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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #07: From Tyla to Margo Mann

This week’s data-driven roundup of artists killing it around the world and in Australia this week

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Start next week right by getting across the biggest and the hottest new music around – as usual, I’ve taken a look at which artists are bagging the most spots (especially those punching above their weight) on both the best Australian playlists and on New Music Fridays around the world.

Don’t forget there are two dashboards you can play with via the site if you want to get into the raw data behind it, one for Australia and one for the New Music Friday stuff.

Diving straight into it, the artists you need this week are:

1. The top five global superstars with new releases

  • Tyla – IS IT LOVE (single)
  • FKA Twigs – On Your Mind (ft Lil Yachty) (single)
  • Myles Smith – My Mess, My Heart, My Life (album)
  • Masego – Breathe (single)
  • Jazzy – Invisible (single)

2. Five artists punching above their weight around the world this week:

3. In terms of Australian artists, these are the acts seeing playlists at home and abroad making bets that they’ll be taking it to the next level soon:

If you want to know why they’re on my list this week, let’s get going…

The artists killing it on New Music Friday playlists around the world this week

First of all, these are the big five – these are the artists you’ll probably be hearing the most about this week.

The releases that put them on the top of the pile this week:

  • Tyla – IS IT LOVE (single)
  • FKA Twigs – On Your Mind (ft Lil Yachty) (single)
  • Myles Smith – My Mess, My Heart, My Life (album)
  • Masego – Breathe (single)
  • Jazzy – Invisible (single)

New Music Fridays are always dominated by the bold-faced names – but if you look hard enough you can spot the up-and-comers too.

These are five artists (and their releases) that I’ve spotted being disproportionately supported around the world compared to their size, the acts being given hyper-valuable playlist real estate *before* they’ve blown up for real.

The releases that put them there this week:

  • girlsweetvoiced – Energizer (single)
    • Viral internet sensation and British dream-popper sees social media strenghts converted into widespread global backing for her latest single
  • Hamilton – Beso a Beso (single)
    • Colombian Afrobeat and urbano artist Hamilton isn’t restricted to the massive South American playlists, there’s support from not only the global NMF, but also those as far apart as India and Canada
  • Ysa C – No Llegamos Ni.A Febrero (single)
    • Having achieved some huge sync success with tracks appearing on The Kardashians and Love Island, this latest single also struck home with the mega-sized South American lists as well the global NMF.
  • Soul Wun – Beautiful Noise In My Head (single)
    • This DJ and producer picked up a really strong list of NMF placings this week, driving him well beyond the confined his home turf of Australia
  • UCHE YARA – BODYSCANNER (single)
    • A virtuoso-level multi-instrumentalist, this latest single sees her continue to build strong support from around the world, with a compact list of spots on some big and important NMFs

The artists killing it on the best new music playlists in Australia (and globally) this week

First of all, let’s take a look at the new releases that bagged their artists the most spots on the best Australian new music playlists this week.

These three landed at the top of the list with their latest releases:

  • Margo Mann – Shapeshifter (single)
    • With just a handful of followers and only two uploads in the world, Margo Mann is already appearing on New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, and Tapestry, a killer start for this excellent project.
  • Jewel Owusu – small heart (single)
    • Always popular with playlisters, Jewel Owusu’s latest single scored big with a wide range of both indie and major playlists.
  • Sonic Reducer – Living Room (EP)
    • One of the most electric live bands on the scene right now, Sonic Reducer also landed strong support for their latest EP this week

Outside of our top three, it was a crackerjack week for emerging artists. Looking at the top 20 there’s a ton of great new acts getting support from all over. Personal favs in here include Body Type, DOBBY, Miss Kaninna, 3% (who teamed up with The Terrys on the latest track), Dani Marchio, and the inimitable RAGEFLOWER.

Once you’re done making notes of who to check out, we’ll take a look at how the Aussies did abroad this week,

Owning the playlists in Australia is one thing but breaking out into international markets is quite another.

These are the artists and releases putting Aussie artists on the radar both at home and abroad this week:

  • Jewel Owusu – small heart (single)
    • Bagged #2 most playlisted spot at home in Australia this week, but also scored a plum spot abroad on the influential All New Pop playlist
  • Sonic Reducer – Living Room (EP)
    • As well as bagging the #3 spot for most playlisted on home turf, an All New Rock slot will put them in an awful lot of headphones this week.
  • Soul Wun – Beautiful Noise In My Head (single)
    • This Sydney-based artist bagged a frankly ridiculous number of New Music Friday slots this week, as well as some big and influential genre slots. An incredible amount of backing.
  • Radio Free Alice – Lunch Money (single)
    • RFA continue to see strong international support, as they have done from early on. Two weeks after their latest release, they’re being re-added to some important global playlists including three with over 1m followers.
  • daine – PQC (single)
    • Performing even more strongly abroad than at home, daine is making notable progress on the global stage with some truly huge playlists backing her up.
  • Any Young Mechanic – The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot (album)
    • An immediately popular choice on home shores, Any Young Mechanic released their debut album a fortnight ago, but are seeing support stay strong abroad, including on some truly mega lists.
  • BOY SODA – SOUL STAR DELUXE (album)
    • The last single two weeks ago saw BOY SODA gain a crazy level of New Music Friday adds around the world, and that support hasn’t dwindled for this week’s deluxe-version album release. Wide – and repeated – international support.
  • CHAII – Ride Or Die (single)
    • Strong reach in Australia, and notably strong backing across Asia gives this exciting artist a broad base of support across the whole region.
  • The Buoys – Kill You Back (single)
    • I just *love* it when The Buoys pop up in this data. One of my all-time favourites from Australia, it warms the cockles of my black, rotten heart to see them get the recognition they so rightly deserve, with an All New Rock spot giving their killer new track a much-deserved boost abroad. More please.

There you have it – the artists from Australia and around the world whose new releases have been pushing buttons for critics and tastemakers at home and abroad.

If you’re into raw data, then there are two new dashboards you can play with on the site for the Australia and the New Music Friday data.

Go and discover something new and amazing 🤘

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Photo: Sonic Reducer at Metro Social, Sydney