All Aboard the Hype Train: Anticipated Release 2019

Hope: Thoughtful, melancholic pop in the same vein as 'Bags'

Fear: Follows her weak EP and falls into the industry plant trap.

Hope prevails!

Hope: Justin pushes herself to a productive space that feels sentimental instead of cheesy

Big Fear: He loses the balance between indulgence and introspection and creates an album that feels hokey

Big fears quashed; hope wins again!

Hope: Maintains the queer, sadboy inspired indie-rock vibes of her earlier work but is a more unified object.

Fear: A regurgitated, not as polished version of her wonderful 2017 album, I'm Not Your Man.

Hope wins!! 2019 is turning itself around!

Hope: A strong female singer-songwriter debut that keeps up the openness of her early singles.

Fear: A sound that doesn't have enough personality to keep an entire album engaging.

Fear takes this one

Hope: Filthy loud noises that still make me wanna dance

Fear: Too scary for my soft ears

Meh, more hope than fear but it could've been so much more

Hope: We are all wrong and Janet was just being a wad

Fear: Janet was right...

No one was right and everything was kind of boring

Hope: A Cute 80s-tinged pop record that continues to have relatable lyrics and catchy melodies

Fear: A little too focused on being sexy rather than good songwriting

Neither, unexpected wins! Shura did a surprisingly good job at pushing her sound in a new direction while keeping the quality high.

Hope: Not the old Taylor, not whatever the new Taylor is, just something that feels genuine and open.

Fear: Reputation 2, 1989 2 (1990?), or a copy of anything she has done.

...

Hope: I would settle for something even close to Everybody Works. The album art is unbelievably gorgeous and she was incredible live.

Fear: She isn't able to push her bedroom pop sound to the same expansive levels (small fear.)

Hope wins! Love the drum machines!

Hope: Wye Oak with more drumming!

Fear: Wye Oak with less Jenn Wasner.

Meh. It was mostly just sleepy but not bad

Hope: Like a gentle acid rain that burns through your ears

Fear: Unbridled noise

It's very fun! Hope wins

Hope: The album continues to focus on Lana's voice and pushes her nostalgic vibe to new spaces. Happy all of the singles are on there, I am also happy to see that the album art is a little more whimsical than the previous image.

Fear: The clever and tacky cover belies a more serious and weighted project

Hope is a dangerous thing for a birb like me to have - and I have it. Big Hope Energy

Hope: Compelling storytelling indie rock that continues to push BBES to a wider audience

Fear: A little sleepy, run-of-the-mill indie album

Hope: very pretty, wonderful lyrics, just not something I will come back to. Small hope victory

Hope: The feeling of being eaten from the inside out

Fear: The feeling of being eaten from the outside in (I guess regular consumption?)

Ehhh, just not as compelling as the typical Pharmakon. Still intense, but less focused.

Hope: Something light and fun! My girl Natasha has released four very heavy albums; I want her to let her snakes down and have some fun!

Fear: No fears, I trust Bat For Lashes

About as close to fear as Khan could get...

Hope: She writes music longer than 3 minutes

Fear: The album feels like every other Frankie Cosmos project; I have no faith in Greta Kline so this one is here with the greatest apprehension

Thanks! I hate it!

Hope: An unexpected surprise of strong country ladies coming together to release energetic music

Fear: boyaverage (s/o to JohnLouisHoward for coining that term, I laughed out loud when I first read that)

Fear wins for sure.

Hope: Japanese Breakfast mixed with a little DIIV. Her first single really got me excited

Fear: Too referential to other indie rockers in her field

Hope wins! This is a pretty little dream pop record.

Hope: Potential AOTY, (Sandy) Alex G continues to play with these storybook images to discuss the transition into adulthood

Fear: The two singles were a total fluke (very small fear)

Not AOTY, but Hope prevails!

Hope: A Post-Pop 2 sounds with a Pop 2 level of inventiveness

Fear: She focuses too much on the contemporary moment in pop rather than the next moment in pop

The Lion King 1 1/2 is a good movie, it may not be the sequel I wanted, but it is fun to see my favorite characters!

Hope: An album perfect for my John Hughes party

Fear: Just another synth-pop album without the emotive edge of their first album

It is a pretty forgettable record beyond the singles 😒 I still love them.

Hope: Jenny keeps her weird attitude but continues to play with accessible pop music and her weird lyrics

Fear: She goes too deep into accessible pop, losing some of her spooky charm (small fear)

While I wanted so much more, Jenny Hval keeps the weirdness high while talking about babies and injecting fun beats. Hope and Fear tie. I may return to this one

Hope: Cutting lyrics and strong melodies. I really love the album art

Fear: Forgettable and a caricature of his earlier work

Meh, this one was a disappointment. Not necessarily my fear (there are great lyrics,) but it could have been a stronger record.

Hope: I want the girls to succeed! You can do it, girls!

Fear: They don't strike the same balance of punk and pop and the music isn't relatable.

It's good, it's sad, it met my expectations

Hope: Trash Princess can funnel the whimsey and humor of her music videos into a proper album. 'Glad He's Gone' is one of my favorite music videos in a long time.

Fear: It is another inconsistent, half-fun drug bender by an artist who has good ideas!

The score looks a little low, but honestly, this is an alright album and Tove Lo seems to be having fun. I will give it to hope!

Hope: Honestly I have little expectations, I love 'Perfect Place' so I am going to keep watching what they do. Also, Losing, Linda is a pretty fantastic title

Fear: It isn't as weird as the single and the album art imply

My little expectations were not met? idk, I just wanted more

Hope: Hey, they are just like me!

Fear: These were songs written by teens that should have been kept in their diary

It's just not very interesting to me. Womp Womp

Hope: You can tell they have stopped shooting heroin because it sounds sooo much better

Fear: You can tell they have stopped shooting heroin because it sounds sooo much worse

It's surprisingly enjoyable. DIIV seems to have a little more presence on this record than on previous albums.

Hope: Mom releases another perfect album

Fear: Um, maybe it's too good?

It may be too awe-inspiring, but I still love it

Hope: Where UFOF was celestial and magic, I want Two Hands to feel grounded and earthy.

Fear: Adrianne Lenker fatigue kicks in and it all starts to sound the same.

Big Queef keeps it good and keeps it going.

Hope: AOTY contender, I've been a fan of Caroline Polachek since she started with Chairlift (who remembers the Apple commercial with the Chairlift song!) I hope this album (the singles are so promising) is finally the debut she has always been able to make

Fear: Nothing matches the quality of the released singles and she fails to live up to her potential

Hope wins; not perfect but gosh does it sparkle.

Hope: The bubbly curiosity of his singles this year turn into a fully form organic Electronic odyssey

Fear: He loses his edge and doesn't produce slapping electronic magic

I liked this! It was fun; it’s a good job!

Hope: She keeps experimenting with her production and pushing her sound to its full potential

Fear: The songs beyond the singles all sound the same and the album feels repetitive

Parts of it are great, but overall it's not as punchy as I wanted. kind of medium levels of disappointment

Hope: Fun meme music by one of AOTY's sparkling gems

Fear: Not fun meme music by one of AOTY's sparkling gems

Hope wins, this album is very fun!

Hope: 2 for 2 AOTY (Varmints is my AOTY for 2016)

Fear: The sounds hurt my head, and not in an engaging way

It isn't hope (that was a big hope) but it is still fun! I think she is so thoughtful about how she makes music and it is always exciting.

Hope: A pop album that blends pop, identity politics, and violin music into a smart and forward-thinking album

Fear: The violin feels more gimmicky than useful

Hope wins, the music was thoughtful and well produced. It's a very well made album

Hope: Kanye the religious zealot can match Kanye the musician in creativity.

Fear: Worse than it never coming out is that it comes out and it SUCKS. If it is released in 2019 AND is not good, I will be curious to see how his legacy is affected.

Honestly, I don't think this is such a trainwreck. It's not great but I think it makes sense and I like the shade of blue.

Hope: More of the 80s synthpop magic that continues to subvert gender and genre

Fear: A derivative album that feels rooted in the past than pushing music forward

Hope: An album that finally convinces me to try pole dancing

Fear: It never comes out

Hope: Sonic Youth mama keeps up the weird noise!

Fear: The album's noisy atmosphere congeals and sounds flat. Kim Gordon is a god, this is a small fear