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It’s never been easier to discover new artists, and it’s never been harder to filter through the algorithmic debris. But in 2025, these new local artists made us cock our heads in intrigue.
Yes, one person’s “new” is another person’s “I saw them live at my local pub in 2018.” Some artists on this list released long-awaited breakthroughs; others made astounding introductions. Whatever the case, these local legends made their mark this year and have us excited about what’s to come in 2026.
Aleksiah
The next great Australian indie-pop superstar. Bangers like Clothes Off and The Hit mix the neon-dripping, dark-edged nu-disco of Dua Lipa or early-2000s Kylie with the sexy, light bubblegum pop of prime Katy Perry. Relatable, absurdly catchy, and just so much fun – it’ll have you dancing, singing and texting that special someone to come over, like, right now. TC
RIYL: Mallrat, Benee, two main characters finally hooking up after seasons of romantic tension. [YouTube] [Instagram]
BAYANG (tha Bushranger) and Nerdie
On War with China, this Sydney duo scoop up their city’s molten asphalt and throw the gunk into the face of nationalism and rampant capitalism. Bayang raps with an acid tongue. Sweltering post-punk and haunted hip-hop. Available to buy only on Bandcamp because there’s no ethical streaming. NB
RIYL: Fare evading then paying musicians instead. [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
The Belair Lip Bombs
What’s in the water in Frankston? The Belair Lip Bombs came out of the same scene as The Gnomes, and are the first Australian act to sign to Jack White’s Third Man Records. Led by Maisie Everett, a pocket-rocket with a voice that can both croon and rip, the band’s emotive indie-rock is arena-ready. BD
RIYL: Limerence rock. Well, that’s what Everett calls it (definition: a state of intense infatuation). [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
The Belair Lip Bombs: the first Australian act to sign to Jack White’s Third Man Records.
Boy Soda
Fans of Boy Soda, aka Brae Luafalealo, had been hanging out for this debut for a while now, having released his first singles back in 2019. It was worth it: Soulstar is a vivid, exploratory R&B and neo-soul record, tipping its hat to greats like Erykah Badu. JL
RIYL: Velvet, chaise lounges, cognac, flute interludes. [YouTube] [Instagram]
Brazen Barbie
The Kenyan-Australian rapper is the epitome of effortless cool: on Brazen and Too Brazen, her two stellar mixtapes across 2025, her flow is hard and intricate, yet she somehow floats above petty squabbles with eye-rolling indifference like she’s replying to it all with the nail polish emoji. It’s a magic trick that makes cuts like Ain’t No Dummy and Miss Andry infectious. You put them on and feel like taking on the world – much like Barbie’s doing, with a European tour locked in for 2026. RM
RIYL: Strutting, Cardi B tweets, insult comedy. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
The Buoys
If Zoe Catterall’s songs are to be believed, she’s always being let down in love by the worst potential partners. But the songs she plays with Sydney band The Buoys are so damn catchy that you barely notice the hurt. Case in point: Lie To Me Again, an irresistible earworm of pop-rock goodness about yet another dropkick. BD
RIYL: Singing at the top of your lungs to relieve the heartbreak. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Charlie Pittman
There’s an intoxicating power in Charlie’s Pittman’s voice, a magnetic force of charisma and depth. The British-Australian artist very nearly won The Voice Australia in 2023, and is now carving out a place for himself as the next great indie-rock troubadour. The Comedown is a propulsive and climactic rocker that could soundtrack a romcom as well as it could getting a stadium pumping. TC
RIYL: Handsome, velvet-voiced indie boys (see: Sam Fender, Tyne-James Organ, The War on Drugs). [YouTube] [Instagram]
Darcy Baylis
The semi-secret weapon behind some of the year’s best local hits – including Daine’s fantastic I Want the Light to Swallow Me Whole, and Ninajirachi’s perfect iPod Touch – Melbourne producer Darcy Baylis has spent over a decade perfecting the doomy, sludged-out hyperpop he’s labelled “emotronica”. This year he also became a go-to collaborator for international cult stars like Wisp and Debby Friday. RM
RIYL: Raving while melancholy, American Football (the band, not the sport), wearing black on the outside because black is how you feel on the inside. [Instagram]
Djanaba
When you can count local veterans like Pnau’s Nick Littlemore as one of your biggest fans, you’re probably onto a good wicket. Bundjalung producer and singer Djanaba’s debut is a collection of thumping dance-pop, best realised on the strutting Times Like Sis or the cheeky Big Titties. JL
RIYL: Harbourside parties, 30-degree days, squelchy basslines. [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Dogworld
Originally from Canberra, now based in Melbourne, Dogworld are a band of contrasts. In My Pocket is gauzy and atmospheric, with a beguiling lead vocal from Yasmine Hosseini. Dashcam is all cross-cutting guitars, thudding beat and a gut-punch spoken-word vocal from Max Sturm. Two sides of a lucky coin. BD
RIYL: Angular alt-rock with a side order of post-punk and a shoegaze glaze. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
DoloRRes and Cherry Chola
Track one on DoloRRes and Cherry Chola’s JACUZZI mixtape, Si, takes its name and source sample from a Coldplay tune, but that couldn’t be more misrepresentative. DoloRRes raps in Italian and Cherry Chola sings in Spanish over jacked up 808 kicks, cumbia-esque triplet rhythms and slowed down Italian hardstyle. NB
RIYL: Lip gloss and bass that rattles the traffic lights. [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Drifting Clouds
Yolngu musician Terry Guyula released the song of the summer back in July. His debut and only single to date, Bawuypawuy, is sung in Liyawulma’mirr-Djambarrputngu language, and he augments a generations old Songline with sunset-sweet saxophone and ’80s synths that could turn a saltwater croc into a banana lounge. NB
RIYL: Donny Benét, pastel skies, the currents of Arnhem Bay (Gupawupa). [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Folk Bitch Trio
Folk Bitch Trio’s highly anticipated debut album more than lived up to the lofty expectations. Now Would Be a Good Time is achingly gorgeous, the trio’s harmonies drifting above bright guitars on tracks like God’s a Different Sword and the standout Cathode Ray. The best way to listen? Get some snug over-ear headphones, lie back, and close your eyes. JL
RIYL: Reverb and echo, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, peaty whisky. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Fool Nelson
At the great Christmas buffet of Aussie music, there’s always enough room for another scoop of indie coastal rock, so clear your plate and get yourself a heaping helpful of Perth’s (Boorloo’s) Fool Nelson. Nostalgic psychedelic surf rock (think Screamfeeder or Tumbleweed) but crackling with fresh energy, they are a propulsive eddy of colour and light, all swirling guitars and wailing vocals. TC
RIYL: Spacey Jane, Old Mervs, taking a diving catch in beach cricket without dropping your beer. [YouTube] [Instagram]
The Gnomes
Jay Millar is a 19-year-old from Frankston, south of Melbourne, who sounds like he’s just jumped out of a DeLorean that went back to the mid-’60s. He and his fellow mop-tops channel The Beatles, The Kinks, and Nuggets-era garage bands, adding speaker-rattling grunt reminiscent of Aussie ancestors Sunnyboys and Hoodoo Gurus. BD
RIYL: Maximum fun, minimum fuss, hooks ahoy. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Gut Health
My god, that bass! It’s killer, and pretty much the lead instrument from these Melbourne cross-pollinators, who meld post-punk, punk-funk and no-wave. Out front, the wild, visceral vocals of the fantastically named Athina Uh Oh help drive a sound that hits you in the hips and demands you move them. BD
RIYL: Romeo Void, ESG, Gang of Four, The Slits. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Holly Hebe
Melbourne artist Holly Sweeney was on a tear in 2025, releasing single after single of should-be pop mega-hits. Her latest Strobe Lights might be the best yet, proving she’s already Australia’s master of the “dancing alone in the rain-streaked window of your bedroom while you’re smashing pre-drinks and getting ready for a night of hopeful possibility” soundtrack. RM
RIYL: PinkPantheress, Clairo doing the Apple dance, wearing your “twee as f---” pin. [YouTube] [Instagram]
Melbourne should-be pop star Holly Hebe had a stunning run of singles in 2025.
Jerome Blazé
While Rosalia’s getting raves for bringing classical music to pop in 2025, Jerome Blazé has been doing it in our own backyard. His Sydney Con-trained ambition finds no limit in genre: on his astounding album Living Room, chamber pop, hip-hop, trip-hop, R&B, jazz and field recordings merged into a majestic evocation of life and love in the city. New single You Can Find Us Out Your Way adds some exciting new propulsion to the mix. RM
RIYL: Doing air violin, bittersweet symphonies, the late afternoon light along Macquarie Street near Hyde Park. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Lottie McLeod
A brilliant new singer-songwriter out of Meanjin, Lottie McLeod is the Gen-Z Fiona Apple, fearlessly putting her whole self into every song, no matter how messy a picture she might paint. Her voice shimmers with feeling, warm and lustrous; her storytelling is unflinchingly honest, disarmingly funny and painfully relatable. Ruin A Good Thing is gorgeous and complex and perfect. TC
RIYL: Journaling, walking in the rain, Taylor Swift but don’t want to admit it. [YouTube] [Instagram]
Ninajirachi
Nina Wilson has been honing her craft since she was sitting at the back of the school bus on the Central Coast, cycling through tracks from Porter Robinson and Flume or playing video games like Pokèmon Mystery Dungeon. Her debut album I Love My Computer is a blistering ode to the headiness – and awfulness – of the internet, couched in the most exhilarating dance music Australia has produced in years. JL
RIYL: Internet dial-up tones, iPod Touches, Neopets. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Almost a decade into her career, Nina Wilson, aka Ninajirachi, had a breakout year.Credit: Steven Siewert
OK EG and Priori
A bush doof reaches its zenith when the music and natural world fold in on each other and the dancers enter trance-like states of movement. On their Serpentine EP, the Melbourne (Naarm)-based duo OK EG join with Québecois producer Priori to create that sensation in a psychoacoustic landscape right between your ears. NB
RIYL: Dancing in creek beds. [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
RAGEFLOWER
Sydney’s Madeleine Powers nearly kicked music to the kerb before the idea of RAGEFLOWER took root. Thank god for that: Infinite Highs, End of Times is one of the best local debuts of the year, a shimmering alt-pop record that leans on influences like Phoebe Bridgers, MUNA, and The Chicks. JL
RIYL: The moment someone puts on Shania Twain at a house party, late nights in Marrickville, yearning. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Sex Mask
Impossible to classify: a mind-bending mix of post-punk, industrial rock, hardcore, grime and electropop, laced with endlessly unexpected lyricism (a wild mosaic of ancient mythology, HP Lovecraft, French literature and daytime TV). Debut single How To Be Cool At Parties is the perfect intro: frantic and disorienting and explosive, like a dog experiencing fireworks, but in a good way. TC
RIYL: Skulking around warehouses while reading Shakespeare, Dizzee Rascal if he loved The Strokes. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
Shady Nasty
Campsie in Sydney’s south-west: home to regional Chinese delicacies, a great Big W, and the country’s best post-punk band in Shady Nasty. With Trek, an album that found common ground between Turnstile’s esoteric hardcore and eshay rap, the trio even earned a fan in UK superstar Fred Again…, who remixed their single Hardstyle for his new album. A US tour is booked for 2026, and surely bigger stages to come. RM
RIYL: Songs about alienation on the M5, the Hume Highway, Parramatta Rd, etc. [YouTube] [Instagram] [Bandcamp]
2charm
2charm might return the word “hunks” to common parlance. Gooner-pop, push-ups, tiny Broncos stubbies, a NSFW viral dance and two tracks: boyfriend and paris (to get you out my head). It’s Tim and Sam from Cub Sport, with Ninajirachi riding shotgun on production duties. Their catalogue length is aural edging. NB
RIYL: Lube, boyfriends, the gym. [YouTube] [Instagram]
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