Best New Artists of the Month

Finding new artists is easier than ever, but this creates a problem: it's harder than ever to filter through it all and keep tabs on what's really good. With so many artists popping up every day, it's impossible not to miss out on some fresh faces and new sounds. With that in mind, we'll be highlighting our favorite new acts each month. Here are the best new artists of April. 

There's a lot to love about Lil Westside. The 21-year-old Jacksonville native gives off genuine energy and you can tell that she isn't caught up in the many distractions and expectations that are cast on most rising artists. 

She released her debut project Welcome To The Westside this past July and a string of accompanying videos, including one for her breakout release "Can't Stop Won't Stop." The music had already been out for a while but the visual took things to the next level. She told us one of her goals was to get out of her city, and in her latest Instagram post she made it to Los Angeles—things are looking good for the young rapper.

Hana Vu is a 17-year-old artist from Los Angeles, and she started out like so many other young artists coming up today. "I initially started recording music when I was like 14, the good old-fashioned way using Voice Memos and GarageBand," Hana says. "Sharing it just seemed like the thing to do."

So far, Hana's music is homemade indie pop, but she's a fan of acts like Florence Welch, Stevie Nicks, and Taylor Swift, so don't be surprised if her sound evolves. The songwriting and melodies are easy to imagine as more polished productions, but they're great just as they are, and the DIY approach has yielded some today's most exciting new acts. Hana Vu's debut EP How Many Times Have You Driven By comes out on June 29.

Read our interview with Hana Vu here.

Even if you don't yet recognize the name Austin W. Anderson (fka Austin Feinstein) and his band Slow Hollows, you've probably already heard some of his work. Among other projects, he contributed to Frank Ocean's Blonde and Tyler, The Creator's Flower Boy. To be clear, Slow Hollows aren't new—Austin has been writing and recording his own music since he was 13 and playing with his band since 2013, and Slow Hollows have released three albums—but recent releases like "Lessons For Later" (with its Kevin Abstract-directed video) show a new side of their sound. 

With an album on the way, 2018 is set to be an exciting year for Austin and Slow Hollows. 

Curtis Roach's Highly Caffeinated mixtape delivers on the title's promise—track after track of dense, energetic wordplay unfolds as the project progresses, a bright new voice out of Detroit staking its claim. Roach is finding success by embracing vulnerability: "I felt like I was being very slept on in rap," Roach told us. "Every artist has that anxiety in their chest, 'What if I don’t make it? What if I’m just gonna be stuck forever?' It’s all in your head but it’s there. You feel like that to push yourself sometimes."

Roach is still just shy of 20, but he's released three projects already. Caffeinated is the latest, and finds the artist unpacking ideas about anxiety, success, and responsibility over a variety of sample-driven, melodic beats. "SLYB" and "anxietea" are early favorites, but Highly Caffeinated sounds best when it's played all the way through. 

He's still in college, but Billy Lemos already moves like a pro. He's a producer who works from his bedroom, forges creative relationships online, and isn't content to stick to a verse-chorus structure. "I think way too many people view music as something that’s supposed to be competitive but in reality, that's counter-intuitive," he told us. "Working with people that share shit with you and support you is encouraging and essential."

Lemos' latest, "Burb," is split neatly in two—a jump in tempo and mood gives patient listeners something to anticipate, and the California-based artist takes another step forward through a seamless collaboration with Victor. If "Burb" is your style, check out his earlier release "CANTBE// HOWUFEEL" or the whole Self EP here.

Read our feature Don't Call It Bedroom Pop: The New Wave of DIY here.

Umi Copper is an L.A.-based singer and multi-instrumentalist with only one single out, but he has an EP on the way and is already picking up the right cosigns. "All" was premiered in Pharrell William's guest mix on OVO Sound Radio on Beats 1, and his upcoming EP Requiem will be released via British independent label Black Acre.

"I titled the project Requiem because every track represents the passing of a spirit that once died or passed through me; a call to those who are no longer here, confronting my past demons head on," Umi told us. "I needed to pay a sonic homage to that energy and those experiences." Thanks to the power of "All," we're awaiting his next moves with anticipation.

Raised by his great-grandparents in Lynwood, California, Channel Tres has always had his sights set on music. "Me and my little brother used to beat on pots and pans and they bought us our first drum set when I was seven," he told us. "After that I started playing drums at church and that opened my connection to music. I was obsessed with Andre 3000’s The Love Below and anything Marvin Gaye, and all the great gospel musicians."

After working as a writer and producer for others, Channel Tres signed with independent label Godmode, and "Controller" is his debut single. It's a funky, fun, dance music inspired track, and has us looking forward to whatever comes next.

After hearing Vansire's bright-eyed "Star Catcher" back in February, we were intrigued as to which direction the duo, obliged by college to record from Minnesota and Ohio, would take. Would they burrow into dream-pop, or lean closer to the lo-fi hip-hop sound that the Chester Watson feature provided?

The full album dropped last week, and the answer is: a little bit of both. The pair enlist a number of impressive collaborators on Angel Youth (Deem Spencer and Jeremiah Jae among them), and the resulting tracks are warm, foggy constructions that land these two friends firmly amongst psych-rock's new guard. "Wonderland" and "Halcyon Age" are among the tracks that prove that much.