There is an extraordinary number of artists producing great music right now. Live music finally returned in 2022 and although there is still the lingering impact of the pandemic, and a sadness that a number of artists and venues did not survive, the focus turns to what 2023 will bring. To be perfectly honest this article could quite easily have been three times the length but here are seven artists I suspect you will know a heck of a lot better by this time next year. (Julia Mason)
Cruush
Cruush are carving themselves a reputation for fascinating noise pop, and their brilliant recent single ‘Sombre by the Weekend‘ was another installment. This kick ass track sails through gazey guitars, punchy percussion and basslines. crushing into an infectious crescendo where singer Amber Warren bittersweetly meditates on the themes of toxic friends who knock you and affect your self esteem.
Previous single ‘False Start’ embodied the tumult of our times with a squall of weaving guitars that hurtled through the atmosphere, underpinned by a propelling foundation that shifted into overdrive. The Manchester outfit’s sound smolders with the embers of the cavernous gaze-pop of early My Bloody Valentine and the noise-pop emotional intelligence of Sonic Youth and the percussive forward motion of Curve, but really it just endearingly sounds like Cruush. (Bill Cummings)
Been Stellar
Brooklyn’s Been Stellar came to The Great Escape in Brighton and left with a whole new fanbase. They stepped onstage to a full tent and were genuinely taken aback. Following up with a few dates around the UK and Ireland I was fortunate to see them in Newcastle on the hottest day of the year with about 20 others. They released their debut EP and are already confirmed for SXSW in March 2023. Just listen to the opening of ‘My Honesty‘.
https://beenstellar.bandcamp.com/
Emmeline
Emmeline produces vivid emotionally charged snapshots of life, that skirt the lines of hip-hop, trip hop and spoken word. Produced by Fraser T. Smith, (Stormzy, Adele, Dave) who signed her to his label, he provides the sparse atmospheric, cinematic backdrops for her affecting and intricate bars, the enveloping debut single ‘Stay With Me’ is a prime example of her songcraft – an intimate stream of consciousness that clambers through the backstreets of London, ripe with longing for love, menace and heart on their sleeve words that shine like diamonds in the sprawling urban rough( “Streamline London/tears like London/Life like London/Can’t take London”). ‘Girls Write Rhymes’ meanwhile, is personal and self aware yet speaks to wider feminist struggles: the wordplay and cadence of her delivery is constantly peeling back her experiences. The recent single ‘Sabrina’ is more epic productionally with swaying soul and strings; there’s a fusing of elements of old school hip hop on the chorus, the verses infused with Emmeline’s magnetic delivery that outlines a fascinating character study.
Her father, a poet and playwright, naturally inspired West Yorkshire born, London based Emmeline to read above and beyond her curriculum; the pair’s combined love of language provided the perfect foundation for creative conversation and encouragement. Emmeline trained with the Royal Exchange in Manchester and The National Youth Theatre in London before joining spoken word collective Young Identity in 2017. Emmeline isn’t just one to watch and she is an artist to embrace in 2023. (Bill Cummings)
https://orcd.co/satellitenavigationsystem: The Sound of 2023 – Part OnePretty Happy
Pretty Happy have been generating a lot of word of mouth interest and its easy to see why. The trio from Cork supported Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth, Body/Head) across Europe and the UK as well as making appearances at Primavera Sound in Barcelona. The summer of 2022 also saw performances at the All Together Now festival, Raw Power weekender in London, Electric Picnic, and Other Voices in Cork, but they also claimed another impressive support slot, opening for Pavement in November. Wild and uncomprising live Pretty Happy released their debut EP Echo Boy in November 2022. There is humour within the mayhem something we could all do with right now. (Julia Mason)
https://www.prettyhappyband.com/
Frankie Beetlestone
At just nineteen years old, Frankie Beetlestone has already written and produced an EP. Since then, he’s reached the last eight of the 2020 Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition and toured with Tom Grennan. Resembling early Jamie T, Frankie’s material spans across several genres but one thing stays the same – his tongue in cheek lyrics that explore tumultuous relationships, heartbreak and both the aches and pleasures of growing up. (Laura Dean)
https://www.facebook.com/BeetlestoneMusic/
Redolent
Edinburgh’s Redolent are something different. With synths, drums, electronica and a stage setup which includes their lyrics, the sound is born out of the club-scene. Rumblings about them began in the spring when they performed at the Stag and Dagger festival in Edinburgh. The lyrics are brutally honest talking of personal challenges, of peer pressure and the response to surviving in the world we currently live in. But all the while with beats which are enticing and entertaining. They played a residency at the city’s Biscuit Factory, where the crowd can walk all around the band and the singer was free to move as he performed. The creativity created a unique experience and with Redolent confirmed for SXSW I have no doubt they will be well received Stateside.(Julia Mason)
https://www.facebook.com/RedolentBand/
Victoria Canal
24 year old singer, songwriter, producer and activist Victoria Canal was born in Munich and brought up in Spanish and American, Canal says her international upbringing fostered her love for a nomadic life in music. A proud “third culture kid,” she lived everywhere from Shanghai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, and Dubai to Atlanta, New York, and Forth Worth, and is proud of her identity as a queer, disabled, mixed-heritage woman, which fuels much of her activism.
Her gorgeously wistful single ‘pity season’ was a moment of heart stopping brevity. Lifted from the EP Elegy, Canal’s brittle and breathy tone is set against a singular acoustic guitar strum, gives it a intimate and heart stopping quality as kid tries to process the foreboding potential loss of a parent. Exquisite. The follow up single ‘Swan Song’ was another haunting cut of balladry framed in wonderful piano motifs, it showcased her stately and intimate songwriting that shows prodigious amounts of heart and promise. (Bill Cummings)
https://www.victoriacanal.com/
