Today, music is part of our lives more than ever before, it provides the perfect source of stress relief, relaxation, background work soundtrack, heartbreak anthem, hype playlist and dance jams.
While I am all for the classic mastered melodies of Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes and more, sometimes discovering new and upcoming artists is such a breath of fresh air.
1. Gracie Abrams – If slow sad songs with attention to lyrical detail are your thing, Gracie Abrams is the artist for you. The 21-year-old pop artist has several singles as well as her debut EP ‘Minor’ associated with her name. Starting her career merely 2 years back, she has gained an extensive following for her music with Billie Eilish, Lorde, Post Malone and other big artists expressing their admiration for her work.
2. Conan Gray – Having the biggest USA new artist debut of 2020 with his second ever album Kid Krow, debuting at number 5 on the US Billboard 200 charts, Conan Lee Gray is definitely a full package. The two biggest hits off of the album included ‘Heather’ and ‘Maniac’, the first being a gorgeous folk ballad you can cry to and the second one a quirky and insane dance number. Both these tracks are platinum certified in over 4 countries and clocked more than 90-100 million streams in just the first two months each. I think the stats and music speak for themselves when it comes to Conan Gray. That being said, I would definitely recommend any and everyone to give his other, less recognised music a shot too, you might be pleasantly surprised.
3. Olivia Rodrigo – Chances are this is not the first time you are hearing about this 18-year-old actress, singer, songwriter. Rodrigo blew up with her debut song ‘Driver’s License’ which stayed atop the billboard global charts for 8 weeks and she received immense appreciation from almost every artist in the entertainment industry from Taylor Swift to Camilla Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Harry Styles, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Cardi B, Halsey, the Jonas brothers, other one direction members and more. You may know her from her other hit singles ‘All I want', ‘Déjà Vu or ‘Good 4 U’ as well. Hearing her music, I’ve learnt that it cannot be categorised, slow intricate heartbreak songs, electric guitar rock or absolute psychedelic pop-rock, she has it all. As someone who has been following her career from her acting days to when she posted small clippings of original music on her Instagram page, seeing her growth has me beyond stoked for the release of her debut album ‘Sour’ (releasing today!).
4. Why don’t we- This American pop boy band was formed in 2016 and since then the group has released two studio albums and six extended plays and has been nominated for an MTV Video Music Award, iHeart Radio Awards, Nick Kids and Teen choice awards, Radio Disney Awards and more. The group has been finishing their much anticipated 3rd studio album over the course of the lockdown in the past 8 months. With the perfect kind of songs to jam to such as ‘Fallin’ (Adrenaline)’, I would definitely recommend everyone to give their music a listen.
5. Caroline Manning- Unlike most of the other artists mentioned in this list, Caroline Manning is not a singer, songwriter by profession. In fact, she is a YouTube lifestyle vlogger. However, if stripped down- sweet acoustic songs which while being simple still bring a smile to your face is your thing, this is the artist for you. Some of my personal favourites include ‘Cali Girl’ and ‘Sour Strawberry’.
6. Joshua Bassett – You may have heard of this name before either due to his acting career and appearances on Grey’s Anatomy and several Disney shows, or somewhere in the news with Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter’s name. However, what most people end up missing is his music career. He recently released his debut EP with a set of 6 perfect songs and his latest piece of work, his single, ‘Feel Something’, will definitely make you feel something and get you moving and grooving.
7. Mimi Webb- You may know Mimi Webb from her song ‘Before I Go’ which took off on Tik-Tok with influencer Charli Dameilo’s videos increasing her streams by 87.5 million. But, Mimi Webb isn’t just your average one-time blow-up artist. This British singer is best known for her really emotional music and her other hit singles including ‘Good Without’ and ‘Reasons’.
8. Pretty Much – This American-Canadian R&B and pop boy band were put together in 2016 by the famous Simon Cowell (fun fact- he was also responsible for the success of other bands such as One Direction and Fifth Harmony). With their song ‘Phases’ receiving over 135 million streams just on Spotify and others like ‘Summer on you’ and ‘Mi Necesita’ following right behind, this band has an immense amount of limelight ahead of them while their fan base grows every day.
9. Nessa Barrett – You may know this name through the infamous American Tik-Tok content house world, but this is your hint to give Nessa Barrett’s music a chance. My personal favourites would include her newest and most popular single, ‘La di die (feat. Jxdn)’ which is an absolute bop and ‘Pain’ which is completely opposite and is in fact a soft but strong pop ballad. Her music expresses a lot of her struggles with mental health as well.
10. Johnny Orlando – This Canadian singer-songwriter and occasional actor and vlogger first grew a following on social media with his covers of pop songs on YouTube. He released his debut EP when he was just 12 years old and has since followed them up with his next 2 albums teenage fever and it's never really over He has also won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Canadian Act twice, in 2019 and 2020. Some of my personal favourite songs have to be off of his latest album ‘INRO’.
11. CNCO- Unlike most of the other artists and bands on this list, CNCO is a Latin pop ballad - 4-member boy band. Their second album and third albums were released in 2018 and 2019 each and both albums debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and the top 40 on the Billboard 200, while the EP debuted within the top 15 of the former chart. Their music is indeed very different from the usual tracks you may come across and is definitely very groovy.
12. Tate McCrae- At the age of thirteen, she gained prominence as the first Canadian finalist on the American reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance. But McRae soon received wider recognition after her song "You Broke Me First" became an international hit. In 2020, McRae was the youngest musician featured on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list. Some of her other work I would recommend includes ‘You’, ‘Slower’, ‘One Day’ and ‘Bad Ones’.
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