Hear Me Out: 9 Albums to Hear in 2019

There’s something for every color of the rainbow included in this year’s music-release roster. The list is long, but here’s a taste: debuts from Pitch Perfect star Ben Platt and hair-toss kween Lizzo, songwriter showcases from Patty Griffin and Lana Del Rey, gay icons (Madonna, Melissa Etheridge), emerging gay icons (Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen), and much more. Look for this diverse pack in the coming months:

You know Ben Platt as a Pitch Perfect acca-nerd – he played Benji Applebaum, the acapella-obsessed outcast crazy for magic – and as the eponymous lead in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen. But the magic of his first solo album, where he’ll peel back the layers of the gay man under the wizard’s cape, is purely Ben Platt being Ben Platt. Already, he’s captured the greatest love of all – the saving grace of self-love – on "Bad Habit," a tender, aching piano number with gorgeous vocal riffs on gorgeous vocal riffs. Surely Platt has a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Will Madonna reel it in? Drain the pool of zeitgeist, hotshot...