Highlights of 2009: Pop

Lily Allen's second album, Jude Law as Hamlet, Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, Martin Amis on feminism – 2009 promises a variety of treats in the arts. Our critics predict what will make waves in the coming months

By Andy Gill

Friday, 2 January 2009

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No crystal ball is required to predict that next year the boom in female artistes will continue, via the electropop of both Little Boots and Lady GaGa, the indie-soul of Florence & The Machine (pictured), and the emotive nu-folk of Karima Francis.

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Whatever one predicts for the coming year, the future always manages to find its own way to less anticipated, but more intriguing, alternatives. Last year, for instance, the ascent of Adele and Duffy was easily foretold, though nobody envisaged the rise of American ethereal indie spearheaded by Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, nor indeed the chart tussle over "Hallelujah".

Likewise, no crystal ball is required to predict that next year the boom in female artistes will continue, via the electropop of both Little Boots and Lady GaGa, the indie-soul of Florence & The Machine, and the emotive nu-folk of Karima Francis. Nor, indeed, that last year's trend for vintage band get-togethers will gather momentum through 2009, with rumoured rapprochements for high-profile acts like Blur and The Smiths (or Morrissey & Marr, at least) accompanied by reunions of avant-punk favourites The Jesus Lizard and techno pioneers Cabaret Voltaire.

Beyond that, things are less predictable, and choices more personal. Great things are expected of Daniel Merriweather, whose Mark Ronson-produced debut album Love and War arrives in April; but I'm more intrigued by the potential of Skint & Demoralised, whose May-scheduled debut Love and Other Catastrophes, recorded with retro-soul specialists The Dap-Kings, promises a Streets-style blend of poetry and grooves. Empire Of The Sun, an Australian psychedelic offshoot of The Sleepy Jackson, should also attract attention, as should the solo debut of Dan Auerbach, frontman of blues-rockers The Black Keys; while the most fascinating live collaboration planned for 2009 pairs "folktronica" group Tunng with three members of Malian desert-blues phenomenon Tinariwen.

Elsewhere, the nu-folk baton could be picked up by The Trembling Bells and Scottish ensemble Wounded Knee, while after several small independent releases, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – a jazz group rooted in the marching-band tradition, comprising eight sons of Sun Ra associate Philip Cohran – finally get a broader UK release via Honest Jons. The same label is also putting out the eagerly awaited follow-up to Candi Staton's remarkable His Hands, a Nashville-recorded set called Who's Hurting Now?. Other hotly anticipated albums in 2009 include Franz Ferdinand's Tonight, Antony & The Johnsons' The Crying Light, Bruce Springsteen's Working on a Dream, Lily Allen's It's Not Me It's You, The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die and Morrissey's Years of Refusal, while Bon Iver expands on the success of For Emma, Forever Ago with the Blood Bank EP.