21 new artists you should know
+ a Q&A with Alex Farrar, the rising producer who works with 4 of them
Happy Spotify Wrapped week! Everyone is talking about Cambridge, Berkeley, and Burlington — but in this newsletter, we’re zooming in on Asheville, North Carolina. Why? Because it’s home base for a cozy-looking studio called Drop of Sun, which has helped shape many of the best albums of the last few years.
Wednesday’s Rat Saw God. Indigo De Souza’s back-to-back classics. MJ Lenderman’s Boat Songs. Snail Mail’s Valentine. Plains’ self-titled debut. There’s a link between these six stellar indie rock records: Drop of Sun co-founder Alex Farrar has played a role of some kind — either producing, mixing, or engineering — on all of them.
When I noticed this common thread, I had to reach out to Farrar and ask him directly about this impressive catalog. What makes these albums so accessible? And what’s making Asheville such an indie hotspot right now? My full Q&A with Farrar is here if you’d like to learn more about his process and the emerging North Carolina scene.
But if you’re just looking for music recs, have no fear. I’ve been following Farrar on Instagram as he shares new production work and in the process, I’ve been introduced to four exciting artists.
Squirrel Flower: Inspired by Jason Molina, Tom Waits, and Bruce Springsteen, this Chicago-based artist swung by Drop of Sun to record her excellent new album, Tomorrow’s Fire. The songs may seem dark and brooding at first, but they’re ultimately warm and anthemic — and they’ve been among my favorites of the year. [Highlights: “Full Time Job” // “Alley Light” // “intheskatepark”]
Fust: Open-air country-rock for beers and sunsets on the patio, with shades of Pinegrove, Wild Pink, and MJ Lenderman. [Highlights: “Violent Jubilee” // “Genevieve” // “Trouble”]
Hotline TNT: This NYC band “amplifies everyday heartbreak with towering shoegaze and supersized power-pop anthems that demand to be played loud.” So says this rave review from Pitchfork’s Ian Cohen, knighting their new album Cartwheel with the coveted “Best New Music” label. [Highlights: “I Thought You’d Change” // “Out Of Town”]
Truth Club: Labeled as a Band To Watch by Stereogum back in June for their “grimy but melodic” post-punk, this NC band’s sound is a bit outside my wheelhouse — but melodies on the explosive “Blue Eternal” and slow-burning “Exit Cycle” have hit the spot. (The vocals on the latter remind me of Phantom Planet’s Alex Greenwald.)
Hopefully one of these artists is right up your alley! But if not, we can explore beyond this hyper-specific scene to find something else you’ll love…
More new bands to discover
As the year-end lists start filing in, there have been a few initial roundups of new artists to know from go-to sources. As always, I’ve pulled all the standout tracks into the Hear Hear playlist!
Stereogum’s Best New Bands 2023: Always one of my favorite annual lists, the team at Stereogum has put together another fantastic collection of 40 emerging artists to shuffle around. I still need to dive deeper, but here are some instant takeaways…
You’ll recognize a few from previous issues of Hear Hear: Specifically, Hannah Jadagu’s “likable blend of rock and pop” and DEBBY FRIDAY’s “soft pulsing bedroom-pop that gives way to clattering, industrial quasi-rap.” (The aforementioned Fust is on there too!)
A bunch of artists caught my ear on first listen: Especially the pop-punk of Liquid Mike and The Tubs, the shoegaze of Wishy and Cusp, the gleaming dance music of NewJeans, the electronic fantasy of yunè pinku, the earnest pop of Chappell Roan, and the bubblegrunge (?) of Jobber.
There are a couple “buzzy” bands to know: Not really my scene, but I’m still keeping tabs on the bandwagons growing around the grungy guitars of feeble little horse and the noise-rock of bar italia.
“Five killer new albums to check out” from Josh Terry’s No Expectations newsletter, which continues to be an indispensable resource for new tunes. I loved diving into the sounds of Dusk, Golden Apples, Maple Glider, Mali Velasquez, and Video Age.
Small Albums’ Best New Artists of 2023: Candidly, I haven’t had the chance to listen to this playlist yet, and I don’t even recognize most of these names — which is exactly why Small Albums has been such a reliable resource to find something new.
Two bands you definitely know: The Beatles & Stones!
If you’re a Beatles nerd, you’ve probably already seen and heard the “last Beatles song,” created with AI tools that stitch together a 1977 John Lennon demo, 1995 sessions including George Harrison, and more recent recordings from Paul, Ringo, and a string section.
But if you somehow missed it, and you have any affinity for the Beatles, I highly recommend the 12-minute short film that Peter Jackson put together about the making of the song. It’s incredibly well-done, and is a genuinely fascinating overview of how the song, “Now And Then,” came together.
As a friendly counterpunch, the Rolling Stones have put together their best album in years, Hackney Diamonds — still inexplicably going strong as Mick Jagger turns 80!
Lindsay Zoladz of the New York Times shared a great recap of their recent performance at Racket, a new 650-capacity club in NYC. (I’m jealous, but I’ll have to catch them on their stadium tour in 2024.) She also made a great playlist of “songs from the new LP in conversation with ones from the past” — including the new album’s punchy single “Angry” and its soaring highlight, “Depending On You.”
And one more band you know by now: boygenius
Rightfully heralded by Stereogum as the “artists of the year,” I wanted to close out by including the strong SNL performances from the trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus — which recreated The Beatles’ classic Ed Sullivan Show set in a really nice touch.
Coming soon: The Best “Best of 2023” Lists
The annual Hear Hear tradition continues. I’ve already spotted a couple early entries from New Commute, Gorilla vs. Bear, and Paste Magazine, but stay tuned for a closer look at the trends, songs, albums, and artists to know from year-end list season!
"Valentine" and "I Walked With You Aways made my 2021 & 2022 'Best Of' lists respectively. Somehow, I'd missed the throughline between them until now!
Hey, I'm Outside is on the Small Albums list you linked to above. I recently discovered them, and have had them in heavy rotation for the last 2-3 weeks. Kinda lo-fi, kinda shoegaze-y. "Racecar" is my fave.
I spend every Thanksgiving in Asheville, thanks for highlighting one of my favorite cities in the world. Also haven't heard of Small Albums until now, so there goes the next few hours of my life.