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They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and when it comes to music, it's largely true. Bands have a habit of disappearing which is disappointing, but disappearing to write a new album and come back better and stronger, is always worth the wait.
This year, the classic Guns N' Roses line-up make their live return, A Tribe Called Quest bring out their new album in spite of the loss of Phife Dawg. Frank Ocean finally brought out his new album and Metallica and The Cure also came back. Sadly, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen's albums, despite being among their career best, were to be their last.
As for this list of 2017’s potential comebacks, some have already been announced, some are all rumours, others are wild speculation and wishful thinking. But no matter what, all of these comebacks – whether it be an album, a show, or both – would make 2017 one hell of a year for music.
Liam Gallagher
The Oasis legend signed to Warner records to put out an album in 2017, but be careful, don't think this is part of a grand plan, it's more rock 'n' roll than that. "I am not embarking on a solo ‘career’,” Gallagher told Q. “Everyone should know that. There are just 10, 11 songs I’ve written that are eligible to be recorded. They’ve got flair, attitude, the melodies are sick and the words are fucking funny."
Bonobo
Bonobo is bringing out his sixth album, Migration, on 13 January and we can't wait. One song, 'Kerela' has already been released and it's classic Bonobo with arpeggiated, twisted, layered strings and shuffling dancefloor rhythms. His fifth album, North Borders, is absolutely treasured by Gigwise and consolidated Bonobo’s reputation as much of a master of the album as he is of the dancefloor. A lengthy tour should coincide with this release.
Lorde
Lorde's debut album Pure Heroine was a pop masterpiece with and her long-awaited second album already written, 2017 will hopefully be the year Lorde returns to record store shelves and festival stages.
Proof of New Zealand’s most famous export since the Kiwi fruit, comes from her social media accounts. Lorde wrote: "I took a helicopter out into the wilderness, spent three days alone writing and made some exciting breakthroughs [...] I've worked like a dog for a year making this thing great for you guys. The record is written – we're in the production stage now." Rumored producers include Flume and Jack Antonoff.
U2
U2 confirmed on Christmas Day that they would be releasing Songs of Experience - the follow up to Songs of Innocence. In addition, they've got some special 30th anniversary shows planned in honour of their greatest album, Joshua Tree. The band have already been confirmed for Bonnaroo and sources tell Billboard that the Irishmen will play a string of US stadium shows in Spring before hitting Europe. 2017 will be massively dominated by U2 – fans can rejoice, and Bono skeptics, well, you’ll have to grit your teeth.
Jimmy Page
In a year that saw the last of all the Led Zeppelin reissues released, Jimmy Page confirmed that he would turn his attention to playing live for 2017. He made this common knowledge in a speech he made following a playback of the Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions reissue in Barnes, West London. A rapturous round of applause was made when he confirmed he would focus on getting match fit. It's not clear as to what band line-up will form, but in whatever form, seeing the Les Paul maestro on stage is an opportunity not to be missed. We fully hope he is on track to making it happen.
Taylor Swift
There's nothing but speculation working its rounds at the minute, but by October 2017 three years will have passed since 1989. The pattern of album releases in her career so far shows a full length studio LP every two years. Subsequently, it would be surprising to see her delay any further. Moreover, her friend Gigi Hadid told ET that she is in the studio working on it so we feel it’s highly likely she’ll return
Fleet Foxes
Chequered shirts at the ready, Fleet Foxes do have an album coming in 2017 but details aren’t officially announced. Despite this, reports on Christmas Day showed a screen shot that singer Robin Peckfold had shared of his band's back catalogue in his iTunes library. The shot included an album called Ylajili and the logo of Nonesuch Records can also be seen at the bottom, so this could well be the album we've all been waiting for. Peckfold, presumably under the instruction of management, removed the image soon after posting it. As for touring, the band have been more straightforward and confirmed that a full world tour shall commence in 2017-18. A handful of shows have already been announced and they'll continue to trickle out in the coming weeks.
Kasabian
Eez-eh, Kasabian are back and ready to take 2017 by the scruff. So far only a trio of Italian shows are on sale and have whet the appetite of many fans eager to see the band back in action – UK shows are imminent. On Christmas day, a minute of one cut from their next album was put online and it sounds massive. Speaking with the NME, guitarist Sergio Pizzorno claimed the new release is a return to their guitar roots and the Christmas present glimpse affirms his claims. We can't wait to hear more.
Queens Of The Stone Age
2013's Like Clockwork was one of the albums of that year and Josh Homme's most recent work on Iggy Pop's album, Post Pop Depression, is amazing, too. It seems that whatever this former Kyuss member puts his hand goes right.
QOTSA’s Troy Van Leeuwen told the post 2 hours with Matt Pinfield that the band were planning to start recording a new album by the end of 2016. Well, there’s no proof that this has gone to plan but we sure can hope it has. The world needs this band.
Nine Inch Nails
We gave their latest EP, released two days before Christmas, a 9/10 as it's up there with all the best Nine Inch Nails material. This excellent 20-minute long EP marks the beginning of a 2017 that is expected to welcome a full-length LP and a world tour for the industrial post-punk legends for whom we have all the love in the world.
Grizzly Bear
Having spent over a year working on their follow up to 2012's Shields, we're eager to what they've created for their next album. The last we heard about the elusive release was that it's "90% done". That was October, so presumably it's done and dusted. The band have announced two shows in New York shows in January and that’s a strong indicator of more to come. We’ll keep you up to date as to their progress on that front.
Ride
Here's an interesting one. In a similar style to Happy Mondays hiring Paul Oakenfold , ‘90s shoegaze pioneers, Ride, have hired Erol Alkan to produce their new album set for release in 2017. Alkan posted a photo of himself working with Ride via Instagram. The new album will be Ride’s first since 1996’s Tarantula; the band broke up that same year before reuniting in 2014.
The War On Drugs
2014's Lost In A Dream is, in our opinion, a career best for Granduciel. It became so widely appreciated that it launched Granduciel out of being a Pitchfork ‘hot pick’ popular to being known in the wider world and became an internationally acclaimed star. He has since switched from an indie to major label Atlantic for a two album deal and hopefully the first of those will come this year. The band have done a good job of avoiding the headlines, though, so it’s simply wishful thinking at this point.
Lana Del Rey
The ‘Video Games’ star is set to play Scandinavia’s three coolest festivals, Oya, Way Out West, and Flow in summer 2017. She teased tracks from her forthcoming album earlier this year but a release date still hasn’t been set. Lana Del Rey has taken a laissez faire approach in terms of the timing: “My label, Interscope, is pretty flexible and open to my records coming out at any time, so I don’t have that pressure. I’m just happy to be able to keep on making music I can stand behind. That’s enough for me.” It’s easy for her to say, she’s heard it! We’d love a piece of the pie, too.
Pearl Jam
Guitarist Mike McCready told Gibson this year, “Right now, we just literally got off the road, so there’s hasn’t been a lot of talk about doing a new album. I mean, there has been some talk about it, and we’ll probably end up doing something next year.” Indeed they have been on tour but they haven’t come to the UK since 2014 and we’d love to see them make some fast progress on the next release that they’ll “probably” be working on in 2017 and come and grace our best venues once again.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
This is a big deal because the forthcoming Damage And Joy is their first album since 1998’s Munki. The incredibly talented producer Youth, who also plays bass in Killing Joke, sat at the controls for this one and the collaborations is an enticing one that we can’t wait to hear the fruits from. The first single ‘Amputation’ will keep us going for now, though – epic stuff for the Reid brothers to be achieving this in their 50s.
Laura Marling
Laura Marling’s first new song in a year, ‘Soothing’ came out at the end of November. It’s an excellent slice of off-kilter pop and an enticing introduction to new album Semper Femina, due out in March. The album is said to "intimately exploring themes of gender and sexuality.” She will tour the UK in March, too. Brilliant.
