It has been a while. The fear from the blank page weighs heavier on me than ever. I have a feeling I distanced myself from writing about music for so long that I have lost track of what there is to write about when it comes to songs and artists and awards… Not because of a lack of news. Rather a lack of sense of relevance.

Homecoming is difficult. And these pages are a home for good music. I wish to organize a dance or any kind of event that celebrates the return of the music column. But the national SIGs beat me to it: most of my current playlists are borrowed from the East Forum and D1 Highline events from the past few weeks. Recycling is good for the planet, or so I have heard. So instead of talking about events and music that has come to pass, I dedicate this issue to what is to come. If you have wondered about what there is to look for from the music business this year, look no further.

Big media already nit-picked the upcoming releases by Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Shakira, and all the buzz-names in the show business. Even Ye will continue to torture us with New-Kanye for a while this year. It’s easy for other artists to get lost in such a constellation of superstars, but it is worth taking the time and digging up their works.

Beginning with March releases, the ones that truly stand out are The Libertines, Four Tet, Tierra Whack, and Elbow. From The Libertines you can expect your typical indie rock; recognized already as one of the staple indie bands from the early 2000s, their new tracks can surely fit nicely into your Y2K revival and coming-of-age daydreams. Four Tet is a master of the mixing board and the reason you should keep an eye out for his upcoming album is mostly for the tour that will follow it because EDM is studio music… Tierra Whack can provide an entertaining and unexpected rap and RnB record that will probably produce a new TikTok audio immediately following its release. Elbow is the type of band a few of your friends might joke is dad-rock and while there is some truth to it, it is definitely not to be overlooked if you consider yourself a music connoisseur.

Moving on to other fresh spring releases, you can expect to hear from Khruangbin, Blue Oyster Cult, Girl in Red, Mark Knopfler, St. Vincent, Angus and Julia Stone, Cage the Elephant, and Twenty One Pilots. Khruangbin can be trusted to make a great chill record that you can study to (there is a 10+ part YouTube playlist series with music inspired by the Khruangbin style… I think that says something about their mastery). Blue Oyster Cult are a blast from the past and all classic rock fans would have a ball with whatever they put out, for the sake of the good ol’ days. Girl in Red is literally the first artist on the majority of Spotify playlists that have the words “wistful”, “yearning”, or “longing” in the description, so if your mood falls into any of these categories, then you should definitely lend her your ear. Angus and Julia Stone can act like a nice buffer between Girl in Red and whatever follows in your daily mix. Mark Knopfler is yet another rock dinosaur who refuses to step away from music, and we can all benefit from that: without musicians like him, we would not be where we are today. St. Vincent is not for the traditionalists or the mainstream fans, she likes to do her own thing and it takes a while to like her stuff, but the effort is worth it. But perhaps the most entertaining thing would be to watch the battle between Twenty One Pilots and Cage the Elephant to get back into the spotlight of ‘favorite new rock band’ after falling off the face of the Earth for so long.

The summer and fall releases are yet to be confirmed, but there are a few names to look out for on your discover pages later in the year. For people with strong eardrums and adrenaline addictions, Bring Me The Horizon is cooking something for you. Clubgoers will probably rejoice to know that Charlie XCX, who recently hosted quite the spectacular Boiler Room set, will also be releasing new music. We were hoping for an FKA Twigs record, but after somebody leaked her demos it will likely be pushed for another year. Eartheater will be there to fill that void with her own weird interpretation of pop music. Normani and Miguel have the traditional and evergreen RnB covered for 2024. Finally, this might be the year we witness the twilight of The Weeknd, who might be going back to using his real name and putting his stage persona on the shelf for a while.

Whatever you look forward to this year, I hope it is something that will inspire you to listen to a lot of new good music.