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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #10: From Teddy Swims to Adam Newling

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.

These are the artists who caught my eye this week:

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 playlisters at home and abroad making bets that they’ll be taking it to the next level soon:

You want to know why they’re on my list this week? Let’s find out!

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. This is the ‘well, duh’ section – you’re supposed to know they’ve all got new stuff out, but if you don’t, these are the near-unanimous picks for Biggest Beasts this week.

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

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 – and the support – that made them standouts this week:

  • Magi Merlin – POWER HOUSE (album)
    • Canadian R&B singer and actor follows up on this year’s social media success with huge NMF support around the world
  • Dahi – Running (single)
    • This LA-based producer has worked with Kendrick and Drake, and this collab features Childish Gambino, an epic set of name-dropping that clearly worked its magic on NMF editors all over the place
  • Deb Fan – Angel(s) (single)
    • This multi-instrumentalist’s sometimes impressionist take on R&B garnered big numbers for her previous release and this level of global support will surely help push those numbers for this drop
  • Bon Calso – CHILDREN (EP)
    • This Spain-based trap & reggaeton artist recently joined up with Bad Bunny’s label, and the unanimous support across the (huge) South American NMFs, as well as a slot on the global version shows the expectations for this artist are sky high
  • María Isabel – 1-800 (single)
    • Based in New York, this Dominican-American singer-songwriter is folding in a more dancefloor-ish sound to her R&B, and the South American NMFs – and the global one – are giving it all a hefty push in the right direction

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

Back here in Oz though, we want to know who’s getting the most attention from a broader, Australia-only cross-section of tastemakers and crtitics. To do that, I track the adds on around 60-70 of the most credible new music playlists in Oz – as with the breakout global acts above, any artist with a lower following that gets onto these lists at any sort of scale is doing extremely well indeed.

First of all, let’s take a look at the artists who punched above their weight the most this week, and bagged more spots across more high-quality editorial playlists than an artist of their size would normally get.

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

  • Adam Newling – LIFE (single)
    • Those of you reading last week will notice that Adam Newling has not only appeared twice in two weeks, but has managed to actually improve his position in the week after release – honestly can’t think of anyone who’s done that, and it’s testament to the quality of the new work that so many have picked up on it in week two
  • Wishlist – Big Sign (EP)
    • Moving their behind-the-scenes work as producers & session musicians to the front of the stage, Wishlist’s clever electronic pop caught the ears of Spotify’s editorial teams this week, bagging three big local spots, three spots a project much more established than this one would love to have
  • REDD. – life (single)
    • As full of beans as ever, and an immediately likeable music character, REDD.s latest propelled them onto major and street-level lists alike

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.

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:

  • Adam Newling – LIFE (single)
    • Adam Newling didn’t just bag a ton of local support in the second week of release, it was noticed enough outside of Australia to bag a slot on The Indie List (>1m-followers), which certainly won’t hurt
  • Mack Geiger – Walk a Straight Line (EP)
    • No stranger to large streaming numbers, Mack Geiger’s big-hat-and-dusty-boots twang saw him land a compact but influential saddle-bag of spots, including one on the New Boots global mega list
  • Baby Smith – Lately, Love Is Dead (album)
    • Baby Smith’s soaring, dreamy alt-pop hit the mark with a list of spots that was small in number, but big on reach, and hit a lot of ears in both their home Aussie turf and around the world
  • horse – Ask me again next year (EP)
    • It’s exactly easy listening but it’s deeply, deeply rewarding – their solid backing on home soil this week was also given a boost with a very healthy smattering of lists around the world
  • Gloam – Never Ending (single)
    • Gloam’s post-shoegaze squalls travelled far and wide this week, with the local love sitting alongside global reach in the shape of two meaty Fresh Finds spots
  • Old Mervs – She Said (single)
    • Old Mervs already do good numbers and have a healthy, growing following, but because of the way the maths works here (ie it scores equally regardless of size) their presence on the list here suggests they’re doing even better than you’d expect and so probably have some good room still to grow into
  • Austin Mackay – Same Place, Same Time (single)
    • More Aussie twang and strum, this time in the shape of Austin Mackay, who made it onto a good quality range of local lists as well as two important global genre-based ones
  • JACOTÉNE – Tell Me (I Heard It From My Father) (single)
    • One of Australia’s truly amazing voices, it’s great to see this huge talent given strong backing at home, with some spicy global adds for extra flavour

And that’s your lot this week, the artists that popped on the playlists, punched above their weight, and pushed out into global lists.

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: Adam Newling at The Vanguard, Sydney