The music scene has been sparkling for the last few years with some truly exceptional new artists rubbing shoulders with a host of established A-list bands, like U2, as they conclude seemingly never-ending tours. 2020, in contrast, looks to be the year of the indie and new-wave revival, and sees exciting new releases and tours by some of the most influential musicians of the era. Let’s check out three of our favourites.
MUSIC
Alanis Morissette: Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Release Date: 1 May 2020
One of popular music’s most prominent contemporary female singer-song writers, Alanis Morissette, returns after an eight-year hiatus with her new album Such Pretty Forks in the Road. Launched before the start of her acclaimed Jagged Little Pill 25-year anniversary tour, a global musical celebration of the seminal and seismic album of the same name, the album and the lead single, Reasons I Drink, see Morisette at her best with haunting melodies and cutting lyrics that resonate so easily with the trials of modern life.
Psychedelic Furs: Made of Rain
Release Date: 1 May 2020
There are plenty of bands tapping into the current nostalgia for new-wave music and fashion from the 80s, but it is rare that an influential legacy band like Psychedelic Furs returns with an album of new music to tease and tantalize fans old and new. The last time the Furs released an album was back in 1991, but if the lead single Don’t Believe is anything to go by, the album will whisk you back into the heady days of synthesizers, make-up and moody vocals with its gloomy guitar, wailing sax and Richard Butler’s haunting vocals.
Sparks: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
Release Date: 15 May 2020
The brothers Ron and Russell Mael, better known as Sparks, gained notoriety and a huge following in the 70s with their innovative art-rock sound and low-budget visuals. Their popularity has seen a resurgence in recent years, and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip will be their 24th studio album. The first recording since Hippopotamus and their collaboration with Franz Ferdinand under the pseudonym FFS, the new album teases content with its lead single Please as the boys plea with humanity’s leaders not to mess up the planet.
BOOKS
Open Book By Jessica Simpson
If your guilty pleasures include taking a peek at celebrities’ lives, then you should not miss the Jessica Simpson autobiography. The book tells the popstar’s journey, guided by her private journals that she has written since she was 15. It’s funny and also touching, and above all, entertaining.
The Boy From The Woods By Harlan Coben
This shocking thriller focuses on a man who was found as a boy living feral in the woods with no recollection of his past. Now he’s an adult, there’s another disappearance, this time of a local girl. Lives intertwine as the search for the girl takes place.
Little Fires Everywhere By Celeste Ng
Now a hit series on Hulu starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is an enthralling drama ignited by the intertwined fates of the seemingly ideal Richardson family and an elusive mother-daughter duo who have their lives turned upside down.
Asia Dreams May – July 2020
