7 new musical talents to listen to now

11 May 2016
By Fashion Quarterly

Tune in to expand your musical horizons with our line up of emerging talent.

Kali Uchis

KALI UCHIS
Sounds like: With a style somewhere between Erykah Badu and Kitty Pryde, her sound has been described as “an eclectic piece of condensed lazy afternoon, complete with pot smoke wafting in the summer breeze”.
Why you should listen: The Colombian-born, Virginia-bred singer has fans in A$AP Rocky, Earl Sweatshirt, Diplo, Tyler The Creator and Snoop Dogg, whom she collaborated with on the 2014 mixtape, That’s My Work 3. If that’s not street cred, we don’t know what is.
Fun fact: The 22-year-old, whose surname is pronounced ‘ou-chis’, pulled together her 2012 self-produced mixtape Drunken Babble in just 48 hours.
Listen to: ‘Ridin Round’
Follow: Instagram @kaliuchis and soundcloud.com/kaliuchis

 

Halsey
HALSEY

Sounds like: Her electro-pop vibes have been likened to Chvrches, Lorde and Banks.
Why you should listen: Halsey (real name Ashley Frangipane) describes her music as genre-bending and the musicians she loved growing up were all men. Her musical idols include Leonard Cohen, Mick Jagger, the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and Matt Healy from The 1975.
Fun fact: Halsey freely admits that she’s “not a very good singer” but take solace in the fact that legendary musicians, such as Patti Smith and Bob Dylan, weren’t vocally blessed either.
Listen to: ‘New Americana’
Follow: Instagram @iamhalsey and soundcloud.com/halseymusic

 

Astrid S

ASTRID S
Sounds like: The Norwegian singer sites John Mayer as musical inspiration, but her sound is compared more to the likes of The XX, London Grammar and Tove Lo.
Why you should listen: Astrid has racked up more than 20 million streams online, despite releasing only a handful of tracks. Her first single, ‘2AM’ spurned a remix by DJ/producer Matoma which has reached more than 8 million Spotify streams alone.
Fun fact: Now 19, Astrid S came fifth on Norway’s version of Pop Idol when she was only 16. Since then she has appeared on Shawn Mendes’ hit album Handwritten and on an acoustic remix of Avicii’s earworm ‘Waiting for Love’. She also won Best Norwegian Act at the 2015 MTV EMAs.
Listen to: ‘Hyde’
Follow: Instagram @astridsofficial and soundcloud.com/astridsofficial

 

Bibi Bourelly

BIBI BOURELLY
Sounds like: Beats like The Black Keys, honesty and vocals like fellow new kid on the block Alessia Cara, and a mouth like Rihanna (or should that be the other way round? See: Fun fact).
Why you should listen: The LA-based singer is the daughter of professional musician, Jean-Paul Bourelly, and grew up in Berlin, touring with her father and writing songs since the age of four. Her time in the spotlight has been 17 years in the making.
Fun fact: The 21-year-old wrote Rihanna’s smash hit ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ and penned it in less than three hours. It was Kanye West, Rihanna’s executive producer on the track, who introduced Bibi to Riri.
Listen to: ‘Ego’
Follow: Instagram @bibibourelly and soundcloud.com/bibibourelly

 

MAALA

MAALA
Sounds like: Intensely smooth and synth-heavy melodies akin to James Blake, Chet Faker and Bastille.
Why you should listen: Kiwi ex-pat Zane Lowe, host of Apple Music’s Beats 1 (and the guy who got Kanye spouting off about leather jogging pants), called Maala’s track ‘In the Air’ a “record that blew me away”. And this guy knows music.
Fun fact: Maala (real name Evan Sinton) chose his stage name from a pile of random Scrabble letters and was signed by Sony Music after reaching the final three on New Zealand’s Got Talent.
Listen to: ‘Touch’
Follow: Instagram @maalamusic_  and soundcloud.com/maalamusic

 

Nadia Reid

NADIA REID
Sounds like: Reid’s enchanting, haunting and sonically beautiful tracks draw comparisons to English folk singer Laura Marling.
Why you should listen: Because there’s nothing better than becoming familiar with an artist before you see them live. Nadia is constantly touring so you’ll be bound to catch a gig one day in the not-too-distant future.
Fun fact: It took Nadia seven years to write the music for her debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs and seven days to record it with producer and sound engineer Ben Edwards in his Lyttelton home studio.
Listen to: ‘Runway’
Follow: Facebook.com/hellonadiareid and nadiareid.bandcamp.com

 

Jennylee

JENNYLEE
Sounds like: Dark dreamy melodies reminiscent of The Cure and Radiohead.
Why you should listen: Jennylee’s debut solo album Right On! is an ode to the stages of her musical past and love for goth and new wave bands, including The Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order and Joy Division.
Fun fact: Over her 12 years as the bassist for Warpaint, Jenny Lee Lindberg has attracted a cult following, resulting in countless ‘fuckyeahjennyleelindberg’ Tumblr fan accounts. Have a look to see for yourself. She’s also the sister of actress Shannyn Sossamon (The Holiday and A Knight’s Tale).
Listen to: ‘Boom Boom’
Follow: Instagram @jennylibrary and jennyleelindberg.com

Share:

Sign up & Join
FQ Insider

Unlock exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special offers by becoming an FQ Insider.

Fashion Quarterly Winter 2023 Cover
Fashion Quarterly Winter 2023 Cover

Sign up & Join
FQ Insider

Unlock exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special offers by becoming an FQ Insider.

Sign up to the Fashion Quarterly newsletter.

*Ts&Cs apply.
Find out more at fq.co.nz/fq-newsletter