An indie darling since her debut LP, Youth Novels, Lykke Li has enjoyed commercial success in the U.S. alongside Swedish indie pop contemporaries Robyn and Miike Snow. Like those artists, she built a fanbase at home first. Propelled by single “I Follow Rivers,” Lykke Li began reaching mainstream audiences with…

Under the stage name Serpentwithfeet, Josiah Wise breaks through the surface of his immense potential. With captivating vibrato and range, Wise wields an uncanny ability to immerse his listeners beneath waves of lyrics reflecting deeply pensive love. While his 2016 EP gained recognition by the likes of Bjork, the project…

With ‘80s nostalgia in full effect, the indie rock landscape has become increasingly synthetic. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, Baltimore’s Snail Mail has doubled down on emotive guitar noodling as the core instrument of the style. The project centers around 19-year-old guitarist-singer Lindsey Jordan, who enhances her demure…

A Brit raised on the outskirts of London with a bigger imagination than he could control, Ben Howard began writing songs in his youth. He took a hefty influence from musically inclined parents, who introduced him to the likes of Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel. Noonday Dream…

Snow Patrol, “Wildness.” Snow Patrol rose to prominence in a time of adjustment, post-Britpop, alongside the likes Radiohead and Coldplay. Propelled by 2003’s “Chocolate” and “Run,” and 2006’s massive hit “Chasing Cars,” frontman Gary Lightbody and co. helped set the formula that combined earnest, poetic lyricism with grandiose, arena-swelling…

Scottish trio Chvrches began making waves in the indietronica scene with an energized take on the style in 2011. Though Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry center their music around the most accessible side of keyboard-driven pop and electronic dance music bangers, punk undercurrents manifest through their…

After making his long-awaited return with Screen Memories last year, John Maus takes listeners back to his brooding and fiery world. Through homemade modular synthesizers that transmit and transpire in waves of absurdity, Maus’ latest endeavor, Addendum, brims with confusion and desolation, dance and disease, and chaos and order. Addendum John Maus…

James Bay, “Electric Light.” On his 2015 debut album, Chaos And The Calm, James Bay introduced his rockier take on the folk singer-songwriter formula. After letting his soulful tone sink in for three years, Bay is back with something a little spicier. With a young Johnny Depp haircut and fashion…

Since releasing “the grossest pop album of all time” in 2016, the members of Portland’s The Body have kept themselves busy with two collaborations with Full of Hell and a self-released mini-album. Even so, the sludge metal interlopers’ cacophonic experimentation remained ornamental, against strangulated cries, crushing riffs and caveman…

Maturation defines singer-songwriter Jess Williamson’s career in more ways than one. Her jump from the raw twang of 2014 debut Native State to 2016’s methodically melancholy Heart Song translated not only through increased complexity but through Williamson herself as her experiences pushed her vision beyond the indie folk’s usual…