2018 was an exceptional year for music, but which artists do we think will do great things in the coming year? Read on to find out!
As 2018 draws imminently to a close, it becomes a time where people reflect on the year just gone and where the next year will take us. It really has been a great year for the team — with some of the incredible albums released, exciting gigs, in-depth interviews, amazing summer festivals and A LOT of new music — it is no wonder that we’re looking forward to what 2019 will bring. With so many exciting artists making new music, the next 365 days are looking to be just as packed with fresh new tracks. Take a look at the artists we think will be big in 2019.
Indoor Pets
Since releasing their first EP “001” early in 2015, Indoor Pets — previously known as Get Inuit — have only gotten better and better. An energetic, all-or-nothing approach to their music since then has resulted in some support slots alongside bands such as Spring King, Clean Cut Kid and ASH in the past 2 years, and wrapped up their first headline tour early this year. Over the past year, the band have released several singles including the celebrated ‘Hi’ in September, with their debut album Be Content set to be released in March 2019. The announcement of this album was coupled with news of their biggest UK headline tour to date, featuring famous venues such as The Deaf Institute in Manchester, Newcastle’s Think Tank and Scala in London.
Their latest single ‘Being Strange’ is a beautiful insight into how the band’s creation of short and sharp, non-nonsense and energetic sounds of somewhere between indie rock and melodic pop. It seems as though the time has come for Indoor Pets to finally make the step up from the underground indie scene to the forefront of your music playlists and ‘band t-shirts’ collection. They are a brilliant set of hardworking and honest lads, who have worked incredibly hard to get where they are and deserve nothing less. I believe that with the release of their debut album and their mega UK tour, by the Spring of next year Indoor Pets will definitely be one to watch for 2019.
Listen if you like: The Cribs, Declan Mckenna and The Vaccines
Patrick Bescoby
DigDat
Digdat is a new drill artist hailing from South London, best known for his song ‘Air Force’ which catapulted him to fame. In the space of 3 months, the song has now amassed over 10 million views and has made it to number 20 in the Top 100 charts. Since then, the song gained even more attention after Krept & Konan jumped on a remix along with K-Trap. The music video for his first single ‘Sales and Joints’ debuted on LinkUp TV, one of the biggest online hip-hop platforms in the UK only 8 months ago. Despite only recently delving into music, his steady work rate and consistency have clearly paid off. His catchy flow and witty wordplay have also proved popular, and are sure to prove even more popular in the year to come.
Listen if you like: Unknown T, Skengdo x AM, M24
Belal Bell
King Princess
20-year-old Mikaela Straus, better known by her stage name King Princess, has set the pop scene ablaze this past year with the release of her debut EP ‘Make My Bed’. Signed to acclaimed producer Mark Ronson’s record company, Zelig Records, the EP was the label’s first release, with Ronson himself describing Straus as a “prodigy in the making” — a fitting title for an artist who was offered a recording contract at the young age of eleven. Her self-assuredness and sexual confidence combined with her natural vocal ability has garnered praise from the likes of Rolling Stone and NME, which is no mean feat for a new artist in such a crowded genre. Her debut single, ‘1950’, details an exploration of unrequited love and queer oppression which skyrocketed in popularity a month after its release when former One Direction member Harry Styles tweeted the opening lyrics, earning international recognition and over 177 million streams on Spotify. Her sultry, mellow vocals have become a trademark of her’s, selling out numerous live shows despite her limited discography. With the impending release of a debut album in 2019, it’s obvious that this is just the beginning for King Princess and it’s clear that she’s not going anywhere, anytime soon.
Listen if you like: Conan Gray, girl in red and Hayley Kiyoko
Emily Claypole
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal
Making his name first as frontman of cult emo band Tigers Jaw, Pennsylvania native Adam McIlwee has been making music for over ten years now. Reinventing himself as solo artist Wicca Phase Springs Eternal he has truly had a new beginning, spearheading a new wave of underground hip-hop — emo rap. Wicca Phase isn’t limited by the label, however; incorporating influences from all over the music spectrum, from rock to electronic, and as such he stands out as a true originator. McIlwee began releasing music under the alias Wicca Phase in 2015, yet it was 2018 that arguably represented his most significant year of music yet. Somewhat poetically, the year marked ten years since the release of Tigers Jaw’s acclaimed self-titled album, as well as being a year of prolific output for Wicca Phase.
While projects from previous years have shuffled between low-key acoustic EPs (see ‘Raw and Declawed’) to electronic singles (namely ‘Absolute in Doubt’ with the late Lil Peep), 2018 saw a distinctive sound begin to emerge with a flurry of releases, beginning with solo EP ‘Corinthiax’ followed by collaborations with underground rap legend Lil B and an EP ‘Spider Web’ with equally esteemed producer Clams Casino which was his most accomplished work yet. A 2018 UK tour with hardcore upstarts Turnstile also confirmed his wide crossover appeal and disregard for typical genre boundaries, a theme that will likely continue into a promising 2019 for Wicca Phase. After signing a deal with indie rock label Run For Cover, Wicca Phase is set to release his debut album Suffer On in February 2019, and if the first single ‘Just One Thing’ is any indicator, then the upward trajectory of this enigmatic figure is set to continue.
Listen if you like: Lil Peep, Tigers Jaw and Bones
Sam Marshall
Jade Bird
2019 looks set to be the year that British singer-songwriter Jade Bird fully makes her breakthrough. The 21-year-old has had a successful year building a large and solid fanbase that is now keen to receive a full-length debut album expected early next year. Armed with exceptional vocal abilities and a genre-defining sound demonstrated through a string of varied singles as well as 5-song EP ‘Something American’, Bird is proving to be one of the UK’s finest new musical exports set to take the USA by storm in the coming year. Having been likened to successful American singers Dolly Parton and Alanis Morisette, Bird sold out venues in the US just as easily as she did in the UK on her 2018 Spring tour and topped the US Billboard Triple A chart with ‘Lottery’, which she also performed on Later… with Jools Holland this summer.
Bird’s music is varied. Songs such as ‘Love Has All Been Done Before’ and ‘Uh-Huh’ are packed with attitude and her rebellious side comes across in her powerful delivery, yet the more minimal and folk-inspired tracks such as ‘Cathedral’ or ‘Furious’, are still unmistakably her. Along with the release of her debut album, the coming year is set to have big things in store for Bird on both sides of the Atlantic.
Listen if you like: Wolf Alice, Jake Bugg, Sam Fender
Louis MacDonald
Men I Trust
Canadian three-piece Men I Trust are a dream-pop outfit emerging slowly from the same branch of mellow, surf-inspired indie as Mac DeMarco, Boy Pablo and Rex Orange County, but their unique selling point is perhaps the stunning voice of female lead singer and guitarist Emma Proulx. 2019 will see the band release their third album entitled Oncle Jazz which has been preceded by fantastic singles ‘Seven’ and ‘Show Me How’, arguably two of their best songs that embody the bands sound perfectly and with the former perhaps hinting at an evolution in their songwriting with Proulx’s guitar taking up a more prominent role within the bands instrumentation. As the dream-pop/indie genre grows ever larger and more populated, it would be expected that Men I Trust — armed with their homemade videos, hipster wardrobe’s and jazz chords aplenty — emerge as frontrunners alongside the aforementioned DeMarco within the next year.
Listen if you like: Avvays, Yellow Days, Slowdive
Louis MacDonald
Cautious Clay
25-year-old musician Joshua Karpeh from Boston has had an impressive level of success for someone so new to music. In mid-2017 the singer who took on the moniker of Cautious Clay quit his white-collar job to jump head first into a new career. In September, he released his debut single ‘Cold War’ on SoundCloud, grabbing the attention of hundreds of thousands of listeners with his soulful voice and effortless production. Not long after, with most of the songs written, his first EP ‘Blood Type’ was released in February of this year. Since then he has jumped from one project to another; touring with R&B artist Alina Baraz, performing on NPR’s highly coveted Tiny Desk Concert, released a second EP and racked up over 18 million streams on his debut single on Spotify.
Whilst ‘Blood Type’ was an exploration of love and human connection, Clay’s up-coming EP ‘Zero Zero Reasons’ is about “what drives people to do what they do”. Playing an active part in all aspects of creating his music, he has forged much of this early success without the backing of a label. With even more music on the way, it will be exciting to see what new heights this young musician will reach in 2019.
Listen if you like: Raveena, Masego, SiR
Louis MacDonald
Still Woozy
In the last 10 years, it has become increasingly easy to find ways of teaching yourself to produce music from the comfort of your home, and along with this has come the rise DIY bedroom pop. Once upon a time, these artists were dismissed to their own niche corner of the internet but many of them are beginning to rise to the mainstream, including whimsical artist Still Woozy.
The man behind the name, Sven Gamsky, is a one-man music-making machine; producing, writing, and recording everything from his own garage. Although he has yet to release an EP, the care-free ambience of his low-fi hip hop beats have a universally calming effect on the mind. What makes Still Woozy stand out from the crowd, especially in the DIY space, is his use of mostly live instrumentation that gives the music its signature style. Still Woozy’s most recent single ‘Habit’ builds on an already slick and consistent (if short) discography of tracks, which we can’t wait for him to build on in the coming year.
Listen if you like: Gus Dapperton, Zack Villere, Rex Orange County
Mariella
Blaenavon
If you haven’t heard of Blaenavon by now you are definitely missing out. The trio from Hampshire have been making waves in the indie rock scene for what seems like forever, with a string of solid EPs followed by their debut album ‘That’s Your Lot’ last spring showcasing their talent. The elegance of lead singer Ben’s voice in conjunction with his touching lyrics make for an incredible live performance, always gracing the stage with poise and sincere emotion that works in venues of any size, whether an O2 Academy or a festival main stage. The few most recent releases from the band have been remakes of old tracks in a new light. ‘The Bedroom Tapes’ brought a new emotion to old tracks in an even more intimate way than before, showing the versatility to the band to be able to create such different atmospheres with their music.
Now with such a big opportunity facing them at the beginning of next year in supporting Liverpool trio The Wombats on their UK tour, Blaenavon are set to get the recognition that they deserve. The band so far have no plans to release new music next year, as sad as that is for fans, but with this upcoming tour, they are sure to continue on their path to mainstream recognition. As they continue to grow, it will be exciting to see how their sound will develop and what new heights they will reach in 2019.
Listen if you like: JAWS, Bad Sounds and Isaac Gracie
Sophia Bonner
Mahalia
Mahalia is one of several up-and-coming artists that are showcasing British R&B talent to the rest of the world. For a long time, artists from the US have dominated the scene but Mahalia is making sure that this won’t be the case for much longer. Her music is soulful and wise beyond her years, harking back to the golden age of 90’s era R&B in style. One of the reasons for her maturity is her upbringing; having grown up as one of the only black girls in her school, being picked on, coming from a musical background — all of which are reflected in her lyrics. Recently, Mahalia released the song ‘I Wish I Missed My Ex’, her most successful song to date, gaining a remix from US rapper Wale earlier this year.
The diversity of her musical influences certainly comes across in her music, citing Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Talib Kweli and Ed Sheeran among others. Her songs range from the light-hearted breakout hit ‘Sober’, to the more serious singer-songwriter track ‘Silly Girl’ all the way to the more rock heavy ‘Never Change’. With such a broad soundscape, it is no wonder that Mahalia has been catching people’s attention, and at the young age of 19 it wouldn’t be surprising if she were to be the sound of many years to come.
Listen if you like: RAY BLK, Nao, Ravyn Lenae
Mariella
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