Sydney Ross Mitchell’s ones to watch in 2026
Sydney Ross Mitchell possesses a wisdom that makes her immediately enthralling to listen to in a conversation, never mind through her actual songwriting.
Her latest EP, Cynthia, combines deep-rooted and gritty introspection with swirling and surreal fantasy, exhibiting a lyrical talent that is charged with a strong sense of literary appeal, both for those who spent half their lives with their nose in a story, as well as those who simply prefer to stumble across them when one lands in their lap.
That level of sonic accessibility, while never compromising the heart of the tale or feeling she wants to convey, is what has made Mitchell stand out so much across the current trajectory of her career and, indeed, was one of the reasons that secured her spot as one of Far Out’s 26 artists to watch out for in 2026.
When speaking with the singer recently, she opened up on the intricacy of her process, crediting everything from her upbringing around faith and family, as well as creative muses such as Oscar Wilde. “I think when you’re trying to write about something so big and all-encompassing, sometimes the best thing to do is just write about really small moments, because it’s too hard to try to talk about the whole thing,” she explained.
“I just kind of zeroed in on the little things and hoped that people would understand.”
Sydney Ross Mitchell
In this sense, she has a strong casting eye for her kindred spirits in the industry, whether that’s because they command a similar lyrical mantra or because their sound captures something truly original and other-worldly. They are Mitchell’s own ones to watch in 2026, and their names are Jake Minch, Baby Nova, and Frances Whitney.
Minch’s dreamy folk pop melodies, combined with a disarming lyricism beyond his years, are immediately what makes him strike Mitchell as a genuine breath of fresh air. “Jake does such an incredible job at maintaining authenticity in a radical way,” she says. With his debut album, George, that command of the social media landscape at such a young age is a “really unnatural thing to do,” Mitchell adds, “But somehow he gets as close as one can to being entirely authentic on the internet. I think his writing is really amazing, and he just seems like such a true blue artist to me.”
Baby Nova, on the other hand, is not quite as straightforward, but no less original. Bridging and blending sounds from folk to electro-pop, “she’s much more cinematic and a bit more theatrical,” Mitchell explains. “But I feel like her worldview is very clear. Her sonic identity is really clear. And I just love the way she says things. I think that she’s very brave, and it just really resonates with me.”
Lastly comes Whitney, the San Francisco native whose home is never far from view in her writing, particularly on her most recent album, Old Hobbies (Revisited). “Frances has one of the best voices, and is, again, just such a true blue writer,” Mitchell notes. “Every time I hear her sing, I want to try to get her to start a band with me, because I think her voice is so amazing. Yeah, I’m really excited to see what she gets up to this year.”
On this note, Mitchell is clear that she very much has plans of her own that she wants to achieve throughout the course of the rest of the year, but where she can, if she can start a band or even just collaborate with any of these artists, you would imagine her being more than happy – she is a powerhouse already, but with more rising talent in line, they will all be unstoppable.
