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NME‘s Radar Roundup is your weekly reminder of the rule-breaking rising artists you cannot afford to ignore right now. From interviews to reviews and track recommendations, this is where you’ll met your favourite new artist.
Interviews
Each week, we meet the most exciting new names in the game. This week we meet London future-pop duo Jockstrap, catch up with Britain’s new pop hero Griff and celebrate the year’s finest debut albums.
Jockstrap
Though easy enough to lose oneself in, the music that Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye make together as Jockstrap is much more difficult to understand. Their new EP, ‘Wicked City’, is as dense with ideas as it is flighty and restless; plaintive and lush one moment, utterly chaotic the next. Read the full interview Luke Cartledge
Griff
Griff’s creative energy can be seen and heard in every part of her world. From the hand-sewn curtains at her headline show to her distinctive ponytail of “hair balls”, Griff wants to stand out — and she certainly knows how to do so. Read the full interview Matthew Kent
Best debut albums of the year… so far!
These banging debut albums – EPs and mixtapes included – suggest that when we look back at 2020 we’ll see that rising artists continued to thrill. There’ll be some new names and a few familiar ones, but know that these 15 records are the very best of the bunch. Read the full list Thomas Smith
Reviews
Never let a killer release fly under the radar: get our verdict on Sports Team’s gobby debut, some experimental folk from Westerman and TikTok breakout star Powfu’s gloomy new EP.
Sports Team – ‘Deep Down Happy’
After a listen to ‘Deep Down Happy’, you’re left in absolutely no doubt as to what the six-piece stand against. This unabashed straightforwardness and refusal to bend makes them a unique prospect. Key track: ‘Here’s The Thing’ Read the full review Will Richards
Westerman – ‘Your Hero Is Not Dead’
Westerman does well to investigate the multiple facets of being human instead of regurgitating art’s favourite topic, love, on this impressive debut. He manages to tame the album’s kinks into a cohesive whole that’s eminently challenging and comforting to listen to. Key track: ‘The Line’ Read the full review Charlotte Krol
Powfu – ‘poems of the past’ EP
His area of expertise is purposely imperfect production, deadpan delivery and youthful storytelling about the trials and tribulations of love and growing up feeling like the world is against him. On ‘poems of the past’, the Vancouver artist aims to prove that the breakout hit is just one example of his artistry. Key track: ‘ill come back to you’ Read the full review Sam Higgins
New Bangers
NME’s New Bangers is our weekly updated playlist full of the essential new tunes you need in your life.
Bananagun – ‘The Master’
The vibrant Melbourne band say their latest psych-funk offering sticks two fingers up to the world’s horrible bosses. “It’s about evacuating yourself from the absurd but typical life of working your arse into the ground for someone else,” bandleader Nick Van Bakel says of their absorbing creation. What better liberating soundtrack to sticking it to the man could there be, then, than the relentless groovy ‘The Master’? Sam Moore
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Alika – ‘Life’ (feat. Big Zuu)
Former MOBO Unsung Award-winner Alika has the kind of smart and slick bars to back up her big ambitions (“tryin’ to buy a yard in my own name with a fireplace / No interest in these breddas, I be flexing on a higher rate”). Linking up with Big Zuu on the short-but-very sweet ‘Life’, the west Londoner is an assuredly talented MC that you’ll want to keep a very close eye on. Sam Moore
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – ‘Double Denim Hop’
Not content with just releasing the riff-tastic ‘Double Denim Hop’, Wales’ Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have accompanied their new single with its very own disco version. Frontman Tom Rees says the reinvention “offered a bit of a fresh perspective” on the original’s “‘70s rock vibe” — we’re sure Kool & The Gang would approve. Sam Moore
Listen: Spotify | Apple Music
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The post Radar Roundup – June 5, 2020: This week’s essential new music from Sports Team, Jockstrap and more appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
