StereoStack: Emerging Music You May Have Missed

Was Your Spotify Wrapped Looking a Little Uninspired? Here Are Some Fresh Finds

By Agnes Scotti

24 From 2024

Two Dozen Artists to Know About Before the Year Ends

24. Caroline Elise

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Ghost Town

Caroline Elise is many things, including an accomplished writer and a trained musical theater artist. So what better way to combine those two passions than songwriting? Caroline’s sweet soprano won’t leave your mind once you hear it, and her writing is a beautiful exercise in turning poetry into song. Ghost Town tells the tale of a failed relationship and being haunted by every place, person, and thing that reminds you of your former partner. This track, along with Caroline’s other releases, are hidden gems in the singer-songwriting genre of today.

23. Aaron Bogin

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: The Breeze

Aaron Bogin is on a search for home in his track The Breeze. The Springfield (Massachusetts) native, now based in Los Angeles, wonders aloud if those around him will see he’s at peace with where he’s at. “The grass is always greener where I can’t go,” he sings. Bogin’s writing has a classic singer-songwriter feel, and listening to The Breeze and his follow-up track, Romancer, is very easy to do. Here’s to more music from Aaron in 2025.

22. Ryan Dunn

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Nightfall

Incorporating classic folk themes into the singer-songwriting genre is difficult to do. And yet, that is exactly Ryan Dunn’s goal. His first-ever EP release, The Greenhouse EP, dropped earlier this year and features a trio of songs as well as an early voice memo recording of one of the tracks. Nightfall is my clear standout track, with closely recorded vocals and an intimate mix of guitar, piano, and chirping crickets that will transport you to a quiet night in the country no matter where you might be. The Greenhouse EP is currently available on all streaming platforms.

21. Izzy Raye

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Count Me In, How Do You Do It, Confirm It

Izzy Raye is nothing if not a creative machine. For her 2023 pop-rock track Count Me In, she commissioned a visually striking music video directed and produced by Brakelight Pictures, an independent film company based in New York City, that features Raye covered from head to toe in glitter during certain sections. And Raye isn’t afraid to try new things. Her 2024 singles, How Do You Do It and Confirm It, break away from more traditional rock sounds and move towards the ever-growing musical era of digital pop made popular by PinkPantheress and Tinashe. It’s clear that Izzy Raye has a lot to share, and I think I safely speak for everyone following emerging music when I say we are excited to hear what’s next.

20. Ggwendolyn

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Windows r the doors 2 the soul, Small Town Rodeo

I first discovered Gwendolyn’s music after reading Ottessa Moshhfegh’s novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I was making a playlist to try and delay my end-of-book depression and found Ggwendolyn’s track of the same name. Take a deeper dive into her discography, especially recently, and you will find a detailed creative and a talented songwriter. Her 2024 EP, i, has sounds that could be inspired by the likes of both The Strokes and Charli XCX, with fantastical lyrics akin to the ones made popular by Dora Jar. Ggwendolyn recently opened for MICHELLE on tour in support of their album Songs About You Specifically and seems to have more music coming in the near future.

19. Famous Friend

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Tanlines, Blue, Nora

Famous Friend, the solo project of LA-based producer Zachiarah Carlson, makes sounds that you might find coming out of a vintage VW bus heading towards the ocean in the 1970s. Dreamy synths and reverbed guitars provide the perfect soundtrack to surfing some waves. With his recent single, Tanlines, as a standout, you’ll feel like getting out that beach chair even in the middle of December.

18. Paul the Messenger

• Based in: Wollverhampton, UK

• Listen to: We Were So Young, Things Fall Apart, Say What You Want

Whatever message Paul the Messenger wants to deliver, I am ready to receive it. The Congo-born, UK-based artist combines his incredible vocal range with his clear love of dance-pop and R&B, creating track after track that will make you move and groove no matter where you are. Most notable is his song We Were So Young, with layers of vocals that not only enhance the beat but create it. Not to mention his roaring belt in the middle of the song. An album may be on the way from Paul as he has released a series of singles all throughout 2024.

17. The Army, The Navy

• Based in: New Orleans/Los Angeles

• Listen to: 40%, Persimmon, BBIDGI

You won’t find this duo playing against each other in a football game. The Army, The Navy — made up of childhood friends Sasha Goldberg and Maia Ciambriello — creates tracks with harmonizing melodies that compliment and challenge each other as they work towards the same musical goal. Constantly vocally pushing each other, we can expect some truly experimental music from these two. The Army, The Navy just finished a stint opening for Dora Jar and recently released their newest project, Sugar For Bugs.

16. Woakill

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: AIGHT! WAIT, MVP

Woahkill has dubbed himself “Rap’s only stuntman.” Don’t believe me? Just head over to his Instagram where you will find video after video of him hanging upside down or riding on top of a moving car while he spits verses from his latest drops. But there’s no risk involved in getting into his music. Woahkill’s sounds not only fit into the R&B blend made popular by Future and Don Tolivier but bring a new flair and genuine danger that will make you want to ride right along with him. (Although I’m sure it would also be fine if you took separate cars.)

15. Frances Whitney

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Easy Street, Holding On, You Left Me For Jesus

Few can break out on the scene as well as Frances Whitney. She dropped her first-ever single Easy Street in March of 2024 and quickly followed up with a string of singles leading up to her debut EP, Old Hobbies. Her storytelling is effortless and she pairs it with a voice that could belong to a 1960s country singer or a 2000s pop star. With lines like, “When I stop to think about/us getting high hanging out/I can convince myself/loving you wasn’t hell,” and “You’re gonna swallow me whole/after I crawl into your mouth/then I’ll expand til I explode/destroy you from the inside out/how romantically morose.” It’s clear to me that her skill as a songwriter cuts much deeper than just an old hobby. I’d get on the Frances Whitney train now if I were you.

14. Mickey Darling

• Based in: San Antonio, Texas

• Listen to: Vroom Vroom, Always Online, Broken People Breaking Hearts

We all have artists we are excited to see finally getting their full shot. For me, that band is Mickey Darling. Since hearing the chronically online duo’s track Vroom Vroom in 2021, I have been genuinely obsessed. The brainchild of Skyler Molina and Austin Medrano, the self-described “sexiest boy-band” was finally able to record and release its debut album this year after more than six years of consistently putting out singles. The full length LP Let’s Dance Until We Get Scared is a digital fever dream of heartbreak, sex, hook-up culture, and finding the happiness in all of it, and it does not disappoint.

13. Henry Hall

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Edna, Like a Knife, Luce

It was no surprise to me that Henry Hall was the #2 artist on my Spotify Wrapped this year – he has been in the top five since his track Edna accidentally began playing during a sleepy London Underground ride back in 2019. His witty lyrics often mask much deeper, painful storytelling reminiscent of The Smiths, while his melodies match the innovative and experimental that Magdalena Bay has made popular this year. I’ll always recommend the aforementioned Edna from his 2019 EP Questions, Comments, Concerns, but his 2024 project, Stop Doing Funny Stuff (his third full-length LP), might be his best work. The album features Like a Knife, a beautiful ode to a friend who tragically passed away due to gun violence. Hall has committed 10% of all streaming profits of the track to Sandy Hook Promise and paired the single with a music video that masterfully shows the never-ending journey of grief. Another cut from SDFS, Luce, was the last single before the album dropped and features rich lyrical choices that are classic Henry. He croons, “And we got on a train/your ex-boyfriend’s new train/he said, ‘Big H what’s the problem?/I give all my passengers flowers!’” Honestly, he would be higher on this list if I wasn’t so biased, so take his #13 spot with a big grain of salt. The whole salt mine, maybe. Hall is expected to go on tour next year.

12. MiA

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Bad Night Tattoo

Never have I ever become a fan of an artist with only one release. Well, until MiA. It’s hard to believe that Bad Night Tattoo is MiA’s only song available on streaming when it sounds like a pop classic from start to finish. The mix is addictive, a strut-your-stuff beat paired with the all-too relatable lyrics about going out to get your mind off your ex. The track that’s left will have you wishing you were out dancing with a flute of champagne in hand. If this track is any indication of what is next for MiA, we are in for a lot of good nights.

11. Beeyotch

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Screwdriver (Payload), HD-Q28 1080p, That’s Disgusting Stop That

Even though Beeyotch hasn’t released anything new since its 2020 album Right Behind You, there is no denying its impact on the New York City grime-punk rock scene. The band, led by Jody Peyote, has been performing together for over 10 years and sounds like a modern, dirtier, and darker version of the New York Dolls. One thing is clear: They are and will continue to be an underground New York institution. Perhaps it’s time they came up for some fresh air.

10. Caroline Culver

• Based in: Nashville, Tennessee

• Listen to: Long Island Dr., Fleeting, Maggie Told Me You Got a New Girl

Caroline Culver’s song Long Island Dr. still gives me chills like it is the first time I am hearing it. The track starts off sounding like a drive on a snowy backroad in the middle of a December night – cold and removed, yet passionate and intense – but Cullver quickly guides the song into a loud and angry state not long after you have gotten comfortable. What you’re left with is a tragic rendering of a lost love who wasted her time. With fellow producers such as Hannah Cole and Annie DiRusso, it’s no surprise that Culver packs a surprising punch that continues throughout the rest of her 2023 EP See You in the Light. Culver is certainly one to watch in the world of indie-rock. Caroline recently put out a new track, Fleeting, and we can expect more music from her in the new year.

9. Chanpan

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Election Year, Jungle, Attack

There are so many reasons to like Chanpan — from their roots as buskers, to being an Asian-American pop band, to two of their members being identical twins. They are eclectic and so fun. Made up of three New Yorkers who are also community organizers and activists, their song Election Year might just be the best representation of the Gen Z perspective of the current political climate. If their music is any indication of how clever they are, we might just see them running for office someday.

8. Cordelia

• Based in: London

• Listen to: Little Life, I’m Sorry, I Just Killed a Spider

If you have been on TikTok at all this year, you may have come across numerous videos featuring a sound from a soft British voice singing the lyrics “I think I like this little life….” That voice belongs to none other than Cordelia O’Driscoll, known professionally as Cordelia. Since the massive success of Little Life, Cordelia has released track after track that proves she is not just a one-hit-wonder but has the chops of a talented songwriter. Her other songs, including I’m Sorry and I Just Killed a Spider, are filled with layered dream-like harmonies and poignant lyrics that make me believe she might not have such a “little” life for too much longer.

7. Kacy Hill

• Based in: Phoenix, Arizona

• Listen to: You Know I Love You Still, Juliet, My Day Off

Kacy Hill is not like other indie-rock singers, and it’s not because of her signature ginger baby bangs. Her soprano range voice teeters on the operatic and was certainly enough to catch the attention of Travis Scott, who featured her on his 2015 song 90210. Kacy is paving her own way in 2024 though, with her newest project, Bug, showing off signature sounds that prove she doesn’t shy away from the experimental. On tracks like You Know I Love You Still, Hill shows her ability to create classic and easy love songs with strumming guitars and folk-like lyrics about someone who is still on her mind. Yet on Juliet she intentionally changes the recording of her voice, setting an almost creepy, digitized tone to tell the story of one who got away. It’s this willingness to keep us on our toes as she continues to mingle with genre shifting that sets Kacy apart.

6. Judith

• Los Angeles

• Listen to: Heather, No Me Gusta Eso, Ugh!

One of the most innovative artists of the year, Judith’s blend of bedroom pop with Latin beats is a spicy concoction. She has songs in both English and Spanish and also notably uses both languages on a few tracks to add layered meanings to her music. On Heather, for example, she tells the classic tale of being told she is too loud. “Tu ve más bonita callidita,” she sings, which translates to “You look prettier when you are quiet,” but then she surprises with a twist in the chorus by responding in English, “Maybe I would be better/if I talked like Heather” — a swing at the blatant racism and dual meaning that being told to be quiet can have when said to Latinas. Judith’s fearlessness is also reflected in the new sounds she experiments with. With songs that could be sung by Billie Eilish, Rosalia, or even Sabrina Carpenter, you won’t get tired of Judith’s unapologetic and joyful energy.

5. Ella Woolsey

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Super Special Outing, Pretty Girls, Lucie

Don’t let Ella’s sweet and gentle voice fool you – her lyrics will bring you to your knees in the middle of CVS. Ella, please! I am just trying to buy shampoo! Luckily for you (and me), we will probably be rocking out too hard to care. On her 2024 track Super Special Outing, Ella effortlessly croons an ode to the most intimate of outings: running errands with the one you yearn for. Anyone who loves to fall in love knows that there is nothing more exciting than accompanying your crush to buy their essentials – and using those things to convince yourself they are right for you even when you know nothing about them yet. Ella’s “super special” ability to write about the most mundane parts of love as musical Odysseys immediately makes her one to watch.

4. Devon Again

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Cherry Cola, Sunburn, Never Goes Away

Devon’s bright blue hair is not the only thing striking about her. Her modern take on pop music provides a sigh of relief to your eardrums – a comforting nostalgia you had no clue you were missing. Her trio of songs released in the summer of 2024 (Cherry Cola, Sunburn, and Never Goes Away) simultaneously sound like a cathartic scream let out after parking in an empty Wendy’s lot and holding hands with your crush for the first time. They are visceral and sweet. With Cherry Cola the clear leader of the pack, these songs will give you a literal runner’s high – proof that Devon is an artist who will take you through a “wall.”

3. Slimdan

• Based in: Los Angeles

• Listen to: Weinerschnitzel, Celebrity Lookalikes, Drank on Accutane

I get a little emotional when I talk about Slimdan. That is very silly of me, considering that so much of his debut album, Second Dinner, made me laugh. To call his lyrics funny would be an understatement, but to single out only the comedic elements of his music would be a mistake. Yet, Slim’s genuine and quite natural lyrical storytelling is potentially his strongest quality. From singing about the shame he felt as a young Jew eating pork for the first time to perfectly encapsulating getting lost in Italy with his wife, it is impossible to not relate, laugh out loud, or grab a tissue when you hear his lighthearted take on being scared to get older. He is a favorite of mine from this year, and I know he will be for many years to come. Slimdan recently opened for Remi Wolf in support of her album Big Ideas and will head out on a solo tour in early 2025.

2. Nemahsis

• Based in: Toronto

• Listen to: I Wanna be Your Right Hand, You Wore it Better, Stick of Gum

Nemahsis might be the indie-rock superstar you have never heard of. An imaginative artist with lyrics that could double as published poetry, Nemahsis had full industry support and was steadily growing her following all through last year. Her 2023 song I Wanna be Your Right Hand had 4 million streams on Spotify and was seemingly a ticket toward stardom. That all changed in October 2023 when she was dropped by her record label. Why? Nemahsis is Palestinian with opinions. As the situation in Israel and Gaza unfolded post-October 7, Nemahsis publicly advocated on behalf of Palestinian civilians, causing her label to worry she was “too polarizing” to keep on the bill any longer. Luckily for us, she independently released her first full-length album, Verbathim, in September 2024. With soaring melodies that roar with both Western and Middle Eastern influences, the album is a feat of survival. The brief track You Wore It Better is a standout, with twinkling strings that back the story of a deeply insecure person trying to express love for the one they want. Stick of Gum is also notable, with a music video shot entirely in Jericho that gives striking context to the lyrics “It’s easier loving you/And I know why I need to.” Whatever your stance is on the ongoing war, Nemhasis’ music provides a deeply important reminder that those directly affected by the ongoing fighting are human beings, and most have a deeply rooted love of their culture and families and a desire to do nothing more than to sing freely.

1. Annie DiRusso

• Based in: New York, New York

• Listen to: Legs, Frisco Forever, Nauseous

I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t listening to Annie DiRusso – and I’d like to keep it that way. The hook of her 2024 release Legs, is an all-too-familiar sentiment of dating in your twenties: “I am loosening my grip/I don’t give a shit/if we fuck or we date.” But the fact that this clever line is just one of many in her arsenal is what makes her my Number One recommendation of the year. On her 2023 EP, God I Hate This Place, Annie masterfully recounts the relief of recovery from a sickness that set in due to a relationship ending in Frisco Forever, while admitting that something new has already started to make her stomach churn in Nauseous – “I cleaned my room for you!” she screams. Needless to say, Annie makes it easy to become obsessed with her. From her alt-rock classic voice, to her honest — and usually funny — lyrics, you won’t get enough of the vixen soloing on electric guitar in a buttoned-down shirt and tie. To be a fan of Annie is to listen to someone sing so clearly and intelligently in the present while making it very plain that her time is not to be wasted. I, for one, believe we may just wake up in the Age of Annie very soon.