There has been a slow start to the year in the UK and Ireland, with only a few major new albums hitting the racks to date. Norah Jones is the clear front-runner, claiming the No.1 spot quickly with Feels Like Home. But whether or not the singer’s follow-up will have the sustain that marked her hugely successful debut, Come Away With Me, remains to be seen.

Otherwise, it’s been a quiet year to date, with Air’s Talky Walky the only likely big, long-term seller from an established act. Newcomers Franz Ferdinand, with their eponymous debut and Katie Melua have offered some comfort, getting off the ground very effectively over the past two months. And there is considerable hope that New Zealander Bic Runga might emerge as a major selling artist in this part of the world. But the question remains, who are likely to be the biggest sellers of 2004 at year’s end?
On the pop front, no doubt the success of the Peter Andre single will inspire the thought that a renaissance may be on for the I’m A Celebrity contestant. And any of a number of acts from Girls Aloud through McFly might just produce a new album that will take the public by storm. But what the industry really needs is for some of the big album acts to come storming out of the trenches – and between them to produce a bunch of blockbusters of the kind that will have people battling their way into the shops and the tills ringing like crazy.
In this respect, hopes are high, with a number of high profile acts ready – or almost ready at any rate – to deliver new records. When the likes of The Corrs, U2, REM and Morrissey are among the contenders, then there is genuinely reason to be optimistic. Oh, and with more than Ireland in mind on this occasion, we have included The Frames who are virtually guaranteed to go platinum album here, but might just make their long-promised international breakthrough with their upcoming record. The majority of these big guns are almost certain to deliver in musical terms. The question is can they create the missing sense of excitement among the record-buying public?
hotpress has been taking a look at what’s on the way – and what we can expect from the big artists when they do finally say: ‘yep, it’s in the can’. This is what we found...

Morissey
Title: You Are The Quarry
Status: Moz’s first album in some seven years was produced by Jerry Finn and recorded in London and Los Angeles. The titles alone suggest Stephen Patrick is in typically arch form: ‘America Is Not The World’; ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’; ‘I Have Forgiven Jesus’; ‘Come Back To Camden’; ‘I’m Not Sorry’; ‘The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores’; ‘How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?’; ‘The First Of The Gang To Die’; ‘Let Me Kiss You’; ‘All The Lazy Dykes’; ‘I Like You’; ‘You Know I Couldn’t Last’.
ETA: May. The album precedes the singer’s stint as Artistic Director of Meltdown 2004 in June. Rumour has it that one of Morrissey’s primary ambitions as curator is to reunite the surviving members of the New York Dolls.

PJ Harvey
Title: TBC
Status: Polly Jean has spent much of the last year working on the follow up to 2000’s Mercury prize winning Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. Advance reports suggest that Harvey has swung away from the accessibility of the last record into a more fractious, raw sound. Titles mooted for inclusion are ‘Who The Fuck?’; ‘Shame’; ‘The Life And Death Of Mr Badmouth’; ‘The Pocket Knife’ and ‘The Letter’. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Harvey herself with a little help from long time collaborator Head. Drums and percussion were performed by another old friend Rob Ellis, who, together with Mick Harvey, formed the backbone of Polly Jean’s touring band last summer.
ETA: With major festival dates pencilled in, it looks likely the album will surface before the July/August silly season.

REM
Title: TBC
Status: REM are on the verge of completing their 13th studio album in the Bahamas, the follow up to 2001’s Reveal. The band have finished some 16 of a shortlist of 22 songs, and the material is said to swing between “very, very quiet or very, very loud.”
“Right now feels like a time when the songs are really just flowing out of us,” Michael Stipe told Virgin Radio recently. “We’ve got a lot of material and we’re just kind of refining it and trying to get the best possible recorded version of it in the studio and tinker around with that.”
Contenders for the record include ‘Weatherman’; ‘Make It All OK’; ‘I’m Gonna DJ’; ‘Around The Sun’ and ‘Final Straw’. Fans will be familiar with an early version of the latter song, which was available for download at the time of the US invasion of Iraq last year, and was also aired on the band’s European tour last summer.
ETA: Autumn, after which time the band are considering embarking on a six to eight month major tour.

The Frames
Title: TBC
Status: The stakes have been raised considerably since The Frames last released a studio album, therefore the band are taking their time. Glen Hansard and co have been recording sessions on and off in Chicago over the last year, and the location indicates the involvement of producer Steve Albini (Nirvana/The Pixies), who produced much of For The Birds. Fans will already be familiar with the single ‘Fake’ and also ‘The Blood’, included on the live album Set List. Word has it that the Frames will return to a full-blown live sound after the relative introspection of the last record. Their sixth studio opus will be the first fruit of the new deal with Epitaph offshoot Anti, home to such luminaries as Tom Waits, Tricky and Nick Cave.
ETA: Autumn.

The Streets
Title: A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Status: Complete. The follow up to Original Pirate Material will be preceded by the single ‘Fit But You Don’t Know It’ at the end of April. As with the first album, Mike Skinner recorded most of the material in his bedroom at home in Stockwell. A collaboration with Coldplay’s Chris Martin entitled ‘Dry Your Eyes’ was binned at the singer’s request, although the song itself did make the final cut. Tracklisting: ‘It Was Supposed To Be So Easy’; ‘Could Well Be In’; ‘Not Addicted’; ‘Blinded By The Light’; ‘I Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way’; ‘Get Out Of My House’; ‘Fit But You Don’t Know It’; ‘Such A Twat’; ‘What Is He Thinking’; ‘Dry Your Eyes’; ‘Empty Cans’.
ETA: May

Garbage
Title: TBC
Status: Garbage have temporarily shifted their base of operations from Wisconsin to LA and enlisted the services of Dust Brother John King (Beck, Beastie Boys, Rolling Stones) and also Tony Hoffer (Air) for their fourth album. Word has it that the band have returned to a trashier, darker sound after the pop experimentation of 2001’s beautifulgarbage. A duet with Marilyn Manson, the presence of Manson’s guitarist John 5 and also Dave Grohl (the first time Butch Vig has recorded the drummer since Nevermind) would certainly bear this out. Titles under construction include ‘My Bad Boyfriend’, ‘Space Can Come Through Anyone’ and ‘In My Happy Home’.
ETA: Autumn.

Guns N Roses
Title: Chinese Democracy.
Status: This one will run and run. The recording of the fourth Guns N’ Roses album proper (effectively an Axl Rose solo project at this stage) has been a 13-year odyssey of weirdness unheard of in rock ’n’ roll since the days of Syd and Roky. Although the band toured during 2002 and are booked for an appearance at the Rock In Rio festival in Lisbon in May, there is still no sign of a release date. Matters have not been helped by the recent departure of guitarist Buckethead, who quit after a four-year period. Geffen, in a desperate bid to get some of their money back, have just put out a Greatest Hits set after attempts on the part of Axl, Slash and Duff to block its release were thrown out of court.
ETA: Summer 3004.