Crawlers are a British rock band from Liverpool, they first came on the scene in 2018 and released their debut single ‘So Tired’ in 2019. Consisting of four members: Holly Minto, Amy Woodall, Harry Breen, and Olivia Kettle, the band came to fruition after Amy (guitarist) and Liv (bass) played together in a few bands in their high school. After choosing different paths for sixth form, Holly (vocals) and Liv met, and decided to form a band. They met drummer Harry after the release of a few singles, leading us to now. Crawlers enjoy experimenting with rock sounds, but ultimately, they’re simply four best friends making music and enjoying themselves.
This band deserves attention for several reasons. Firstly, Holly Minto’s vocals are remarkable—regardless of your taste in the song or the beat, you can admire her incredible vocal talent. Additionally, it’s uncommon to find a band where the front members aren’t male-dominated. While Harry excels at drums in the background, the rest of the group is up front, embracing a refreshing and atypical approach to the typical rock band setup.
A key track to look out for from Crawlers is, ‘Fuck Me (I Didn’t Know How To Say). This track encapsulates Crawlers perfectly: it’s raw, authentic, bold, and features incredible instrumentals.
After a busy year of playing some of the biggest festivals in the country, touring Europe and the UK, releasing new material and keeping us on our toes for more, Brighton’s indie-rock legends are ready to take over 2024. Lime Garden is going to be a name you don’t want to forget this year.
Their highly-anticipated debut album ‘One More Thing’ is set to be a sincere, punchy coming-of-age record for the Brighton-based four-piece. As their vocalist, Chloe Howard, admitted “You can really hear us growing up in the songs”; ‘One More Thing’ wraps up a long journey in music and personal growth for the four best friends who have been making music together since they were 16.
Lime Garden have, without a doubt, established a signature sound with their honest, unfiltered relatable lyrics and their confidence in experimenting and growing with their music, which makes them stand out from the modern femme indie-rock mainstream wave.
Looking at their latest releases like ‘Mother’ or ‘I Want To Be You’, it’s fair to say that the band has crafted a sonic and bold, yet simple sound that represents a new age in indie music, expressing a whole generation. With their debut album incoming and an international tour awaiting, Lime Garden have proved they are the next big thing in music.
Key track to look out for: Love Song
For fans of 90s dream-pop/alt-rock like The Cranberries, Mazzy Star or BOA looking for new music in 2024, Moon Idle is your new favourite band!
Moon Idle mysteriously appeared – out of nowhere one could say – in March 2023 with their strong debut ‘Moments’ and within only a few months, they managed to create a name of their own in their hometown Brighton and across the South-East.
Unlike Brighton’s variety of punk-rock bands, Moon Idle represents something rather unique, soft and intimate that beautifully compliments the city’s music scene. The release of their debut EP ‘Kindly’ at the end of the summer was a great gift to all the melancholic souls, honouring elements of nostalgia, dreaminess and raw emotions, and it marked a very promising beginning for their journey in music.
Haunting, delicate, powerful and kind. That’s how I can describe Moon Idle’s sound which makes them stand out as Brighton’s most captivating band at the moment, and potentially your favourite band for 2024.
Key track to look out for: The Avenue
Lambrini Girls – undoubtedly the most important act to appear in recent years. Phoebe Lunny and Lily Macieira are advocating for a music scene completely devoid of transphobia, toxic lad culture, abuse and the trivialisation of queerness – using their platform to bring these issues into the public eye and calling out a music scene that has allowed abuse, oppression and misogyny to run rife. The Brighton-founded duo are so much more than your average noise-laden punk outfit, cementing these issues into the foundations of everything they represent, while building spaces for queer representation and celebration.
Lambrini Girls are opening up conversations in a community that has often turned a blind eye, or dismissed the seriousness of these topics in an attempt to avoid confrontation. As catalysts, the band are driving essential change – and doing it in fucking style.
With their debut EP ‘Your Welcome’ entering the spotlight in May 2023, Lambrini Girls were instantly hurled across the continent – with a monumental opening set at Iggy Pop’s ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ show at Crystal Palace Park, alongside a further 70+ shows in 2023 alone. The EP release saw chaotic in-store sellouts, endless radio play (including the iconic KEXP), and the continued growth of a loyal audience.
Although each track bears its own honourable mention, ‘Terf Wars’ and ‘Boys in the Band’ are two elements to the debut EP that are essential to everyone’s catalogue. With gritty dissonance, fuzz-fuelled rage and chant-worthy lyricism – these two tracks are definitive of Lambrini Girls core mission. Transferring to the live stage, audiences are encouraged to scream key hooks such as ‘Shut your stupid fucking mouth, you stupid fucking terf’, carry Phoebe as she swims across the crowd, and sink their teeth into the raw authenticity that the duo have garnered since day one.
If you’re looking for a new artist this year, make it Lambrini Girls.
Soak up the raw energy of early 2000s alt rock and have your moment with Wings of Desire. Straight from the soundtrack of indie cinematic nostalgia the Stroud duo bring melodic, head out the car window stargaze, speed through the tunnel of synthesizers, get encapsulated in the motion. Their debut album “Life Is infinite” beckons to be cranked up to the maximum volume and breathed in. Drawing inspiration from psychological revolution, visual arts, and 20th century counterculture, Wings Of Desire have single-handedly taken it upon themselves to rebirth what was the peak of liberated early-noughties alt rock (Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, The War On Drugs).
Catch Wings Of Desire on their ‘Life Is Infinite’ UK tour – if you can’t, listen to their newest release “Are Alive – Live”.
With only two singles out, it is a pleasure to witness the beginning of this Bristol-based six piece capture the imagination of grassroots audiences across the city. Electrifying static rooms to eruption in their pursuit of effortlessly authentic expression – this cult of tight-knit offbeat friends encapsulates the light shone by early 60s Lou Reed. Bound together by their genre-bending unpredictable showcases of non-conformist introspective folk pop meets punk-indie-art rock – “The Freakshow” express a unity of queer minds as they take turns to front the stage.
In the legacies of Funkadelic, Jonny Cash and (imo) Patti Smith and Modern Lovers.
Lauran Hibberd is by no means a new artist, she’s been releasing music steadily since 2018 with her debut album Garageband Superstar releasing back in 2022. But she’s been slowly building her repertoire and her artistry through her recent releases, especially on the lead single ‘mary’ from upcoming album Girlfriend Material.
Lauran has never shyed away from personal storytelling in her songs, and Mary is filled with the candid joy of exploring bisexuality set to a nostalgic 90s skate punk inspired melody. Her witty lyrical prowess is ever-present in the track and it’s definitely one to check out if you’re curious to explore the idiosyncratic world of Lauran Hibberd.
Lauran Hibberd’s career is already one to admire, as she’s gone from strength to strength and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by her peers, opening for acts such as Hobo Johnson and All Time Low, as well as built her own following of loyal fans. Now with her second album forthcoming, her singles have turned into instant bangers, her fanbase is growing exponentially and she deserves a permanent spot in the UK indie hall of fame.
Through her joyful presentations of queerness and her songs about fuckboys and sugardaddies, Lauran teaches us that honest, personal songwriting doesn’t have to be so serious all the time, a la Lily Allen. But on more emotive cuts such as ‘I suck at grieving’ she delves right into darker, heavier themes and does so with such tasteful candid grace. She is the full package and has all the makings of an icon in the making, so bring on 2024 for Lauran Hibberd.
Nothing short of all-rounder Natanya is North-London’s hottest act on our radar right now. As a producer, singer-songwriter, and instrumentalist, Natanya serves up a delectable blend of rich instrumentation and production, infusing nostalgic R&B vibes with a contemporary twist. I can already hear her blasting out of JBL speakers on a picnic blanket with 30-degree tan lines and corner shop ciders this 2024 summer.
Her lust to create music unbound by genre only sets her further apart from the rest, For fans of Erykah Badu, SAULT and Mereba.
In January, Dublin-based garage punk quartet SPRINTS quietly released one of the loudest, most impressive debuts of the year – one that will fight the test of time and raise its voice as the year goes on. Letter to Self is a furious baptism into 2024, a raucous, energetic ode to the power of anger and the collective exorcism that comes with screaming at the top of your lungs in a room full of people. Riddled with religious imagery and self-referential rage; listening to this record feels like telling lies in the confessional just to see if you’ll catch on fire, and halfway hoping you might. SPRINTS repeatedly reinvent themselves, experimenting throughout the album: they borrow metallic screeching from industrial rock, a few shoegaze guitar tones, and lyrics reminiscent of riot grrrl feminist punk, all while crafting something wholly individual.
“Am I alive?” Frontwoman Karla Chubb shrieks, over and over, on Letter To Self’s steady-climbing opening track, “Ticking.” The answer is an overwhelming yes. SPRINTS’ sound is taut while untamed; they create measured sparks before bursting into flame. And not only are Chubb and her bandmates achingly, relentlessly alive, Letter to Self also proves to its audience that the music veteran adage can’t possibly be true: Punk’s not dead – SPRINTS is your proof.
Orla Gartland, 28, is an independent singer-songwriter, producer, and guitarist based in London. She began her career in 2009, posting covers and original songs on YouTube. As of January 2024, Orla’s YouTube channel has received over 37M views, gaining just under 300K subscribers.
August 2011 saw Orla release her first EP, Laughing at My Own Jokes. Since then, she has gone on to release four more EPs and her debut album, Woman on the Internet, in August 2021.
Orla has described her music as folk-pop, most heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, and Imogen Heap. She has also stated Kate Bush, Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper, and Greg Holden as influences. From toxic masculinity to social anxiety, Orla has explored numerous topics through her music. She stated that her debut album’s main themes were growing up, feeling lost, comparison and identity.
In 2023, Orla formed a band called FIZZ (a TNAM favourite!) with Dodie Clark (dodie), Greta Isaac, and Martin Luke Brown. The members are friends and followers of each other’s work, previously collaborating on other projects. Their debut album, The Secret to Life, released in October 2023, peaked at position 31 on the UK Albums Chart. The band’s musical style has been described as alternative, maximalist and theatrical. In addition to her music career, Orla has contributed to many charity projects. In 2019, she was part of an Irish group of female singers and musicians called Irish Women in Harmony, recording a rendition of Dreams by The Cranberries in aid of the domestic abuse charity Safe Ireland.
Orla has a bright future ahead of her and is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. Her exceptional talent and philanthropic spirit stand as a shining inspiration and role model for all aspiring musicians.
Hull-born, Manchester-based Yasmin Coe released her debut single ‘No Hope’ in 2022. In what has seemed like an age since then, she’s back with huge releases and even bigger live shows. Following January’s ‘Doubt’, Coe releases ‘Promise Not To Care’ in February, hot off the back of her energetic headline at the iconic Manchester venue YES. The presence of UK rising stars Antony Szmierek and Phoebe Green in the crowd solidifies Yasmin’s impact on the Manchester scene especially, becoming a live favourite of many in the city. Her performances epitomise shimmering indie pop and blend them perfectly with rock and punk influences.