2014 - What's to look forward to? Volume 1

2013 was a big year in music. The Rolling Stones turned 50 and returned to Hyde Park, Arctic Monkeys released their best work yet and possibly the album of the year, Queens Of The Stone Age wowed with the dark masterpiece '...Like Clockwork' and Arcade Fire triumphantly returned with 'Reflektor'. That's without even mentioning new releases from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Foals, Haim, Babyshambles, London Grammar, The 1975, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Johnny Marr, Dave Hause, Kings of Leon...... the list goes on. 

2014 has a lot to live up to, can it deliver?

Here is a look at what to expect in the next 12 months.

2014, like 2013, will see long awaited returns from some of the biggest names in music. Bruce Springsteen has already unveiled his latest offering 'High Hopes', released Monday 13th January (listen here on Spotify). The album is a mix of covers and B-Sides from the Boss, with an interesting collaboration with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. 

Bono and co are expected to return. Nothing really changes for U2 except the number of wrinkles on their faces and it looks like their music will continue unchanged with new song 'Ordinary Love' on the soundtrack of the recent film about Nelson Mandela's life, exhibiting the same guitar they have used for more than 30 years. An album is expected later in the year. 

Rock giants Metallica are also expected to return. With a headline slot at Sonisphere already confirmed, an album is rumoured for late 2014. It would be there first studio album as a band since 2008's 'Death Magnetic'. It's certainly been a long time, but will they be able to keep hardcore fans interested and win over a new generation at the same time?

Foo Fighters will return in 2014 with a new album that I'm sure will be full of big guitar riffs and drum solos. Rumours of the end of their hiatus were confirmed by this picture of a blood stained guitar posted on Twitter by the band and the announcement of a one-off stadium show in Mexico City in late December 2013. As a warm up they played a surprise gig at a Pizza shop in California. Work on their 8th studio album has already begun, but we are yet to hear a sample of the new material. I would anticipate a tour and festival dates to be confirmed soon, either for this year or early 2015.

I'm a big fan of Chuck Ragan. He has a uniquely rough, rasping tone to his voice and his recent material has been very enjoyable. Ragan is probably best known for his work with punk band Hot Water Music, but his solo material is largely acoustic which gives him another outlet for his songwriting skills. Ragan is also the organiser of the fantastic Revival Tour, an acoustic tour which assembles together members of America's modern punk/rock bands. Artists like Dave Hause of The Loved Ones, Brian Fallon of the Gaslight Anthem and Dan Adriano of Alkaline Trio, were all involved when I saw the tour in 2011 in Newcastle. Ragan's latest offering is due out in March and titled 'Till Midnight'. Last week he premiered a new track from the album, 'Non Typical'. It's a typically soulful song full of emotion, and mixing together acoustic guitar with fiddle and double bass, provided by long time collaborators Jon Gaunt and Joe Ginsberg. The female backing vocals provide a great contrast with Ragan's strong tone. 'Non Typical' shows great promise for the album.

Turning back to the British music scene, version 2.0 of Leeds favourite Kaiser Chiefs are due to release their fifth album. The title of the album has already been announced, 'Education, Education, Education & War', and two tracks have also debuted online. Kaiser Chiefs are a band who have gone through a lot of change over last year. Drummer and prinicpal song writer Nick Hodgson left the band, so hearing what the new ensemble produce will be interesting. Lead singer Ricky Wilson has recently jumped on the reality show judge bandwagon, by becoming a judge on BBC's The Voice. I found this quite surprising news. I did not expect the frontman of an Indie band whose philosophy would usually go against this type of show, to accept such a role. But it does provide a commercial platform to help the band launch their album.

Looking even closer to home, Maximo Park return in 2014 with their fifth studio album 'Too Much Information', released on 3rd February. Since their debut in 2005, Maximo have become known for jerky synth Indie pop, with many of their songs becoming dancefloor favourites. According to lead singer Paul Smith, 'Too Much Information' promises to be darker and moodier than any of their previous work. This is evident in the 2 tracks they have so far released. 'Brain Cells' was the first of these tracks to be revealed (available for download here). It's much darker than their earlier work and shows how the band have matured. Smith's voice is softer, sounding almost distant, and the synth is much less jerky, less pop influenced. It will certainly be interesting to hear the album in full and also see if this darker tone has changed their outstanding live performances which were previously full of Smith's unorthodox dance moves.

A new artist who has been creating a lot of hype recently is George Ezra. His husky voice and blues tone have quickly propelled the singer-songwriter to the top of many people's 'ones to watch' lists for 2014. The BBC listed him fifth in their much respected Sound of list and gave him a spot on the Introducing stage last June at Glastonbury festival. Having already released an EP last year named 'Did You Hear The Rain?' (listen here on Spotify), Ezra has already amassed a large fan club and it's only expected to grow in 2014. Well worth a listen.

Californian group Foster The People are another favourite of mine who are due to return in 2014, 3 years after their successful debut 'Torches'. At the start of the year the band unveiled this 'teaser' for their new single 'Coming Of Age'. Although it doesn't give much away, it definitely gives a hint to the sound the new album will have. Expect more of the same sing-a-long, toe tapping hits but this time with more style, injected from their 'new' influences Bowie and The Clash.

Fresh from taking on the world with a massive tour, taking in the US and Australia, You Me At Six return on the 26th January with their anticipated fourth studio album 'Cavalier Youth'. First single from the album, 'Fresh Start Fever', was released in early December and will certainly have their fans looking forward to the album as the track has all the components needed for a pop punk hit: high tempo, a powerful drum beat and guitar dominated melody. Personally I'm looking forward to the album, You Me At Six aren't trying to be something they're not. They are good at producing no nonsense pop punk, 'Sinners Never Sleep', 'Hold Me Down' and 'Take Off Your Colours' were all full of them, and I'm sure 'Cavalier Youth' will not disappoint.