High temperatures aren’t the only thing dropping this fall. 

COVID-19 may have kept your favorite bands from touring and it has caused several major acts to push their latest music back to 2021, but a number of artists are releasing albums through the end of 2020. 

Here’s a look at 20 of the season’s most anticipated titles, from indie heroes Sufjan Stevens and Matt Berninger to Australian pop legend Kylie Minogue and country icon Dolly Parton with a Christmas album.

Highlights range from hip-hop legends Public Enemy and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame royalty Elvis Costello to the sure-to-go-platinum full-length debut of K-pop hitmakers Blackpink. 

Sufjan Stevens, ‘The Ascension’

It’s been five years since “Carrie & Lowell,” an emotional indie-folk treasure inspired by the death of Stevens’ mother Carrie.

That album returned the singer to the upper reaches of year-end lists from Pitchfork to the A.V. Club.

The much-anticipated follow-up is what Stevens has called a “lush, editorial pop album” that finds the human race at a “terrifying crossroad.”

As the singer explained in a press release, “My objective for this album was simple: Interrogate the world around you. Question anything that doesn’t hold water…. Be part of the solution or get out of the way. Keep it real. Keep it true. Keep it simple. Keep it moving.” 

Available for streaming and download on Sept. 25 with physical copies to follow on Oct. 2.

Deftones, ‘Ohms’

When the art-metal legends released the album’s title track as a single, Chino Moreno told NME, “It sounds like we’re in peril when the song starts with a riff that’s all angular and dirty, then all of a sudden it lifts up with the chorus. That’s a good scope of where this record’s at.”

The singer also spoke to Metal Hammer about the importance of not repeating themselves on an album that arrives on the 20th anniversary of “White Pony,” a landmark album felt like the nu-metal answer to “OK Computer.” 

“I think when you hear a Deftones song, you can tell it’s us, but the idea is to expand on what we’ve done in the past.”

Out Sept. 25. 

Róisín Murphy, ‘Róisín Machine’

‘Róisín Machine’ is an album-length collaboration with the producer DJ Parrot, who told Rolling Stone, “Róisín rang up one day and said she wanted to make some house music. Off we went.”

It’s been 20 years since the Irish singer launched her career at the helm of the EDM duo Moloko with producer Mark Brydon, and Vulture says Murphy is making some of her best music ever — glistening post-disco tracks that luxuriate in minuteslong slow builds.”

Treblezine said the singles released in advance “are physical, bass-heavy dancefloor bangers, which groove and thump and slither and—yes—absolutely slap” while cautioning “There’s always more to her songs than just the bassline or the hook, however, so expect some headphone revelations while your backside’s moving.”

Out Sept. 25.

Public Enemy, ‘What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down’

The hip-hop heavyweights are back with their first album on Def Jam Recordings in more than two decades.

The album was preceded by two singles. 

“Fight the Power: Remix 2020” was reconceptualized with Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, YG, Jahi and Questlove for the 2020 BET Awards in June and officially released as a single the day the album was announced.

The DJ Premier-produced “State of the Union (STFU)” is a no-holds-barred attack on Donald Trump that features Chuck D urging fans to “vote this joke out or die trying.”

Other guests include Cypress Hill, Run-DMC, Ice-T, PMD, George Clinton, Daddy-O, The Impossebulls, Mark Jenkins and two Beastie Boys, Mike D and Ad-Rock. 

Out Sept. 25.

2 Chainz, ‘So Help Me God’

The multi-platinum, Grammy-winning MC’s sixth album follows last year’s “Rap or Go to the League,” his fifth consecutive release to hit the Top 5 on the Billboard album chart.

It was preceded by the single, “Money Maker,” which features Lil Wayne and samples Louisiana HBCU Southern University’s marching band, Human Jukebox.

Southern University is one of 11 HBCUs that earned a shout-out on the single, including 2 Chainz’ alma mater, Alabama State University.

Out on Sept. 25.

Shamir, ‘Shamir’

This album has been marketed as a return to the pop sound of his debut album, “Ratchet,” and its breakthrough single, “On the Regular,” which azcentral said should win a special Grammy for happiest breakup single of the year.

This is the singer’s second album of the year. “Cataclysm” dropped in March.

Coming out of Shamir Bailey’s recent forays into lo-fi indie territory, press materials promise an album that “re-imagines ’90s pop and rock for the modern world.” 

Rolling Stone says, “The teases of Shamir so far show a penchant for the type of fuzzy, Nineties-styled guitar pop you’d hear while watching Freddie Prinze Jr. try to woo his dream girl on screen.”

Vulture calls it his best work since “Ratchet.”

Out Oct. 2. 

Blackpink, ‘The Album’

These K-pop sensations are dropping one of the season’s most anticipated titles, a Korean-language debut called “The Album.”

The first single “How You Like That” won Song of the Summer at MTV’s Video Music Awards while breaking several YouTube records, from most-watched premiere to most views within 24 hours. It also topped the World Digital Song Sales chart in Billboard.

That was followed by “Ice Cream,” a Selena Gomez collaboration that hit No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, a career high.

This is the girl group’s first Korean material since 2019’s “Kill This Love,” a five-song EP.

Rolling Stone says it’s safe to expect “the same mix of anthemic dance-pop, EDM, and hip-hop on ‘The Album.'”

Out Oct. 2.

Jonsi, ‘Shiver’

Jonsi Birgisson is best known as the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist at the helm of Icelandic post-rock legends Sigur Ros. “Shiver” is his second solo album.

According to a press release, it “plumbs the depths of the human experience and our connection to the natural world,” pitting “the organic and dreamlike qualities of Jónsi against A. G. Cook’s synthetic, sometimes abrasive and avant-garde experimentalism.”

Jonsi has released three singles from the album, most recently “Cannibal,” which features Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. 

In a press release, Jonsi says he wasn’t fond of Cocteau Twins comparisons when Sigur Rós was starting out.

“Then I got really into Cocteau Twins like two or three years ago,” he says. “They’re so good. I understood the comparison then.” 

Out Oct. 2.

Dolly Parton, ‘A Holly Dolly Christmas’

The endearingly titled “Holly Dolly Christmas” features guest appearances by some of Dolly Parton’s dearest friends, including Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, Michael Buble, Willie Nelson (on his classic “Pretty Paper”) and a special duet with her brother, Randy Parton. 

The album is a mix of yuletide standards and originals. 

She’s released two singles in advance, a heartfelt “Mary Did You Know?” and the decidedly more playful “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

In a press release, the country icon talks about including “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. 

“I wanted to do something for the kids and I think it’s a real cute little song,” she says. “I have a child-like spirit and I love everything about Christmas!”

Out Oct. 2

Bartees Strange, ‘Live Forever’

This full-length debut follows “Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy,” an EP of him reimagining the music of indie-rock darlings the National from a black perspective in an effort to “allude to how black artists can find room in white spaces,” as Strange explained on Bandcamp.

“Live Forever” was shaped by life in an overwhelmingly white town on the outskirts of Oklahoma City and frequently finding himself the only Black guy in the room when playing music.

According to a press release, this album “spans gentle, Moses Sumney-meets-Yves Jarvis minimalism, Killers-ish indie rock vigor with post-punk cracks in its danceable veneer, the throbbing industrial alt-soul of Algiers, Justin Vernon’s acoustic tenderness, and the volatile, unforgiving production and delivery of Death Grips.”

Out Oct. 2.

Sun Ra Arkestra, ‘Swirling’

This is the avant-jazz collective’s first release since 1999’s “Song for the Sun,” recorded like the last one under the direction of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen. Sun Ra died in 1993 but the ensemble carried on, initially led by tenor saxophonist John Gilmore.

Recorded at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia, “Swirling” is a mix of old and new material. Prior to the album’s release, they shared a new recording of “Seductive Fantasy” from 1979’s “On Jupiter.”

In a press release, saxophonist Knoel Scott said, “We truly hope that this recording brings much joy to a planet which is so deeply in need of a spirit sound and vibration. We hope it contributes to a change in the ominous direction of man’s journey through the cosmos.”

Out Oct. 9

Matt Berninger, ‘Serpentine Prison’

The frontman of indie-rock legends the National is releasing his first solo album, produced by Memphis soul legend Booker T. Jones, who also guests on what one would assume is organ.

Three members of the National — Scott Devendorf, Ben Lanz and Kyle Resnick — also appear, as do two members of his side group EL VY (Brent Knopf and Matt Sheehy). 

Other guests include Matt Barrick (the Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), David Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, Andrew Bird and Micky Raphael, a harmonica player best known for his work with Willie Nelson.

“Serpentine Prison” was preceded by “One More Second,” a single Berninger has said was written as a sort of answer song to Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”

Out Oct. 16.

beabadoobee, ‘Fake it Flowers’

“Fake It Flowers” is among the most anticipated debuts of the season, following a string of EPs by the 20-year-old Filipino-born British rocker who started 2020 with nominations for the?BRITs Rising Star Award?and the?BBC Sound of 2020. 

She was also a featured performer at this year’s NME Awards and graced the cover of the magazine, which understandably labeled her “devastatingly cool.”

You may have heard her on the the sixth-most-streamed song of the summer, “deathbed (coffee for your head),” a TikTok smash by Powfu based on a sample of beabadoobee’s viral smash “Coffee.”

Judging from the singles she’s released so far from “Fake It Flowers,” ’90s alt-rock fans should eat it up. As Paper magazine noted, “Liz Phair would be proud.” 

Out Oct. 16

The Mountain Goats, ‘Getting Into Knives’

In announcing the release of “Getting Into Knives,” Merge Records declared it “the perfect album for the millions of us who have spent many idle hours contemplating whether we ought to be honest with ourselves and just get massively into knives.”

Which is a funny way to start a press release.

The album was recorded in a single week at Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, in the same room where the Cramps recorded their iconic 1980 debut, “Songs the Lord Taught Us.”

Lead single “As Many Candles As Possible” features Al Green organist Charles Hodges.

Recording took place before the pandemic shut everything down, inspiring John Darnielle to home-record (and rush-release) another album, “Songs for Pierre Chuvin,” on his boombox.

Out Oct. 23.

Elvis Costello, ‘Hey Clockface’

Costello has already shared four tracks from his 31st album and if those are any indication, this should be one of the more inspired rock releases of the year. 

The first three singles were recorded in Helsinki in February. The fourth is one of nine tracks on the album recorded in Paris the following weekend with a quintet led by Steve Nieve, the singer’s longtime keyboard player.

The Paris sessions also featured Mickaël Gasche on trumpet, Renaud-Gabriel Pion on clarinet, Pierre-François “Titi” Diufour on cello and AJUQ on drums.

In a press release, Costello said, “None of our arrangements for this session were written down in advance…. I sang live on the studio floor with the ensemble playing everything I wanted to hear and nothing that I didn’t.”

The remaining tracks were cut in New York.

The album also features two brilliant guitarists, Bill Frisell and Wilco’s Nels Cline.

Out Oct. 30. 

Kylie Minogue, ‘Disco’

The Australian pop sensation called her 15th album “Disco” for a reason.

And that reason is as clear as day in the throbbing dancefloor beat of lead single “Say Something,” which found the star re-teaming with longtime collaborators Ash Howes and Biff Stannard.

In an interview last year with the Guardian, Minogue said, “I think it’s going to be getting back on the dancefloor, like grown-up disco,” going on to promise something “shimmery.”

“Disco” is Minogue’s first album since the country-leaning “Golden” topped the U.K. and Australian charts in 2018.

Rolling Stone says, “In spite of the world’s chaos, Minogue’s sonic turn couldn’t be better timed, coming on the heels of successful disco-tinged singles by artists like Dua Lipa and Doja Cat.” 

Out Nov. 6. 

Chris Stapleton, ‘Starting Over’

The country superstar is joined by keyboard player Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers on his first album since 2017.

He’s already road-tested some of the songs on “Starting Over,” slipping “Arkansas,” “You Should Probably Leave” and the title track into his set. 

Rolling Stone says, “It’s the brand-new ‘Watch You Burn,’ written about the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, that will snap your head back: ‘Only a coward would pick up a gun and shoot up a crowd trying to have fun,’ Stapleton growls. It’s a direct, damning statement from an artist who chooses his words ever so carefully.”

In addition to 11 Stapleton originals, it features John Fogerty’s “Joy Of My Life” two Guy Clark songs.

Out Nov. 13.

Lana Del Rey, ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’

Del Rey announced that she’d already started working on her seventh album the day she hit the streets with one of last year’s most acclaimed releases, “Norman (Expletive) Rockwell!”

In May, she shared some themes she felt the album would address on Instagram.

“I’m not not a feminist,” she wrote. 

“But there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me — the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes —the kind of women who are slated mercilessly for being their authentic, delicate selves, the kind of women who get their own stories and voices taken away from them by stronger women or by men who hate women.”

No release date yet.

J. Cole, ‘The Fall Off’

J. Cole has been getting people ready for “The Fall Off” since 2018, when he ended that year’s “KOD” with “1985 (Intro to ‘The Fall Off’),” confirming a week later in a Twitter Q&A that he was working on it.

This July, he shared two singles from the album — “The Climb Back” and “Lion King On Ice” — as an EP titled “Lewis Street,” telling Twitter, “No date for the album yet, taking my time, still finishing.”

That same week, he explained the album’s importance on The Players’ Tribune. “On my career bucket list, there remain a few more items to check off before I give myself permission to enter whatever the next chapter of my life may be.”

No release date

BTS, TBA

This South Korean group has topped the US album charts with four releases in the past three years: “Love Yourself: Tear,” “Love Yourself: Answer,” “Map of the Soul: Persona” and “Map of the Soul: 7.”

And they recently became the first all-South Korean act to top the Billboard Hot 100 —with their first track sung entirely in English. “Dynamite” enjoyed the biggest sales week since Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” (2017). 

It’s not clear if that single will be featured on a still-untitled album BTS have promised to release before the year is out.

Patrick Hosken of MTV said, “The song itself is a blockbuster, not because it’s overstuffed with ideas but because it’s light and airy and, crucially, feels like summer.”

No release date.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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