12 Big New Albums Coming Out in May

By JC Villamere. 3 May 2022 9:36 AM

These albums MAY be coming out this month. Or MAYbe not. JK, they’re all legit being dropped this month. Unless they happen to be pushed back. We’re not responsible for that. All we know is that, as it stands, these are some of the biggest new records set to come out this month. MAYbe you’ll enjoy them! Okay, sorry, we’ll stop now and just get straight to the records:

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ABA

Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

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Steve Jennings / Contributor, Getty

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Universal, artwork by Autumn de Wilde

via Red Light Management

Othello Grey via Hive Mind PR

Calm Elliott-Armstrong via Hive Mind PR

Greg Williams via Warner

Jenna Jones

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Harry Styles
Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ABA
This British pop star is a bonified sensation. The former member of One Direction is hot off his eye-popping set at Coachella where he brought out Lizzo one weekend and Her Majesty Shania Twain the next. His third record, 'Harry's House', is out on May 20 and the lead single, "As It Was", is an early contender for song of the summer. He's the cheeky cover star of Better Homes & Gardens. Yes, you read that right. His BH&G issue is out May 12, wherein he discusses what makes him feel at home. What makes us feel at home is listening to "As It Was" on repeat because that's what is currently happening at our home. It's Harry's house and we just live in it.
Arcade Fire
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
‘We’, the eagerly anticipated sixth album, is out on May 6. It’s the product of what frontman Win Butler calls “the longest we’ve ever spent writing, uninterrupted, probably ever.” Watch for the Canadian indie rock icons to take the stage at the Juno Awards on May 15.
Jack Harlow
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
You used to know him for his rap on Lil Nas X's smash hit "Industry Baby". Now you know him for his hit single, "First Class". That's the latest single from 'Come Home the Kids Miss You', out on May 6. Soon, you'll know him from his big-screen debut in the reboot of the 1992 movie "White Men Can't Jump". He's on the cover of Rolling Stone right now. He's a big deal. Get to know him.
Tate McRae
Steve Jennings / Contributor, Getty
The Calgary-born pop phenom will drop her debut disc, 'I Used To Think I Could Fly', on May 27. The single "She's All I Wanna Be" already has over 100 million streams and has entered the Top 20. Her first studio full-length record follows her 2021 EP, 'Too Young To Be Sad'. That's the one that has her big hit, "You Broke Me First", which has over 1.4 billion streams. This fall, she'll be the special guest on Shawn Mendes's world tour, and she's been named Maybelline's newest brand ambassador. So, not too shabby for an 18-year-old.
Kendrick Lamar
Allen J. Schaben / Contributor, Getty
Yes. It's happening. He's back. The new record, 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers', is out May 13. We get it: it must be hard to follow up his massively influential and highly acclaimed last record, 'Damn', from 2017. Although we did get a heavy dose of Lamar on the 2018 soundtrack to "Black Panther". And he has popped up on the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show and a bunch of features from artists like Beyonce, 2 Chains, and Baby Keem. In fact, "Family Ties", one of Lamar's two 2021 songs with Keem, won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance.
Florence + the Machine
Universal, artwork by Autumn de Wilde
Hey, you remember that episode of the “Sawbones” podcast on The Dancing Plague? We do. And maybe Florence Welch does, too. Just before the pandemic, she got really into choreomania, a Renaissance phenomenon where groups of people -- sometimes thousands of people -- danced wildly to the point of exhaustion. To the point of collapse. Even to the point of ( ~ dramatic pause ~) death. You can call it the dancing plague, you can call it choreomania, or you can call it dance fever, probably. That’s what this English indie rock band have called their fifth album, out on May 13.
Belle and Sebastian
via Red Light Management
The legendary Scottish indie rock band will release their first album in seven years on May 6. 'A Bit of Previous' is their tenth record. Also, did you know that, despite their moniker, Belle and Sebastian aren't a duo comprising one Belle and one Sebastian? Not even close: There are actually seven people in this band, and if the group were named after them, it'd be called Mick and Richard and Bobby and Chris and Stevie and Sarah and Stuart. Of course, we all know that the Belle and Sebastian name is taken from the French novel 'Belle et Sébastien', which is about a six-year-old boy and his dog. And we all know that because we just looked it up and told you about it.
Jahmal Padmore
Othello Grey via Hive Mind PR
The up-and-coming Toronto R&B artist's debut record, 'Esparonto', is set to come out on May 27. The album was mixed by Louis Cremades, who has also worked with the Weeknd. Padmore says the single "Sorted" addresses the need for autonomy despite wanting to connect to a lover. "The main refrain, 'I can't give you the things you need/without forsaking a part of me', is a reflection that many of us have felt when falling in and out of relationships that give us all we need in spite of requiring all we have."
Battle of the Canadian Supergroups
Calm Elliott-Armstrong via Hive Mind PR
Anyway Gang’s album ‘Still Anyways’ is out on May 6. The Canadian supergroup comprising Sam Roberts, Chris Murphy from Sloan, Menno Versteeg from Hollerado, and Dave Monks from Tokyo Police Club is touring the country in May.

Meanwhile, Sauna will drop ‘Dose Yourself’ on May 20, and that band is made up of Michael le Riche from Fake Palms, Zach Bines of Weaves, and Braeden Craig from Greys. The record features James Baley, Luke Lalonde from Born Ruffians, Carlyn Bezic from Jane Inc. and US Girls, and saxophonist Karen Ng, who’s worked with Andy Shauf.
Liam Gallagher
Greg Williams via Warner
'C'mon You Know' is the third solo record from the Oasis superstar. The namesake single, "C'mon You Know", features Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig on the saxophone. And the other single, "Everything's Electric", was co-written by Dave Grohl. So this whole thing sounds like a jam. It's out on May 27.
Mandy Moore
Jenna Jones
The Emmy-winning star of "This Is Us" is going back to her old job: music star. Her seventh record, 'In Real Life', is out on May 13, and she's taking it on the road. Her North American tour this summer is her first in a decade.(Her lone Canadian date is June 22 in Toronto.) In a statement, Moore said, "So much of this record came from future-tripping on the next chapter of my life and what it might look like: what parenthood would feel like, how it would change everything, and all the excitement and trepidation that comes with that. At the same time, it was about celebrating and acknowledging where we were at the moment and really trying to be completely present in the everyday—which is maybe the hardest part of the human condition."
Chainsmokers
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"Riptide" is the latest single off the group's upcoming fourth record, 'So Far So Good', out May 13. "What a ride it's been with you all to get to this point. We always tell ourselves… so far so good. Hopefully it's all you will be saying soon too," the duo wrote on Instagram. The duo's last LP, 'World War Joy', dropped in December 2019 and spent 86 weeks on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

12 Big New Albums Coming Out in May

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