January 2020 saw the release of some really great music. Today I’m mentioning notable album releases and featuring 5 kick-ass songs that sum up this month for me.
5 Notable albums that were released in January 2020:
- Dune Rats – Hurry Up and Wait (released on 31 January)
- Breaking Benjamin – Aurora (released on 24 January)
- Eminem – Music To Be Murdered By (released on 17 January)
- Bombay Bicycle Club – Everything Else Has Gone Wrong (released on 17 January)
- Anti-Flag – 20/20 Vision (released on 17 January)
5 Kick-ass songs that were released in January 2020:
Eminem featuring Juice WRLD – “Godzilla”
This is my favourite track of Eminem’s 11th studio album, Music To Be Murdered By. The album title was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By (which was released in 1958).
Music to Be Murdered By opened at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with 279,000 album-equivalent units, consisting of 117,000 traditional album sales, 217.6 million streams and 8,000 track equivalent albums.
Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive albums debut at number one in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten number-one albums.
The song is Juice WRLD’s first posthumous release following his death in December 2019. It debuted at number one in Finland and on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart, becoming Eminem’s tenth and eighth number-one single in the UK and Ireland, respectively, as well as the first for Juice Wrld posthumously and in total in both countries.
Eminem’s third verse on the track holds the record for his fastest rap verse. He raps at 10.65 syllables per second. He broke his own record (10.3 syllables a second on “Labyrinth” with Nicky Minaj).
I’m a rocker by heart, but I really like “Godzilla” because it’s such a catchy track. You simply can’t ignore Eminem’s rap ability and genius.
Bombay Bicycle Club – “I can hardly speak”
This song was written by Jack Steadman released as a single on the 1st of January 2020. It’s taken from their new album Everything Else Has Gone Wrong (which was released on the 17th of January). It’s their first album release in nearly six years.
The artwork illustrations for the album and its singles were commissioned by the band from Spanish artist María Medem. The album debuted at number one on the UK’s Official Record Store Chart. It also peaked at number 4 on the UK and Scottish album charts.
I like this song because it’s produced really well. “I Can Hardly Speak” has a laid back vibe to it. It just sucked me in when I hit play on it for the first time on Spotify. I’ve been hooked ever since.
Anti-Flag – “The Disease”
“The Disease” is taken from Anti-Flag’s latest album, 20/20 Vision. The album was released on 17 January 2020. It’s their first album release in 3 years.
In case you did not know, Anti-Flag have been around since 1988. They band are known for their advocacy of progressive political action groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International. Most recently they declared solidarity with the global Occupy Together movement. To date the band has released 12 studio albums.
I like this song simply because it’s a fairly laid back punk track with catchy lyrics. There’s nothing wrong with that in my books.
Incubus – “Our Love”
This song was released today (the 31st of January 2020). The release of “Our Love” isn’t a total surprise to Incubus fans. The band announced that new single would be coming out at the beginning of this year. They’ve also been teasing fans with new music for at least six months.
2019 was a big year for Incubus. The group embarked on a massive tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their breakout 1999 album, Make Yourself.
South Africans (like me) were lucky and happy to catch Incubus live in Pretoria and Cape Town in 2018. I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years…
I love the new track (which was released on Spotify already). It kinda feels like a throwback to their roots, but it also a fresh vibe to it.
Take Note: If you can’t watch the music video below, it’s because it’s only going to be released in 5 hours on YouTube.
Honeymoan – “Weirdo”
“Weirdo” is the title track off Honeymoan’s upcoming EP (which will be released in February 2020). The song was released somewhere in January 2020 via all the major streaming platforms.
In case you did not know, Honeymoan hail from Cape Town, South Africa. A little bird told me that they completely blew the crowd away with their performance at Endless Daze festival last year, so I will definitely be keeping me eyes and ears on them for the rest of 2020. I really hope that they’ll play a show in Pretoria soon.
I like “Weirdo” because it’s just completely different to many of the other music that I’m currently hearing from South African artists. It’s strangle soothing and making me curious to find out what else they’re throwing our way this year.
Well, there you have it, 5 Notable albums and 5 kick-ass songs that were released in January 2020. I hope that you’ve enjoyed my wrap-up of what was arguably the longest January ever.
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