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Manifest, the NBC show cancelled while it ruled Netflix’s most popular list, will bring us a Season 4 at some point. That point is likely to happen, according to creator Jeff Rake, during the target month of November, although when the finale arrives is a whole other ballgame. The season will be a supersized one and contain the series finale, although we don’t know if that means that multiple parts will take more (or less) than a year to arrive.

What we do know is that we’re likely to see at least one chunk of episodes in 2022, and before that happens, there’s plenty of time to catch up. Netflix picked up the fourth season, so we’ll get to see what happened to Flight 828 and whether all of the still-fractured relationships (that inevitably showed strain after the passengers evaporated for five years) will ever heal.

Where can you watch the goods? There are a few places, beginning with the obvious: all three existing Manifest seasons are available on Netflix. In the alternative, you might choose to watch the third installment on Hulu.

Be forewarned, however, that once you start watching, you’re likely to start binging hard. This will be the case despite the silliest of plot holes and bizarre points where people are about to die and don’t. And people start spewing water and joining cults and growing divisive, all while the shadowy forces work against the passengers. I can’t promise that will all make sense (because it doesn’t), but this is an addictive show, in which people are emotionally invested.

In the end, Manifest is a Lost knockoff, and for some reason, people can’t get enough of those. And there’s something to be said about Netflix stepping up to make good on giving viewers answers and a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion before the show sees its fateful Death Day. In the meantime, there’s Netflix and Hulu, if you choose to climb aboard the flight of madness.

Being at the forefront of R&B and comparable to legendary figures within the genre like Usher and Frank Ocean is not an easy title, but David Brown goes above and beyond, while being known for his charm. Professionally known as Lucky Daye, the artist has become a pinnacle of new age R&B that placed him in the hot seat for two 2022 Grammys, winning one.

Raised in New Orleans, Daye’s sound is inspired by his Southern roots, effortlessly mixing old school with contemporary soul to create experimental R&B. The definition of what modern R&B is supposed to sound like has been tipping the scales thanks to artists like Daye who have defied labels within the genre. Between soulful interludes and mesmerizing ballads of adoration, listeners are incapable of not falling for Daye’s charm and getting lost in his voice.

With the recent release of his second album Candydrip, the passionate offering derives from a place of emotion, which isn’t a new method for him. In 2019, his first album Painted was his debut into artistry as an up-and-coming musician and proved himself as a force to be reckoned with. In addition, the singer’s background as a songwriter for legends like Mary J. Blige and Ne-Yo gained his notoriety and led to him signing with BMI. But this is something that Daye’s number one fans — labeled his “Daye Ones” — would already be familiar with. Out of the 132 accounts that he follows on Instagram, one of the fortunate fan pages that happened to make the cut is @daye.ones. He’s deemed as a kind artist, often thanking his Daye Ones and leaving free concert tickets for them via a city-wide scavenger hunt.

Some would consider producer Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II a Daye One, since the artist has worked with him since Painted for his debut single “Roll Some Mo,” which was released in 2018. Nominated for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance in 2020, the cannabis-inspired single describes Daye’s intimate smoking session with his girl as they’re mentally transported elsewhere while getting high. As the album continues, listeners are taken throughout Daye’s love story, including all of the highs and lows. The remaining 12 tracks keep the same energy as “Roll Some Mo” while exploring love, emotional attachments, and vulnerability. The success of this album led to Daye embarking on the Painted Tour across Canada and the US from September to October in 2019, including an appearance at AFROPUNK Atlanta.

Another highlight of Painted is Daye’s commentary on his religious upbringing, which is seen in songs like “Misunderstood.” Beyond musical inspiration, his stage name derived from fellow soul singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye when the New Orleans native chose to add an “e” to the end of Daye. Similar to Gaye, Daye’s upbringing in a Southern Christian church condemned secular music, therefore leading him to craft this religious trauma into creating his own melodies. Daye found a way to create music with essentially nothing but his voice and eventually ended up in season four of American Idol in 2005. Titled on YouTube as “David Brown audition,” the archaic footage of a twenty-something Daye singing “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke begs the question — why did it take nearly a decade for his music career to take off?

Clips like Daye’s 2019 NPR Music Tiny Desk appearance show he’s a performer at heart and has a knack for captivating an audience. Throughout the comment section of the YouTube video, fans complimented his vulnerability and flow while restating that Daye’s career in R&B has been long-awaited. His 2019 live rendition of “Buying Time” on the COLORS show is another example of the artist’s tasteful vocal ability to glide over instrumentals. Although his four previous Grammy nominations (“Roll Some Mo” for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance, “Real Games” for Best Traditional R&B Performance, and Painted for Best R&B Album) were to no avail, Daye’s Painted era was only the beginning of his career trajectory.

Prior to the beginning of the pandemic, Daye’s career knew zero boundaries as he was featured on the Robert Glasper-scored soundtrack for The Photograph alongside HER and Erykah Badu. Aimlessly watching the Black love story between Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae’s characters was already intoxicating enough, with the introduction to Daye’s “Fade Away” an added bonus. Then, 2020 was a busy year for the New Orleans native. Among collaborators like Kehlani, Jim-E Stack, Babyface, Buddy, KAYTRANADA, SG Lewis, KIRBY, Kiana Ledé and Leon Bridges, there wasn’t a moment to sleep on Daye’s features in between Painted and his next project.

Following his first tour, Daye’s successful track was cut short by quarantine, which led to intimate recording sessions for his EP, Table For Two. The critically acclaimed seven-track project is composed of duets with women of R&B like Mahalia, Yebba, Joyce Wrice, Ari Lennox, Queen Naija, and Tiana Major9. Keeping the contributors solely women wasn’t a thoughtless tactic, since Daye understood that the women in R&B deserved their flowers for their effortless talent. “I’ve been feeling like it’s time for women to take their rightful place in leadership roles,” Daye said in an interview with W Magazine. “It’s their time to shine. Women need to be seen and heard, and I want to be a part of that.” While singing about the uglier side of a relationship, Daye and his female contributors explored breakups, jealousy, miscommunication, and frustration on the duets project, which was a prequel to Candydrip.

The hype and mystery surrounding Daye’s second album ceased when the artist unveiled the first single “Over,” an electrifying standout track that sampled Musiq Soulchild’s “Halfcrazy” and accompanied a music video that featured Jordyn Woods as his leading lady. Among collaborations like “NWA” featuring Lil Durk, the Smino-assisted track “God Body,” and “Compassion” featuring Canadian soul duo Chiiild, Candydrip reflects Daye’s roots in the Crescent City and is an amalgamation of hip-hop, blues, soul and R&B. As he celebrates the success of Candydrip with his headlining sold-out tour with Joyce Wrice, award show season completed with his two nominations for Table For Two, and a win for Best Progressive R&B Album. To the artist that assumed no one would listen to Painted, turned his personal struggle into success, and sang his heart out onstage during American Idol, milestones such as collaborating with Earth, Wind & Fire are only the tip of the iceberg to what’s in store for his artistry.

Daye said it best during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2021, “I think chemistry isn’t something that you create.” Although the artist is no chemist, he’s certainly correct. Among the love ballads, breakup songs, and quaint interludes dispersed throughout his catalog, the chemistry layered through his discography knows no bounds and leaves listeners with an organic love and understanding for Daye.

Music industry phenomenon Jack Harlow got his dancing shoes on last night with Lil Nas X when the pair performed their hit “Industry Baby” at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards show. Harlow’s moves pleased the folks who were bummed that the rapper didn’t get down in the song’s original music video. But to Harlow’s credit, he had something to be especially excited about on deck. Earlier today, he announced that “First Class,” the next single from his upcoming album due out in May, Come Home The Kids Miss You, will be dropping this Friday.

“First Class” will follow February’s release of the lead single “Nail Tech,” a sleek track with high-brow production from a super-team that includes Boi-1da and Rogét Chahayed. In the short clip of “First Class” that Harlow shared, he raps, “I got plaques in the mail, peak season. Shout out to my UPS workers makin’ sure I receive ’em,” before an inviting beat drops. We’ll surely be hearing plenty of the song from Friday onwards.

Meanwhile, Harlow — a Louisville native — will soon be living every Kentuckyian’s dream (maybe?) and is getting his own menu at KFC. He’s also set to make his acting debut in a reboot of White Men Can’t Jump.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Friday, workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse voted to create a union — a first in the super-sized company. The news no doubt riled its union-hating, outer space-frequenting founder, who stepped down as CEO last July. They already seem to be trying to tighten the leash on their nearly one million U.S. employees. The Intercept obtained internal company records that revealed a planned internal messaging app will ban words like “union,” “slave labor,” “plantation,” even “restrooms.”

The app was first conceived in November of 2021, with the idea of encouraging employees to speak to each other using posts they call “Shout-Outs.” The idea is to improve morale — and, of course, productivity — by adding to an already in-place game-like rewards system, in which dutiful employees are awarded virtual stars and badges.

But some officials were reportedly worried that the app could succumb to “the dark side of social media.” As such, they created an “auto bad word monitor,” which would block messages that feature certain flagged language. It’s a long list. Along with the aforementioned terms, there’s “pay raise,” living wage,” “compensation,” “ethics,” “unfair,” “diversity,” “injustice,” “fairness,” even “stupid.” (“Restrooms” is on there surely due to the many claims that employees often have no time to relieve themselves and have to find, shall we say, creative alternatives.)

The app is still in the works, and details, a spokesperson told The Intercept, had “not been approved yet and may change significantly or even never launch at all.”

In the meantime, founder Jeff Bezos — who stepped down as CEO last July, giving him more free time to either hang with celebrities or send them jokey threats — saw his already unimaginable wealthy grow by $24 billion during the pandemic.

(Via The Intercept)

For Jessica Cook, the bet was simple: If she could build a Lego tower from the floor to ceiling of their living room while her husband was away at a concert, then he would give her $100.

Then the deal got even sweeter when her husband’s nephew also offered to throw in another $100 if Jessica succeeded.

We’re talking 200 bucks here, people. No turning back now.

Jessica gave us the play-by-play of the whole thing on TikTok. And people were avidly watching the nail-biting escapade.

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1:37 p.m.: “My husband just left to go to a concert overnight and he and I’ve been sitting here building this,” Cook tells us, showing off a moderately tall Lego tower. But certainly not ceiling level.

Boy, is this lady determined. Not even the constant cries for mommy that could be heard in the background could keep her from the task at hand.

@jessicacooook

I take bets very seriously.

♬ original sound – Jessica cook

“The one rule that my husband had for building this is that it has to be able to sit perfectly on the floor and wedge against the ceiling,” she explained, masterfully bracing the now wobbly tower under her chin.

Winning this bet couldn’t fall to chance. No no no. Jessica would need strategy! Tactical maneuvers! And yeah, maybe a bit of luck.

“I’m debating if I should measure this [a Lego block] and measure how tall the ceiling is … and then divide it by that number so I can see exactly … to make sure it will fit before I do all this work.”

Jessica started to panic over the potential consequences.

“If I get up there and then it doesn’t fit, it’ll be freaking devastating.”

Stay strong, Jessica! Believe in yourself!

4:15 p.m.: Progress achieved! Jessica, a self-proclaimed 5’8″, 5’9″, showed that the top of the tower had now reached just past the top of her head.

Which does beg the question: How long was this concert?

7 p.m.: Dinner break. Cause Rome wasn’t built in a day.

At this point, Jessica had three separate pieces that (ideally) would go together to form an even bigger tower.

The good news? Those pieces did fit together smoothly into one ginormous contraption. The bad news, as you could maybe guess: it couldn’t stand up without Jessica holding onto it … and she still had more building to do.

7:30 p.m.: Success!

@jessicacooook Reply to @britneyrene ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

Jessica revealed her colossal Lego creation, and it was more impressive than the Empire State building.

It might have been knocked over by the dog (sad), but still—there was undeniable video proof.

But the most important part: Did the husband pay up?

Well … no. And yes.

In a follow-up video, Jessica revealed that where she didn’t get paid, her husband did agree to treat her to get her hair done. And not just at any salon. To a blonde specialist who was twice the price of Jessica’s normal stylist. And let’s be honest, that bill’s probably gonna rack up a lot more than a hundred measly dollars.

@jessicacooook Reply to @taydrew95 ♬ original sound – Jessica cook

As for the nephew, well … he just bought a house. So we’re going easy on him.

I know what you’re thinking (a bet’s a bet!), but Jessica is clearly happy with her upcoming beauty treatment … along with some first-class Lego bragging rights. Still a win!

Over the past several weeks, Britney Spears has been very active on social media, writing a number of posts featuring long captions or chunks of text revealing many of her past struggles with her career, her past relationships, her self-image, and her family. While some have questioned the seemingly erratic behavior, it turns out she had a good reason for sharing — and occasionally deleting — those posts. As she revealed in her latest Instagram post, she’s writing a book about her experiences, a process she calls “healing and therapeutic.”

“I want to address my recent post captioning my past,” she wrote. “To my understanding, to most it’s confusing… why express NOW??? Well, I’m writing a book at the moment and as it’s actually healing and therapeutic… it’s also hard bringing up past events in my life… I’ve never been able to express openly.I can only imagine that I do sound childish but I was extremely young with those events took place … and addressing it now … I’m sure it seems irrelevant to most and I’m completely aware of that !!!”

It was previously reported that Spears had signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster which was called one of the biggest ever at an estimated $15 million. Apparently, Spears’ tweets have been something of a rough draft, her way of organizing her thoughts before committing them to print. As she notes in her post, both her mom and her sister Jamie Lynn have sold memoirs, something she initially didn’t approve of. However, it seems she’s finally ready to talk about it after baring her soul — as well as as much of her body as Instagram will allow. One thing is for sure: If ever there was a guaranteed day-one best seller, Spears’ book would certainly fit the bill.

Looking for the most anticipated indie album of 2022? Here it is. You see, where hip-hop heads are constantly fawning over every rumor surrounding the next Kendrick Lamar album (which is, quite frankly, understandable), indie fans are constantly yearning for the next Radiohead drop. Now with The Smile, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner have created a spin-off supergroup that is pretty damn close to the storied band behind OK Computer and In Rainbows. They’ve even got Radiohead’s go-to producer Nigel Godrich on board. And while an official announcement on the debut album from The Smile has yet to be made, the group just delivered their fourth single today in the paranoia-driven “Pana-Vision.” And like its three predecessors, it totally rules.

“Pana-Vision,” which debuted last night on the final episode ever of BBC One’s show Peaky Blinders, opens with an eery piano. It slowly unfolds alongside Yorke’s high-pitched delivery into something more inviting, before materializing into a track that is decidedly sinister. (Sound familiar?) Skinner’s smoky drumming feels akin to what you’d hear past 2 am at a London underbelly jazz club. But it’s Greenwood’s piano that really challenges your mind to understand how the song is supposed to make you feel. Altogether this is another fine companion piece to previously released singles in “You Will Never Work In Television Again,” “The Smoke,” and “Skrting On The Surface.”

The track was released along with a spooky animation by Sabrina Nichols, which you can watch above.

A big part of being a music fan is keeping up with the music of the moment; There’s a reason popular artists have gotten to where they are, after all. Another equally important aspect of being an informed consumer of music, though, is maintaining an awareness of the up-and-coming artists who are primed to shape the industry in their own ways.

That’s what Uproxx’s new Next Up series is all about.

Over the course of ten feature profiles, you’ll learn about artists currently laying the foundation for some major things to come, things that will both establish themselves as forces and influence those who come after them. Before those features start rolling in, keep reading for a rundown of who we decided needs to be a part of this conversation.

Dove Cameron

The pipeline from Disney Channel star to music icon has been fruitful over the years, as folks like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande have started on the network and gone on to tremendous musical success (also Olivia Rodrigo if you count her High School Musical series on Disney+). Now it’s looking like Dove Cameron, whose lengthy acting resume includes the lead role in the Disney Channel series Liv And Maddie, could very well be next. Her debut EP, Bloodshot / Waste, arrived in 2019 and she just recently had her biggest hit yet in February with the dramatic single “Boyfriend,” which was her first, and likely not last, song to grace the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Saya Gray

With her recent signing to Dirty Hit, Canadian-Japanese singer-songwriter Saya Gray finds herself in great company: The label’s esteemed artists include The 1975, Beabadoobee, Wolf Alice, and Rina Sawayama. Her first album for the label, 19 Masters, is on the way in June and based on songs like the recent single “If There’s No Seat In The Sky (Will You Forgive Me???),” it’s easy to see why Dirty Hit brought the innovative young artist on board, who’s adept at switching genres not just between songs, but sometimes right in the middle of them.

PinkPantheress

TikTok has become a real proving ground for up-and-coming artists as the young generation gets exposed to a lot of new music on the platform. PinkPantheress managed to stand out above all the noise and earn herself a record deal with Parlophone. Her music definitely embraces the fast-paced nature of TikTok: Most of the songs on her 2021 debut mixtape To Hell With It are shorter than two minutes. That didn’t stop the multi-genre project from performing particularly well, as it landed in the top 20 of the charts in PinkPantheress’ native UK.

Kali

Speaking of TikTok, Atlanta rapper Kali also found success on the platform and now she’s breaking new ground beyond it. As Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes, she’s moving into a space traditionally dominated by male rappers, one that is “marked by passive aggression, avoidant attachment, and audio gaslighting, with rappers and singers delighting in keeping their significant others guessing in the narratives of their songs.” Kali parlayed her breakout single “Mmm Mmm” into a debut EP, Toxic Chocolate. The Yung Bleu-featuring “UonU” is a highlight, on which she turns the tables and asserts dominance, rapping, “It’s a two-way street, we in the same lane / Play you ‘fore you play me, that’s just my mind-frame / But you still mine, babe.”

Tobi Lou

Odds are you’ve already heard Tobi Lou working with one of your favorites, as the Chicago-via-Nigeria rapper has collaborated with some of his biggest hometown peers, like Chance The Rapper, Dreezy, and Saba. He was on the ballot for the 2020 XXL Freshmen list and while he didn’t make the cut, he’s on to bigger and better things, like his recently released new album Non-Perishable, which mostly features Lou shining on his own but also alongside guests like T-Pain and Chika. All the name-drops are to illustrate that Lou has support from folks in high places, co-signs that show Lou is worth consideration.

Omah Lay

A lot of things have been going right for the 24-year-old Nigerian afrobeats star lately. Since landing a record deal a couple years ago, Omah Lay’s ascent has been quick, as he had a social media hit with “Bad Influence,” dropped some EPs that landed on Apple Music’s charts in Nigeria, and caught the attention of Justin Bieber, with whom he recently released the collaborative single “Attention.” Furthermore, Lay’s status as an afrobeats favorite was cemented with the launch of Billboard’s new US Afrobeats Songs chart in March. On the inaugural ranks, he had two songs in the top 30, including “Attention,” which graced the top five. Basically, Lay’s on an upward trend, so if you haven’t been paying attention so far, now’s a good time to start.

Bakar

Like many artists before him, Bakar got his start uploading songs on SoundCloud. That’s really one of the few ways the experimental UK indie rocker is like other artists, though. He gradually worked on his craft, forged a distinct aesthetic identity, and had himself a bit of a hit in 2019 with “Hell N Back,” which popped up on multiple rock and alternative Billboard charts, including a No. 1 placement on Adult Alternative Airplay. Things have only gotten better since then, as he had a feature on one of 2020’s most esteemed indie/pop albums in Benee’s Hey U X and released his debut album, Nobody’s Home, in February. He got some hometown love for that one, as it was a top-40 album in the UK. Now it feels like just a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up.

Horsegirl

Chicago trio Horsegirl formed in 2019, when its members were all teens. While many teenage endeavors are best left forgotten, Horsegirl has built on their start in a major way. They’ve since signed to Matador Records and so far released two singles for the label: 2021’s “Billy” and this year’s “Anti-Glory.” As for the sound, the group falls somewhere between post-punk and shoegaze, a zone that has clearly worked for them given the aforementioned examples of their success. It’s the kind of music that begs to be heard live, so there’s good news there, as one of the year’s buzziest bands has a slew of tour dates set for this summer.

Caracara

The 2019 EP Better was big for Caracara, as the rocking effort landed them on many people’s radars. That includes renowned producer Will Yip, who has worked with everybody from Lauryn Hill to Keane to The Wonder Years. He also linked up with Caracara on their recently released album New Preoccupations (As The Gods Descend), which is highlighted by the single “Colorglut,” which features Circa Survive’s Anthony Green. The company a band keeps can say a lot about them, and so far, a lot of top-tier folks have found their way to Caracara’s corner. Now that the new album is out and music fans have something fresh to sink their teeth into, the Caracara corner is about to get even more crowded.

Zack Fox

As social media has become a primary method of fan interaction for celebrities, a lot of musicians have emerged as legitimately hilarious social media personalities. Then there’s Zack Fox, who’s approaching things from the opposite direction: He was a comedian first, but in recent years, he’s found some solid footing in hip-hop: His debut album, Shut The F*ck Up Talking To Me, came out last year and he’s touring with Freddie Gibbs this year. On top of all that, he’s still acting and has a recurring role in one of the most acclaimed comedies of the moment, Abbott Elementary. He’s even an accomplished visual artist, as he illustrated the album sleeve of Thundercat’s Drunk. Basically, Fox has done something you’d probably enjoy in just about every artistic medium, which is something very few people can say.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Vince Staples has been relentlessly teasing his new album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart for the past several months (or years, really), and today, he finally lets fans get a glimpse of what the album will contain. The Long Beach rapper shared the tracklist, revealing song titles such as “DJ Quik,” named for the Compton producer who helped craft the sound of West Coast G-Funk in the 1990s, and “Mama’s Boy,” which sounds like it promises to be one of Staples’ most (only?) vulnerable tracks to date.

Incidentally, the real DJ Quik may actually appear on the album, as Vince posted a photo of himself in the studio with Quik to announce that the album was finished. The project clocks in at 16 tracks, marking a compromise between the monstrous, double-disc runtime of his debut album, Summertime 06, and the ultra-short projects he’s released since then, including the groundbreaking Big Fish Theory, the nostalgic FM!, and his most recent album, 2021’s somber Vince Staples.

The album also features his recently released single “Magic,” which was produced by Mustard and gave Vince as close to a pop radio-friendly single as he’s ever had. The new production style used on “Magic” and Vince’s latest single “Rose Street,” along with his recent appearance on Tyler The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost Tour, suggest that this could be the outspoken rapper’s most commercially successful album yet.

Ramona Park Broke My Heart is due 4/8 via Motown. Pre-save it here.

Summer is on its way, which means festivals, “song of the summer” debates, and warm-sounding tunes are coming. Before that, though, let’s not forget about spring, as this transitional season has plenty of releases worth looking forward to, especially when it comes to indie music.

(For our purposes, “spring” is defined as the period between this year’s vernal equinox and summer solstice, so from March 20 to June 21. Of course, we’re also excluding albums that got an early start this spring and were already released before today, since we can’t really anticipate them anymore; Pup’s The Unraveling Of PupTheBand and Destroyer’s Labyrinthitis come to mind.)

The next few months have a packed release schedule full of noteworthy projects by some beloved artists, so we combed through them and came up with the ten albums we’re most anticipating. Presented in order of release date, they are:

Father John Misty — Chloë And The Next 20th Century

Release Date: April 8

Save for the odd release here and there, Father John Misty has kept mostly quiet since releasing his 2018 album God’s Favorite Customer. He put himself back out there towards the end of 2021, though, when he covertly announced his new album via a spoken-word vinyl he mailed to some fans. He made a formal announcement in January this year while also sharing the album’s lead single, “Funny Girl.” Since then, he’s dropped some more singles, made some late-night TV appearance, and done other album promotion things, which is nice to see from Misty after a few years spent primarily out of the spotlight.

Wet Leg — Wet Leg

Release Date: April 8

It’s not often a debut indie album as as anticipated as the upcoming self-titled effort from Wet Leg is. Their catchy brand of rock has earned them acclaim already thanks largely to their debut single “Chaise Longue,” which managed peaks in the top 20 of Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay charts. If you want a co-sign, Wet Leg recently received maybe the best one in rock: In an interview, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl said, “Wet Leg are about to take over America. I really do dig them. […] Sometimes we’ll hang out at a friend’s house and just dance until four o’clock in the morning, and we’ll play ‘Chaise Longue’ on repeat, like over and over and over and over and over again.” If the guy from Nirvana is over the moon about an exciting young band, you should be, too.

Kurt Vile — Watch My Moves

Release Date: April 15

Kurt Vile is in the midst of the longest between-albums cap of his solo career, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. Since releasing Bottle It In in 2018, Vile has found himself working with other artists, most notably producing and performing on Dinosaur Jr.’s 2021 album Sweep It Into Space. Vile’s getting back to focusing on himself now, though, as Watch My Moves is quickly on the way. He has preceded the album with singles like “Hey Like A Child” and “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone),” which tease an album featuring Vile comfortably in his languid rock wheelhouse.

Fontaines DC — Skinty Fia

Release Date: April 22

Fontaines DC are a mainstream success in their native Ireland, where their first two albums have enjoyed top-four chart peaks. They’re thriving on this side of the pond, too, as both of their full-lengths have earned them acclaim pretty much across the board. Now, their third LP, Skinty Fia, is just weeks away and the anticipation is palpable. It’s deserved, too, as the group is doing some fascinating things with post-punk on singles like the catchy “Jackie Down The Line” and the album’s brooding, rhythmic title track.

Toro y Moi — Mahal

Release Date: April 29

Fads come and go, especially in indie music, but Toro y Moi has been one of the most consistent forces of the past decade-plus: Since 2010, he has released eight albums, and now he has a ninth on the way at the end of the month. Given that spring is a bit of a transitional season, it’s appropriate that Mahal also sees Toro y Moi entering a new phase of his career, as the album is his first since signing with Dead Oceans. Based on recent singles, it looks like Toro y Moi is trying a variety of things this time around, as evidenced by songs like the funky “The Loop” and the more rock-inspired “Déjà Vu.”

Arcade Fire — We

Release Date: May 6

Arcade Fire didn’t really handle their previous album, 2017’s Everything Now, that well. To be clear, that’s not something the band themselves haven’t said. Things are different with the recently announced We, though. While Everything Now had some prominent dance influences, lead single “Lightning I, II” sounds more like a return to the anthemic indie rock that put the band on the map in the first place. Also noteworthy is that unless minds are changed, this will be the band’s last album with Will Butler, as he recently left the group.

The Black Keys — Dropout Boogie

Release Date: May 13

Save for a five-year gap between albums in the mid-to-late 2010s, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney haven’t really stopped making Black Keys music for an extended stretch since their debut in 2002. Ever since 2010’s Brothers, the group has been a regular presence in the top ten of the charts and they’re looking to continue that streak with Dropout Boogie. As you’d expect from the duo, singles like “Wild Child” are another example of the highest quality blues rock on the market today, and on the full album, there’s surely more of that to be had.

Florence And The Machine — Dance Fever

Release Date: May 13

Florence Welch and her band are looking to continue a hot streak, as their previous album, 2018’s High As Hope, was their second straight top-two album in the US (but also their first non-No. 1 in the UK, although it still managed to top out in the second spot). One thing you can also count on from a Florence And The Machine album is a set of grandiose experiences, which they have offered with pre-album singles: “Heaven Is Here” is driven by stomped rhythms while “My Love” is more of a dance-inspired number, an aesthetic that meshes well with Welch’s signature vocals.

Angel Olsen — Big Time

Release Date: June 3

After a bit of time away, Angel Olsen has been going basically non-stop since releasing All Mirrors in 2019. She followed it with Whole New Mess in 2020 and had some fun in 2021, too, both with her Sharon Van Etten collaboration “Like I Used To” and her covers collection Aisles. Now, she’s getting back to regular business, as just a few days ago, she announced her next album, Big Time. Arriving alongside that news was lead single “All The Good Times,” a soaring alt-country-inspired tune that puts a soaring vocal performance from Olsen front and center.

Perfume Genius — Ugly Season

Release Date: June 17

Of the albums on this list, Perfume Genius’ upcoming LP is perhaps the one we know the least about. No singles have been shared yet, so really, all we have in terms of an indication of the record’s nature is a statement from Jacolby Satterwhite, who is directing an accompanying short film. He says, “Mike [Hadreas] and I are both writing scripts. My visual narrative serendipitously mirrors the lyrical direction in his music; it’s a rare, like-minded bond. It’s a creation myth. How do you architecturally mold and render an idealized version of utopia? It’s about making something that you desire so beyond your scope that it’s hard to grapple into a concrete form.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.