Radio 1 favourites ready to return in 2018

14 February 2018

We've already had some major new music drop this year but that doesn't mean we aren't still eagerly anticipating the arrival of fresh material from some of our faves.

From teaser tracks to full-on comebacks, here are the artists we're keeping a firm eye on in 2018...

James Bay is back (and we couldn't be happier about it). Having released his new single, Wild Love, last week, our appetite for new stuff from the Brit singer has been momentarily satiated but we're still ready and waiting for more...

Want some more deets on what else is headed our way in 2018, courtesy of James? He dished to NME about the changes we can expect from his upcoming album:

"I’ve got a new look, a new sound. I just fancied a new chapter. There are moments on the album that sort of ‘bridge’ from The Chaos And The Calm to the new album, but the best way I could put it is that I’ve been listening to other stuff. I got deep into Frank Ocean, LCD Soundsystem, Chance The Rapper, a load of David Bowie, Lorde. All of these sounds that don’t really relate to the first album but hugely relate to this album. I’m really excited for people to hear that and some familiar moments too.”

Arctic Monkeys have been on hiatus and working on other projects since 2014, following the release of their fifth album AM. (Can you believe it's been five years?!) But the group have revealed that they are working on new material, and recently announced that we can expect their next record to arrive this year.

Bassist Nick O’Malley told motorcycling magazine For the Ride that the band had started recording an album and that it should be due out in 2018. “If it isn’t," he said, "We’ve got problems.”

We can't quite believe it's been two years since we heard new material from Ariana Grande in the form of her third studio album, Dangerous Woman, but something tells us that that could all change in 2018...

Taking to Instagram in December 2017, Ariana teased a snippet of a new track alongside the caption "see you next year" and we haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.

Ariana hinted back in January of last year that her fresh material was pretty much finished and Pharrell later confirmed that impressive new music was headed our way in an interview with the LA Times: "Well, the Ariana Grande stuff is pretty amazing. The things that she has to say on this album, it's pretty next-level. Her album is amazing." Despite this, though, we still don't have a lockdown on the details. Watch this space...

They teased us with Sun Comes Up featuring James Arthur back in June 2017 and they recently dropped dropped their second single, These Days, but we're still bracing ourselves for Rudimental's third studio album.

While we don't know much about the record, their first full length since 2015's We The Generation, we have been told that their frequent collaborator turned soaring solo star Anne-Marie will definitely be playing a big part - and that, once again, Rudimental have been working with a new contingent of soon-to-be-huge talent.

"The same as before with Ella Eyre, John Newman, MNEK…they’ve all sort of started on Rudimental tracks and then they’ve gone on and done their own thing," the band's Kesi Dryden told us. "We’ve found some new talent and we’re working with them, bringing them on the road with us and stuff, and hopefully they’ll flourish and do their own thing soon as well."

Don't mind us, we're just patiently waiting for Nicki Minaj to grace our airwaves once more...

If it seems like forever since you've heard new music from Nicki then that's because it sort of has been. We've revelled in features here and there - alongside Cardi B on Migos' track, Motorsport, and Katy Perry's Swish Swish - but we haven't had some purely Nicki material since she dropped The Pinkprint in 2014.

She's described her upcoming fourth studio album to NY Times as "super, super iconic" and elaborated on why it's taken her so long for it to come to fruition: “Sonically, I know what the album’s about to sound like. I know what this album is gonna mean to my fans. This album is everything in my life coming full circle and me being truly, genuinely happy. It feels almost like a celebration.

"The last album, The Pinkprint, was almost like my diary, closing the chapter on certain things and not knowing if I was happy or sad about beginning new chapters. I was really writing about feeling unsure. Now, I can tell you guys what happened for the last two years of my life. I know who I am. I am getting Nicki Minaj figured out with this album and I’m loving her.”

Electric indie pop kings Bastille have announced that their third album, the follow up to 2016's Wild World, is well under way and will be released early this year.

As is typical with Dan Smith and the rest of the guys, it sounds like there will be some experimental influences and unusual vibes to the record.

“We wanted to do something that feels a bit different, wanted to take it a step on from our last record and acknowledge that since we released that album the world seems an even more bizarre and tempestuous place," he told NME, suggesting that the album would prove to be an, "apocalyptic party record." We can't wait to hear exactly how that sounds but if you're pining hard for some Bastille in the meantime, check out Dan performing I Know You alongside Craig David in the Live Lounge.

Boys aren't the only thing Charli XCX has been busy thinking 'bout: new music is pretty high on the agenda, too.

We've had mixtapes aplenty from Charli, from Heartbreaks and Earthquakes in 2012 to 2017's Pop 2, but she's hinted that there's plenty of music in the vault and we're hoping that 2018 is the year it's unleashed. The finer details on how that new music is going to get to us, however, are a bit hazy...

"I don’t know if I’ll even put out an album, or if it’ll be an album in a traditional format," Charli told Fader in December 2017. "I don’t know if it’ll be three albums. There’s so much scope to play with that now, more than ever. Is the album even valid for me as an artist any more? I’m not sure. I think there’s an opportunity to do something really cool and fun, and I’m still figuring out what that will be. But I don’t think it will suddenly be totally sonically different from the mixtape stuff. I think a lot of the same people will be involved. I think it will be a continuation of the journey."

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