TIDAL Rising: This Week’s 5 Artists To Watch
TIDAL Rising is a dedicated showcase for today’s emerging and independent artists. Curated by the TIDAL Editors, Rising highlights artists just beginning to make waves. We’re continuously updating the Rising section’s album and track lists, but each week we highlight five special picks you really shouldn’t miss out on.
Name: Lido
Based In: Haugesund, Norway
Sounds Like: Pop-Friendly, Genre-Bending Producer
Lido is a 23-year-old Norwegian composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist that first made a name for himself remixing the work of such acts as alt-J, Bastille, Banks, Disclosure and many others. Though Lido has been an avid drummer and pianist for some time now, he first made his mark as a producer for his work on Badlands, the smash debut from American electro-pop artist (and TIDAL Rising alum) Halsey. Since then he has produced high-profile singles like Bank’s “Better” and Chance The Rapper’s “Angels,” earning him rightfully elevated acclaim. Most recently, Lido just put out EVERYTHING, his highly personal and eagerly awaited full-length debut exhibiting his knack for pop-friendly, genre-bending jams, with delightfully amorphous tracks like “Murder” serving as case in point.
Name: 6lack
Based In: Atlanta, GA
Sounds Like: Hip-Hop Beats and R&B Hooks
After being tied up for five years in a “horrible [record] deal,” the Atlanta-based 23-year-old known as 6lack stands liberated, finally free to release his music as he sees fit. Currently associated with LVRN (or LoveRenaissance), a collective boasting the eclectic and much talked about rising artist Raury, 6lack offers a downtempo mix of hip-hop beats and R&B-influenced hooks over what might best be characterized as an ambient and sometimes sinister production. No track better exemplifies these qualities than “Prblms,” a sublimely brooding song that’s racked up hundreds of thousands of streams since its release.
Name: Gurr
Based In: Berlin, Germany
Sounds Like: Roughed Up Surf Pop
Made up of Andreya Casablanca and Laura Lee, Gurr are a Berlin-based surf rock duo that first formed when the pair met in an American Studies course back in 2012. Self-described as “garage-pop that sounds like a trashy ’60s girl group meshed with poppy vocals in two voices” topped off by “a flavor of eeriness,” Gurr’s sound is heavily indebted to that of America’s West Coast, inspired, no doubt, by Casablanca’s exposure to the scene while studying abroad at UC Santa Barbara. Reminiscent of acts like Surfer Blood and Best Coast, Gurr’s roughed up take on surf pop works like a wave: though it’s rolling at times and crashing at others, it’s always powerful and flowing. Gurr’s new album, In My Head, drops this coming Friday.
Name: Killavesi
Based In: Chicago, IL
Sounds Like: Ominous and Lovelorn Trap
Killavesi is an up-and-coming rapper based out of Chicago. Recently highlighted in The FADER as one of the “21 Rappers To Feel Excited About Right Now,” Killavesi often works with 19-year-old fellow rising Chicago MC Adamn Killa and is celebrated for her ominous and often lovelorn trap. Most recently, she put out the characteristic single “Owe Me.”
Name: Loamlands
Based In: Durham, NC
Sounds Like: Southern Indie Rock
Hailing from Durham, North Carolina, Loamlands are a Southern Rock duo made up of Kym Register (pictured) and Will Hackney. Having collaborated for eight years as a part of the folk rock band known locally as Midtown Dickens, the pair embarked on their Loamlands project as a means of pursuing more contemporary music while still focusing lyrically on timeless and universal concepts such as perseverance, justice and uncertainty. In 2013, Loamlands released their debut EP, Some Kind of Light, boasting a sort of classic down home sonic structure with a wistful indie twist. You can also listen to their most recent single, “Little River.” On the 25th, Loamlands are set to release their Sweet High Rise album.
