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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #12: From KATSEYE to C.O.F.F.I.N

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 (& their releases) 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:

  • Chloe Qisha – Baby Girl (single)
    • It was a good week for rising British talent, with alt-pop artist Chloe Qisha appearing on 19 NMFs around the world, basically the same spot she occuppied back in May with the previous single – the support is holding strong.
  • DAMEDAME* – DREAMS ON THE PASSENGER SEAT (album)
    • The second UK artist here is modern R&B outfit DAMEDAME*, who are also following up their previous strong showing from June – this time round though, the number of NMFs they appeared on increased, along with their total combined reach – Spotify are doubling down here.
  • girlsweetvoiced – Lovesweet (album)
    • The last of the emerging Brits to score high this week girlsweetvoiced, who also had a previous high-flying perfmance just last month – however, this time around fewer NMFs picked up new tracks. With a combined total reach of nearly 7m though (and including spots on both the UK and Global NMFs) , it certainly won’t hurt the album’s chances.
  • Jimi Jules – Whisper To Me (single)
    • Respected house and techno artist Jimi Jules had a great week, with big European NMFs and a Global spot all creating wide reach for his latest.
  • C.O.F.F.I.N – Think Bad (single)
    • I’m so happy to see C.O.F.F.I.N on this list I could spit. For a band with as rough edges as this one to get the exposure they did – primarily from the UK.& Global NMFs – is remarkable, and more than a little bit satisfying.

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 the country. 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 my list with their latest releases:

  • Oliver Ashby – Annabella (single)
    • Two weeks at the top for Oliver Ashby! If you’re not familiar with my maths, this is because the project is (for all intents and purposes) brand new. When a project at this early in its lifecycle gets a repeat slot on Tapestry plus a Fresh Finds AU & NZ berth (and gets combined playlist reach of nearly 250k), it’s doing WAY better than you’d expect for a project at that stage, and is scored accordingly.
  • Kayps – SHIPS (feat. Flewnt & JJ Vacant)
    • Kayps new one landed hard across the board – A1 and Local Hype are important for any hip-hop artist in Australia, but breaking out onto New Music Friday AU & NZ as well as a broad range of non genre-specific indie lists shows crossover appeal too.
  • Lottie McLeod – Wednesdays at the Waterloo (single)
    • With both flawless support from Spotify’s new music machine (in the shape of spots on Indie Arrivals, Tapestry, Turn Up Aus, and New Music Friday AU & NZ) plus good support from independent lists, this week saw McLeod’s latest track ‘Wednesdays at the Waterloo’ quite rightfully land a podium finish.

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:

  • Radio Free Alice – Kick in the Shins (single)
    • RFA plough forwards with grit and determination, seeing their latest single ‘Kick in the Shins’ get the sort of support back home that they have come to expect, but with some stellar adds globally to boot, including no less than four playlists carrying over 1m followers apiece.
  • C.O.F.F.I.N – Think Bad (single)
    • As well as landing notable NMF support around the world (see above), Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway also continued to get the backing you’d expect in Australia AS WELL AS elbowing their way onto as many global mega-lists as Radio Free Alice. Love to see it, long may it continue.
  • Swapmeet – Mount Zero (album)
    • Riding the wave after their album launch, Swapmeet are now out of the honeymoon period and into the part where it all absolutely has to come together. The very first hurdle at least is now behind them, with broad support staying remarkably strong into week two – the fire is very much stil rising.
  • Jem Cassar-Daley – All I’m Thinking About (single)
    • A really strong performance on the back of her ‘All I’m Thinking About’ single, with wide backing across the board and a couple of major spots outside of Australia too.
  • REDD. – life (single)
    • Two whopper playlist adds globally yanked REDD.’s latest track ‘life’ back into the spotlight over a fortnight after release.
  • Windwaker – closer (single)
    • The heavier end of Australia’s music spectrum was well-represented this week, with Windwaker appearing on strong playlists at home and abroad, for a combined total reach of over 2.5m
  • horse – Ask me again next year (EP)
    • Like REDD., horse also got a post-release boost for their ‘Ask me again next year’ EP, with tracks appearing on influential playlists around the world including the global Fresh Finds.

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: Swapmeet at Tumbalong Park, Sydney