If you happen to be wanting some new music to listen to this summer, we’ve got you covered with some of the most popular upcoming artists right now, from Baby Queen to The Snuts, and where you catch them live this year, take a look…
Baby Queen
The confident, honest attitude Baby Queen (aka Bella Latham) radiates is absolutely unmatched in todays pop music society.
Moving from South Africa to London at the age of 18 to pursue a career in music, Latham has recently become massively popular in the indie-pop world, even gaining a large fanbase named ‘Baby Kingdom’, which is also the first track of her most recent album ‘The Yearbook’. If that doesn’t show dedication to her fans, I don’t know what does.
Her brutal honesty on real-world issues and mental health makes her music a safe space, and uses her power of songwriting to communicate with her audience around the world openly.
Her new single ‘Nobody Really Cares’ was released earlier last month, and I’m sure Baby Queen will be showcasing this and many more upcoming releases when she plays Neighbourhood Festival. Grab tickets so you don’t miss out below!
Alfie Templeman
Breaking the stereotypes of Indie-pop, sensation Alfie Templeman dips his toes into the realms of synth-pop, classic rock and even prog rock, with his experimental songwriting.
Showcasing huge diversity between all of his releases, Templeman’s sound includes subtle similarities to artists such as Gus Dapperton, Tears for Fears, Alabama Shakes, Two Door Cinema Club and boy pablo, yet still establishing his own individuality.
‘Mellow Moon’, his second studio album released in May this year, demonstrates Alfie’s floaty-dream pop side perfectly and feels like the perfect summer album. If you’re wanting to catch Alfie live this year you’re in luck, as he’s set out to play his biggest UK tour yet this October, kicking off with Neighbourhood on Saturday 1st.
Eli Smart
Born in Hawaii, Eli Smart brings the sunshine to the UK with his unique tropical, good-vibes-only sound, which has been self-titled by Eli himself as the genre, ‘Aloha Soul’.
Now based in London, Eli originally moved to Liverpool to study at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to kick off his career as a musician and original artist. From starting off by playing the smallest of gigs around the city, to playing BBC Introducing Live at The Lexington, Eli is now taking his breezy, beachy energy all the way to Green Man festival this summer, and Neighbourhood Festival in October.
Smart has also recently been announced as Brooke Combes support act on her tour this November.
Rina Sawayama
Rina Sawayama seems to be the name on everyone’s lips right now. From her feature on Charli XCX’s song ‘Beg For You’ earlier this year, to her three single releases ‘This Hell’, ‘Catch Me in the Air’ and ‘Hold the Girl’, Rina consistently makes hit after hit – no wonder she’s already received gleaming reviews from the likes of Elton John, who said her previous album was the ‘strongest album of the year’ back in 2020, and NPR labelling the same release ‘something truly beautiful’.
Ahead of her second studio album release ‘Hold The Girl’, due September 16th, Rina has also recently been longlisted for ‘Best Live Performer’ at this years AIM UK awards. If for whatever reason you didn’t have an incentive already to buy tickets for her tour, you’ve definitely got one now!
Fetch yourself some tickets before they sell out!
The Snuts
Scotland’s finest, ‘The Snuts’ have been killing the game the past year, so much so that in April 2021, the band became the first Scottish band in 14 years to get a number 1 album in the UK charts, with their debut album ‘W.L’.
From making music together back in school in their hometown Whitburn, to releasing their first single ‘Glasgow’ in 2016, the band has since gone on to sign a record deal with Parlophone Records. Steering away from the classic UK indie scene, the band said to NME, ‘Instead of causing you to throw pints, we want to connect on a deeper level’ and hopes that there’s a place for more guitar music in 2021.
Well fast-forward to 2022, and The Snut’s have had a pretty successful year so far with their EP ‘The Rodeo’ in June, supporting James at Castlefield Bowl and appearances at TRNSMT Festival, Kendal Calling, and even flying over to Australia for Splendour in the Grass.
I’d say their guitar music is doing pretty well, wouldn’t you?
Seb Lowe
Defying the rules of indie music, Oldham boy Seb Lowe grabbed his acoustic guitar and took to Tiktok in April 2021. The singer-songwriter used the social media platform as a way to showcase a mix of his originals and covers, and it wasn’t long until the views started wracking up to over 50k per post.
Seb’s music hones in on the very real problems of todays society, and isn’t afraid to share his political take on situations in a very matter of fact and mature way. Only 19, the songwriter’s summer has been a little different than your average teens, playing huge festivals such as Isle of Wight and Glastonbury.
Now in 2022, Seb has had more than 2.9 million likes on his Tiktok content, and continues to use the platform to promote his music and message regularly to his now 276k followers. Having already sold out his Oldham date, Seb’s heading out on tour this month and will be making his debut at Neighbourhood Festival later on in the year.
Dylan
Dylan’s had an absolute mammoth 2022 so far, joining Ed Sheeran on his UK and Ireland stretch of the Mathematics tour, after recently being signed to his management, ‘Grumpy Old Management’.
Initially finding fame through her viral Tiktok’s, her music shares traits of pop and classic rock, heavily driven by electric guitar riffs and angsty lyrics, defining her early twenties’ ‘situation-ships’.
Earlier this year, Dylan released her third EP ‘No Romeo’, a collection of songs written about relationship complications, experienced by herself and her friends. In an interview with, ‘DORK’, Dylan explained, ‘I was finally ready to talk about how I was feeling rather than attacking the idea of love, in hope that others will relate to the situations. It’s time to claim the power back baby, and no better way to do that than screaming to these songs.”
Her new single ‘Girl Of Your Dreams’ is out now on Spotify, and for your perfect opportunity to scream those songs with her, Dylan will also be playing Neighbourhood Festival in October.
CMAT
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (professionally known as CMAT) from Dublin, Ireland, is the newest country-pop artist you need to listen to.
Being the incredible singer-songwriter she is, CMAT has a knack for writing beautiful, emotional folk-inspired songs with witty humor, and the odd pun thrown in the mix, to mask her actual emotion, and show people their is always joy and humor in even the worst of situations.
Her song ‘Another Day’ (kfc), CMAT explained in an interview with Nialler9, that the song is written about ‘having a breakdown in KFC when her card got declined, but really it’s about being dumped’. It’s this exact relatable connection with her songs that make her music so lighthearted and easy to listen to.
Further to her debut album ‘If My Wife New I’d Be Dead’ releasing earlier this year, CMAT has had a pretty jam packed summer supporting First Aid Kit at The Piece Hall, subsequently performing at festivals such as TRNSMT, Secret Garden Party and Deer Shed. It’s pretty non stop for her all the way up to October, where she’ll also be gracing the stage at Neighbourhood.
Dolores Forever
If artists like HAIM, Caroline Polachek, Robyn and Maggie Rogers are your thing, you better add upcoming indie duo ‘Dolores Forever’ to your list too.
After only meeting a few years ago and emerging post-pandemic with their first single ‘Kilimanjaro’ in 2021, Hannah & Julia seem absolutely unstoppable. By early June this year, the pair had released their first EP and played their first ever gig, going on to play Glastonbury just two weeks later. Yes, you heard that correctly. Glastonbury, TWO WEEKS after their FIRST GIG.
Converting their love for Carole King and Joni Mitchell into dreamy indie-pop, the duo have already released a handful of singles this year, with their most recent being ‘Rothko’, a song about trying to shape a relationship into something it’s not. They’ll be bringing these highly-relatable, infectious pop songs to Neighbourhood.
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