The Line of Best Fit

But the project, mainly its lead single collaboration with producer Finneas on “Serotonin”, shot her into a stardom she hadn’t experienced before. After that, depression and endless touring took its toll on the artist, and she had to postpone several shows due to voice issues. In interviews done during this …

Ahead of the release of Ride’s seventh album Interplay, Mark Gardener talks Jamie Wilde through five pivotal songs of his career, taking in solo work, collaborations, and his reunited band.

A prolific producer nestled in the woody tranquillity of his home and studio in upstate New York, Sam Evian has worked with the likes of Big Thief, Palehound, Blonde Redhead and Cass McCombs, and is also a brilliant artist in his own right.

The Derry band epitomise the new age, bringing the political as well as the personal and echoing something of Meet Me @ The Altar across the pond. Their earworm 2019 single "Abigail" arrived steeped in vintage pop-punk influences, and was backed up two years later by the Hey Tori EP. …

Thus far we know Larsson as a classic pop diva – saccharine pop so catchy it has quite a short-lived expiration date.

Kali Uchis dives further into the divine on the genre-bending Orquídeas.

With their self titled debut album coming over four years after the band’s first release, its proceeding releases have flirted with various genres including indie pop, psych pop and indie rock. so the announcement of an album was greeted with anticipation and wonder. What’s delivered is a youthful and expressive …

The South African-born singer – real name Bella Latham – has curated a signature sound that sees breezy indie pop writhing in satirical nihilism; on her long-awaited full-length, it’s clear nothing has changed. It’s a reputation somewhat at odds with Heartstopper, a determinedly rose-tinted and (if you’re over the age …

She’s an artist who has hit a creative purple patch on album number two; imagining, and delivering, a story worthy of its creator’s prowess. While addressing themes not unheard of on a pop record, Crazymad, For Me is still a unique piece of work; creating a psychedelic soundscape with a …

From the very first single "Deep End" (which currently sits at a comfortable number of 32 million plays on Spotify) she immediately joined the likes of Billie Eilish as one of the faces for the new generation of alternative pop.

Though, to be fair, their first two albums had already made that pretty clear. 2019’s Flamboyant was a thumping, glittering pickaxe to masculinity, paving the way for the opulent absurdity of 2020’s My Agenda. Their eclectic sound earned them the slightly ham-fisted term ‘hyperpop’ alongside the likes of Charli XCX …

Nat Ćmiel had a secluded upbringing, experiencing isolation from their peers due to asthma-related difficulties and growing up with OCD. Like many, they took to the internet as an escape and interacted with the world through forums and social networking sites like Tumblr. This was also the start of their …

“I get the feeling that lately you’ve been looking for something to inspire you”, says a smoothly robotic voice, atop a wobbling track of perfectly infuriating hold music. “Something to lift you up and get you out of that funk / an escape from reality.” Her prescribed remedy? The Secret …

I catch ZAND in the lead–up to a hotly anticipated afternoon slot on the Festival Republic stage at Reading and Leeds Festival. It’s as much of a rite of passage for relative newcomers as it is a chance to play alongside industry heavyweights, with the likes of Soft Play (previously …

A CALL TO THE VOID is a record laced with anthemic choruses and mosh-pit-ready beat drops that rails against the suffocating nature of the human condition. Ever stood atop something really high, peered over the edge, and realised that nothing could physically stop you from leaping off? That discovery of …

Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s first and self-titled album led with the unexpected runaway hit “Take Me To Church” – a deceptively radio-friendly protest against the Catholic Church that overshadowed a debut packed with treasures, and was still obscuring reactions to his sophomore offering Wasteland, Baby! five years on. His cult following, however, …

Sitting outside a pub in East London’s Broadway Market, a smile rarely leaves Molly Burman’s face. She has every reason to be chirpy: her new music is her best material yet, with the 22-year old exploring new horizons in the studio with her upcoming EP Worlds Within Worlds.

“No one gives a damn shit 'less you're dead / or you're seventeen”, Gunnulfsen laments on EVERGREEN’s closing, titular track. The shimmering number – railing against the industry's habit of sensationalising youth and flash-in-the-pan success – circles back to the frustration of opening song “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE”. …

After putting a pause on songwriting during the pandemic, Jenny Lewis joined a songwriting workshop hosted by her collaborator Beck in 2021.

Up and down the country, if not across the world, mums have been heard to whisper it: “Niall was always my favourite”. Perhaps due to Horan’s status as the only One Direction member without tattoos, it also points to the undeniable: Horan is a likeable guy. That personality went a …

She had conquered the UK by the time she turned 22; picking up a Mercury Prize amongst other awards for her debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams. Now, in the year that will see her turn 23, she returns with the equally compelling My Soft Machine. The album also lands on …

She spent her 20s living hit song to hit song, but after she accused producer Dr Luke of sexual assault in 2014 her career came to a halt.

Caricatured as the heartbroken court jester, Lewis Capaldi has mastered a very Adele-coded juxtaposition: pairing self-deprecating, bone dry humour with a catalogue of startlingly earnest, determinedly woeful love ballads. The formula proved a hit in 2019, when Capaldi became a household name and his debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A …

The euphoric choruses the band exhibited on previous releases remain a focal point here. Tracks like the indie-drenched “To Heal Without a Scar (Is a Waste of a Good Wound)” – possibly the album’s standout moment – and “Something Else” – a song of cathartic bliss – are key examples …

Time Machine's euphoric disco leads the way through Alma’s hardships.

Now, after four years of artistic development, the 23-year-old has landed on solid ground for her first full-length album. Drunk On A Flight develops her sonic palette and makes a defining mark on the scene she emerged from. The record compiles a plethora of experiences – both lived and observed …

The product of two years’ work and almost fifty collaborators, The Worm is an album as eclectic as its influences: from the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” to Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”. Overarching its jazz, gospel, and spoken word components, there’s a natural theatricality …

Hyperpop duo 100 Gecs have truly come into their own with a joyously chaotic second album, while still being flippantly witty.

“With this new EP, I feel like I really know what I’m doing now,” smiles Gretel Hänlyn. “I’m doing something that very much reflects who I am.” Hänlyn, aka Maddy Haenlein, has taken time out of her afternoon to catch up at a pub in central London for a chinwag …

Its recent resurgence has, thankfully, brought greater diversity: the likes of Nova Twins, Hot Milk, and Meet Me @ The Altar. With them, the unattainable women have been swapped out for discussions of political activism, mental health, and online harassment. The latter inspired “Say It (To My Face)”, the raucous …