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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #08: From sombr to BIG NOTER

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

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, well…

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:

  • sombr – My Body Isn’t Ready (single)
  • Benson Boone – The Time Of My Life (single)
  • Charli xcx – Wink Wink (single)
  • Gracie Abrams – Look at My Life (single)
  • Katy Perry – Watch It Burn (single)
    • NB: If you haven’t seen the slightly demented video for this – where Perry grows a scorpion tail and sets fire to a newsagent while drunk – it’s well worth a gander

Anyway, 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:

  • Lennixx – Boy Crazy (single)
    • Scandinavian minimalist R&B duo – including the younger sister of Zara Larsson – scored huge wins this week, landing on a ridiculous number of NMFs for an artist of that size, in countries all over the world
  • Debbii Dawson – Where Have All The Good Men Gone? (EP)
    • The former America’s Got Talent performer won the votes of some important NMFs this week, including spots on the >1m-follower Global and UK lists
  • Nia Smith – Payback Is A Dog (single)
    • One of the most visible faces of the UK R&B scene, Smith might have only bagged three NMFs this week, but since two of them were the mighty Global and UK NMFs, the reach on those placements is pretty huge for an artist this size
  • Nectar Woode – Naturally (EP)
    • Rounding out a good week for emerging soulful artists, Nectar Woode also spread the UK R&B word far and wide, also gaining a Global & UK combo, adding markets as far apart as Norway and Japan
  • This Is Lorelei – Billy Came Back (single)
    • The prolific (and slightly bonkers) side-project of Water From Your Eyes’ Nate Amos saw the follow-up to the super-buzzy ‘Box for Buddy, Box for Star’ album land with NMFs beyond its NYC home, catching big spots on the Global, UK, and AU & NZ lists

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:

  • BIG NOTER – F.M.D (single)
    • The heavy side of rapper, actor, writer, and all-round legend Briggs continues to prick up ears across the scene, landing a ton of adds from both the major and the street-level lists
  • Brazen Barbie – KEEP IT ON THE PLAYGROUND (single)
    • Brazen Barbie continues her rapid-growth phase with a hatful of adds from across the spectrum of new music playlists in Oz, including important support from New Music Friday AU & NZ spot and Local Hype
  • Swapmeet – Halfway (single)
    • Utterly unsurprising levels of support for Swapmeet’s latest single, who barrel towards the July release of their debut album ‘Mount Zero’ with basically the entirety of the Australian music media – quite rightly – backing them up

Outside of this top three, it was another strong week of releases from emerging artists. Looking down the top 20 there are some great new acts getting the support they rightfully deserve. Personal favs in here include Girl and Girl, total tommy, Sesame Girl, and OH! Daisy, all of whom should be on your radar right now.

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

OK, so – getting backing from the new music playlists in Australia is hard enough to do, but breaking out into international markets is another level entirely.

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

  • BIG NOTER – F.M.D (single)
    • Topping the list domestically this week, Briggs’ heavy project also added a hefty spot on the global All New Punk list
  • Swapmeet – Halfway (single)
    • It’s not just Australia that’s backing this excellent band, with the new single popping up all over the world’s most influential guitar playlists including three which carry more than a million followers
  • Radio Free Alice – Lunch Money (single)
    • While Swapmeet build up to their album launch, global playlister eyes are also still firmly turned towards Radio Free Alice, who – even three weeks since their latest release – are getting repeat adds on massive global playlists like MARROW, the new alt, and The Indie List
  • Lucky – Biting Heels (EP)
    • If Swapmeet and Radio Free Alice are the hot properties abroad right now, Lucky is one of the artists with a serious shot at being on deck next, with tracks from her superb ‘Biting Heels’ EP gaining a whole new round of attention from some really important playlists, including the >1m-follower MARROW and the influential Front Left
  • Kita Alexander – RAGE (album)
    • Always a popular addition to playlists in Oz, the just-dropped RAGE album spread its wings far and wide across NMFs in Europe and across Asia, as well as big global spot on All New Pop
  • effe – See-through (single)
    • effe performed spectacularly well this week, with a strong domestic list of playlists adds as well as some massive spots on All New Indie and the global Fresh Finds lists, huge backing for a project at this stage
  • Any Young Mechanic – The Modern Show Is Ruining The Foot (album)
    • Another clear favourite among critics and tastemakers, Any Young Mechanic continue to bag repeat adds on major. global lists this week
  • daine – PQC (single)
    • daine’s latest single was last week, when I noted her support was stronger abroad than at home – the locals caught up a bit this week, in particular with a big spot on triple J’s New Music Hitlist (which comes with a main station rotation add), while the likes of NME and Pitchfork both joined some major Spotify lists in throwing some support behind her
  • C.O.F.F.I.N – Sleep In It (single)
    • It was a good week for the roaring, raucous mighty wonder that is C.O.F.F.I.N, both signing to King Gizzard’s p(doom) label and seeing support for the first single with their new pals roll in at home and abroad

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: BIG NOTER at The Chippo, Sydney