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Essential Artists

Essential Artists #14: From Sam Smith 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.

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:

  • Dahi – Square Up (single)
    • Dahi’s connections – to Kendrick, Childish Gambino and others – certainly wouldn’t have hurt his chances, but he picked up a hell of a haul across NMFs globally this week, his second top 20 appearance here in as many months
  • Ela Minus – qué les pasó a mis amigos? (EP)
    • Another repeat offender, Ela Minus also makes it two top 20 slots in two months, the Brooklyn-based, anti-software artist maintaining the attack and sustain
  • This Is Lorelei – Oh No Now My (single)
    • A critical darling, Nate Amos’s self-aware and arched-eyebrow experimentalism floats the boats of enough NMFs this week to sneak him into the top 50
  • Man/Woman/Chainsaw – Cannonball (album)
    • This highly-regarded post-punk art-rock outfit from South London (la la la), have triggered the red-alert warnings in a huge number of critics, and picked up enough NMFs this week to give their debut album a >6m reach boost
  • Freak Slug – If I Could (single)
    • Continuing to picking up big listening numbers, Freak Slug’s latest took her up a step and built on last month’s release, with ‘‘If I Could’ putting her among the emerging artists with the highest reach for the week

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 demostically 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:

  • BIG NOTER – BIG NOTER (feat. Joe Talbot)
    • Not so much a favourite as a modern institution, rapper Al Briggs’ nu-metal and hardcore side-project raised its fists and smashed into a ton of Aussie playlists this week – not a surprise given the respect Briggs carries, but still a delight to see
  • Clancy – Oh Why (single)
    • The first solo release from the singer of the excellent smol fish, this track charms and delights until it eventually explodes into giddy joy – for a debut upload to bag a spot on triple J’s New Music Hitlist, as well a handful of other major AU lists is a big, big sign of the goodwill out there for the project
  • Rowena Wise – Bad Things Feel Good* (album)
    • Rowena Wise had already built up backing across the year as the singles released, and peaks this week at exactly the right time, with a fabulous haul of Australian lists picking up tracks from her second album, spread broadly from street-level to the biggest of the major playlisters

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.

From a personal perspective, seeing the likes of Sweetie, Lottie McLeod, DOBBY, Sesame Girl, and Body Type getting their dues warms the cockles of my black heart. I’d also strongly recommend you check out GRUB, whose debut track ‘Shake It’ has been furiously bubbling under for a couple of weeks and picking up a lot of attention.

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 – both Big Noter and Rowena Wise made the top three at home, but also did some turbo numbers abroad, so I’ll start with them.

  • BIG NOTER – BIG NOTER (feat. Joe Talbot)
    • #1 at home, but also pulling in no less than 13 global playlists, including NMFs from Canada to Europe to Asia as well as heavyweight spots on All New Punk, All New Rock, it was a banner week for Senator Briggs, and rightly so
  • Rowena Wise – Bad Things Feel Good* (album)
    • #3 on the domestic front, Wise also saw interesting support for the album internationally, with both David Dean Burkhart’s Compact Cassette playlist and NPR’s main new music playlist adding tracks to their weekly updates
  • Radio Free Alice – Kick in the Shins (single)
    • Their seven-week unbroken run of appearing heavily on playlists at home and abroad continues, with repeat slots from >1m-follower lists abroad in the shape of MARROW and the new alt
  • effe – Solder (EP)
    • effe has been building and building and building over the last few months, and the release of the ‘Solder’ EP kept it all going even further, with all the major lists you’d want backing it in Australia, and a wild array of global spots (including no less than three >1m follower lists) taking it all to the next level
  • Way Dynamic – Officially (single)
    • One of the most-watched artists in Australia over the last year, Way Dynamic’s first release this year proves that no-one’s forgotten about him, with big names jumping on ‘Officially’ at home plus three influential critic lists backing it abroad as well
  • Le Shiv – Gummy Bear (single)
    • A reliable favourite at home, Le Shiv’s new one also picked up sharp international slots on both All New Rock and Front Left placing them on playlists with a combined follower count of well over 2m
  • Jem Cassar-Daley – All I’m Thinking About (Single)
    • Strong backing for a third week saw Cassar-Daley’s latest single ‘All I’m Thinking About’ keeping its place on both significant domestic and international lists, a perfect buildup ahead of the album release at the end of the month
  • Faker – Nightmare’s Coming Back (single)
    • With thirty years in the game, Faker aren’t a new name to Australian critics and tastemakers, and their continued return to the fray keeps picking up attention – the new single is a cracker, and lists at home and abroad agreem delivering a total follower count of around 1.5m
  • Battlesnake – Mud Apocalypse (single)
    • The mighty Battlesnake are not to be underestimated – with a hatful of local adds as well as a slot on the global All New Metal list, that word is spreading

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: BIG NOTER at The Chippo, Sydney