I think in a lot of cases it’s an attempt to be truthful with the fans. A lot of artists intend to finish what they start, and there’s obviously a great many half-finished albums where if the artists were asked at the beginning, they would say they intended to complete and release them. But if they realise the songs aren’t strong enough or “life stuff” gets in the way and they want to stop making it, that’s fine. Artists don’t owe us anything, even after they say material is coming. Still frustrating though e.g. Chromatics - Dear Tommy.
Some bands probably do lie about it, just to make out they’ve got some kind of forward momentum. I’d give the band the benefit of the doubt, unless they otherwise seemed like pricks. People probably shouldn’t publicly commit to anything until it’s in the early stages of being released, when all the tracks are done and recorded. However if you’re doing say, a pledgemusic campaign, that makes things a bit different!
