While the album releases in August were fairly chill and small, September is probably the biggest month for LP drops in 2023. There were so many noteworthy albums we found for September, we couldn't even include them all in this list! Shoutout to Dan + Shay, the Paper Kites, Kylie Minogue, Willie Nelson, and Demi Lovato's remix album. (Sorry folks – we have to stick to our 10 album tradition!)
September will be a big month for electronic, R&B, and pop music. Expect the album releases of this month to be landmark projects of 2023. Without further ado, here are the 10 most exciting albums we are ready to fall into! (See what we did there? Fall starts in September? Okay, let's get to it.)
Club Romantech - Icona Pop
The "I Love It" duo of the early 2010s are back in the spotlight. Icona Pop released their latest album Club Romantech on September 1. It's the third studio album from the electronic superstars from Sweden, and is the duo's first studio release in ten years.
According to BroadwayWorld, work on the album started in 2020, when the duo was forced to sell their Los Angeles home and had to relocate back to Stockholm to quarantine. They eventually found themselves in the "quietest period" they had ever experienced in their career. However, they still wanted to create music that was "more up-tempo." The duo gave themselves no songwriting rules when creating the record, and it shows within the music. Club Romantech is relentless, but so easy to dance to.
Playing Robots Into Heaven - James Blake
Oh, James Blake. How much we love your moody music. Blake has returned with his sixth studio album, Playing Robots Into Heaven. It was released on September 8 and includes 11 new tracks from the singer-songwriter.
There's a lot of reviews claiming Blake revisits his roots with this new record. There's a new frenetic energy present in this LP not heard on his previous projects. Even on slower tracks, there's a buzzing alchemy going on in the background. Blake showcases his confidence and maturity as a musician here. As the title would suggest, Playing Robots Into Heaven is electronically divine.
Guts - Olivia Rodrigo
Yup, this one's the biggest release of the month. After the monster commercial success that was Sour, our eyes are going to be on Olivia Rodrigo to see what she's doing next. Guts was released September 8 and features the new singles "vampire" and "bad idea right?" – two tracks that have already become hits in Liv's catalogue.
We're really digging the Fiona Apple and grungy 90s rock vibes Olivia's first two singles have brought. This album is full of soul-searching ballads and bratty riot grrrl bangers. Guts is a lot more mature than Sour, but still contains that classic teen angst Rodrigo is known for. Rodrigo penned Guts when she was 19. She actually waited six months after the release of Sour in order to gain new experiences to bring to the songwriting table. Get ready to hear Liv spill her guts once again on this LP!
Silence Between Songs - Madison Beer
Silence Between Songs will be singer-songwriter Madison Beer's second studio effort. It drops September 15 and has already been teased with the singles "Reckless," "Dangerous," "Showed Me (How I Fell in Love with You)," "Home to Another One," and "Spinnin."
Of all the singles that have been released so far, the emotional "Spinnin" is certainly a standout. In fact, Beer actually sent a copy of Silence Betwen Songs to her idol, Lana Del Rey, and the "Summertime Sadness" singer claimed "Spinnin" to be her favorite track. Besides Lana, Beer has claimed Silence Between Songs is inspired by more of her idols – which include Tame Impala and the Beach Boys.
The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We - Mitski
Also on September 15, indie music queen Mitski will be releasing her seventh studio album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We. The record was produced by Patrick Hyland and has been preceded by the single "Bug Like an Angel", which was released in July.
Mitski's description of the album has made us super intrigued about it. Mitski has called The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We her "most American album" and described "the theme of love" as being central to its lyrics. The album was also influenced by spaghetti Western soundtracks as well as the works of Arthur Russell, Igor Stravinsky, Scott Walker, Caetano Veloso, and Faron Young. Be prepared to hear a 17-person choir and a full orchestra on several tracks!
It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day - Thirty Seconds to Mars
On September 15, we get Thirty Seconds to Mars' next album! It is the first album without guitarist Tomo Miličević, who left the band in June 2018. It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day contains 11 new tracks and is primarily inspired by 1970s and 1980s electronic music.
Jared Leto told NME that for the brainstorming session of the album, the band actually penned a whopping 200 tracks! Leto's also confirmed that because of all those tracks, there will be much more material from the band coming in the future. We're sure we'll be "Stuck" listening to this new album for a while!
Scarlet - Doja Cat
Our girl Doja Cat is back! She's promised that Scarlet, her follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Planet Her, will be far more experimental and sonically mature than her previous works. We've seen this new sophistication in the single "Attention" (it feels like classic 90s hip-hop), her catchy "Paint the Town Red," and the haunting trap banger "Demons."
Scarlet will have a more "masculine" and pure hip-hop/R&B sound compared to the pop-littered tracks Doja has dropped before. "Paint the Town Red" in particular has already reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, so we're sure more tracks on this record will have commercial success. Even more exciting? To promote the album, Doja Cat will embark on The Scarlet Tour, her first arena tour in North America as a headliner.
Autumn Variations - Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran has been HUSTLING in 2023! Not so long after he released the last album in his mathematical series, "-" (Subtract), music's favorite English ginger is releasing another album on September 29. It's called Autumn Variations, and if Ed's teaser trailers for the album have given us any clues, the LP will surely bring all the fall vibes.
Sheeran is releasing the LP under his own label, Gingerbread Man Records. It will be the first record in which he owns the copyright. On the album's concept, Sheeran has stated, "Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded...My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed Enigma Variations, where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends. This is what inspired me to make this album."
Falling or Flying - Jorja Smith
This album feels like it's been such a long time coming. We're beyond excited to get a listen of Jorja Smith's sophomore LP, Falling or Flying. It's set to be shared on September 29, and has been preceeded by the sultry title track. She recorded the album in her hometown of Walsall, England over a two-year period. Regarding the project, Smith explained, “This album is like my brain. There’s always so much going on but each song is definitely a standstill moment.”
Smith has also dropped the music video for "Falling or Flying," which marked her directorial debut. Smith's first LP, Lost & Found, showed us that she was an up-and-coming R&B force to be reckoned with. We're eager to hear her further prove herself throughout this record!
Again - Oneohtrix Point Never
Again is the upcoming tenth studio album by American electronic producer Daniel Lopatin, also known as Oneohtrix Point Never. It is scheduled to be released on September 29 and comes after Lopatin's long period of collaborating with other artists (such as The Weeknd and Soccer Mommy).
In an announcement, Lopatin described the album as "a speculative autobiography" and drew comparisons thematically to his 2015 studio album Garden of Delete. Excuse our second corny pun of the article, but...we're happy that Oneohtrix Point Never is back to his early electronic roots once Again.
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Article Image: Close-up of Jorja Smith as she sings at Dcode Music Festival in 2018. (Christian Bertrand via Shutterstock.)