As we dive into 2025, the music scene is brimming with fresh talent and innovative sounds.

From the pulsating rhythms of D.C. punk to the mesmerizing fusion of jazz-punk, these artists are recalibrating their influences in increasingly exhilarating and deeply compelling ways. Whether you're a fan of rock, pop, electronic, or experimental genres, there's something here for everyone.

In this list, we highlight 25 of the most exciting rising artists who are set to make waves this year. These musicians are not only redefining their genres but also pushing the boundaries of what music can be. Get ready to discover new favorites and witness the evolution of the music landscape through the unique and captivating sounds of these talented artists.

Cold Court

Cold Court’s style of revved-up post-punk is a bizarre feat. At once, it embodies the gut-punching head rush of the Mars Volta, the bluesy vibrations of OutKast, and the moody atmospherics of Blonde Redhead (all of whom the band cite as influences). That makes a lot of sense upon hearing their furious recorded work — right now only a demo tape and debut single, “Twin,” that elude DSPs. They’ve been working out their sound onstage, playing skate parks and pizza shops around Philadelphia while earning opening spots for black midi and the Jesus Lizard at Union Transfer in the past couple of years. Relentlessly heady, it’s clear that Cold Court see no confines to their shapeshifting sound, just opportunities. —Neville Hardman

Comet

Comet, in a post-grunge world, are boiling the genre back down to its purest form. Not unlike the ’90s visionaries the New York City act emulate so astutely — PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple — Comet are just as stirring backed by her band and bathed in stage lighting, as she is playing stripped-down basement shows armed only with her voice. Rooted in shoegazey, reverb-soaked guitars and emotionally charged vocals, her sound is expansive, sultry, and aggressive. Darkly emotional, in a guttural pitch that can edge toward Florence Welch but remains as down-and-dirty as Courtney Love, each of her tracks takes the listener on a trip that feels somewhere between Alice’s looking glass and Go Ask Alice. Between her latest EP, Two-Winged, and consistent shows alongside NYC’s hottest and grittiest up-and-coming acts — not to mention noteworthy European pop-ups in Berlin, London, and the like — no one can argue that Comet are one to watch, closely. —Anna Zanes

Common Sage

New York City’s Common Sage embrace the early 2000s sounds of emo and post-hardcore — spearheaded by bands like My Chemical Romance and At the Drive-In — without hinging too hard on nostalgia. Their recent full-length, Closer To;, invited us to explore a diverse landscape, with quiet, introspective moments and explosive, feedback-drenched crescendos. With the album, they’ve taken the bones of East Coast emo — a goldmine from the Long Island scene to New Jersey’s finest — and injected something that lies outside any of the genre’s preexisting projects or “waves.” It’s a pensive project, perfect in the jolts of pumping, post-hardcore energy that follows darker, brooding moments. No wonder scene legends Geoff Rickly and Steve Pedulla of Thursday and Jason Gleason of Further Seems Forever were eager to get on board. —Anna Zanes

Doubt

Many noteworthy acts are coming out of the Baltimore hardcore scene right now — but something stands out about Doubt. Shrugging off the separation between East or West Coast style, the group have found an interesting and fresh overlap bouncing from midtempo to hyperspeed, while leaning into heavy, dense riffage that spans a slew of punk styles in itself. While one might hear echoes of Trapped Under Ice, Outbreak, or Trash Talk — even a bit of Touché Amoré, at times — the animalistic growl we get from vocalist Claire Abila sets them apart. Said best by Soul Glo frontman Pierce Jordan, “Doubt forces nothing and offers everything, a breath of fresh air from a region with only intriguing possibilities ahead.” Coming off last year’s brash EP Held In Contempt, we all agree that whatever comes next from Doubt will be deviously good, and we’d encourage you to be ready. —Anna Zanes

Ekko Astral

Ekko Astral have been ripping up Washington, D.C.’s local scene for years, building upon a legacy left by a long list of punk forebears and cutting a path that speaks to marginalized communities. Pioneering their own “mascara moshpit music,” also referred to as “glitter punk,” frontwoman Jael Holzman spits words as if she’s been holding them in for years, full of biting pop-culture references and societal observations. It’s heard on last year’s full-length debut, pink balloons, which brims with thunderous havoc, experimentalism, and sharp one-liners, pulling from Charli XCX as freely as Jeff Rosenstock. At its core, though, their songs examine how terror and anxiety — whether from intolerance, self-hate, violence — will always be universal. This raucous kind of solidarity is what sets them apart as they continue to redefine, and better, D.C. punk and beyond. —Anna Zanes and Neville Hardman

fantasy of a broken heart

Last year’s feats of engineering, fantasy of a broken heart’s debut album, combines the epic scale of prog-rock with a bedroom-pop mentality, offering up wonky time signatures, moods, and stories. There’s Tony Danza, standing in the kitchen making buttermilk pancakes. Over there, people use an empty Waffle House for sex. Just now a possessed Evel Knievel fired off lethal gunshots. And that’s only the title track. There’s clearly a love for late-’70s Pink Floyd and King Crimson, whose propensity for making towering, expertly arranged songs comprises much of their legacy. fantasy of a broken heart follow a similar path, demonstrating a deep, albeit woozy, maturity that justifies their whimsical lyricism. It makes sense, as both Al Nardo and Bailey Wollowitz have played together in bands since 2017, including live iterations of Water From Your Eyes and This Is Lorelei. With new music and touring in the works, it certainly seems like it’ll be a good year for the proggy pop duo. —Neville Hardman

Friko

Last year’s Where we’ve been, Where we go from here was a feat that tapped into the power of Friko’s hometown indie scene. But though they recall the halcyon days of blog rock, skinny jeans, and burned CDs, their sound isn’t just nostalgia — it points toward the future. The songs are ambitiously layered swing for the fences as they channel chamber pop, punk, and poetic angst into an arena-sized rumble of noise. Coming up alongside Lifeguard and Horsegirl in Chicago’s Hallogallo collective, there’s no better feeling than watching a band who’ve been grinding it out at DIY shows and basements step toward a brighter future. As Friko prepare to play a run of shows beginning in February, that’s about to get a whole lot more obvious. —Neville Hardman

Fusilier

Fusilier’s genre-defying sound combines the emotive depth of funk and R&B with electronic experimentation and some alt-rock edge. His powerful vocals serve as the centerpiece, delivering deeply personal and charged lyrics, cradled by innovative production that incorporates traditional instrumentation, angular riffage, and soulful, driving basslines with bold, unexpected texture. Having studied violin, and honed his skills in an industrial-rock band, the Atlanta native puts a truly diverse palate to good use — and it shows, in unique and remarkably fluid ways. Influences range from Itzhak Perlman to Goodie Mob — to Edgar Allan Poe. The artist’s debut album, Ambush, arrives this spring. —Anna Zanes

Glixen

All last year, Glixen have been pushing their sound toward a heavier, more alluring space. Inspired by Deftones and MBV, the Phoenix shoegaze outfit deploy crushing fuzz while holding tightly to the delicateness and melody of Aislinn Ritchie’s vocals, creating a cohesiveness that’s utterly massive. “I’ve always wanted to be heavy,” Ritchie told us last year. “It just took some work to figure it out. My chords have been really bright and more melodic. Our goal is to have it sound grittier, but also have that sweetness to it.” With their new quiet pleasures EP, produced by Sonny DiPerri, that’s out next month, they’ve certainly delivered on that front, establishing themselves as an intriguing voice within the shoegaze revival. —Neville Hardman

jasmine 4.t

Though Jasmine Cruickshank came up through the U.K. playing in punk bands and self-releasing songs on her own label, the vulnerable indie rock she records under jasmine.4.t tells a much bigger story. The songs were so potent that they caught the attention of Lucy Dacus, and then later her boygenius bandmates Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, who worked out a way to sign her to Saddest Factory Records. The resulting LP, You Are The Morning, is a triumph, traveling through the brutality of queerness (homelessness, PTSD, harassment, etc.) but also first loves, friendship, and joy. Featuring contributions from boygenius, Claud, and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, their rousing debut recognizes her chosen family, as well as the light and dark of being queer. The overriding thesis, though, is “queer power and hope.” —Neville Hardman

Lambrini Girls

Lambrini Girls — aka the duo of Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira — have spent the last few years ripping holes in stages with their brash punk. All that energy rushes to the fore on their debut album, Who Let the Dogs Out, written in two brief but formidable blasts. The second session included an excessive amount of alcohol (specifically, 48 beers, a bottle of vodka, six bottles of wine, two bottles of Lambrini, rum, and tequila) that makes good on their name. “You know how Fleetwood Mac almost dedicated Rumours to their cocaine dealer? I think we should dedicate this album to all the booze we bought at Tesco,” the band say. Throughout its 11 tracks, the pair boast ridiculous spunk while losing none of their intensity or rage. Think of them somewhere between Iggy Pop, Courtney Love, and wearing sunglasses on a Tuesday to fend off your worst hangover in years. —Neville Hardman

Lip Critic

Lip Critic make an intriguing, erratic foursome — two samplers bowed down over a table embellished with a tangled web of electronics, beside two drummers, thrashing over their respective kits. From this buzzing quadrant, distorted grandstand vocals emanate. Their sound rips through any preconceived notions around genre — though nods to electronic, punk, hardcore, and DIY styles — offering a revelatory, transcendent experience that can only be called concentrated sonic overload. Though they threaten to return any room to dust, Lip Critic’s density also has a disclaimer: Don’t take things too seriously. This, we’ve learned from Lip Critic’s live sets, are spectacles in themselves, which are full of unanticipated noises, movement, and punchy, egg-punk lyricism. Their debut album, 2024’s Hex Dealer, is just as wild, worthwhile, and certainly as idiosyncratic. —Anna Zanes

Lutalo

Lutalo’s music is delicate yet powerful — a world of acoustic warmth and darker, denser indie rock. Grounded in folk tradition as much as they are drawing on alternative icons like Aphex Twin and Thom Yorke, Lutalo leans into this dichotomy on their recently released debut album, The Academy. It’s a lo-fi offering of mesmerizing fingerpicked guitar, hushed vocals, and brilliantly intentional electronics — with a few hits of heavy riffage. A cousin of Adrianne Lenker by marriage, someone listening might assume it was by blood. Tender and tense, the LP is tactile, intimate — and unsettling. Sonically and lyrically, Lutalo depicts their life as a young person, growing up in a fractured, violent America. This is, according to the artist, their “first chapter.” —Anna Zanes

Man/Woman/Chainsaw

With chaotic, angular guitar riffs and spoken-word-style vocals, South London’s Man/Woman/Chainsaw push punk into experimental territory. Born in the area’s DIY scene, the art-punk five-piece have seen much evolution since their debut at age 14, refined their sound, and lineup — though, through it all, their core sense of chaos has remained. “Orchestral mayhem” prevails. Their exhilarating live performances stand as proof, reinforcing the dichotomy that M/W/C live by — delirious, theatrical fun meets abrasive anarchy — self-described as “the thin line between pretty and noisy.” —Anna Zanes

Maruja

Maruja straddle the worlds of jazz and punk, following the lineage of the Stooges, Black Flag, and Dark Magnus-era Miles. Live, that sound translates into lawless chaos that remains totally mesmerizing. This is a group well aware that their shows offer as much catharsis for the crowd as themselves, messing with pedal dials and working in moments of squalling sax. Toward the end of their sets, Harry Wilkinson seems on the brink of passing out, carrying the fury of a hardcore singer who’s stretched the limits of his voice. With sold-out headlining tours behind them and festivals like Big Ears and Outbreak ahead, we are urgently awaiting their debut LP. —Neville Hardman

The Paradox

This Atlanta pop-punk quartet made a rousing entrance last year, after a debut video that went viral. As a group of young African American musicians making pure, unadulterated, early aughts-style pop punk — they made waves on the internet. Since, they’ve racked up IRL accomplishments, including a performance at 2024’s When We Were Young Fest and an opening slot for Green Day. Though they’ve only been a band for eight months, this group are bringing the genre back to home base with gummy choruses, driving riffs, and hooky melodies that will stick in your head like Krazy Glue. Plus, the Paradox make sure to pack in as much angst as any Warped Tour vet. For those who can’t get enough of Tom DeLonge’s lovesick whine, the band’s first few singles, “Kaitlyn,” “Imani,” and “Ms. Lauren,” might hit the spot as well. —Anna Zanes

Prize Horse

Minneapolis trio Prize Horse create sprawling, fuzzed-out alt-rock that’ll intrigue fans of Nothing, Superheaven, and Built to Spill. The band sit at the intersection of post-rock, shoegaze, and slowcore — with sludgy heft that can get drifty and ambient at points, too. A notable strength of Prize Horse is in those shift changes, marked by heavy crescendos of riff-forward guitar that don’t dare deplete the overall dreaminess. Underneath lie vocalist/guitarist Jake Beitel’s reflective lyrics — concise and moody but always cutting through the noise to reveal yet further depth. Their debut LP, 2024’s Under Sound, says it all. Having toured on hardcore and shoegaze bills alike, the band’s ability to showcase soft and hard in one set makes them easy for any crowd to like. —Anna Zanes and Neville Hardman

Saya Gray

Japanese-Canadian singer-songwriter Saya Gray has certainly given audiences and the industry something to talk to prior to this year. For the last couple of years, her nonconformist take on avant-pop — as seen in three EPs, 19 MASTERS, QWERTY 1, QWERTY II — has been met with intrigue and acclaim. Skillfully, Gray has always had a profoundly delicate touch, despite an avid rejection of sonic boundaries. The approach has translated into an addictive sound, full of textural experimentation and unexpected, yet intimate and lovable lyricism. The “hyper-intuitive” artist’s debut album, SAYA, which arrives in February, continues to showcase her refinement of that style — it’s full of surprises, like country-flavored track “SHELL ( OF A MAN ),” while homing in on a throughline: vulnerability. Lyrically, she dives into the depths of the grief process, while sonically, we see her lean into dreamier, softer realms grounded by her bold, trademark basslines. —Anna Zanes

Sex Week

Composed of actor/musician Pearl Amanda Dickson and songwriter/producer Richard Orofino, Sex Week make a fascinating pair from the jump. It’s only natural, then, that their sound is just as eclectic, spawning from a mixtape made after Orofino heard one of Dickson’s playlists — featuring Liz Phair, Elusin, Walter Egan, and Wolf Alice. Pairing Orofino’s technical abilities against the sampling of animal noises and turbulent black-metal growls, the result is exhilarating, even when entering slowcore territory. Top to bottom, the band’s sound is playful, heavy, abstracted, seductive, unsettling — an amalgamation that could only work in the hands of this insightful duo. —Neville Hardman and Anna Zanes

Shower Curtain

Though Shower Curtain began as a one-woman project based in Brazil around 2018, they didn’t put out their debut full-length until last year. Upon moving to NYC, bandleader Victoria Winter spent her first few years in the city writing songs that’d eventually make up words from a wishing well and recruiting three more members, who throw gobs of shoegaze, grunge, and indie rock against her sparse lyrics. “If one wishes into a wishing well, I’d like to believe that there is a reason why that wish would or wouldn’t come true,” Winter says of the title, reflecting an optimism that’s embedded within the band’s fuzz. “words from a wishing well speaks to the return of that wish from the universe.” Populated by songs about bed bugs, anxiety, and seeing your worst attributes reflected in someone else, Shower Curtain’s winning, ’90s-schooled formula is bound to bring them a lot of love this year. —Neville Hardman

SML

Though now closed, ETA had indelible influence on the LA jazz scene. The Highland Park cocktail bar embodied ultimate freedom for a core group of musicians, who used the space to indulge in hypnotic long jams. The venue birthed acts like Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet and SML, a freshly formed quintet who laid down their 2024 debut album, Small Medium Large, during four nights of improv in the 100-cap space. All of the members — bassist Anna Butterss, guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, saxophonist Josh Johnson, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, and percussionist Booker Stardrum — represent a new path forward while following in the footsteps of Parker and Makaya McCraven, who use technology to rearrange their live recordings into a hybrid of jazz and hip-hop. That’s where SML veer off, sounding more futuristic but no less trance-inducing as they sink into glitchy groove, dub, funk, and beyond. —Neville Hardman

Sour Widows

Oakland’s Sour Widows deliver heartfelt, melancholic alt-rock that filters the energy of ’90s slowcore through a modern, bedroom-rock lens. Their lush vocal harmonies and dynamic instrumentation balance tender vulnerability and raw, unkempt urgency — speaking to grief, loss, anger, and defiance, sonically and lyrically. Unfolding with Sun Kil Moon patience to arrive at darker, Duster crescendos — their debut full-length, Revival of a Friend, last year revealed a thoughtfulness and wider range of sounds than their softer EPs and singles before. In the bedroom music arena, especially when it touches shoegaze or grunge in any form, the bands that stand out among the rest are few and far between — as do those who can so seamlessly pull off making the pre-Y2K sound feel tangibly relevant. But Sour Widows have unlocked the secret. —Anna Zanes

This Is Lorelei

Nate Amos soared to popularity with Water From Your Eyes, but his solo project, This Is Lorelei, eludes pop absurdity for tender sincerity. Last year’s Box For Buddy, Box For Star began as “a challenge to make music without getting high,” withdrawing from his rapid writing process for a more intentional, traditional album structure. By the time he’d finished, he had a collection of songs that reflected a genuine milestone — the ability to couch heartache within folk, electronic beats, and guitar pop. While “rising” may not be the most fitting term for an artist who’s self-released hundreds of songs on Bandcamp since 2014, there’s an energy rippling around his current tour that feels like the start of something much bigger. —Neville Hardman

Voyeur

With two acclaimed EPs under their belt, and a residency at NYC’s newest venue, Nightclub 101 — avant-garde indie rockers Voyeur have proven themselves as ones to watch. Much like today’s zeitgeist sees rock ’n’ roll rearing its head once again, the downtown scene has returned as a hub for grungey DIY projects — Voyeur sit at the helm of it all, if not a sly step ahead. The Voyeur sound is deliciously mercurial, rugged, and scuzzy, swaying from stripped-down to doused in static and feedback. They’re open with their influences — no wave, Nirvana, Sonic Youth — and on each one, they don’t disappoint. Whether you’re stuck in NYC nostalgia, or eager to experience the scene’s next frontier, there’s Voyeur. —Anna Zanes

YHWH Nailgun

YHWH Nailgun defy easy categorization, unleashing a singular brand of punk, art-rock, and grindcore that reflects the brutality of the world. The latest song from the NYC four-piece, “Penetrator,” presents an exacting listen, with drummer Sam Pickard laying a relentless foundation that vocalist Zack Borzone tears through. Live, the band expand that sound into a captivating squall — a feat that needs to be seen to be believed. There’s something seductive about the almost violently chaotic nature of their music and show, which Borzone dances through, convulsing, threatening to foam at the mouth with the unending energy of Iggy Pop, and an element of controlled focus that’s all his own. —Anna Zanes and Neville Hardman

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