Written by: Caroline Walters
2022 was a whirlwind of new favorite albums, spending too much money on tours, and traveling to see all of our favorite artists. We hope that 2023 brings the exact same thing and that all of our predictions come true. We know that some of these seem a little far-fetched, but what else are predictions for? Hopefully, some of these are correct, and maybe you have some of the same thoughts as us! 💭
Olivia Rodrigo’s Sophomore Album
If you know anything about Olivia Rodrigo, you probably kept up with her hit album SOUR and the 2022 tour that followed it. Since the incredible success she had on tour, she’s gone almost radio silent online, just posting fun photo dumps with friends every once in a while and praising the artists she loves. The two-year anniversary of her debut single “drivers license” was on January 8th, and since then, fans have started frantically theorizing about when she’ll drop new music. She definitely takes after her idol Taylor Swift in this sense! Earlier this week, Olivia posted an Instagram story of her and her producer, Dan Nigro, in the studio, and this plus the easter eggs we’re seeing are showing that if we’re lucky, she’ll release a new single on February 3rd! Her team tweeted that it was time to “renew ur driver's license” with an updated version of the driver’s license art from 2021, and the numbers in the bottom are showing February 3rd, and if she’s teasing release dates like she did before SOUR came out, this means new music is soon! 🎤
The Resurgence of the Tumblr Era
The 2014 era was filled with American Apparel, tennis skirts, poetry, and the ever-iconic grunge aesthetic. Halsey got her start writing poetry and publishing it on the site, and just last month, she tweeted a link to her revived Tumblr account. The 1975 are having a major comeback with their current tour and recent album release, and we would even say they’re “at their very best.” Not only are The 1975 making a return, but so are peak 2014 Tumblr band Arctic Monkeys with the release of their 7th album The Car back in October. The way these bands are making returns into the pop culture scene will bring back the style choices from that age. If you’re like us, Doc Martens are already a staple in your wardrobe, but if not, you might want to invest in some! 💿
Niall Horan’s Third Album
Niall’s got a busy summer schedule ahead of him, from filming The Voice to the summer festivals he’s already booked across the globe, but he’s still been teasing new music on TikTok throughout all of this! He hasn’t released new music or tour dates since his second album Heartbreak Weather came out in 2020, so we’re all anxiously awaiting him to do something. The word on the street, aka the fan theories, is that he’ll release a single in February and then since The Voice starts in March, he’ll release his album in May (fingers crossed)! As of January 10th, he’s booked one U.S. festival (Boston Calling at the end of May) and we’re hoping that after his summer of festivals, he’ll be going on tour in the fall! 🎟
Taylor Swift Re-releases Everything
Now, it’s no secret that Taylor Swift is embarking on the biggest tour of 2023, but how is she going to put on The Eras Tour without having re-released all of her earlier albums? All of the fan theories are showing that before the tour starts, she’ll re-release Speak Now with hopeful features from artists like Kelsea Ballerini. We think that by the time tour is over, she’ll have re-released all of her old albums, so that when the tour ends, she can take a well-deserved break and focus on other projects (such as directing a full-length feature film!). She’s stayed in the shadows for long periods of time before, but this time, we’re thinking that her rest time will be spent building a family and (maybe) having children. Either way, we’re way too excited for The Eras Tour to start and for her to release more music! 💜
Return of Rihanna
Since 2016, Rihanna’s been radio silent on the music front but has still poured into her beauty line, Fenty Beauty, but now, she’s playing the Super Bowl halftime show! She was featured on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, but hasn’t even announced a single or album of her own in anticipation of her big performance. If there’s anything to be said about halftime shows, it’s that they’re the most incredible spectacle of the year, and there’s no way that Rihanna disappoints. With her big return to the stage, it’s definitely likely that she’ll be putting out another album full of bangers for us to dance to! 🎧
Rise of New Ticketing Platforms
After the stress that was trying to purchase Taylor Swift tickets, there’s no doubt that there’s going to be an increase of artists working with other ticketing platforms. Many venues had already started making the switch to other platforms such as AXS, TicketWeb, and EventBrite before the stress, but now, it seems like they’re moving away from Ticketmaster at a faster pace. Some venues are exclusively working with one platform now, so artists’ tours are being split up between different platforms, which can lead to some confusion between fans, but overall, the hope is that people will start to trust online ticket sellers more again. As long as we’re able to get tickets, that’s all that matters! 🎫
Boygenuis Regroups
If you love sad indie music, you probably love the Boygenuis supergroup made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. But did you know they’ve recently been spotted recreating a photo shoot together in Hollywood? They’ve only released one EP together and then toured in 2018, but haven’t done much together since, except for a few surprise appearances at each other’s shows or opening up for one another. In 2021, they played a charity show together benefiting a nonprofit in the Bay Area. A few months ago, a fan spotted the trio recreating an iconic Nirvana photo shoot, and since then, there’s finally hope that they’ll get back together. This one seems pretty likely to happen since the Coachella 2023 lineup was released on January 10th with Boygenius playing on both Saturdays of the festival. Boygenius playing one of the biggest festivals in the world was definitely not on our 2023 bucket list, but now this means they’ll definitely have to release new music for us and our dogs to listen to. 🎸
Album Thoughts
There are a lot of people that we hope will release new music this year, but one of the big ones is Big Time Rush. They’ve been releasing singles while on their Forever Tour, and have even been in the studio writing together. This band was the soundtrack to so many of our childhoods, and it’s so nostalgic to see them together again. Miley Cyrus’ new album is coming out at the beginning of March, and we’re desperately hoping there’s a Harry Styles feature on it. They’re both on the same record label and work with some of the same people (Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson) and honestly have the same vibes when they make music that’s more rock-centric. Another one we’re anxiously awaiting would be a new Phoebe Bridgers album… She’s not exactly been seen doing anything since she was on tour for so long, but we wouldn’t be mad about a new album full of sad indie music! 🎶
Artists We Hope Will Tour
2023 already has an incredible concert lineup, but we have a few artists we desperately want to tour. Starting it off strong with 5 Seconds of Summer touring their recent release, 5SOS5. They toured the UK, Europe, and the US in the spring and summer of 2022, but it was the rescheduled No Shame tour from the CALM era that they desperately wanted to play. They’ve only got one show scheduled for 2023, so here’s hoping they announce more! Another hopeful is Beyoncé touring Renaissance. The queen hasn’t toured since 2016, so we’re all on the edge of our seats in anticipation for some more jaw-dropping performances from her. Avril Lavigne and Meghan Trainor both released albums in the fall of 2022, but neither have announced any type of tour (yet!). We’ve got our fingers crossed that these artists and more will drop tour dates soon, but our bank accounts aren’t gonna be too happy when that happens, so start saving now for best results! 🤘🏼
Artists to Watch in 2023
Caroline Polacheck — She opened for Dua Lipa in 2022 and is featured on Charli XCX’s album Crash! Check her song “So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings” out!
Turnstile — The resurgence of the punk era has brought renewed interest to this band from Maryland! They’re going on a US tour in the summer, so give their new album a listen!
Beabadoobee — Beabadoobee was the queen of bedroom pop, but recently has changed her sound to be more of an indie rock vibe. Her song “Talk" is one you should try out!
Ella Jane — If you love smaller pop artists, you’ll fall in love with Ella Jane and her album marginalia!
Madison Cunningham — Singer-songwriters are taking the industry by storm, and Madison is no exception. She just released her second album, Revealer, and it’s gorgeous.
Kim Petras — If you’re a fan of Charli XCX and pop music, you’ll absolutely adore Kim Petras and her song "Unholy" with Sam Smith!
Seaforth — This country music duo from Australia is dominating the scene right now, and they just released their debut album in August. You’ll love their song “What I Get For Loving You”!
Inhaler — One thing to know: they’re an indie rock band opening up for Harry Styles in the UK. You should check their album It Won't Always Be Like This out before tour starts!
So many new albums and tours are going to be announced this year, but these are some of the things we’re most anticipating for 2023. We know they might not all happen, but part of the fun of the new year is making a bucket list! If you want to stay updated with our predictions, follow us on Instagram to see which come true, and let us know what you predicted that came true! 🤍
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