The annual post on “Veteran artists returning with new music in the upcoming year” has been somewhat of a tradition for us. In view of this, I sincerely apologize for writing and publishing this as late as I have. Two overseas vacations back to back can create a pile of work that displaced this post from my hierarchy of priorities. Hopefully, despite the fact that we are over three weeks into the year, this post is NOT too late. 2024 was an interesting (albeit not an earthshattering one) year for pop music. The defining events of pop music last year, from my perspective, are as follows:
- The demise of music maestro and producer Quincy Jones. As someone whose musical competency and heritage transcended traditional genre boundaries, and as someone that was a foundational element to some of the most enduring music, Quincy Jones was undoubtedly a gifted legend. His story is also one how music became his catharsis from relative poverty and chaos while giving him a sense of dignity that was absent for black people that were coming of age at the time that he did.
- The surprise return of New wave duo Tears For Fears with a handful of new songs (albeit not enough for a full album) that are incredibly well-produced and while they pale in comparison with the highlights of their fantastic 2022 album “The Tipping Point”, these songs are far better than those released when the duo first reformed (after over a decade apart) as part of the album “Everybody loves a happy ending”.
- Former teeny-bopper Charlie Puth returned with a Christmas song that channels at least some of the spirit of Wham’s hit single “Last Christmas” without being derivative. The song, titled “December 25th” has the ingredients of music that can stand the test of time if given a real shot at being heard.
This year’s list of veteran artists has some musical heavyweights. Here they are:
- Madonna:
A year ago, I reviewed one of the Madison Square Garden concerts of Madonna as part of her “Celebration tour” – a retrospective that celebrated each phase of an illustrious career that has spanned a little over four decades for pop music’s undisputed “Queen of pop”. In that review, I had also indicated that the notion of a popstar (with global ubiquity) in her mid-60s was somewhat of a new concept given the age-old notion of the word “pop” being almost exclusively associated with conventional definitions (i.e. rooted in chronological age) of “youth”. It was tempting to think of Madonna’s “Celebration” tour as a natural grand finale but it appears that Madonna has absolutely no desire to bow out and is back in the studio with producer Stuart Price (a producer that she brought out of relative obscurity with her US #1 album “Confessions on a dancefloor” in 2005). Fans of the album are undoubtedly hopeful for Part 2 of “Confessions”. Oddly enough, I prefer Stuart Price’s work with acts such as Kylie Minogue (on “Aphrodite”), Take That (on “Progress”) and New Order (specifically on the track “Jetstream” from “Waiting for the Siren’s call”) while having largely muted enthusiasm for Madonna’s “Confessions” album. Hence, a Madonna album that is stylistically more in the vein of Stuart Price’s other work is more my cup of tea. So far, Madonna has shared images from the recording studio but there do not appear to be any concrete details with regards a timeline for the album release. Either way, I am cautiously optimistic!
- The Weeknd:
Canadian native Abel Tesfaye, known for this smooth Michael Jackson-esque vocals has been a mainstay of the music limelight for a little over a decade now. While I do not think he is particularly consistent with his music output, there still is a lot to like from his back-catalog and he continues to be one of the biggest modern pop stars on the planet. The upcoming album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” was originally scheduled for release on January 24, 2025 but was delayed by a week due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. Three singles from this album have seen the light of day. The well-produced lead single “Dancing in the flames” is more style than substance undermined by a rather pedestrian melody. The follow-up singles are generic and unmemorable despite being up-tempo. Some of the best songs from The Weeknd have not been released as singles. A noteworthy example is the brilliant “A Lonely night” from “Starboy” (2016). In view of this, I am hoping that the singles we have heard so far are not the musical zenith for this album. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait very much longer to find out!
- Jamiroquai:
Acid jazz turned funky disco-soul act Jamiroquai is the best example of the broad-minded curatorial ethic of MTV’s heyday being a catalyst for widening the notion of the word “mainstream”. A musical act with a heritage similar to that of Jamiroquai’s does NOT enjoy the level of celebrity Jamiroquai (especially their lead singer Jay Kay) did and continues to enjoy. The eye-popping music videos (featuring fancy cars, gorgeous models, and lead singer Jay Kay’s trademark dance moves) made the band an irresistible mainstay in the second innings of MTV in the 90s. More importantly, the en masse warming up of music’s most powerful curators (especially outside the US) to Jamiroquai added a welcome layer of diversity to the musical spectrum of commercial viability. The band’s music has also aged incredibly well. With a brand as strong as theirs and a cult following whose reverence for the band only seems to be strengthening over time, long gaps between albums do NOT seem to be a problem for the band. In fact, their last album titled “Automaton” was released back in 2017. Lead singer Jay Kay describes the upcoming as album as a “11 track banger”. In this era of rampant ageism in pop music, we’re glad acts like Jamiroquai still feel incentivized to make new music. This album cannot see the light of day soon enough.
- Bruno Mars:
I have had mixed feelings about Bruno Mars ever since he rose to prominence over a decade ago. He undoubtedly benefited from being the darling of music’s few kingmakers in the US – and as Aussie pop queen Kylie Minogue once said in an interview, “having hits in the US automatically guarantees an artist global hits” and consequently ubiquity. I often saw him as one of the faces of overexposure of a handful of artists/bands in the US – a trend that dates back to the mid-90s after the rollout of the Telecommunications Deregulation Act in 1996 and one that got progressively worse in this century. That being said, Bruno Mars has had his share of artistically credible moments – especially when emulating the sonic aesthetic of yesteryear’s R&B with hits such as “Versace on the floor” (something that would fit well on a Debarge album) and his hits (“Leave the door open”, “Skate” and “Blast Off” being the highlights) as part of Silk Sonic (a collaboration with Anderson.Paak). Like it is with his contemporary The Weeknd, a few singles from the upcoming album have seen the light of the day. “Die with a smile” (a duet with Lady Gaga) showcases the vocal chops of both acts rather well but the unmemorable melody undermines its ability to become a modern classic. We find that despite our muted enthusiasm about Bruno Mars, we always find some potent radio fodder (that we feature on our 24/7 online radio broadcast) from each of his albums. To that end, I sincerely hope he has some of that for us on his new album.
- Robbie Williams:
British bad boy and former Take That member Robbie Williams is riding high on the promotional tour for a new biopic about his life. The movie is titled “Better Man”. This movie released a month ago and has been the recipient of glowing reviews. It is also a precursor for a new album featuring high-profile collaborations including Tony Iommi (from Black Sabbath) and Glenn Hughes (from Deep Purple) on an adrenaline-infused guitar-based track called “Rocket”. This is likely to be reminiscent of the sound that dominated some of his earlier solo work. Fans are likely to get their first glimpse of the new material on his upcoming concert tour (which starts in late May) across the UK and Europe. My initial view of Robbie Williams after he first left Take That in the mid-90s was one of indifference – but the love affair with a lot of his music began with “No Regrets” (featuring Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys on backing vocals) and it solidified with his super-classy and sophisticated “Reality Killed The Video Star” album. Hopefully, the new album features at least SOME of the elements that made those pieces of music fantastic.
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
While sipping mocktails at a bar in Williamsburg (Brooklyn – New York) in April 2024 with a high school friend of mine, I could not help overhear a conversation happening at the table right behind where I was sitting where a bunch of girls in their 20s were gushing about how they could not get the hit single “Murder on the Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor out of their heads. They were talking about the song like it was new. Unbeknownst to the average American pop music listener, this song was a hit pretty much EVERYWHERE in the world in the 2001. Back then, the few pop music kingmakers (i.e. the very few decision makers at terrestrial radio) in the US enjoyed perpetrating this myth that British and American music tastes were vastly different and that a lot of music from the UK from the mid-90s onwards would NOT translate in an American context. Of course, they made this determination before ever giving this music a shot at ubiquity. Just like pop star Sting in the 90s sidestepped the narrow-mindedness of terrestrial radio by having his hit single “Desert Rose” featured in an TV advertisement for Jaguar in a quest to propel the popularity of the song (and yes, that strategy worked brilliantly), it appears that “Murder on the dancefloor” received a similar backdoor option to popularity in the US after it was featured in the 2023 comedy thrilled movie “Saltburn”. Not only has this broken Sophie Ellis-Bextor to an American audience over two decades after she became hugely popular overseas, but it has ushered a new phase of consequence in her career. For starters, she is back on a major record label (Universal Music) thanks to this new career renaissance. Fortunately, she is not hellbent on rehashing the past and as much as she is enjoying her new stateside success and is on the verge of release a new album titled “The Invisible Line” (slated for release in the summer of 2025). While, her lead single “Freedom of the night” embodies the disco-pop sound she is known for, it falls a little flat. That being said, a follow-up dance track (not a single but a part of the “Warchild UK” compilation) called “Devotion” (a full length clip is below) does a far better job of whetting the appetite for her upcoming album. I am personally optimistic about her new musical output. While I consider myself only a casual fan, I am indebted to her for offering at least some radio fodder of every album she has released in the last 24 years. “The Invisible Line” cannot arrive soon enough.
- Kim Wilde:
It must have been a frustrating experience to be a female pop star in the 80s. Despite great music from female artists in that glorious decade, one cannot imagine how any of them dealt with living in the shadow of Madonna – who had essentially become a once-in-a-generation cultural phenomenon with catchy pop music married with a visual aesthetic that has been immortalized. In doing so, she had eclipsed all her female contemporaries. British pop star Kim Wilde was undoubtedly one of the many artists that found themselves being unfairly compared to Madonna despite a string of hits that include “Kids In America” and “You keep me hanging on” (a US #1 single). While her time in the American limelight ended at the dawn of the 90s, she continued to have hits abroad up until the mid-90s after which we went on some version of a hiatus. Her return as a reinvented rock chick with songs such as “Perfect Girl” and “Together we belong” on the “Never Say Never” (2006) album was celebrated in continental Europe but was overlooked in other major music markets – and this is a loss for the larger market of music aficionados since this was Kim Wilde in top form. She continued with gusto on her albums “Come out and play” and covers album “Snapshots”. In a fairer world, this would have been given the attention (outside of our 24/7 global online radio broadcast) in the US. I was secretly hoping for a new album in this vein but this time, her upcoming album “Closer” (slated for release on January 31, 2025) , according to online pop music magazine Retropop, is a sonic sibling to her 1988 album “Close”. The lead single “Trail of Destruction” blends nostalgia with contemporary sounds but is undoubtedly a stylistic deviation away from the rock sound that brought her back in 2006. The second single “Midnight train” does not land nearly as well but I am optimistic that the protest song “Trail of Destruction” is a far better indicator of what we can expect on “Closer”. Fortunately, we have to wait less than a week to find out.
- Craig David:
Craig David’s meteoric rise to global ubiquity while he was still a teenager with his landmark debut album “Born to do it” was a career red herring – at least until recently. Despite releasing a slew of radio-friendly singles over several albums, it seemed like his glory was inextricably linked to his stellar debut. The lyrics of his single “Rise and Fall” (a duet with rockstar and Police frontman Sting from his sophomore album “Slicker than your average“) seemed eerily prophetic. The only thing the song (which samples “Shape of my heart” from Sting’s 1993 “Ten Summoner’s Tales” album) did not predict was his resurgence against all odds while breaking through to a new generation of fans with his Big Narstie collaboration “When the bass line drops” – the beginning of a new era for him in the limelight – one in which he managed to jettison the “faded popstar” label. His mainstream resurgence has primarily been a European phenomenon. Yet, it gave Craig David enough momentum to return to American stages for his TS5 gigs (a concert format that features freestyling, DJing, and singing live with backing tracks) in recent years – but his “7 Days” Commitment tour (more than a subtle nod to his biggest hit in the US) in 2024 featuring seven concert dates in the US is his first time playing with a live band in the US since 2001. It was a great reminder that he is still one of greatest musical voices of his generation. His soulful crooning and melismatic swirls come to him as naturally now as they did when he first rose to prominence at the turn of the century. That being said, despite his resurgence, he has not necessarily been the most consistent with his output. But every now and then, in a midst of generic output, he drops something truly noteworthy. I particularly liked his 2022 single “Better Days”. The two new singles “In your hands” and “SOS” are pleasant but not truly memorable but I cannot help but hope that the best of his new material will surface on his upcoming album (yet to be named and there is no release date as of now).
- Natalie Imbruglia:
This lady has to be one of the most criminally under-rated vocalists of her generation. In America, she is still largely known for her debut single “Torn”. This is a shame since her best followed after her debut album. Noteworthy but often overlooked tracks by her include “Lukas” (from her ill-fated “Come to life” album), “Standing there” (a b-side from the single “Beauty on the fire”) and of course her hit single “Wrong Impression” from her sophomore album “White Lilies Island”. Her last album, “Firebird” received a lot of critical acclaim. It wasn’t heavy on radio fodder (with the exception of “Maybe it’s great”) but it showcased her vocal chops. Very little is known about her upcoming album other than the fact that she has around 13 new songs written for it. Hopefully, more details surface as the year moves along.
- Johnny Hates Jazz:
Sometimes, pop bands create timeless hits that are larger than the band itself. Anglo-American trio (now a duo with lead singer Clark Datchler and producer/bass player Mike Nocito) Johnny Hates Jazz definitely falls in this category. To the broader public, it looked like they had become overnight stars as the biggest new band in 1988. The reality was quite different. All three members at the time had been groomed in different capacities at RAK studios (founded by record producer Mickie Most) in London. It looked like their story had ended soon after it began with lead singer Clark Datchler leaving the band after their debut album “Turn back the clock” hit the #1 spot on the UK albums charts and spawned hits such as the timeless “Shattered Dreams”, “Turn back the clock”, and “I Don’t want to be a hero”. 25 years of time apart was not enough to dilute their sonic chemistry and to the surprise of many, Clark Datchler and Mike Nocito reunited to release two fantastic albums – “Magnetized” and “Wide Awake”. These albums embody some of the elements that made “Turn back the clock” the masterpiece that it is and they hold up incredibly well independent of the Johnny Hates Jazz yesteryear halo. The band also just wrapped up a headlining tour around the UK. Given the response to their concerns, it appears that touring stints in Australia are likely and I can only hope that they finally set foot on an American stage soon. But the bigger news is the promise of new music. A new Johnny Hates Jazz single has been recorded and could see the light of day in “a matter of weeks” according to lead singer Clark Datchler as mentioned in the most recent episode of his fantastic livestream titled “Journey Songs”. He also added that he is sitting on three albums worth of ideas – so hopefully those ideas morph into recorded music by the end of the year and we see a fifth Johnny Hates Jazz album (the fourth with Clark Datchler since he was not part of their ill-fated sophomore album “Tall Stories”).
- Samantha James:
It appears that we have been teasing new music by dance pop starlet Samantha James for almost a decade. In our article titled “Veteran artists/bands returning with new music in 2024”, we indicated that she had deviated from the process and ethic that made her first two albums “Rise” and “Subconscious” albums the brilliant pieces of music that they are. The deviation stems from her NOT working with Sebastian Arocha Morton (the production mastermind of her first two albums). Their creative chemistry has been compared to that of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt from Everything But The Girl. Samantha has been recording this album in different parts of the world. She offers little glimpses into this process via her Instagram presence. Her latest recording location is South Africa. She certainly knows how to dial up the intrigue levels. In fact, one of the studios there appears to be tied to Universal Music’s office in Johannesburg. By now, most fans would have given up on her but she knows exactly how to keep people at the edge of their seats. I am hoping at least some of this new music surfaces this year. The wait has been excruciatingly long!
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- Poets Of The Fall:
Rock music’s best-kept secret from Finland clearly does not believe in taking extended breaks. Their propensity towards being prolific in a music industry that feels less and less like a meritocracy is beyond admirable. Their guitarist Olli Tukiainen recently released an instrumental album titled “Lost within the fire”. The lead single “Livin’ the dream” possesses all the swagger and snarl of the Poets Of The Fall instrumental track “Rogue” from their “Jealous Gods” album. Fortunately, this is NOT an indication that the band members are going their separate ways to pursue solo endeavors. In late September of 2024, they posted that they are working on new material – but as of now, we have no timeline of the album release or the recording process. It has been three years since their last album “Ghostlight”. They have been pretty good about churning out an album every alternate year so let’s hope that spunk is still alive!
So this is our list. Anyone noteworthy we are missing? If so, please feel free to share in the comments below. Wishing all of you a glorious 2025 – and once again, my sincere apologies for the delay in posting this!
Broadcasting Worldwide
In case you did not pick up on this earlier, the blog you are reading is affiliated with Radio Creme Brulee – an online radio station that features an eclectic mix of current pop and rock music from both sides of the Atlantic alongside hits, forgotten gems, and rarities from the last three decades. Alongside newer artists, we also play plenty of newer music by bands that rose to prominence in the 80s,90s, and the 00s. Noteworthy examples include Simply Red, Wet Wet Wet, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, Dubstar, Kings Of Convenience, Tears For Fears, Go West, Duran Duran, Belinda Carlisle, Camouflage, Spandau Ballet, INXS, Depeche Mode, Suede, The Corrs, Jamiroquai, Keane, Johnny Hates Jazz, Simple Minds, and Culture Club.
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