Class of 2026: Introducing Far Out’s spotlight artists for the year
In the world of both music fans and journalists alike, there is surely no joy quite like stumbling upon a new artist you just know is destined for greatness, and then watching them become great, rising through the ranks like a glowing star.
The 2020s so far have brought around some great ones where fans have witnessed small cults be born in local venues surrounding local artists, and then watched those congregations boom. We saw The Last Dinner Party go from London pubs to arenas, saw Geese go from teenagers playing in bars they couldn’t yet drink in to being Nick Cave and Patti Smith’s new obsession. We saw CMAT go from singing about her desire to be in the rodeo of the musical big leagues to preparing to headline her own London festival.
There’s nothing as prideful or exciting as when you hedge your bets on artists in their infancy and then get to see them thrive. For us, as music journalists, it’s our passion and our trade, a thing we get to play a small hand in as we climb onto the proverbial rooftop and yell as loud as we possibly can, hoping to help the world hear the names they really ought to know.
Already, we delivered 26 of those names, with our ones to watch list for the coming year spanning all genres, crossing continents and including artists in all states, from those without even a song out yet to those who delivered some of the most interesting music 2025 had to offer. But amongst them, there were five names we’re especially screaming and have been for some time, and simply mentioning them again wasn’t enough.
In an industry overcome and exhausted with quick trends and fleeting moments, it’s easy for the experience of an artist to get lost. From the outside, it can end up looking like names boom out of nowhere on a rise to the top, but that view never acknowledges the work that goes into it all, the experiences, the highs and lows.
However, for 2026, and for the artists we believe in most, we want to hear about it, and so, we’ll be checking in.
Picking five of the most exciting new names around, the class of 2026 will be a regular fixture as we’ll be following along with their years, dropping in season by season to get their takes, their likes and dislikes, their good times and bad times, and their updates. These are more than just names to note; these are artists navigating the choppy waters of the music industry at a tough time, but also artists who each represent everything that is great in that world still.
We’re backing them, and we’ll be alongside them, so come meet the cast.
Camille Schmidt
Based in New York, Camille Schmidt makes music that sounds like a great conversation with the funniest yet most insightful friend you have. Her lyricism feels like one of those hangouts where you almost can’t believe you’ve found someone so great, witty, smart and emotionally in tune, and that is exemplified in Nude #9, her debut album and one of our 2025 best releases.
“I often think of life as a cycle of amassing and releasing, building up and letting go. I’ve spent much of my life amassing experiences, feelings, general ‘stuff’, and then holding on to it. This past year has been about release, Nude #9 included,” Schmidt said, reflecting on that debut and how the past year felt, adding, “It feels good to have these songs and experiences out of my body and instead floating around the world where people can grab onto them whenever they need and then let go.”
It feels like a stupid statement to say that the New York music scene is really exciting right now. ‘The Big Apple’ has always been exciting as the homeplace of punk, of the ‘Meet Me In The Bathroom’ generation, of so many of history’s favourite acts from across folk, jazz and beyond, but right now especially, NYC’s DIY scene is thriving, and Schmidt is embedded in it, glowing as one of its brightest sparks.
I caught Schmidt live back in 2025 and heard some unreleased songs; at that moment, way back in April, I knew she’d be on this list. Her debut was so special, its grip endured from the first week of January through to the new year, but in just one listen of a new tune sung stripped back in a church, it was clear that more is to come, and it’s only getting better.
Pem
There are some voices that stop you in your tracks, and sure, everybody loves a singalong, but sometimes you encounter a timbre so beautiful that putting your own untrained warble to it would feel like an insult. If you need an example of that, head to one of Pem’s gigs, where you’ll encounter one of the most hushed and humbled rooms you’ll ever enter, as no one would ever dare to interrupt a voice so stunning and so singular.
Pem has the almost unfair and unfathomable talent of being able to match her gorgeous voice with gorgeous poetry. 2024’s Cloud Work was a truly special musing on grief, and in 2025, two singles expanded that outwards both in lyrical content and sound but maintained the same bafflingly and hypnotically tender centre.
In her own words, the year was a special one: “2025 has been full and fruity. I wrote and recorded my EP Other Ways of Landing and played some really gorgeous shows, my release party at Third Man was adorable, and Green Man and Reeperbahn were definite highlights.” Reflecting on more highlights, they just kept on coming, as she says, “There were also some really fun shows in The Netherlands and Germany, and touring with Jacob Alon and Jasmine 4t was honestly epic, they’re such wonderful humans. In between it all, I’ve been gardening a lot and writing loads.”
But in 2026, there will be more as her upcoming EP releases in January, meaning there isn’t long to wait before what feels sure to be an inevitable artistic victory.
ELLiS-D
I’ve screamed about ELLiS-D so loud and for so long that my throat is sore, and then I go to one of his shows, and it’s sore from cheering, too.
The Brighton-based artist feels like one of the clearest examples the UK has right now of a true musician. Not only does he stand as one of the most electrifying and exciting guitarists around right now, but he also plays drums in Fat Dog, touring the world and proving his multi-instrumentalist abilities. However, as a frontman too, Ellis is hypnotic, and that’s really the only way to describe it, as he whips rooms into frenzies in a way that needs to be seen to be truly understood.
Granted our award for Live Musician of the Year for 2025, he ticked off over 150 shows, and in 2026, no doubt there will be more as he kicks things off with a homecoming headline in Brighton, where the last time he almost started an electrical fire from playing too hard.
Going all in on the dream with a busy schedule and a big secret stock of plans, Ellis reflected, “I’ve been pursuing music since my early teens in many different bands and guises, propping it up with countless other hospitality and desk jobs where I would spend all day dreaming of what it would be like to be on the road all the time instead. So to have achieved this in the last 18 months really is a dream come true.”
Jeanie and the White Boys
One time, at London’s Old Blue Last, I saw Jeanie and the White Boys kick off at the end of a two-show day when the guitarist’s instrument broke, and their true punk attitude won out over any tired, dull ideas of professionalism. Another time, I saw them at The Lexington and saw someone headbang so hard they almost fell over, then I saw them at Glastonbury, and the twinkle of a dream in Jeanie Crystal’s eyes was so bright it could’ve blinded everyone, as it was clear there and then, she’s a fucking go-getter.
Overwhelmingly, it feels like no one in London right now embodies the truth of punk quite like her. She’s Poly Styrene, a true working class hero, a storm, a ball of energy, a born star and a vision of her own making, and to witness a Jeanie and the White Boys gig is to witness an artist who truly embodies herself and her message, sticking two middle fingers up at any corner of the world that might doubt her, delivering a ‘fuck you’ to misogyny and to rich kids parading as broke artists.
She knows the real deal are the scrappy kids making it happen and in 2026, with new music imminent, she’ll be making it happen for sure. “Another year closer to dystopia, another year of music made by should be accountants,” she declared of 2025 before looking forward – “Happy new year, cunts. Please no more DJs.”
Imogen and the Knife
“What’s a voice of the north, if it won’t talk of rain?” the Newcastle-born Imogen asks on one of her tracks, unafraid of delving into the dark depths of feeling, rooting around in the guts of it to find the truth from even the most obscure and individual of angles, with a voice to be heard.
In 2025, Imogen and the Knife may not have released any music of her own, but she set her intentions. Through producing work for others, putting out a record with her other group, Thredd, and then joining The Last Dinner Party on their UK and Europe tour, proving her ability to capture the focus of big venues with the tenderest of ballads, she made it clear that her focus is forward and her plans are big.
It’s a perfect reminder that the life of an artist is about more than just putting songs out, as even in a year without that, Imogen was on fire. “This year has been transformative in a lot of ways, but the quite obvious highlight was touring with The Last Dinner Party. It was like I did some magic trick and was suddenly ticking off bucket list venues daily with my best friends, playing the best shows of our lives and meeting the most people I’ve ever met,” she said.
Other highlights kept coming: “Laurence Carden arranging my music for organ at Stoke Newington Old Church, working with Lizzie Mayland to produce their incredible debut solo EP Slow Fire of Sleep, making music with loved ones, releasing the Thredd album and partying it out live, playing St James’ Park with childhood friends, spending more time at home and with my family, attending the Mercury’s in my hometown!”
Now, from her vantage point ahead of a new year, things feel clear and ready. “I feel so present with it all now,” she said, “The music feels very alive, and I’m feeling really grateful and excited for what’s to come.” And what’s to come is all fruition as if 2025 was planting seeds, 2026 is all bloom.
Check back in throughout 2026 as we follow our five spotlight artists throughout their year.
