The 10 best tracks from up-and-coming artists so far in 2025
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the year is halfway done. I know, I know—2025 only started last week! We’re mentally still in winter, or at least spring. But in reality, the height of summer is here and will quickly fade to autumn, then to winter again, and then to the end of the year and its demand for summary lists about the best songs that graced our ears.
Arguably, it’s the rising stars that make each year interesting. In the world of the big names and timeless icons, the same ones stick around and typically put out the same sort of stuff on the same sort of timeline. The world of emerging artists is so exciting because it’s the exact opposite. Any week of any month could see the birth of a brand new star. Any new single release could be the start of something, or could be the moment when an artist you might see at a local venue could suddenly start skyrocketing.
There have been a lot of those moments this year. Like every year, 2025 so far has already brought in a strong cast of new artists we’d bet our money on, or solidified the fact that certain names deserve to rise. Whether it’s their debut single, a standout track from their debut album or simply another song that proves their potential, some of the best songs of the year so far have come from this batch of names-to-note.
From alt-pop to folk, all-out indie to genre ambiguity, there are new artists delivering across the whole spectrum. Delivering early contenders that will not doubt stick around as competition for the lists attempting to wrap up a full 365 days, these artists have already shared some of the best songs of 2025 so far.
The 10 best tracks from emerging artists so far in 2025:
Westside Cowboy – ‘Shells’
What better way to launch your band than by screaming your band name? Westside Cowboy quite literally kicked the door down and shouted their arrival with their debut single right at the end of 2024, immediately making people pay attention. By the time they shared ‘Shells’ as their follow-up, they’d earned the tag as a must-see live band and had won Glastonbury’s coveted Emerging Talent Competition.
But this sophomore single was easy proof of why all of that is so deserved. Their debut was all-out indie fun, but ‘Shells’ is more considered. Aoife Anson O’Connell’s harmonies in the song’s soft opening are so beautiful, and then when Paddy Murphy comes in on the drums and the energy picks up, all that beauty still remains even as the song morphs and grows. Incredibly composed and a sure-fire sign of more greatness to come, it’s been on repeat since it dropped.
Greta Isaac – ‘Way Too Much’
It’s tough to keep up with Greta Isaac’s 2025 evolution. Right now, she’s in the middle of sharing a hyperpop project under the new character of Dolly Zoom. But earlier this year, she shared her most introspective offering yet in the form of Productive Pain.
The whole EP is painstakingly beautiful, stripping the artist back to basics and refusing to hide behind anything beyond great lyricism and a stunning vocal performance. It works best as a full start-to-finish listen, and at only 13 minutes long, it deserves that. But at the centre, there’s ‘Way Too Much’, a track that builds and crescendos with the chaos of the brain, serving as the project’s moment of loud catharsis.
Camille Schmidt – ‘Heaven’
Forget best songs so far this year, Camille Schmidt would also be topping the list for albums. Getting in early on January 10th, her debut record, Nude #9 has yet to lose ever the slightest sparkle of impact. Each track offers something new in terms of her lyrical voice and instrumental landscape so attempting to pick a best of the bunch is a tough task.
But it has to be ‘Heaven’. Coming towards the closing of the album, the track brings together a lot of her other contemplations of religion, spirituality, sexuality and belonging, tying them together around a neat and punchy chorus. Hearing this performed live in a church in New York definitely helps my love for it, but even on tape, it’s a perfect example of Schmidt’s sharpness.
Erin LeCount – ‘Marble Arch’
When Far Out spoke to Erin LeCount, she talked about ‘Marble Arch’ as a pinnacle she trained to reach. Hearing the song in her head, the idea of it demanded that she become a better producer, and so she did, all to be able to serve the song and bring it to life in the form it needed to be.
After achieving that, the result is staggering. The instrumentation is a masterclass in layering, featuring all manner of sounds from swords crashing together to LeCount’s own heartbeat. This isn’t just a good song, full of gorgeous imagery and poignant lyricism about being worthy of love, but it’s a testament to LeCount’s talent as a producer, something that is sure to only get more and more obvious and well-known over time.
Katie Gregson-MacLeod – ‘Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early’
This is the simplest song on the list. Just Katie Gregson-MacLeod and her acoustic guitar, it’s a complete back-to-basics track that seemed necessary for the artist who has truly been through the ringer after being pushed through the classic viral moment to major label unhappiness pipeline. After feeling less and less connected to her older works, a song like this is her coming home.
But while it’s simple, the lyrics hold so much. That title line alone is so poignant as she sings about a love so peaceful and tender that it dares to make everything else feel unimportant, including the stresses of her career. It feels utterly timeless, like a song written decades and decades ago, or at least one that deserves to endure that long.
ELLiS-D – ‘Homecoming Queen’
Another incredible project released so far this year is ELLiS-D’s high-octane EP, Spill. To be instantly sold on Ellis, you must catch him live and witness exactly how hypnotic the entire band is as they move through a discography full of thrills. But on Spill, that energy is perfectly captured on tape, complete with all the crescendos and false stops that get a room going.
But ‘Homecoming Queen’ has something special. It’s more considered and slower, utterly seductive. It’s a moment where Ellis perfectly demonstrates not only his instrumental power, but his control. There is self-restraint here that makes the song especially interesting as it pushes and pulls through the different parts.
Maximilian – ‘Long Time Gone’
How do you follow up a stunning debut album? With a six-minute-long lyrical opus, of course. After the release of Surrender, Brighton’s Maximilian returned with ‘Long Time Gone’, a truly beautiful track that doesn’t just instrumentally meander through styles and sounds, but truly feels like an emotional journey.
But the time he reaches the closing repetitions of “weary’s not the word I’d use anymore”, it feels like you’ve watched a whole movie. It’s cinematic not just in the artistic, wistful kind of way, but each little decision seems to hold so much feeling, bringing it to life so clearly.
Luvcat – ‘Love and Money’
Arguably, 2025 has yet to see a success story like Luvcat’s. After releasing a few singles last year and quickly skyrocketing from London’s pubs to ‘next big thing’ status, 2025 so far has only made her star shine brighter. With a handful more tracks, the stage sizes have grown massively, her tours have sold out almost instantly, and now she’s announced her debut album.
Of them all, ‘Love and Money’ has the grip. I heard this track during some of her first-ever shows and had it stuck in my head, mentally on repeat, until the recorded version was finally released. Capturing her seductive, cinematic energy, it almost feels like a theme tune for her own brand of sleazy, intoxicating romance.
Cardinals – ‘Big Empty Heart’
With a co-sign from Fontaines D.C, Cardinals have been one to watch for a while. As one of the many artists rallying behind traditional Celtic sounds, their earlier releases introduced their power beautifully. Combining the energies of an all-out rock band, Lou Reed’s vocals and Irish trad instruments, they’ve got a lot at play, but it’s always worked.
‘Big Empty Heart’ was a step up, though. It’s bigger, louder, bolder. It levelled them up to festival-field scales, as proven at Fontaines’ big Finsbury Park all-dayer. But it also feels big enough to eventually level them up to stadium sizes, especially when that merge of Irish trad and heavy guitars hits on the chorus.
Nourished By Time – ‘Max Potential’
I caught a set from Nourished By Time in Oslo last summer and was hypnotised. It feels like there’s nothing to compare his music to, no clear reference points to land on, as the Baltimore-based artist and producer does all of this himself, seemingly working from nothing but his mind and defying any clearer categorisation than that.
‘Max Potential’ proves that perfectly. It’s an intoxicating merge of electronic details, ‘80s synth elements, classic rock moments and mix-ins of R&B and hip-hop. It has it all, yet it’s never too much, even as it zig zags between softness and climaxes.
