Ones to Watch 2022 ft. Wet Leg, Seb Lowe & more!

As we enter 2022, it’s time to look forward at the upcoming artists to keep an eye on, with this year’s ones to watch!

Wet Leg

June saw the arrival of the brand new Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg with their storming debut single ‘Chaise Longue’; since then the song has clocked up over 3,000,000 streams, over 1,000,000 video views and won Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers fans in the likes of Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Iggy Pop, Florence Welch and film critic Mark Kermode.

Having already become one of the most talked about bands at this summer’s Latitude and Green Man Festivals as well as supporting the likes of Jungle and Declan McKenna on tour, Wet Leg quickly sold out their own forthcoming headline shows in London, Glasgow and Manchester. Their 2022 UK tour sold fast, with the London venue being upgraded due to overwhelming demand.

Seb Lowe

The dust, glitches and scratches on the film reel of modern life become the main feature for Seb Lowe whose debut mini-album Half-decent picks at society’s irresistibly itchy scabs. There are short songs, long songs and in-between songs from a broken-bottle-shard-sharp, open-hearted and politically-literate wordsmith from Oldham.

After building a huge following of over 100,000 followers on TikTok, Seb Lowe is set to launch his career into orbit in 2022 with more new music and live performances.

Brooke Combe

Brooke Combe discovered a love for music aged just 5 years old, after getting her first toy drum kit. Eventually she added playing saxophone, trombone, guitar, bass and piano to her repertoire while at secondary school and began to find her own uniquely powerful voice along the way. Combe, influenced by the ‘90s R&B played in her mum and dad’s house, as well as the Motown her grandparents would play her, developed a love of great songwriting and vocalists and lyricists with their own idiosyncrasies – such as Amy Winehouse and Fleetwood Mac – before beginning to work on her own material.

• • Obongjayar

  • Ever since an early Obongjayar demo first surfaced on SoundCloud in 2016, it’s been clear that Steven Umoh, the man behind the moniker, possesses a completely unique talent. Known to his friends simply as ‘OB’, the Nigerian-born, London-based musician pens stirring and spiritual lyrics, while commanding a distinctive voice that flits between rap, song and spoken word. With afrobeats, soul and hip-hop influences, he has created a bold, genre-defiant musicality.

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The Mysterines

The Mysterines are a true force to be reckoned with in UK rock. Barely out of their teens, they sold out their first ever UK headline tour in February 2020, have supported Royal Blood, The Amazons and Sea Girls on tour, as well as headlined the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds. Their fans include Steve Lamacq, Jack Saunders, Dan P Carter and Huw Stephens, alongside tastemakers NME, Independent, Metro, MOJO, DIY, Dork, Upset, CLASH and Gigwise.

Grief, self-destruction and heartache run heavy through their forthcoming, debut record, Reeling, but all the songs are brought together by the blackest of humour.

MICHELLE

Born-and-bred New Yorkers, MICHELLE is refreshingly comprised of predominately POC + queer members. The collective references equally diverse influences — Noname, Led Zeppelin, Sly and the Family Stone, Orion Sun, My Chemical Romance, SZA — all of which distill to create a cohesively diverse sound.

Stone

Like many new young bands, STONE’s introduction to the scene has been less than conventional. Dropping their first track ‘Leave It Out’ shortly before national lockdown, STONE’s rite-of-passage experience of playing live shows was cut short, and their following single ‘Fuse’ emerged directly from that sense of stagnancy and restlessness. Despite this, STONE have quickly built a name for themselves in the North West scene, with the return of live gigs seeing them make further waves across the UK.

Sad Night Dynamite

Equal parts light and shade, dystopia and fantasy, Sad Night Dynamite invite listeners to accept and celebrate that sense of not knowing quite where they are (in their records, or amidst the uncertainties of the world at large). But there are a few acts it’s easier to pin down. Archie and Josh are a duo whose formative, somewhat feral upbringing near Glastonbury saw them first meet at school, but start Sad Night Dynamite whilst separated at university. Cut and pasting Logic files over email, something stuck with the experimental epic ‘Icy Violence’, which introduced the boys’ incredible way with production: today, influences range from Tyler, The Creator, The Specials and Outkast to lyrics laced with a distorted, fairground-mirror way with storytelling. “Sad Night Dynamite,” Archie concludes, “is a bizarre fantasy built on real experiences.” Wherever the truth lies, embracing modern chaos has catapulted Sad Night Dynamite into the UK’s most essential new duo. “Our music is a hybrid of the best and worst parts of each of us,” Josh decides. “Which is a shame, really,” Archie adds, “because if you just took good parts of each of us you might come up with one quite decent person.”

The KTNA

The KTNA wear their heart on their sleave and channel an unapologetically strong, northern spirit into their craft. Twin sisters born in Kenya, raised and now residing in Manchester, Hope and Millie Katana weave their candid lyrics around unique productions to create music which demands to be noticed.

At 24 they have already achieved more than most, beginning their singing career on CBBC show Clash before catching the attention of TV executives who were quick to cast them in the long running BBC drama, Waterloo Road. However, it was always songwriting that burned the brightest and after some setbacks The KTNA were formed. Their debut EP Life Under Siege, kickstarted their musical project in March 2019, going on to receive support from the likes of Clash, The Fader, tmrw Mag, and BBC 1xtra. Brimming with raw honesty about past trauma whilst also looking optimistically ahead, the project resonated the greatest over the Covid-19 lockdown, as fans sought solace in the themes the EP explored.

CMAT

Few artists manage to blend bountiful hooks with such humour and wit; the 12 songs that make up this idiosyncratic, captivating and rather extraordinary debut album reveal an artist brimming with confidence and verve. It has been quite a year for Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, one of the year’s breakout stars, earning critical recognition as well as a legion of new fans. CMAT has also got a run of new live dates, including a full UK tour, set for 2022.

Stanleys

With over 200,000 streams across three singles on Spotify, the quartet are quickly becoming a top pick for those discovering their past releases, with What’s Been and Gone expected to continue to cement the idea they are Wigan’s next big export.

Baby Queen

23-year-old South Africa-born, London-based artist Baby Queen (real name Bella Latham)
arrived in the pop sphere barely a year ago but she has already carved her name deep into
its fabric as the genre’s new anti-hero.

Since her first release last summer ‘Internet Religion’, a takedown of how social media
warps her generation, she has dropped a steady slew of singles that placed her at the
forefront of a musical movement. Tipped by everyone from NME and Radio 1 to Courtney
Love and Pale Waves, Baby Queen is ready to reign supreme.

Finn Foxell

Finn Foxell is a unique force within the UK’s rap scene. The West London rapper extracts the rawest elements of rap, soul and rock to create smoky, electronic, hip-hop bursting with atmosphere.

Having returned from his first festival run in 2021 and supported both Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn as well as The Manor at the infamous O2 Academy Brixton, Finn sold out his own headline show at Village Underground; he is now gearing up for a UK-wide tour in 2022.

AvivA

Moving to LA, Australian artist AViVA isn’t afraid of baring all in her music as she continues to explore the themes of control and isolation. AViVA describes her songs as being about the “Outsider experience” something clearly expressed in both her lyrics and the sonic palate of her catalogue. AViVA and her unique alt pop-rock emo sound has created a growing groundswell online, building a strong community of fans- her ‘Outsiders’. Since her debut single ‘GRRRLS’ in late 2017 her distinct sound and message has garnered the support of tastemakers globally on YouTube and Spotify.Since then AViVA has amassed over 3 Billion global streams. AViVA spent 2021 releasing new music and signing her debut novel to MacMillan publishing set for release October 2021.

• • Good Wealth Good Health

Influenced by N.E.RD., OutKast, Baxter Dury and The Clash, Good Health Good Wealth’s sound pairs their fluid mix of spoken word flows and colourful imagery with animated guitar riffs, setting them in the new breed of artists defying genre-norms.

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• INFAMOUSIZAK

• INFAMOUSIZAK showcases truly what it is to be a 21^st century musician, writing, producing and engineering his own work. His sound reflects on his roots, drawing on Caribbean influence whilst blended with elements of London grime, creating a unique and mature sound which fascinates INFAMOUSIZAK fans.

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• Tamera

• Filled with string quartets, guitars and traditional afrobeats drum patterns, there is something for everyone in Tamera, tied together by the common threads of her boundless curiosity and empathy for stories of love and humanity. “I don’t really like super glossy, perfect things. I like things with character and scars and stories and triumph.

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