There’s plenty of prospects to get excited about this year.
Lola Young performs at Wildlands Festival 2025 on January 4, 2025 in Perth, Australia.
Matt Jelonek/Getty Images
Ding! The chaos of year-end list season is finally over, fresh albums are being unveiled to the world once more and festival line-ups are gradually being announced. The music industry has opened up for 2025, and with that comes a wealth of critics’ picks as to the new names primed for a huge year.
There’s plenty to look forward to in British and Irish music over the next 12 months, particularly as we gear up towards festival season – a prime opportunity for emerging artists to demonstrate their talents to potential new fans, bookers and label scouts. For many of us, it’s in a live setting where it becomes clear just how deeply new music can thrill and surprise at every turn.
Crucially, last year, only two British artists – both already established names – reached the summit on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart: Charli XCX (“Guess” featuring Billie Eilish) and Chase & Status (on the Stormzy team-up “Backbone”). Ireland’s Hozier, meanwhile, hit the top spot for two weeks with “Too Sweet.”
A mere few days into 2025, however, and we’re already seeing major wins on the same chart, most of which can be attributed to releases from rising talent. As of this week (Jan. 8), six months on from its initial release, Lola Young’s bold, vulnerable pop anthem “Messy” is already at No. 3; viral hits from the likes of Ceechynaa (“Peggy”) and Myles Smith (“Nice To Meet Ya”) can be found inching closer to the top 10 by the day.
It’s a promising start to the new year, one that’s bound to see many more acts develop sounds that could define major trends of the future. Here are 15 new musicians from the U.K. and Ireland to look out for in 2025, presented in alphabetical order.
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Alessi Rose
From: Derby, England
Label: AWAL
Look out for: Even upon arrival, Alessi Rose seemed bound for a glittering future. Last year, the 22-year-old broke out of the gates with a self-starting attitude: in her earliest days as an artist, she was hosting intimate studio hangouts, asking her closest followers for their thoughts on the new music she was working on. Largely informed by Gen Z internet culture in sound and aesthetic, her work and its scrim of pop melodrama allows her to explore how relationships and ideas of identity are being mediated by the online world.
Key track: “Eat Me Alive” -
Ceechynaa
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Chloe Slater
From: Bournemouth, England
Label: AWAL
Look out for: By calling for youth solidarity against forces of shallow ignorance, the empathy in Chloe Slater’s music comes with a razor-sharp edge. “I’ll choose a life that is mine,” she cries on the stunning, stirring single “Fig Tree,” which details the head-spinning intensity of trying to find yourself in a turbulent world – the kind of track that the kind that quietly slips in bold concepts while you recline into its bass-y groove. With a packed diary of U.K. festival dates, Slater’s profile is bound to rise this summer via ample opportunities to show off both her arresting live show and clarity of intention.
Key track: “Fig Tree” -
Chy Cartier
From: London, England
Label: Independent
Look out for: Within a matter of months, Chy Cartier has received co-signs from an impressive array of British rap titans: Dave, Stormzy, Skepta, Central Cee and Little Simz, to name a few. The north London artist first courted acclaim online for how she bends jagged beats to her will, making her flow seem weightless and freeform. In recent years, much of the U.K. rap explosion has prioritized TikTok-aligned hooks and countless samples, but Chy offers a refreshing focus on experimentalism. She’s currently working on her debut mixtape, so keep your ear to the ground for more.
Key track: “Shush” -
Cliffords
From: Cork, Ireland
Label: Independent
Look out for: You easily could argue that Irish music is thriving as never before. Fontaines D.C. have stepped up to arenas; Kneecap have an award-winning biopic to their name; homegrown bands aplenty (NewDad, Gurriers, Search Results) are offering a counterargument to the long-held wisdom that guitar rock has had its day. Cliffords, led by the hypnotically malleable voice of Iona Lynch, are next in line to lead the charge. Their musical output has been minimal so far, but the five songs available on Spotify are all remarkable, bursts of atmospheric, full-throated indie in the vein of Sharon Van Etten.
Key track: “Shattered Glass” -
Jacob Alon
From: Fife, Scotland
Label: Island
Look out for: Buoyed by a silvery voice and some gently plucked guitar, Jacob Alon’s music can conjure an intrinsic sense of hope. Born in Fife, but long since settled in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, Alon has navigated estrangement and homelessness in early career, learning firsthand how to process adversity through songwriting. They won the hearts of tastemaskers at Brighton’s The Great Escape festival last May, turning on some matter-of-fact charm and flashes of humor to leaven the sorrow embedded within their songs. A lengthy U.K. headlining tour for January, plus gigs at SXSW and Eurosonic, are already in the pipeline.
Key track: “Fairy in a Bottle” -
Lola Young
From: London, England
Label: Island
Look out for: It’s taken a hot minute for Lola Young’s star power to crystallize. The south Londoner may have been popping up in “Ones to Watch” lists for the past half decade, but late 2024 saw her finally break through and achieve stateside success at a startling clip. On debut LP This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway, she sounded confident and nuanced as she moved through the newfound eclecticism of her musical world, winning over SZA and Tyler, The Creator along the way. Album highlight “Messy” is currently at No. 3 in the Official U.K. Singles Chart, a dazzling start to what is set to be Young’s biggest year yet.
Key track: “Messy” -
Luvcat
From: Liverpool, England
Label: Island
Look out for: The enigmatic ballads of Luvcat are bold and sexy without even really trying, in part because the Liverpool artist (born Sophie Morgan) has already locked down her own darkened corner in the pop sphere. With 8 million streams and a playful twist on last year’s viral ‘mob wife’ trend, “He’s My Man” spawned a number of ascendant career moments, from a support slot on The Last Dinner Party’s European tour to global festival bookings. Having signed a major label record deal, the singer is looking to double down on her momentum this year by diving into the debut album process.
Key track: “He’s My Man” -
My First Time
From: Bristol, England
Label: Parlophone
Look out for: This gang of early twentysomethings took root in Bristol’s ever-fervent guitar scene, finding their feet through the city’s many independent venues and close-knit DIY community. Now, the band appear ready to start shaking off their “underground concern” status in aim of becoming a cult indie obsession. If you are looking for a pointer towards their sound, in a recent press release, frontman Isaac Allen-Stroud described their latest effort “Man Of III Repute” as the “antithesis” of The Kinks’ “A Well Respected Man” – a searing portrait of a world on fire, you could say.
Key track: “Wind Up Merchant” -
Myles Smith
From: Luton, England
Label: RCA
Look out for: With his bittersweet melodies and pop-minded songcraft, Myles Smith distills pure emotion – heartbreak, hope, and everything in between – into tracks that spotlight his soaring voice. Runaway hit “Stargazing” broke into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 last year, leading to sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Smith draws inspiration from a humble upbringing in Luton, 30 miles outside of London, where he would busk on a weekly basis in local pubs — developing a warm, affable performance style inviting enough to appeal across generations.
Key track: “Stargazing” -
Nia Smith
From: London, England
Label: Polydor
Look out for: Nia Smith has a voice that could lighten even the darkest of days. By eschewing showy falsettos, the 20-year-old focuses on communicating startling emotional honesty through a rich, mesmerizing timbre. As a teenager, the soul singer floated between a succession of prestigious music schools, including the BRIT School and East London Arts & Music. Yet, she has the vocal and lyrical chops to back up all and any premeditated industry support. Early highlight “Don’t Cry” is a gorgeous paean to self-discovery and surrendering to artistic imperfections – a tantalizing taste of what’s to come.
Key track: “Don’t Cry” -
Oreglo
From: London, England
Label: Brownswood Recordings
Look out for: In Ezra Collective’s 2023 Mercury Prize acceptance speech, drummer Femi Koleoso praised the U.K.’s musical youth clubs, including Tomorrows Warriors and Kinetika Bloco in the capital. These are the very same institutions that raised Oreglo, a London four-piece with an omnivorous sensibility spanning jazz, Italian fusion, dance, dembow and rock. You never know exactly what you’ll get in an Oreglo song, but there’s always a moment of chaos to embrace – such as a wild mid-song switch-up that’ll make you think your speaker’s about to go kaput.
Key track: “Opedge” -
Pozer
From: London, England
Label: RCA
Look out for: Pozer’s music leaves a bold impression as it fuses drill, Jersey club, grime and road rap with a breezy but callous touch. Last April, the man of the moment made chart history by becoming the first British rapper to chart his first two singles simultaneously (“Kitchen Stove,” “Malicious Intentions”). Details about his background may remain elusive – Pozer is yet to reveal his real name – but it’s clear that this young gun wants to let the music do the talking: his recent team-up with AJ Tracey, the red-hot “Heaterz,” suggests he’s about to become a sought-after collaborator throughout 2025.
Key track: “Kitchen Stove” -
The Orchestra (For Now)
From: London, England
Label: Independent
Look out for: In a sea of young baroque-pop bands following in the wake of Black Country, New Road’s success, The Orchestra (For Now) stand out for their humour and irreverence. In November, they threw a “birthday party” for Carly Rae Jepsen at London’s much-fabled Windmill venue, leading raucous karaoke covers of the Canadian popstar’s hits. Debut single “Wake Robin,” meanwhile, felt like being let in on a delirious jam session among a group of friends pushing each other emotionally and creatively. Having won the Green Man Rising competition, expect to see them gracing U.K. festival line-ups aplenty this year.
Key track: “Wake Robin” -
TTSSFU
From: Manchester, England
Label: Partisan
Look out for: Having already caught the attention of Mercury Prize winners English Teacher with her offbeat, confrontational guitar music, TTSSFU – aka Manchester’s Tasmin Nicole Stephens – slides between shoegaze, noise-rock and distorted lo-fi to create a dynamic style all her own. On 2024 EP Me, Jed and Andy she explored themes of self-possession in ever-expanding ways, taking former flames to task on the casually ruthless “I Hope You Die” and “Baggage.” She sings about taking what you want without apology, a message resonating with a fanbase already donning handmade ‘TTSFU for President’ t-shirts.
Key track: “I Hope You Die”
