2021's Top Music Artists To Watch Out For
Music was as much a comfort as it was a catalyst for progress in 2020, a snapshot of how we live and a way to strengthen it.
This year, so many artists have made delightful, devastating music, and we are celebrating the voices that reshape the sounds we hear and relate to some of the most relevant cultural discussions right now: structural injustice, inclusion, pay equality, control of your work, and the freedom and resources to do it. The music industry itself is always a microcosm of societal problems, from stereotyping to being shoved into any amount of boxes, and everything we do represents the society we live inside.
The artists presented here are not going to be pinned inside. They are accepting their own power to challenge and do it themselves through structures from inside or step beyond conventional roads. They are at the forefront of music which, like hell, is genreless, inventive, brazen, and catchy. Immerse yourself below in the stories of artists you can listen to as we head into 2021.
1. CLAUD
The 21-year-old (and close friend of Clairo's) of NYC, officially known as Toast, has been quietly launching bedroom bops in recent years. They were recently the first artist signed on the Saddest Factory label of Phoebe Bridgers.
Super Monster will be releasing their debut album on 21 February 2021.
2. MADISON DEER
The 21-year-old singer has been a long way since Justin Bieber heard her music on YouTube at the age of 13 for the first time. She is finally able to reveal her to the world, after years of setbacks and an EP.
Her debut album, Life Support, is going to be out February 26, 2021.
3. TEDDY GEIGER
In comparison to LillyAnna, which was "all these big, vague, internal things I was struggling with," her forthcoming album, out spring 2021, is more meditative and emotional, but still more concrete experience-based. In September, she released "Sharkbait," a beach-rock anthem with a head-bopping bassline produced from the concept of doing what you want, of being who you are, even if it causes you to paii-rock.
4. INHALER
You definitely need to know right now that Elijah Hewson, Inhaler's frontman, is Bono's son. But don't allow the family connection to get in the way of the experienced post-punk tinged guitar rock of the Dublin band, which taps into Joy Division, Interpol, The Strokes and more. Josh Jenkinson on guitar, Rob Keating on bass and Ryan McMahon on drums are next to Hewson.
5. DIXIE D'AMELIO
The older half of the reigning Royal Duo of TikTok, and the new singer in her own right.
Her sound is fun, classic pop with a capital P that is not afraid to discuss depression issues (most notably in her latest track, Demi Lovato's "Roommates,") and general Gen Z malaise. She has recently shared the single "One Whole Day." featuring Wiz Khalifa.
6. KENNYHOOPLA
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1997, Kenneth La'ron describes his music as 'new wave nostalgia.' He spent a while uploading music, including the hugely popular Cave, to SoundCloud. On the EP Underneath The Willow Tree, these early tracks were collected.
All being well, in March 2021, Kennyhoopla will perform two nights at the London O2 Forum, Kentish Town, supporting Yungblud, and he's already on the bill for Brighton's The Great Escape.