiction to Xanax and how that influenced her debut LP, The Hardest Part. “I’m not trying to be, like, any spokesperson for recovery or anything like that,” she said, “I, myself, am just going through it and figuring it out.”

<CopingMechnasim>, WILLOW (Sept. 23)

WILLOW’s pop-punk venture is a complete 180-degree turn from her debut single, “Whip My Hair,” in 2010. Over the years, she has fine-tuned her sound and followed in the footsteps of her mother, Jada Pinkett-Smith, who was the lead singer of a metal band called Wicked Wisdom. WILLOW’s self-titled 2019 album showed off her talents as a psychedelic-rock goddess and 2021’s lately I feel EVERYTHING, saw her reveal in the pop-punk revival, even getting reigning pop-punk king and queen, Travis Barker and Avril Lavigne to do features with her. Now, WILLOW is diving deeper into her emo aesthetic with her upcoming album, <CopingMechanism>.

Dirt Femme, Tove Lo (Oct. 14)

The disco-pop aesthetic has become increasingly popular, with multiple artists trying their hand at a genre that’s difficult to emulate. Tove Lo has stood out among a crowded pack, releasing exciting single after exciting single, stoking anticipating for her forthcoming LP, Dirt Femme.

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

The 1975 is finding its way back to the music and but not taking itself too seriously. The band’s newest album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, has already stolen the hearts of fellow musicians like Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast and Taylor Swift, who described it in three succinct words: “It’s so funny.” While the first single, “Part of the Band,” didn’t illicit a huge reaction, but the second, “Happiness,” was generally more well-received. Get ready to be transported back to the early 2010s.

The Loneliest Time, Carly Rae Jepsen (Oct. 21, 2022)

The world has been waiting for what Carly Rae Jepsen has in store next since 2019’s Jack Antonoff-produced Dedicated (and the B Side, released in 2020). She floated back into our lives with her comeback single, Western Wind, and sparkled on her playful tune Beach House. Jepsen wanted to highlight those feelings of loneliness on her latest album and but also wanted to make sure people see it as uplifting.

The Car, Arctic Monkeys (Oct. 21, 2022)

We last heard from Arctic Monkeys during the release of a live album in 2020, and before that, through the concept album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino put out in 2018. While they’ve done festival appearances over the years, it wasn’t until recently that they announced a new album would come out in October.

Midnights, Taylor Swift (Oct. 21, 2022)

After releasing two albums in 2020 and undertaking a mission to re-record the albums she didn’t own the masters to, fans were expecting Taylor Swift to announce which re-recorded album would be released next. Instead, Swift announced she’d be releasing an entirely new album titled Midnights on Oct. 21 while accepting her Video of the Year award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. She tweeted the album tracklist, which features 13 songs—her lucky number.

Read More: Everything We Know So Far About Taylor Swift’s New Album Midnights

Untitled, SZA (TBA)

SZA hasn’t released an album since 2017’s CTRL and she says that Top Dawg Entertainment’s label head, Punch, is to blame for delays on her new one. The two have exchanged passive-aggressive tweets after SZA responded to an Instagram comment that asked where the album was. In an interview with Vulture in August, Punch said SZA’s album is coming “very, very soon.”

Untitled, Paramore (TBA)

In January Rolling Stone reported Paramore was back in the studio after five years and following two dazzling albums from frontwoman Hayley William in 2020 and 2021. While they have yet to announce a release date, the band is slated to headline the When We Were Young Festival in October and have a tour planned for fall 2022. Of the sound they’re going for, Rolling Stone wrote, “Williams says she and York had been reminiscing on some of their earliest influences well before they began writing the LP. But she’s quick to note that that doesn’t necessarily mean the group is necessarily plotting a “comeback ‘emo’ record.”