For years, springtime in Southern California has meant one thing for music lovers: the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which once again will bring dozens of acts — and more than 100,000 fans — to the desert east of Los Angeles over two consecutive weekends starting April 13. But the annual mega-festival is hardly the only thing happening in the next few months. Here are 10 — OK, nine — more worth lending your ears.
Kacey Musgraves, “Golden Hour,” March 30
After two albums about her complicated dealings with history and tradition, this smart, sly country singer focused on a different relationship for her upcoming record: her romance with the guy she married last fall. Which isn’t to say that the gorgeous “Golden Hour” ignores what’s going on in the world; “Butterflies” describes a happily modern marriage in which nobody’s trying to hold anyone down. Hear Musgraves sing it when she plays April’s Stagecoach festival.
Jaden Smith and Willow Smith, the Novo, April 7
Celebrity offspring often use their privileged status as a head start toward commercial viability. The teenage children of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith view it as a license to get weird in proudly trippy songs that blend hip-hop, folk and R&B with digital-native vernacular seemingly designed to stymie the dad who once rapped “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”
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Juliana Hatfield, “Sings Olivia Newton-John,” April 13
Not a joke: The alt-rock lifer known for her solo work and her stint in the Lemonheads offers up heartfelt versions of the “Grease” star’s most indelible hits, including “Physical,” “I Honestly Love You” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”
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Hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar performs at Coachella.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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People watch as Kendrick Lamar performs during the first weekend of the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Fans watch Kendrick Lamar’s performance.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar performs at Coachella.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kendrick Lamar performs at Coachella.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kehlani performs at Coachella.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Kehlani performs on the Mojave Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Marshmello performs on the Sahara Stage on Day 3 of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Marshmello fans react to a performance by the electronic dance music DJ on the Sahara Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Artist Gustavo Prado stands for a portrait inside his art installation “Lamp Besides the Golden Door.”
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Lorde performs onstage at Coachella.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Lorde
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Lorde onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Lorde onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Lorde at Coachella
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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South African singer and songwriter Lebo M, left, and Hans Zimmer onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Hans Zimmer with a Hitchcockian side view is onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Cellist Tina Guo plays while onstage with Hans Zimmer at Coachella.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A festival goer with a spiked mohawk passes through the Chiaozza Garden art installation.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Jai Wolf, aka Sajeeb Saha, performs during weekend one of the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Jai Wolf, aka Sajeeb Saha, performs
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Fans dance as Jai Wolf, aka Sajeeb Saha, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Jai Wolf, aka Sajeeb Saha, performs during weekend one of the three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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The sun sets on the third and final day of this weekends’ Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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The sun sets on the third day of this weekends’ Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Dj Khaled performs at the Sahara Stage on Day 3 of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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DJ Khaled.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Kiiara performs on the Mojave Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Kiiara.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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British singer-songwriter Neo Jessica Joshua, known as NAO, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Kiara Price, center, raises her arms in the crowd as British singer-songwriter Neo Jessica Joshua, known as NAO, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Erica Hanson, center, sings along in the crowd NAO performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Coachella attendees walk past the art project “Is this what brings things into focus?” by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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A Coachella attendee launches himself from a pushup into the “dab” while dancing in the Do LaB.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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A Coachella attendee strikes a pose while dancing in the Do LaB.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Coachella attendees dance in the Do LaB.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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The Easter Bunny makes an appearance at the show of DJ Khaled.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Marilou Stoltenberg, 33, Hermosa Beach, holds an umbrella while riding on the shoulders of Justin Thompson, 37, of Long Beach.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Coachella attendees dance in the Do LaB.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Twilight in the Garden of Chiaozza.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Hinds guitarist/vocalist Carlotta Cosials onstage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Coachella attendees gesture as grime artist and songwriter Skepta, Joseph Junior Adenuga, performs during weekend one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds on Sunday in Indio, Calif.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Coachella attendees watch as grime artist and songwriter Skepta, Joseph Junior Adenuga, performs during weekend one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds on Sunday in Indio, Calif.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Grime artist and songwriter Skepta, Joseph Junior Adenuga, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Grime artist and songwriter Skepta, Joseph Junior Adenuga, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Tourist onstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Tourist onstage at Coachella.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Festival goers peruse vinyl records at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on Sunday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Hinds guitarist and vocalist Ana Perrote onstage at Coachella.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Ana Perrote, left, and Carlotta Cosials of the Spanish band Hinds at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Hinds guitarist/vocalist Carlotta Cosials onstage at Coachella.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Brian Hildman, 29, of San Francisco, on an Easter groove in the Mojave Tent.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Tucker Halpern, left, and Sophie Hawley-Weld perform as Sofi Tukker on the Gobi Stage on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Tucker Halpern and Sophie Hawley-Weld perform as Sofi Tukker on the Gobi Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A Coachella attendee is removed by security after climbing on stage as grime artist and songwriter Skepta, Joseph Junior Adenuga, performs.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Sophie Hawley-Weld, singer and guitarist of Sofi Tukker, performs on the Gobi Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Frederick “Toots” Hibbert of the seminal raggae group Toots and the Maytals, performs on the Coachella Stage.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Frederick “Toots” Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals performs on Sunday.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Rasta Guitar on the Coachella Stage with Toots and the Maytals.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Britt Jacobson, 18, spreads her wings at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Coachella, Empire Polo Club in Indio, April 13-15 and 20-22
Hey, you need to know who’s playing, right? For the first time, a rock act isn’t among Coachella’s headliners; instead, Beyoncé, the Weeknd and Eminem top the bill. Women will figure more prominently than in the past as well, with appearances scheduled by SZA, St. Vincent, Cardi B and the sisters of L.A.’s Haim.
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Janelle Monáe, “Dirty Computer,” April 27
This young soul-funk visionary has spent the past few years concentrating on her acting career with roles in movies such as “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight.” Now she’s back with her first album since 2013 — and if that title reminds you of the late, great Prince (who was a friend of Monáe’s), so will the slick but propulsive music.
Meshell Ndegeocello, Teragram Ballroom, May 6
One of R&B’s most inventive songwriters, Ndegeocello pays tribute to some of the creators who inspired her on her excellent new covers album, “Ventriloquism,” which features free-spirited renditions of such ’80s and ’90s classics as Sade’s “Smooth Operator,” Ralph Tresvant’s “Sensitivity” and TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Expect her to mix those cuts with her own stuff here.
Charlie Puth, “Voicenotes,” May 11
What — or who — happened to Charlie Puth? When this baby-faced crooner broke out a few years ago with harmless ditties such as “One Call Away” and “See You Again,” he looked set to become Generation Z’s Donny Osmond. But his new album has a nastier, more sensual vibe that suggests he’s seen some unexpectedly rough times (or maybe just wants us to think he has).
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Taylor Swift
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )
Taylor Swift, Rose Bowl, May 18-19
The pop superstar easily scored 2017’s biggest album sales with her latest effort, the bitter and knowing “Reputation.” Yet by Swift’s standards, the reception was lukewarm, and the disc hasn’t spun off the kind of smash singles we’re accustomed to getting from her. So the question for the singer’s stadium tour is whether she proceeds in “Reputation’s” acidic electro-pop direction or retreats toward the cuddlier approach with which she made her name.
Courtney Barnett, “Tell Me How You Really Feel,” May 18
Working nonstop hasn’t dulled this Australian songwriter’s painfully sharp wit, as she demonstrates in the lead single from her third album since 2015. “I want to walk through the park in the dark / Men are scared that women will laugh at them,” she sings in the fuzzy-jangly “Nameless, Faceless,” “I want to walk through the park in the dark / Women are scared that men will kill them.”
Paul Simon, Hollywood Bowl, May 22-23 and 28
Like Elton John, Joan Baez and Ozzy Osbourne, Simon is calling his 2018 tour his farewell to the road. But hopefully that doesn’t mean he plans to spend every night looking too far backward: His two most recent studio albums — 2011’s “So Beautiful or So What” and 2016’s “Stranger to Stranger” — contain some of the finest work he’s done.
