7 Female Indie Artists On The Rise

Check them the hell out before they blow the hell up.

If you're not the kind of person who pays attention to mediocre music blogs and earnest Twitter accounts with "buzz band" in their descriptions, you might not have realized that we are currently in the midst of an indie-pop darling gold rush. From all corners of the world, endless SoundCloud streams boasting some variation of soaring synths and breathy vocals are racking up thousands of plays, springing wavy-haired chanteuses to a sort of demi-semi-stardom mostly marked by nylon.com features and/or a sharp increase in Instagram followers.

Trying to keep up with the entire flow of next-big-things emerging from every crevice of the internet is at this point a Sisyphean task equivalent to a fifteen-year-old from suburban New Jersey trying to convince his parents to let him fly to SXSW and meet up with a girl he met on the absolutepunk.com forums—it just ain't gonna happen. But in the specific (yet still crowded) field of up-and-coming solo female alt-pop artists, there are are a few stand-out frontrunners.

Also, Ryn Weaver doesn't count. We've all heard OctaHate ten million times, we get it! We know it's good! Anyway...

VÉRITÉ

Via Facebook: veriteohverite

A collaboration between vocalist and songwriter Kelsey Byrne and Brooklyn producer Elliot Jacobson, VERITE’s moving Echo EP is pure pleasure-pop, featuring an enchanting mix of danceable beats supporting well-crafted harmonies. Byrne’s voice is warm and inviting, and she seems like a genuinely nice person, but it remains to be seen whether her social media persona and stage presence can flourish into something marketably quirky enough for the viral demands of the scene. In my nightmares, VERITE’s undoubtable talent is squandered after a major-label suit tells her “You gotta have a little something,” making that Italian-chef hand gesture, and then forcing her back out into the harsh indie void. But I believe in the power of the tastemakers, who seem to have rightfully designated her the it girl of 2015.

w.soundcloud.com

Allie X

Via Facebook: 125356847504071

You say “Lady Gaga wannabe,” and I say “But, like, aren’t we all?” Toronto transplant Allie X may well have adopted some of her aesthetic strategy from 2010’s (least?) favorite chart-topper, but the producer/songwriter/probably-a-vampire is putting her own spin on the shock-pop genre with her GIF-inspired Jungian meditations on medical trauma and issues of the self. With a killer sense of style and an even more killer ear for synth lines and hooky choruses, Allie X is is surely bound for the type of fame that has teenagers putting the dates they met her in their Twitter bios and getting in line for her shows 5+ hours before doors. Mixing enigma and candor in a subtle way that Gaga probably regrets not attempting, Allie X definitely knows her stuff, and when her first LP drops next month it probably won’t be long before the whole world will be, in the words of her carefully-curated Instagram, #feelingX.

w.soundcloud.com

Phoebe Ryan

Matthew Lyons / Via Facebook: PhoebeRyanMusic

NYU music school grad Phoebe Ryan has just two singles and one mashup cover to her name but is already making waves, scoring opening gigs for Tove Lo and The Knocks and nabbing the top spot on Spotify’s Viral Hits chart (which is a big deal, I’m pretty sure). Her breathy vocals give me vivid flashbacks of listening to LIGHTS while waiting to be picked up from eighth-grade chorus rehearsal, but that’s not a bad thing— LIGHTS was the shit. Ryan has mermaid-green hair, a charming DGAF-stoner Twitter persona, and, most importantly, a great steaming heap of musical skill, which when combined into one feisty frontwoman gives her a memorable edge over her peers. The silky production and relatable lyricism of her material most definitely foreshadow a rapid ascent, but also I kind of just want to be her friend. Can we chill, Phoebe? Let’s chill.

w.soundcloud.com

Lapsley

Via Facebook: LapsleyMusic

Lapsley, AKA Låpsley, AKA 18-year-old Liverpudlian Holly Lapsley Fletcher, is the type of unlikely success story that will make anyone above college age laugh uncomfortably and reevaluate every decision they’ve ever made. Of course this young multi-instrumentalist who had been planning on pursuing a career in geology uploaded a few GarageBand tracks to SoundCloud and scored a major indie label deal a year later. Of course her soulful electro-pop music is stirring and complex and infinitely more delicately-crafted than the shitty covers you were singing into your webcam at her age. It just makes sense! Lapsley’s self-made minimal tracks make no pains to disguise her preternatural sonic sophistication, and she was deservedly longlisted for BBC’s prestigious Sound of 2015 award. All signs point to Lapsley soon embarking on a Lorde-like skyward trajectory, but I would be selfishly happy keeping her evocative grooves a well-kept indie secret.

w.soundcloud.com

Halsey

Liz Riccardi / Via nylon.com

I debated putting Halsey on this list because her squadron of internet devotees seem to indicate a level of fame usually reserved for more established artists, but the discrepancy between the size of her fanbase and her overall mainstream influence seems merely to be just one example of the strength of her emerging talent. 20-year-old Ashley Frangipane (Halsey being an anagram of Ashley, hey, I get it) draws on hip-hop beats and imagery of isolation and emotion to create twinkling surround-sound anthemic synth-pop tracks. Her lyrics are poetically honest and her style is consistently on-point—her hair color changes monthly, but her steadfast loyalty to her image and to her fans never wavers. She’s an outspoken feminist and social butterfly, and is basically a shiny pop-star version of that girl in your high school art studio course who went to concerts on the weekend and had a 26-year-old boyfriend and was way too cool to be friends with but you still got excited every time she remembered your name. For now Halsey resides in a tentative liminal space of fame where in the scheme of things she’s relatively unknown— but for those that do know her, she’s a giant.

w.soundcloud.com

FRANKIE

Via Facebook: FrankieWritesMusic

She might not be very Google-able (yet), but LA-based singer/songwriter Frankie’s brassy tunes are unforgettable. “New Obsession” and “Problems Problems,” the two singles off of her upcoming Dreamstate EP she’s released so far, combine 90s pop with a doo-wop vibe and beachy effervescence. They’re unsophisticated and over-exuberant in the best ways, with a perfect mix of slickness and stickiness that stands out from the crowd. Her music videos are glimpses into a world of best friends and California freedom, and make me wish I owned a Polaroid camera or could fit into bandeau bras from Urban Outfitters (or both). With some hot ad sync placements and maybe a promo tweet from a big verified account or two, Frankie could easily be the next big summer star.

w.soundcloud.com

Shura

Via bandpage.com

The hypnotic and understated electro-pop of London act Shura (real name Aleksandra Denton) has made quite the impression over the past year, with a steady stream of singles and music videos launching her to great heights in the UK and Europe. Just beginning to make headway across the pond, Shura’s dreamlike yet energetic melodies sound like eighties radio hits sent through an elevator-music filter and then given a heavy dose of caffeine and heartbreak. She’s the only one of these acts I’ve seen live, so I feel like I’m qualified to wax eloquent on the high points of her stage presence—bashful and demure, she projects an aura of carefree creativity while still showcasing her technical prowess on guitar, keys, and vocals. In a perfect world where every middle-schooler and suburban mom appreciated Good Music as I personally defined it, she’d become a Top 40 mainstay, but I suppose I’d be satisfied with seeing her deservedly conquer the alternative charts.

w.soundcloud.com

BONUS WILD CARD: The Japanese House

This enigmatic project only has one single to its name so far, but it's a damn good one. With "Still," the so-far-faceless 19-year-old Amber Bain unleashed a stunning panoramic debut, and when her debut EP drops via Dirty Hit Records at the end of next month I'll definitely be putting it on repeat and (virtually) shoving it in the faces of everyone I know.

w.soundcloud.com