As we here at THE POP FIX begin to look forward to the spring time, with all the sunny weather, vacations, and tropical alcoholic beverages that it entails, it’s hard to overlook the three weeks of winter that still stand in your way from the pristine, drug war-torn beaches of Mexico. Luckily for you, we have previews of the hottest upcoming albums in the music world to tide you over until April arrives. From a former American Idol champ to the sexiest Aussie cowboy (er, the only one) troubadour, here are some of the most anticipated releases for the month of March.

Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted

March 10

RCA

Champion of American Idol’s 1^st season, Kelly Clarkson looks to regain her supremacy over the pop world with her newest album, All I Ever Wanted. Articulate single “My Life Would Suck Without You” is already burning up the airwaves at #1, and the album seems like a surefire bet to sell millions yet again. With OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder behind the boards, along with an army of super-producers from Max Martin to Howard Benson, this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight

March 10

Epitaph Records

South Florida’s favorite punk-pop sons have been working on their sixth album for three years with Mark Hoppus of blink-182 fame working as producer. In an interview with Alternative Press the band reported they would return to the more hardcore punk sounds of their earlier records and would be nothing like the emo they made their name in. The truth is in the sales figures, evidently; the band’s last record fell short of the 100,000 mark. Good news for their longtime fans, bad news for thousands of aging teenagers trying to relive their middle-school glory.

The Decemberists – Hazards Of Love

March 24

Capitol

Oregon’s favorite hyper-literate indie rockers are dialing back the drama on their upcoming fifth release, Hazards Of Love. Vocalist Colin Meloy has hinted in interviews that the band is going for a more folk-rock approach on their latest, but with tentative song titles like “The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)” and an overarching story about a woman named Margaret and her adventures with shape-shifting animals and dastardly rakes, it’s unlikely longtime fans are in for a disappointment.

Keith Urban - Defying Gravity

March 31

Capitol Nashville

The man who really defines the Wild West – like, really, really, really freakin’ far west – rings in April with his fifth record Defying Gravity. With songs like “My Heart Is Open,” “Only You Can Love Me This Way,” and first single “Sweet Thing,” the album might read as a love letter to Mrs. Urban aka Nicole Kidman, but the Australian rocker has said the album has a “joyous, optimistic and uplifting spirit” not strictly directed at any one person. Expect more of Urban’s trademark guitar excellence and bastardized Americana country-rock on his accompanying Escape Together World Tour, which will run across 58 cities in the good ole U. S. of A.