shinyhunt – city of no one

Photo / Jonas Villadsen

TRACK OF THE WEEK

Why the rest of the world hasn’t yet woken up to Danish outfit shinyhunt is really beyond us. This emerging Copenhagen-based band has been building steady momentum in Scandinavia with their captivating blend of shoegaze and 80s/90s-inspired grunge rock.

Songs like ‘city of no one’ are sonically textured in so many interesting ways that every time we play it, we discover something new. Lifted from their acclaimed – and frankly brilliant – 2024 album ‘sea-salt ice cream’ (listen here), the track really stands out live, which is why we’ve chosen to show their performance from SPOT Festival on this feature.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Copenhagen on the 2nd of October, then you can catch the band performing at VEGA’s Ideal Bar – grab a ticket here.

shinyhunt | Ones To Watch Playlist | Nordic Sound Playlist

New Music: Poppy Freeley

Poppy Freeley is one of our favourite newcomers this month. Hailing from West Yorkshire in England, this pop artist crafts a style of sound that is distinctively original and authentic in character.

‘Holiday Blues’ is the debut single from Freeley and treats listeners to a heady blend of dreamy pop and indie rock. The soundscape is stripped-back, smoky and raw, contrasting with Poppy’s mesmerising and ethereal vocals.

“‘Holiday Blues’ captures the fleeting intensity of a holiday romance already destined to end, holding onto something while knowing it’s already slipping away.”

Alongside her solo work, Poppy has also competed in local music festivals and performed in musical theatre productions.

Poppy Freeley | Ones To Watch Playlist

MAMI UMAMI – belly dancer



Malmö outfit MAMI UMAMI, fronted by artists Jaquelin El Amiri (Miss Mami) and Leonard Furby, create a kind of sound that is chaotic, unpredictable… and absolutely thrilling.

Emerging from Sweden’s underground scene, this creative collective has been gaining steady momentum since the release of their singles, ‘Piraja’ and ‘Paper’, last year. Now they’re back with another big release, ‘belly dancer’.

The track’s personality mirrors the energy and creativity that comes with MAMI UMAMI’s live performances. Lyrically, the song tackles themes of capitalism and the yearning to rebel against society’s expectations of success.

”F*** you and everything you stand for.” – MAMI UMAMI

MAMI UMAMI play Gothenburg’s Pustervik on the 1 May (tickets), and Debaser Nova in Stockholm on the 9 May (tickets). A new EP titled ‘AFTERWORK’ is scheduled for release soon via Big Wednesday.

MAMI UMAMI | Ones To Watch Playlist | Nordic Sound Playlist

mickey jas – Save Our Skins

One of our favourite US-based independent artists, mickey jas, is back today with a charming new single to get us into the weekend mood.

‘Save Our Skins’ showcases an upbeat style of indie-pop that is cheery and playful, contrasting with lyrics that speak of anxiety. The words highlight the humbling and very human sensation of feeling both sad and happy at the same time.

“This contradicting clash of emotions is meant to remind us that at the end of the day we all end up in the same place so we might as well make the most of what is in front of us. 

mickey jas has a very unique way of telling stories in his music, sharing personal struggles through lyrics that feel authentic and relatable. There’s no doubt that this is one of Baltimore’s most interesting and promising musical prospects.

mickey jas | Ones To Watch Playlist

New Music: The Grapes

We don’t often get the chance to feature music from South Korea, so we’re really excited to be sharing with you a rising brother duo from Seoul, going by the name The Grapes.

If you enjoy dreamy 80s-tinged synthpop, then you’ll love their new single, ‘Wish You The Best’. The song is nostalgic but also feels current, distinctive, and fresh.

“Self-written, self-produced, and home-recorded, it captures the raw and unfiltered energy that defines us.”

The track serves as a taster to the band’s forthcoming debut ‘trivial’ EP, which is out soon. In the short time that The Grapes have been releasing music (their first single, ‘Summertime‘, was released only a month ago), they’ve gone on to amass thousands of streams and build a global fanbase across social media.

The Grapes | Ones To Watch Playlist

New Music: Luke Armstrong

Photo / Zachary Gray

This week’s indie-pop gem comes courtesy of rising LA-based newcomer Luke Armstrong.

Luke was born to American parents and raised in Beirut before moving to California to play college basketball. He’s bilingual in English and Arabic and has used music as a channel for expressing his identity from as early as his childhood.

“I was an intense child. Music has always helped me process that intensity.”

“There’s an opportunity to face fear with art, to surrender to what scares you, process it, and come through.”

‘2000’ was recorded with acclaimed producer Daniel James, who has also worked with the likes of Hayley Williams, David Byrne, and Efterklang. The track rewinds listeners back to the millennium and sees that era from a fictional perspective created by Armstrong, and looks at the chaotic ways of the world.

“I want to be honest about human suffering, and to make a statement about what a better world can look like.”

Luke Armstrong | Ones To Watch Playlist

muuk – into you

Photo / Antonia Steiner

muuk, the musical moniker of artist Ines Roervig Lewkovitch, first came across our radars earlier this year with her sensational debut ‘i’m no soldier’.

The hugely talented Danish starlet returns today with a powerful single called ‘into you’. This introspective and emotionally charged song was inspired by the artist’s difficult childhood, transporting listeners to her bedroom in her father’s apartment.

“I’m really not good at writing songs where I point fingers at others, but for so many years I’ve wanted to hug my younger self and tell her that it is not her fault what happened back then. This song is justice for her.”

“I don’t think my father ever experienced real love… so how could he possibly pass it on to me? Either way, it was really hard for me growing up, never knowing what unconditional love felt like. I always felt like I had to fight for my parents’ acceptance.”

The track was created alongside fellow songwriter Victor Stokholm and producer Morten Bergholt, and was completed in only four hours. It’s rare to come across a musician who is bold and brave enough to expose their innermost thoughts and vulnerabilities in the same way that muuk has, and that’s something incredibly special.

muuk | Ones To Watch Playlist | Nordic Sound Playlist

New Music: Lonnie Gunn

Photo / Nicole Ngai

“’Good Girls Go to Heaven’ reflects the eerie, painful realities of forcing yourself to be a stranger to someone you once knew intimately and being unable to let go. The song swallows all that frustration, yearning, and emotional repression and vomits it back out into a white-hot fuzz. The title itself is sort of an ironic remark about behaving in accordance with the ‘social guidelines’ instead of addressing the elephant in the room: the fact that this other person and I were once in love and can never unknow that feeling. Good Girls is a reveal of the subtext in the strained small talk and resisted eye contact. The final verses of the song act as a reluctant goodbye to the part of ourselves we once had with each other, or before each other, and will never have again.”

Lonnie Gunn | Ones To Watch Playlist

JJerome87 – Track and Field

JJerome87 is the solo project of alt-J frontman and songwriter Joe Newman. As part of the band, Newman managed to help create one of the UK’s most influential indie outfits from the past decade.

‘Track and Field’ is Newman’s latest single and showcases a summery pop sound that features hints of indie, Americana and gospel. The song is warm and nostalgic in tone, and further affirms Newman’s status as a top-tier songwriter.

A debut album titled ‘The Canyon’ is scheduled for release on the 26th of June.

JJerome87 | Ones To Watch Playlist

Subterranean Street Society – Kindness

Photo / Edward Freije

Subterranean Street Society is a Dutch-Danish trio currently based in Amsterdam who craft a style of folk-grunge that really is quite something spectacular to experience.

Vocalist and guitarist Louis Puggaard-Müller wrote the band’s latest offering, ‘Kindness’, during a trip through Malin Head in Ireland with a friend.

“I originally wrote it as a traditional folk song, pretty much campfire style. But when I brought it to the band, we turned it into something bigger: an alternative folk grunge track that keeps the emotional core intact while giving it weight and movement. To me, it feels like the ultimate road trip song. Raw and cinematic. The kind you will blast while driving through wild, beautiful scenery, preferably Irish, but any view will do.”

The song’s lyrics were inspired by that journey, encompassing the landscapes, the talks with strangers along the way, and the clarity that sometimes comes from embracing the unknown.

“The title ‘Kindness’ comes from the fact that we were completely dependent on strangers. Every mile we travelled was given to us. It made the world feel fragile but generous at the same time.”

Alongside Louis, Subterranean Street Society also includes Ivo Johan Schot on bass and choir and Joost Koevoets on drums, percussion, and vocals.

The band recently supported Laura Cox on tour and have a full year ahead with new releases for their fans to enjoy. In the meantime, you can explore more of their music on Spotify, where they currently attract more than 13k monthly listeners.

Subterranean Street Society | Ones To Watch Playlist

New Music: seegz

seegz is a UK-based singer, songwriter, producer and mix engineer. His new single Gloria was released this week, and it’s an immediately captivating song that caught our attention. This is a style of alternative pop that is distinctively unique in tone, with a lot of sonic texture. If you like the sound, then you’ll be happy to learn that an upcoming EP is on the way.

seegz’s music has already landed on prominent Spotify editorials like Fresh Finds Indie, as well as being featured on BBC Introducing. If you’re based in London and you’re free tomorrow (13th April), then you can catch seegz supporting Serena Sun at the legendary Old Blue Last. Grab a ticket here.

seegz | Ones To Watch Playlist

Katie Belle – People Pleaser

We might still only be in April, but it’s already been a busy year for American talent Katie Belle. The singer, songwriter, model and actor spent the start of 2026 in LA preparing her new records while also performing around Hollywood.

In a sign of what’s to come, she’s released a catchy electronic-pop bop, created alongside Fabio Campedelli, called ‘People Pleaser’.

As its title suggests, the track speaks of the tension that comes from trying to keep everyone around you happy and the liberation of breaking free from having that mindset.

No more
People pleaser
Sweet demeanor 
I’m gonna save me all for my self
Pretty creature
Time to grieve her 
I break the curse
I’m no longer bound

The track is lifted from a 5-song EP of the same name which is also out now (listen here), that serves as an ‘analogy of Katie coming into her own’.

Impressively, the record has already gained considerable momentum, with its songs currently amassing more than 700k cumulative streams on Spotify alone.

Belle is an artist on the way up, and we’re very excited to see what she releases as the rest of the year unfolds!

Katie Belle | Ones To Watch Playlist

New Music: dramaclub

TRACK OF THE WEEK

dramaclub is the most exciting discovery of the week, and once you press play on their new single ‘love in the darkness’, you’ll see why.

This Floridian quartet craft a style of indie pop that is refreshingly original. Their productions balance experimentation with playfulness and nostalgia, resulting in sounds that are unexpected and intriguing.

‘love in the darkness’ sonically carries hints of M83 and Capital Cities, while the lyrics speak of the metaphoric ‘tug of war’ that comes with caring for someone.

The track is lifted from the group’s forthcoming ‘for every room’ LP, which is out soon. In the meantime, you can explore more of their music right here.

dramaclub | Ones To Watch Playlist

Sungaze – I’m No Longer Afraid of Heights

Photo / Rikki Austin

For those unfamiliar with Sungaze, this emerging six-piece outfit are from the city of Cincinnati in Ohio. Their sound has particularly impressed us this week, and we’re quite excited to be sharing their new single with you.

‘I’m No Longer Afraid of Heights’ is a beautifully atmospheric emo song that fuses alternative rock with dreamy pop and shoegaze. The production is sonically complex, evolving in intensity as the track progresses. It’s powerful, moving, and almost cinematic in its tone.

Lyrically, the song looks at our hopes and aspirations as children, and how they eventually begin to conflict with the realities of adulthood. Elaborating on the single’s accompanying music video, lead vocalist Ivory Snow says:

“It was important to us to film the video in the real life settings that inspired it. We filmed over the course of three days. Day one was mostly spent working with our kid actors, and filming the office-attire scenes. Day two was filming the outdoor performance and narrator scenes which involved sneaking into a gravel pit yard and walking the streets of the small town where I grew up. The corner store in the video is the very same that is mentioned in the first verse. The third day was the live show, which was shot at Madison Live in Covington, KY, across the river from Cincinnati. To get the slow motion effect, we had to perform the song at 2x speed, which made for a humorous experience. I think we were all thankful that we play relatively slow music.”

‘I’m No Longer Afraid of Heights’ is taken from the band’s album of the same name, which is scheduled for release on 22 May 2026 – preorder here.

Sungaze | Ones To Watch Playlist

Diverse – Haunted

Diverse has to be one of the most interesting artists that we’ve come across this week. Hailing from Switzerland, this musician creates a very distinctive electronic sound that is instantly captivating.

‘Haunted’ is taken from the artist’s newly released EP of the same name (listen here) and presents listeners with a UK Garage-style of production that builds an immersive soundscape full of interesting textures.

Diverse has been active since 2022, crafting productions that mix genres as diverse as dubstep, drum & bass and house. The ‘Haunted’ EP is his first release with experimental indie label Androids Dungeon Radio.

Diverse | Ones To Watch Playlist

Iona Luke – Existential

Photo / Daisy Dickinson

Rising UK starlet Iona Luke is back today with a bold new single called ‘Existential’.

This track makes an instant impact from the start. The production fuses alternative rock with indie-pop, resulting in a sound that is intense, raw and dramatic. Lyrically, the song’s introspective lyrics speak of personal identity and doubting yourself when you’re an artist.

“In a madly oversaturated music space, figuring out where you stand and what you have to say is scary stuff. When I had to decide whether I’d be ‘Iona’ or ‘Iona Luke,’ I repeated my name in my head too many times and had the mini existential collapse we all get when a word suddenly looks a bit funny.”

“This song is about identity, overthinking, and wondering if what you do actually matters. It was almost impossible to write… snapped a lot of pencils.”

Iona was carving a career as a musician while also studying English Literature at Cambridge University. She’s gained attention from icons like Lana Del Rey and has amassed over two million career streams to date.

Iona Luke | Ones To Watch Playlist

New Music: Oslo Green

Oslo Green is a master of many talents. He’s not only a singer, songwriter, producer and violinist, but also a co-founder of creative collective NYADO.

‘MaYbe’ caught our attention this week for its refreshingly original sound. The track, which features vocals from Adina Shine, serves as an introduction to Oslo’s new album, ‘No Strings Attached’ (listen here), and presents listeners with a beautifully balanced fusion of alternative R&B, hip hop, and pop.

On top of that, we’re also treated to some strings that give the track a sense of soulful nostalgia that is mesmerising to experience. Elaborating on the album’s concept, Oslo Green says:

“‘No Strings Attached’ – a promise I clearly couldn’t keep – both in relationships but also when it comes to the amount of strings I recorded for this album. This album covers a few good years of travelling around the globe – following relationships, music and big dreams. Growing up as a classical violinist, I could never imagine that one day I would put together something like this. While listening you might notice many flavors and languages. Writing and producing this album on the go, I blended in what I picked up from different places – NYC, Nairobi, Milan, Tel Aviv, Berlin, London and more.” 

The album follows on from Oslo’s well-received debut EP ‘The Oslo Green Express’, which featured an equally eclectic style of sound. You can explore more of the artist’s work on Spotify here.

Oslo Green | Adina Shine | Ones To Watch Playlist

Interview: Quickfire with Hanne Leland

Norwegian star Hanne Leland has been on our radars for more than a decade, and we’re still fans after all this time. The acclaimed singer and songwriter has had a varied career in music, immersing herself in Nashville’s scene in her early years before shifting to the electronic pop sound that she is so well known for now.

Leland returns today with a brilliant new Scandi pop banger called ‘Call You Mine’. It’s the perfect song to add to your weekend playlists, and in our view, it is likely to gain even more traction over the upcoming summer months. It’s catchy, fun, and lyrically relatable to anyone who’s ever fallen in love.

To celebrate its release, we managed to get the chance to have a catch-up with the artist, where she speaks on the creative hustle, her inspirations when making music, and what the future holds.

You’ve made a fascinating transition from the Nashville singer-songwriter scene to becoming one of Oslo’s most exciting independent pop forces. For those just joining the journey, how would you describe the Hanne Leland sound in 2026?

I’d say my sound is very much rooted in pop, with a touch of electro-pop. I like to experiment, so my sound has shifted a bit between indie pop and electro-pop over time, but at its core, it’s always been pop. This year, I’m really leaning into a more polished, playful electro-pop sound.

Your career is a masterclass in DIY hustle – from pitching sponsors to recording with Taylor Swift’s session musicians in Tennessee. Looking back at those early days, what is the core motivation that keeps you building this international career entirely on your own terms?

I think a lot of indie/ DIY artists are naturally very entrepreneurial, and that’s something I’ve always identified with. I have a strong work ethic and I love making things happen, but ultimately, it’s my love for music and songwriting that has kept me going.

Whether it’s your previous singles or your 2025 Christmas album, there’s always a distinct emotional thread in your writing. Where do you typically find yourself most inspired to create? Is it in the quiet moments of reflection or the chaos of real life experiences?

I’d say it’s a bit of both! I often write about my own life, whether that’s the big, chaotic moments, like a breakup, or the quieter, everyday experiences. For example, my 2025 song ‘Nothing At All’ is about the simple, everyday life with your partner, and how that ordinary routine can be everything you want.

Your new single ‘Call You Mine’ is an anthem that captures that agonisingly exciting ‘are we/ aren’t we’ phase of a new romance. Since you wrote this a couple of years ago, what was it about this specific track that made it feel like the perfect spark to kick off your 2026 releases?

I think it’s the perfect track for spring! It’s flirty, fun, and full of anticipation. It feels great to release something upbeat and playful just as the sun starts peeking out and summer is on the horizon.

With over 17 million streams under your belt and a fresh team behind you in both Norway and the UK, the momentum is clearly building. What does the rest of the year look like for you?

I’m thrilled to be playing my own headline show in Oslo this year! I also have more singles planned, in the same playful, upbeat vibe as ‘Call You Mine.’

Hanne Leland | Nordic Sound Playlist | Ones To Watch Playlist

Master Peace x Thomas Day – Love Hate

Two of the brightest musical talents have joined forces to create one of the summer’s biggest songs… even though we’re still in April!

Pairing acclaimed wordsmith Master Peace and rising singer-songwriter Thomas Day is quite the genius move. ‘Love Hate’ playfully weaves dreamy indie with alternative pop, building a shimmering soundscape that contrasts nicely with both artists’ distinctive vocals.

If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out Master Peace’s latest EP, ‘Stupid Kids‘, and if you’re in London, then you can catch him performing live at Heaven on the 28th October.

Master Peace | Thomas Day | Ones To Watch Playlist

Yellow House – Bound & Covered

Photo / Andile Phewa

Yellow House is the musical project of South African singer and songwriter Emile van Dango. With more than 100 million career streams already racked up on Spotify, Emile has already established himself as one of his nation’s most promising rising stars.

New single ‘Bound & Covered’ is a finessed dream-pop song that reminds us of the work by artists like Tame Impala and Washed Out. Hazy, mysterious, and utterly mesmerising, this track speaks of the intensities of being in love.

“‘Bound & Covered’ is a declaration of devotion and passion. Two lovers existing in complete belonging to one another across space and time.”

An upcoming ‘soft-concept’ album, called ‘Gateways & Trains‘, is scheduled for release soon, which will focus on the story of a mystic lover who leaves heaven to search for love.

Yellow House | Ones To Watch Playlist