Delilah Holliday: Skinny Girl Diet's Delilah, following a collaboration with Baxter Dury and Etienne de Crécy as BED, has recently embarked on a highly atmospheric psych flavoured solo career, with the excellent single 'Rise of the Phoenix'. The track, and any follow ups, could take her to some interesting places and she's proved over the years that there's more to this London punk grrrl than initially meets the eye. Not to be underestimated. You can find her on Bandcamp.
Gothic Tropic: Los Angeles resident Cecilia Della Peruti featured in 2017's Fantasy Festival lineup, fresh from releasing her debut album Fast or Feast. I saw her play at the Manchester leg of Dot to Dot that year, and it was love at first listen. Since Fast or Feast she's played as part of Beck's touring band, amongst other things. Her sound is indie rock infused with sunshine pop, reminiscent of Blondie on occasion and Tom Tom Club at other moments, but ultimately uncategorisable. You can find her on Bandcamp.
Stealing Sheep: Their folk roots behind them, Liverpools's Stealing Sheep initially flirted with psych then went full on pop for their most recent album, 2019's Big Wows. Theirs is a 60s psychadelia infused pop sound, often proving irresistible, generally bound to get folks onto the dancefloor. You can find out more here.
Kate Boy: Swedish/Australian synth pop duo, Kate Boy, are comprised of Kate Akhurst and Marcus Dextegen. They released their debut album in 2015, but have been a bit quiet of late. You can find out more on Insta.
Laura Mvula: Birmingham singer/songwriter Laura Mvula released two albums of soul flavoured pop, Sing to the Moon in 2013 and The Dreaming Room in 2016. Both sold well and received considerable critical acclaim, including nominations for the Mercury Music Prize. Laura announced in 2017 that she had been dropped by her record label, Sony, and in the same year she composed the music for the RSC's production of Antony and Cleopatra. It's been a bit quiet since then, which is a real shame, but it's to be hoped that she is working on new material. She's not very active on Twitter, but there's no website, Bandcamp, Soundcloud or Insta, so it might be your best way to see what she's up to.
King Princess: Brooklyn singer, songwriter, musician and producer, and - it has been said repeatedly - queer icon in waiting, Mikaela Mullaney Straus released her debut album of impeccable pop, Cheap Queen, in 2019. It followed on from the touching but moody '1950' and pop melodrama of 'Talia', the first of which received a flurry of critical interest, the latter of which carved out a space for itself as the ultimate in gay heartbreak songs. You can find out more here.
Kali Uchis: Colombian singer Kali Uchis first came to to public attention in 2015 with her EP Por Vida. Early track 'Know What I Want' was suggestive of later period Amy Winehouse, albeit with a sunnier, reggaetron aspect to the sound. Her overall sound mixes sixties soul, R&B and doo wop with jazz as well as modern electro and R&B. Her debut LP, Isolation, was released in 2018 and was very well received. Similarly well received was her recorded in lockdown EP, To Feel Alive, which she released in April 2020. You can find out more here.
Santigold: Singer, songwriter and record producer Santi White has released three albums of impeccable left of centre electro pop and one equally successful mixtape of electro pop and reggaetron, The Gold Fire Sessions, which was released in 2018. Initially, her sound incorporated aspects of indie rock and samples from punk and post punk artists such as Siouxsie and the Banshees (whose 'Red Light' was sampled on 'My Superman'). She is often compared to MIA, both for her vocal style and the more agitated prop glitchy electro end of her work. You can find out more here.
Christine and the Queens: Nantes singer, songwriter, producer Chris was already a popstar in France before she released her debut English album, Chaleur Humaine, in 2016. A slice of elegant baroque electro pop, both she and it quickly won hearts and minds. 2018's follow up, Chris, with it's Chic-esque single 'Girlfriend' consolidated her reputation as an art pop genius. Since Chris was released, she has headlined the occasional festival, and during lockdown she released a new EP of songs, La vita nuova. Even greater triumphs are expected in the future. You can find out more here.
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