must listen list

Samia Najimy Finnerty is an American singer-songwriter from New York City.

Dirty Hit is a British independent record label founded in December 2009 by Jamie Oborne, Brian Smith, and former England footballer, Ugo Ehiogu. It is currently based in West London, England. Their releases are distributed to digital platforms by Ingrooves Music Group.

Since Dirty Hit's inception, Oborne has been the main driving force behind the label. Previously part of a signed band, he moved into artist management aiming to provide artist support. Providing a platform for two acts that Oborne managed, was the main motivation behind starting the label. Both The 1975 and Benjamin Francis Leftwich thus became the first signings. The 1975 were the first act on the label to achieve mainstream success, having achieved a number 1 on the UK Albums Chart in September 2013 with their eponymous debut album. Oborne also manages some of the groups on the label through his All On Red management company. In February 2019 it was announced that The 1975 had signed a new three-album deal with the record company.

Caroline Elizabeth Rose (born October 19, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. After releasing two records of folk and country-inspired music, she released a pop-rock album Loner in 2018. Her most recent album, Superstar, was released on March 6, 2020.

Born in 1989 in Long Island, Rose grew up in Center Moriches, New York. The daughter of two artists, Rose began writing songs and poems at age 13. Rose attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in architecture.

In 2012, Rose and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jer Coons launched a Kickstarter to fund the production of Rose's first album America Religious. The campaign exceeded its goal of $8000, eventually raising $10,115. The album, blending American folk music, country, and rockabilly styles was self-published later that year. Two years later, Rose released her first nationally distributed album, I Will Not Be Afraid on Little Hi! Records. Like the first album, it was produced with Jer Coons and featured music in a variety of Americana musical styles, including two songs previously released on America Religious.

Julien Rose Baker is an American indie rock singer and guitarist. Her music is noted for its moody quality and confessional lyrical style, as well as frank explorations of issues including spirituality, addiction, mental illness, and human nature.

Amber Mary Bain (born 13 July 1995), known professionally as The Japanese House, is an English indie pop musician from Buckinghamshire. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. As a teenager, Bain decided to pursue a career in music, having been taught music by her father during childhood. She began writing music under the moniker the Japanese House in 2012, after being introduced to Matty Healy of the 1975, who offered to help produce her music under the label Dirty Hit. She first rose to prominence after the release of her first single, "Still", which was a critical success and premiered on BBC Radio 1 presented by Zane Lowe.

Bain's androgynous vocals, heavy use of production, and elusive media presence fuelled fan speculation about her gender and identity after her first few singles were released. In 2015, Bain released her debut EP Pools to Bathe In and the follow-up EP Clean. These first two EPs were rooted in indie pop and synth-pop, and included experimentation with genres such as dream pop, folktronica, and electropop. She toured with Dirty Hit labelmates the 1975 and Wolf Alice in 2015 and 2016 before headlining tours of her own.

Orchid Tapes is a Canadian–American independent record label based in New York City. It was founded in 2010 in Toronto, Ontario by Warren Hildebrand. Operated by Hildebrand, the label has released a number of indie compilations and original releases on cassette tape, limited edition vinyl, and digital download. Among Orchid Tapes' signed artists are Coma Cinema, Foxes in Fiction, and Alex G. The label focuses on "music and artwork that breaks free of the established norm...reflects the dedication of its creator and provokes a strong emotional resonance..."

Muna is an American indie pop band consisting of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. They released two studio albums with RCA Records, About U (2017) and Saves the World (2019), before signing with independent label Saddest Factory Records, which released their third studio album, Muna, in June 2022.

Even in My Dreams is a 2008 short film written and directed by Flavio Alves, starring Richard Reade as the main character, Michael. Considering its shoestring budget, Even in My Dreams was a huge success, getting screened at a variety of film festivals all over the world.

Claud Mintz, known professionally as Claud, is an American bedroom pop singer-songwriter from the suburbs of Chicago. Claud is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. They are known for some of their songs "Soft Spot" and "Wish You Were Gay".

Claud began releasing music under the pseudonym Toast, releasing an EP in 2018. In 2019, they dropped out of college at Syracuse University to pursue music full-time. Claud released an EP called Sideline Star on October 25, 2019. In 2020, Claud formed a new band with Clairo, Josh Mehling, and Noa Frances Getzug, called Shelly. The group released two songs on October 30, 2020, titled "Steeeam" and "Natural". That same year, Claud became the first artist to sign on with Phoebe Bridgers' record label Saddest Factory Records. Claud's debut album, Super Monster, was released on February 12, 2021. In October 2021 Claud played with Bleachers at their Austin City Limits show. Their single "Soft Spot" was included on Vogue's list of "The 38 Best Songs of 2021."

Marie Ulven Ringheim is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer, known for her indie pop project Girl in Red. Her early EPs Chapter 1 (2018) and Chapter 2 (2019) were recorded in her bedroom and feature songs about romance and mental health. Released through AWAL, her debut studio album If I Could Make It Go Quiet (2021), was a critical and commercial success, and won three Norwegian Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Lucy Elizabeth Dacus is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus attracted attention with her debut album No Burden (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Her second album, Historian, was released in 2018 to further critical acclaim. Dacus's third studio album, Home Video, was released in 2021.

Claire Elizabeth Cottrill, known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Carlisle, Massachusetts, she began posting music on the internet at age 13.

Gracie Madigan Abrams is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut EP, Minor, was released in July 2020 through Interscope Records. Her second EP, This Is What It Feels Like, was released in November 2021, with singles "Feels Like" and "Rockland".

Miya Folick ( MEE-yə FOH-lik; born June 10, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California.

Folick was born in Santa Ana, California. She is half-Japanese and was raised as a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist, learning to play the taiko drums in a church group.

Folick went to Foothill High School in Santa Ana, California, where she was on the basketball team and graduated in 2007. She has said she didn't enjoy playing basketball.

Folick attended New York University from 2007 to 2009 to study acting but transferred in 2009 and graduated from the University of Southern California in 2011 with a B.A. from the School of Theatre. During a gap semester, a high school friend taught her how to play guitar. She later started her band using Tinder, where she created a profile that said, "looking for a band."

Big Red Machine is an American indie folk band that began as a collaboration between musicians Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. The band is named after the nickname for the dominant 1970s Cincinnati Reds baseball teams, which won the 1976 World Series in Dessner's birth year.

Margaret Debay Rogers (born April 25, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Maryland. Her big break came when her song "Alaska" was played to Pharrell Williams during a master class at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2019. She graduated from Harvard Divinity School in May 2022.

Maggie Rogers grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland along the banks of the Miles River in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland. Her father is a now-retired Ford Motor Company dealer and her mother, a former nurse, is now an end-of-life doula. She began playing harp at age seven and loved the music of Gustav Holst and Antonio Vivaldi. Her mother would play neo-soul artists such as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. By the time she was in middle school, Rogers had added piano and guitar to her repertoire and began songwriting in eighth grade. For high school, she graduated from St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. At school, she played harp in the orchestra, sang in the choir, joined a jazz band, learned banjo and became interested in folk music, and taught herself how to program. She also spent many summers during her formative years at a rural camp in Maine.

Mitski Miyawaki, known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012) and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), while studying studio composition at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music. These albums were created originally as her senior project at Purchase. She released her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek, in 2014 through Double Double Whammy after graduating.