We’re three weeks into 2024 and already, there are a bunch of promising big-time album releases on the calendar. There are also a number of rising artists who have caught our attention. Across genres, there are plenty of artists who we’re excited to see how they progress this year. Like years past, here is a look at the artists (listed in alphabetical order) who we think will have a big year. We’re excited to introduce them to you (if you already know of them, then you’re a step ahead and nice work) and we know you’ll find something new that you’ll enjoy. – Daniel Kohn
BRITTI
“I give you what I got / don’t really care if you like it or not / go on and stare ‘cause I ain’t gonna stop,” sings New Orleans-based Brittany Guerin on “Save Me,” a scorching retro-soul highlight of her debut album, Hello, I’m Britti. The album is quite the introduction — a bracing mix of New Orleans R&B and new Nashville spark which is as charmingly personal and candidly confident as the title. Sharply produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, it comes out on his Easy Eye Sound label on Feb. 2. At the center is her sneaky-great voice, packed with playful coos and trills. Corrine Bailey Rae raised on Dolly Parton? Yola via Amy Winehouse? Nah. Totally Britti. It’s also a dream deferred. Guerin yearned for a music life for years while watching others, both through her uncle Roland, one of the city’s top bassists, and in her day job at Guitar Center, before a devastating breakup jolted her to action. That pent-up energy powers this album like a bright starburst. Hello, indeed. – Steve Hochman
Chanel Beads
In early 2023, this electronic pop project of Shane Lavers in collaboration with Maya McGrory and Zachary Paul won over fans with its peculiar, genre-bending singles. Lavers’ songs playfully push the boundaries of instrumentation, interweaving microtonal notes to create dreamy melodies. Despite such an idiosyncratic sound, Chanel Beads became one of the buzziest new acts in New York and the object of many prominent indie labels’ desires. The winning bid went to Jagjaguwar, so expect a new album soon. – Tatiana Tenreyro
Willi Carlisle
Willi Carlisle almost feels like a man from another time — a free-rambling backyard singer and poet in an age of Ring cameras and smartphones. And though he often employs traditional song forms accompanied by little more than banjo, acoustic guitar or squeezebox, Carlisle’s outlook is unmistakably that of someone cautiously navigating modern life. Carlisle weaves tales of generational trauma, fentanyl overdoses, and weed kingpins throughout his new album Critterland as if they were handed down from ancestors, turning out achingly lovely couplets with the sincerity of a young Conor Oberst. Through it all, he consistently aligns himself with the outlaws, the freaks, and the lonely folks of whom he sings, a big-hearted display of empathy that makes Critterland a place worth visiting again and again. – Jon Freeman
Carpool
In 2024, the rising emo/pop-punk scene that came out of DIY basement shows and on to established indie labels like SideOneDummy and Run for Cover, is ready to reach new heights. At the center of all of that are bands like New York’s Carpool. Combining classic emo trappings with pop sensibilities, indie undertones, and a punk edge, the band thrives in the amalgamation of genres labeled as “alternative” these days. The Rochester- and Brooklyn-based band are primed to be a star in a scene that’s ripe for explosion, giving their upstate fans something worth cheering for outside of the Bills. With their first SideOneDummy release, My Life in Subtitles, out this March and a brand new single featuring Briana Wright of Cliffdiver (a band that everyone should always be watching), Carpool is revving up for a strong 2024 and are ready to ride to the top. – Josh Chesler
Margo Cilker
Raised in California and based in the Pacific Northwest, Margo Cilker writes songs about the natural world and family history with dazzling precision. Her 2021 debut Pohorylle earned her an Americana U.K. nomination as well as opening dates with Drive-By Truckers, and last year’s Valley of Heart’s Delight wound up on numerous year-end lists. Cilker frequently earns worthy comparisons to Gillian Welch, Shelby Lynne, Lucinda Williams, and John Prine, and Valley of Heart’s Delight has all the wit and tunefulness those names command, plus a little dose of Dixieland jazz and John Fogerty for added spice. Cilker sings of shared cigarettes, breakfast food, the best burger in Texas, and the plight of steelhead trout, imbuing these seemingly ordinary things with grand significance. When she leaves on her headlining tour this March, make plans to be there — she’ll be playing much bigger venues before long. – Jon Freeman
Dazy
Fusing electro-drenched guitar pop with a hardcore and punk spirit, Virginia-based Dazy has spent the last couple of years bringing catchy and danceable tunes to shows more equipped for mosh pits. From their 2022 shows with Militarie Gun (which also led to their joint single, “Pressure Cooker,” the remix of which is a full-blown dance track also featuring Mannequin Pussy) to last fall’s run with Angel Du$t, James Goodson’s project has won over plenty of open-minded hardcore kids who likely weren’t expecting so many singalong grooves ahead of the expected musical violence. With 2023’s OTHERBODY EP and the “Forced Perspective” single as a quick followup to the previous year’s OUTOFBODY, don’t be surprised if Dazy’s fanbase expands in a big way in 2024. – Josh Chesler
Melody English
When not crafting gorgeous, ephemeral alt-pop, Melody English serves as General Director of Brooklyn’s Chamber Orchestra (with whom she occasionally performs opera in a nearly 200-year-old Brooklyn Heights cathedral.) 2020’s stoic and alluring, self-produced and recorded Melody EP conjures calmed-down Fiona Apple (“Self Be True”) and Mazzy Star doing Radiohead synth-and-acoustic (“Huma”). Last year’s The Web EP pushes further with “Parasite”, a prime piece of shoegazery, offering Kate Bush vibes and a lovely ‘90s fuzz-crunch third movement. October brought a guest spot on an NPR Tiny Desk show, a sold-out concert with Beach Fossils followed, and with a third EP nearing completion, the immense range of Ms. English looks to be on full display in 2024.- Jonathan Rowe
Epilogio
If the post-1966 Beatles, Seals & Crofts, and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker pounded a few Coronas and took a walk on the beach while passing around a fat spliff, the resulting music would sound a lot like Cromo Rx, the second album from delightful Puerto Rican band Epilogio. It’s an especially potent antidote to the winter blues, with songs such as “Pirámide,” “Agente Fuentes” and the Steely Dan-meets-Phoenix hip-shaker “Platicar” conjuring the sexiest of vibes despite whatever the thermometer may read (don’t miss their accompanying fun, psychedelic videos). After a home country album release show on Feb. 3, Epilogio will then visit the U.S. in the spring, including an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. New collaborations with fellow Puerto Rican artists will also begin rolling out over the next few months. ¿Podemos tomar una bocanada? – Jonathan Cohen
Latin Mafia
Latin Mafia is ready to conquer the world after selling out arenas across Mexico without an album or record label. The indie pop trio’s limitless sound is an amalgamation of genres beloved by producer Mike de la Rosa and his twin brothers Milton and Emilio. Latin Mafia explores dream pop on “Más Humano,” blends R&B with hip-hop beats on “No Digas Nada” and unleashes a reggaeton banger with “Julioteta.” Though one song never sounds like the other, Milton and Emilio’s soulful voices tie everything together. They’re going global in March with performances at Coachella, Lollapalooza Argentina, Lollapalooza Chile, Colombia’s Estéreo Picnic, and Mexico’s Tecate Pa’l Norte, with a debut album expected later this year. – Lucas Villa
NIIS
NIIS has gained a significant following in the Los Angeles punk scene despite not being a strictly punk band, but even the punk elitists love them. NIIS (pronounced “nice”) has cultivated their unique sound by merging punk and hardcore with elements of garage, grunge, and a ton of reverb, showcasing the weirder side of punk. But it works because they’ve managed to gain blessings from punk heavyweights like FEAR, GBH, and Circle Jerks, whom NIIS shared the stage with in 2023. NIIS may have had a busy past year opening for punk pioneers, but in 2024, the L.A. band is leading the way with a headlining tour in February, a new single called “Crazy” and the release of their yet-to-be-titled debut album, on which they’re currently working. Don’t sleep on NIIS —Mimi SanDoe’s blood-curling vocals will wake you up anyway. – Stephanie Mendez
San Cha
Imagine watching a Spanish telenovela with elaborate costumes, live instruments, a cast of punk rockers and alternative artists, and queer love being presented by the star of the show as she belts out songs to her femme lover. Those elements and more will be found in cumbia singer San Cha’s ASUNCÎON, which premieres this summer with the Long Beach Opera in Los Angeles. The artist has risen from the indie circuit in L.A. and the Bay Area with this operatic debut, but she hasn’t left behind her background in experimental and Latin-based genres. Her 2022 new-wave-influenced EP Processions will be revamped as a new release in 2024, and art museum Ballroom Marfa is collaborating to produce exclusive cassette tapes for fans. She’s come a long way since her 2018 cumbia single “Desesperada” was featured on an episode of Showtime’s Vida, and her upcoming electro-inspired music is elevating the genre beyond the usual reggaeton and música urbana sounds on which most Latin artists have come to rely. –Stephanie Mendez
Wallace
Thanks to co-signs from Optimo and Gilles Peterson, constant exposure on NTS Radio over the past year, and top-shelf releases on his own Tartan label, U.K-by-way-of-Edinburgh-reared Jimmy Wallace is no longer the best kept secret in emerging dance music. His classic house- and techno-inspired tracks throb, vibrate, duck, weave, and radiate the elemental pleasures of getting sweaty with the crew of your choice, with just enough Warp Records-style melodic weirdness to keep your head on a swivel. Wallace’s recent discography is highlighted by his nature-inspired debut LP Red, Yellow, Black, from the burbling, four-to-the-floor “Good Morning” to the meditative “By the River,” which nods to the cut-and-paste aesthetic of early Four Tet. There’s plenty more where that came from — projects for On Loop and Rhythm Section are in the works, as are shows in Asia, Australia, and at the U.K.’s legendary Fabric club. Free your mind, and the rest will follow. – Jonathan Cohen
The Wants
Recorded inside a steel shipping container during the COVID apocalypse, the debut LP from ridiculously tight Brooklyn post-punk trio the Wants — titled, yes, Container—relies on dark dance vibes for a now-wave study on urban claustrophobia and motionless life in modern New York. “Ape Trap” is a soul spent renting four walls while “The Motor” motivates an apartment escape, but “Voltage” fries the door shut again. This year’s follow-up, recorded by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National), finds tales of city slog over frizzled guitars and Autechre techno, tricked out with Massive Attack bass pummel. The group’s members are Williamsburg music vets (Bodega, ONWE, NightNight) now making next-level noise in the same scene that birthed LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio, which is no small trophy. Europe knows them well, and if you don’t, use 2024 to catch up. – Jonathan Rowe
Winter
Samira Winter, who performs under the moniker Winter, cemented herself as one of the most exciting artists within the new generation of shoegaze with 2022’s What Kind of Blue Are You?. Winter stands out among the crowd of newcomers with stunning songs that give a current spin on the genre while still sounding at home with stalwarts like Slowdive, Lush, and My Bloody Valentine. Winter is ringing in a new era this year with the single “the lonely girl,” a somber, personal track about her tumultuous childhood. With the buzz surrounding Winter’s return, 2024 seems slated to be her big breakout year. – Tatiana Tenreyro
