Eight emerging artists you need to hear: April 2024

“I love music that just catches your attention from the get-go,” says JWY, describing the kinds of tracks you might hear in one of her DJ sets. “It doesn’t mean it has to have a heavy bass — even the simplest of riddims can make you forget about everything else for a moment.” Born in Amsterdam and based in Dublin, JWY has made big waves with her dynamic sound, a powder-keg mixture of 2-step beats, huge rave riffs, acid bleeps and raw breaks. Listen to her recent mix for Rye Wax, and you’ll be hooked from the start. “I would like to call my style an organised mess in the best way possible, so I love mixing loads of different genres with each other.” 

JWY was obsessed with music from an early age, but it was a chance meeting with Dublin DJ EMA that encouraged her to start DJing herself. “She told me she was part of this collective called Skin&Blister that encourages female identifying, non-binary and trans creatives in the realm of music and arts, and that they were starting free DJ workshops.They were a huge inspiration to me starting my collective, called Foxgluv, which has the same ethos.” JWY recently DJed alongside Jayda G and Jeff Mills At Index in Dublin, and has plenty of exciting things coming up this year, including playing at Open Ear Festival in Cork, and releasing her debut tune. She’s also keen to share a message: “FREE PALESTINE.” Ben Murphy

For fans of: Stones Taro, Mixtress, EMA

May Chucheewa, an indie-pop girl at heart, has become a stalwart of Bangkok’s underground. From co-managing key clubbing venue Never Normal, platforming local  artists on Bangkok Community Radio and, more recently, founding Clayground — a music agency promoting Bangkok-based artists — this DJ wears many hats. She’s also behind SoundKoh Collective, a label launched in 2021 as part of Summer Sound music festival, an event she curates. But Chucheewa is perhaps best-known as Acid Sister, a project which began four years ago with good friend Takky. 

In 2023 the pair had their biggest year, closing the Solar Stage at Wonderfruit Festival and playing clubs across Asia — Savage in Hanoi, The Observatory in Ho Chi Minh City, Bali’s Potato Head, Jakarta’s Zodiac, and Singapore’s Tuff Club, to name a few. They also made their Boiler Room debut in Bali, spinning a spell-binding mix of deep, jacking house and evergreen vocals over hazy rave tracks. When playing alone, Chucheewa sets range from jazz and ambient, to disco dub, vocal and ‘90s prog — she’s also been known to throw in the odd minimal, breaksy and electro cut, a loving nod to her indie roots. But this year she’ll be spending more time cultivating new sounds in the studio, as well as scheming SoundKoh’s first compilation release. One to watch. Ria Hylton

For fans of: Suze Ijó, Jaye Ward, Michelle Manetti

As his name suggests, there’s something alluringly organic about Fields Of Mist’s music. The pastoral-hued alias of Jahandar Hamidieh, an Iranian-American multimedia artist and producer based in California, reflects the gauzy textures that filter through his tunes, which flit across ambient, instrumental hip-hop, broken beats and drum & bass. Take a peek at his Instagram and you’re as likely to see images of sun-dappled hilltops and green meadows as you are of Casio keyboards, Akai MPC60s and Junos. 

This affinity with nature filtered through on his 2022 release ‘ITBS006 - Illuminated60’ for Ilian Tape, where tracks like ‘Ocean Waves’ and ‘Coastalgroove’ inhabited a dreamy world of warm analogue synths and dusty downtempo beats. It’s not all slow and smooth soundscapes, though. On his cracking new EP ‘Biospore Farmers’, Hamidieh returns to Ilian Tape (ITX Series) with the same breezy West Coast vibe, while also steering the mood and tempo towards the dancefloor. ‘Sunrise On Moss Landing Platform 5’ and ‘Harnessing Solar Wind’ both offer tranquil glides through coarse pads and pattering hi-hats; on the flip side, the pace quickens on the deeply shimmering ‘Orbital Mist’, while the digital only ‘Biological Lair’ might be his punchiest cut yet, with gritty synths and squelching electro bass. All class. Claire Francis

For fans of: Biosphere, Anthony Naples, Forest Drive West

Based in London but originally from Dallas, Texas, rising star Zach Witness is looking set for a monumental year. His father was a DJ and his mother a librarian, but he found music through dancing, something that’s still very close to his heart and that set him on a creative path early on. Listening to hip-hop and Dallas boogie, as a teenager he became an integral part of his hometown scene as a scratch DJ.

In the early days of his music production journey, an edit he made of Erykah Badu’s ‘Bag Lady’ led to them working together on her legendary ‘But You Caint Use My Phone’ mixtape for Motown back in 2015, and became the catalyst for the evolution of his career. His latest release ‘Can’t Get It Outta My Head’ is signed to Defected; with his flamboyant vocals and a sparkling house production, plus a sultry remix by MK, the single is bound to make an impact on the airwaves and in the superclubs this summer. 

His DJs sets are as buoyant and vibey as his productions; check out his mix from the Colour Factory from a few years back for vocal house classics, ecstatic disco, percussive rollers, UK funky and much more. Anna Wall

For fans of: A-Trak, Duke Dumont, Channel Tres

Andrea Viscardi, aka FRCTLS, got into electronic music through the wide-ranging likes of Boys Noize, Moderat, and Nosaj Thing; later, drum & bass (of the liquid variety) and dubstep entered his aural worldview. You can hear echoes of all of the above in the Italy- born producer’s recent ‘Encore’ EP, the follow-up to last year’s three-tracker ‘Zeit’. 

Drenched in near-gothic atmospherics yet brimming with rave-leaning rhythms, his sound is an amalgam of vibes that coalesce into something that’s subtly uplifting and, at times, quite beautiful. Viscardi’s kept the details of his bio close to his chest thus far — though we can report that he’s been a ghost producer for a few big names. But with releases like this EP, he might soon be able to drop the day job. “I want my music,” he says, “to communicate easily with people, reaching them whenever and wherever they are.” With ‘Encores,’ we’d say he’s succeeded. Bruce Tantum

For fans of: The Orb, Rival Consoles, Christian Löffler

According to her bio, Helang’s mission as an artist “is to create music that gives voice to her experiences and inspires others.” The Brooklyn-based Chinese-American producer’s forthcoming ‘Lovers Of The Unknown’ EP — which is set to arrive this May on her own Dauntless Records imprint — is primed to achieve that goal via three stunning techno tracks that instantly differentiate her dancefloor-driven compositions from gaudier, commercial flavours that are long past their saturation point today. 

Drawing from synth-wave influences, Helang’s unique productions boast an otherworldly quality, peppered with ethereal vocals, crisp drums, and a grungy, feminine energy that encompasses her signature sound. The project’s lead single, ‘Wise Devil’, dropped in March, offering listeners a taste of Helang’s rich percussion paired with haunting melodies; its dynamic follow-up, ‘No One’, arrives April 19th, and takes those stylings into groovier realms. The cut’s main vocal sample pushes a strong and defiant message — “No one tells me what to do!” — but it’s the pulsing, acidic breakdown and the leftfield sequences that follow that reveal Helang is blazing a trail on her own terms. Megan Venzin

For fans of: Charlotte de Witte, Camelphat, Ida Engberg

On only its third release, the Brussels-based label Just Begun has opted to go large via a 15-track compilation of tracks titled ‘Just Begun Vol.1: A Journey Into Belgian Modern Grooves’ — with “modern grooves”, in this case, being a pleasing amalgamation of R&B, funk, electro, and house. One of the standout cuts is the LP closer, ‘My Drum Machine’, an earworm of a tune featuring Nancy Khadra on vocals that’s pure pop heaven in syncopated form. The track is the handiwork of Just Begun label boss John Parm, whose previous releases, like 2022’s ‘Outta My Mind’ EP and last year’s ‘End Of The Line’ five-tracker, drag ’80s electro-funk nostalgia into a modern setting.

Parm spent 15 years in his home country’s rap scene working under the name Turtle Master, but his current incarnation seems to be keeping him plenty busy. Besides running the label and releasing his own music, there’s his full schedule of live gigs and DJ dates — he’ll open up for Egyptian Lover on April 27th in Antwerp, for instance, and in the past has appeared alongside everyone from Sugarhill Gang to Shlohmo — and a pair of mix shows for Bruzz and Kiosk Radio. If you’re into synth-bass, funky grooves, and a high degree of musicianship, Parm might be your man. Bruce Tantum

For fans of: Dam-Funk, 52nd Street, Kaytranada

Those who’ve ascended to the ranks of pop royalty such as Cardi B and Justin Bieber are discerning when it comes to picking the producers they work alongside. Luis Martinez Jr. has shared the studio with both, earning his first No. 1 spot on Billboard’s R&B chart in 2022 for the silky, downtempo beats that made ‘Peaches’ one of Bieb’s biggest hits yet. Collaborating with artists of a Top 40 pedigree builds instant clout, but we think the Florida producer’s musical creations stand strong on their own, particularly those associated with his emerging solo project, shndō. 

Take ‘Erase Me’, a glimmering, future house cut featuring the songwriting of the Arizona-based artist Bella Renee, which arrived via Dim Mak in late February. At two-and-a-half minutes, the tune is an algorithmic weapon, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in emotion. Packed with filter-drenched progressions, skittering breakbeats, and textured toplines that could give any of Skrillex’s modern melters a run for their money, it’s clear that shndō’s crossover era is in full effect. Megan Venzin

For fans of: Tchami, Skrillex, Young Marco