Just as the financial year finishes in April, so the new music calendar reaches an abrupt full stop in November as release schedules are taken over by stocking-filler Best Ofs and festive slop.
But, before we batten down the hatches as Susan Boyle and an army of kids' TV characters begin their inexorable march towards the summit of the charts, we've been looking ahead to some of 2014's most anticipated new albums, following the trail of clues their creators have been leaving behind during recent gigs and interviews. Here are five big ones to look out for.
Nickelback
Love them or hate them, these Canadian grunge revivalists have hit the UK Top 10 with every album they've released since 2001. In all likelihood, the sales of their new album will dwarf the rest of this list combined. With the group playing a UK arena tour later this month, fans with Nickelback tickets will be hoping they drop a couple of new songs into their greatest hits set.
Speaking on the red carpet at the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year, singer Chad Kroeger revealed the group had "lots of ideas, lots of stuff kicking around" for their new album and that he'd been influenced by working on his wife Avril Lavigne's comeback record.
The Horrors
Originally scheduled for release in September this year, the follow-up to 2011's stunning 'Skying' is now expected to appear early next year, with guitarist Josh Hayward recently telling Drowned In Sound that "everything is up in the air" in terms of where their sonic voyages will take them next.
Work is definitely progressing on fresh material, though – as proved by the inclusion of a new song, Elixir Spring, in their setlists on a short European tour a couple of months back. Continuing the Krautrock influence seen on 'Primary Colours' and 'Skying', the near eight minute epic is already sounding like a career-defining moment.
Lily Allen
Most people have barely started their careers at 24, so Allen’s retirement from pop at this grand old age was never likely to constitute a lifelong commitment. And so it proved - by summer 2012 she'd tweeted she was back in the studio and a year later edged her way back into the charts with a guest spot on Pink's True Love.
Now it appears the comeback is very much on, with an appearance at the London Palladium alongside Robbie Williams and, er, Kermit the Frog under her belt and her cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know currently soundtracking John Lewis’ Christmas ad.
Warpaint
Warpaint and Tom Jones may seem like an odd combination, but you can partially blame the Welsh warbler for the three-year wait for new material from these acclaimed California girls. Multi-instrumentalist Stella Mozgawa's work on Jones' 2012 album 'Spirit In The Room' was just one of the many side projects and distractions that diverted attention from the follow-up to 'The Fool'.
However, their self-titled second LP is now in the bag and ready for release in January. As the first taster, Love Is To Die, proves, they can still do brilliantly brooding, slow-build indie-rock better than anyone else.
Azealia Banks
While second album syndrome is a common musical affliction, few artists suffer it while making their debut record. However, as anyone who follows Azealia Banks on Twitter knows, she's something of a complex character.
Discussed in interviews as far back as 2012, 'Broke With Expensive Taste' is, we're assured, going to finally land in January and comes off the back of an almost dizzying array of digital releases which prove she's already got an album's worth of material to match her breakthrough hit 212. The pick of the bunch, '90s rave rewind Count Contessa, is actually slated for inclusion on another mixtape rather than 'Broke…'. And so the saga continues.
Nickelback UK & Ireland Tour Dates are as follows
Sat November 23 2013 - LIVERPOOL Liverpool Echo Arena
Sun November 24 2013 - LONDON O2 Arena
Tue November 26 2013 - GLASGOW Hydro Arena
Wed November 27 2013 - LEEDS first direct Arena
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