Fall music preview

After a summer of music defined as much by shock and awe as by talent, the return to school comes packed with a helping of highly anticipated releases. From new entrances to awaited returns, the summer may be over, but this season’s new music releases promise a little more melodic light in the coming months. Whether the tunes satisfy is yet to be determined, but the expectations sure look filling.

 

The Comeback Kids

“MGMT”

MGMT

Columbia Records

Sept. 17

When MGMT’s major release debut, “Oracular Spectacular,” hit stores in 2008 with a sparkling mix of synthesized pop and psychedelic guitars, the duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser seemed unstoppable. The album that featured the band’s three most well known songs, “Kids,” “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel,” thrust the duo into the spotlight as a binding force of teenage reverie and mature foolishness. But when the band forgot to show up for its sophomore record, “Congratulations,” the duo became locked in a musical purgatory. Now, with the release of their eponymous third album, VanWyngarden and Goldwasser are back with something to prove. Either the new record will flush out MGMT as a fleeting name in music, or it will see the duo return to their fanciful throne.

 

The New Kid on Campus

“Pure Heroine”

Lorde

Universal Music

Sept. 27

When a teenager releases an album before her seventeenth birthday, it’s usually nothing to bark up a tree at. But when that sixteen year old is New Zealand’s Ella Yelich-O’Connor, better known as Lorde, who signed to Universal Music at the age of 13, there are quite a few barks to be had. Earlier this year, the soulful singer from down under debuted her lead single, “Royals,” which quickly rose to the top of several charts around the world, prompting a sea of hype for her upcoming debut album “Pure Heroine.” It’s safe to say the music world is ready to hear all of what Lorde’s debut has to offer as a fresh face blatantly rejecting the opulence in popular music with every note.

 

The Girls Next Door

“Days Are Gone”

Haim

Polydor Records

Sept. 27

The Haim sisters are an active and animated bunch. The Los Angeles-based alternative rock band with UCLA alumna Este Haim on bass, Danielle Haim on guitar and vocals, Alana Haim on guitar and keyboard and Dash Hutton on drums is releasing its much anticipated debut album, “Days Are Gone,” later this month. The band has built most of its eager fan base from its high-profile tours with artists from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros to Ke$ha, making waves with the sisters’ high-energy live performances and a style bridging the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll and R&B.; The band’s first full-length record will bring the full power of Haim to the wondering masses of the music community.

 

The Homecoming King

“The 20/20 Experience Part 2 of 2”

Justin Timberlake

RCA

Sept. 30

If there’s an “off” switch on Justin Timberlake, it hasn’t been found yet. Last year, the world saw a completely new side of “JT,” a mature, soulful man who threw together a neo-soul, R&B; collection that won audiences and critics over. Timberlake’s brassy sounds and sensual vocals were a modern day revitalization of the grooves of the 1970s. But that was just “Part 1.” Timberlake’s “Part 2 of 2” means to pick back up with this new invigoration of soul music, and maybe a little disco thrown into the first single, “Take Back The Night.”

 

The Return of the King

“Reflektor”

Arcade Fire

Merge Records

Oct. 29

If Montreal rockers Arcade Fire never made another record, the band would still go down as one of the most beloved bands of the last decade. That said, the band’s absence would rob music of a praised, articulate and captivating group of the 2000s. Arcade Fire’s 2004 debut, “Funeral,” was stunning. And 2010’s Grammy-winning Album of the Year, “The Suburbs,” was an emotional masterpiece. Two years in the making, the band’s fourth release, “Reflektor,” signals the return of frontman Win Butler’s army of misfit musicians aiming to verify that the band has only become better. Working with producer and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Arcade Fire is set to reignite in late October.

 

The Reintroduction

“The Marshall Mathers LP 2”

Eminem

Interscope Records November 5

The last time a record was released with the name “Marshall Mathers” on it, Eminem was on a mission to prove himself. He asked “The Real Slim Shady” to stand up and show the hip-hop world that a white kid from Detroit could offer a fresh lyricism to the rap game. And over the years, though the critics and Grammy Awards haven’t always shined on Marshall Mathers, his music continues to bring a needed and biting criticism to the mainstream. And now Shady is back again, with “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” produced by Rick Rubin, No I.D. and Dr. Dre. From the first single, “Berzerk,” it’s clear that Eminem is not finished reminding audiences where he came from and where he is going.