The Future of Music 2026

• 1 : Rosalía - Reliquia, Divinize, Porcelana, Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti, Berghain, La Perla
• 2 : Alt Blk Era - Come Fight Me For It, Rave Immortal, Run Rabbit, Crashing Parties, My Drummer's Girlfriend, Upstairs Neighbours, Okay (Cyber Racing)
• 3 : Tyla - Is It, Chanel, Bliss, Mr. Media, Dynamite
• 4 : Sally Shapiro - Rent, The Other Days, Purple Coloured Sky, Guarding Shell, Did You Call Tonight
• 5 : Nova Twins - Hummingbird, Sandman, N.O.V.A. Soprano, Monsters
• 6 : Alison Goldfrapp - Hey Hi Hello, Sound & Light, Reverberotic, Strange Things Happen, Find Xanadu, Cinnamon Light
• 7 : Saint Etienne - Brand New Me, Dancing Heart, Sweet Melodies, Save It For a Rainy Day
• 8 : Pink Pantheress - Girls Like Me, Illegal, Romeo, Tonight, Stateside
• 9 : Marina - Butterfly, Cuntissimo, Cupid's Girl, Everybody Knows I'm Sad, I <3 You
• 10 : Huntrix - Golden, How It's Done, Takedown, What It Sounds Like, Free

I had pretty much decided which artist would be my likely #1 for this year - back as early as September of last year. I can't say how I first encountered Enola Bedard - but it was definitely on YouTube.

Canadian born Enola is a triple-threat - singer, dancer, choreographer - who is now firmly established in LA. She creates a very infectious breed of Dance-Pop with a Latin influence. And I love her choreography and how she dances. I often talk about Snap and Flow in modern dance - and she definitely has it. She's right up there with the Royal Family / Place Dance Studios Polyswag!

You can think of Enola as being a little like a latter-day, more streetwise Paula Abdul - but better, and already with a slew of catchy singles.

She's not quite ready to challenge the Beyoncé's and Riri's of the world - but she will get there. She is the obvious winner for me - and the chasing pack are about as eclectic as they've ever been. My last year's choice of Bea Wheeler hasn't really taken off yet - in fact she's almost become somewhat anonymous rather than building on her audience.

Enola has great stage presence - and she will surely do well - a number of my picks have done very well for themselves - but by no means all of them. Pop music is a tough gig these days - even if you are one of the superstars. Katy Perry suffered quite the setback for her last album - she's come a long way from her all-conquering peak.

Madonna is back on the treadmill this year - and it will be interesting to see how she fares - she normally does pretty well - but audiences are so fickle these days.

The Breakthrough Artist segment always takes the longest time - both in terms of the original research - which involves several dozen different resources. And then trying to determine an order for those is nigh impossible - and you need to A/B all the options many time over - and even then - on a different day the results would likely be different.

You either fail to notice what special element brought you to that artist or otherwise find new degrees of nuance for an artist you had previously lowered in the ranking! It's tough gig for sure!

I have split off the first 32 with video references, while the long list is just that - a list!

• 61H [Hop-Hop / Rap]
• Aaron Rowe [Irish Folk / Indie-Pop]
• Absolutely [Alt-Pop / R&B / Electronic]
• Alessi Rose BBC SO [Indie-Pop / Alt-Pop / Pop-Rock]
• Amira Elkefy [Nu-Metal / Alt-Metal]
• Ashley Anne [Contemporary Country / Americana / Folk]
• ATM Hanson [Trap / Cloud-Rap]
• Blush Puppy [Grunge / Emo / Alt-Rock / Metal]
• Chris Patrick [Hip-Hop / Rap]
• Clara Kimera [Electronic / Alt-Pop / Indie-Pop]
• Cobrah [Dance / Electronic]
• Cold Steel [Aggressive Metal / Thrash / Hardcore Punk / Metalcore]
• Curtisy [Dance / Electronic]
• The Deep [Electronic / UK Garage / R&B / Soul]
• Demae [R&B / Soul]
• Die Spitz [Punk-Rock / Grunge / Metalltore / Hardcore]
• Dove Ellis [Folk]
• Ear [Experimental / Improvisational]
• Effie [Dance / Electronic]
• False Reality [Metal]
• Feng [Cloud Rap / Indie-Pop / Experimental Hip-Hop]
• Gabriel Jacoby [R&B / Soul]
• Girl Scout [Alternative / Indie]
• Girl Tones [Rock]
• Glass Eel [Alternative / Indie]
• The Guest List [Indie-Rock / Alt-Rock]
• Haywire [Hard Rock / Glam Metal]
• Hidden Fortress [Psych-Pop / R&B / Hip-Hop / Synth-Pop]
• Idioteque [Ambient Techno / Electronica / IDM]
• Jade LeMac [Pop / Indie-Pop / Alt-Pop]
• Jae Stephens [R&B / Soul]
• Jalen Ngonda [R&B / Soul]
• Jena Malone [Alternative / Indie]
• Jensen McRae [Folk-Alternative-Pop]
• Karri [R&B / Soul]
• Kiara Skyler [Indie-Pop / Dance / Electronic]
• Labit [Alternative / Indie]
• Lastelle [Metal]
• Leah Cleaver [Alt-Pop / Funk / Soul / Electronic]
• Ledbyher [R&B / Soul]
• Luisa Wilson [R&B Soul]
• Mackeeper [Alt-Folk / Alt-Rock]
• Madra Salach [Folk]
• Maisy-Kay [Indie-Pop / Synth-Pop / R&B]
• Mallavora [Rock]
• Master Peace [Alternative / Indie]
• Melrose Avenue [Pop-Metalcore / Metalcore]
• The Molotovs [Rock]
• Mon Rovîa [Afro-Appalachian Folk Music]
• Morgan Nagler [Folk]
• Naomi Jane [Indie-Pop / R&B / Soul]
• New York [Girl-Pop]
• Normal Village [Alternative / Indie]
• Nxdia [Alternative / Indie]
• Omerta [Nu-Metalcore / Rap-Metal]
• Opal Mag [Alternative / Indie / Rock]
• The Opera [Alternative / Indie / Rock]
• The Paradox [Alternative / Indie]
• Piss [Alternative / Indie]
• Pleisured [Alternative / Indie]
• Pluto [Rock]
• Post-Party [Alternative / Indie]
• Prostitute [Noise Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Munk]
• Racing Mount Pleasant [Alternative / Indie]
• Ravyn Lenae [Alt-R&B / Neo-Soul / Contemporary R&B]
• Red Ivory [Alternative / Indie]
• Rifle [Rock]
• Rocket [Alternative / Indie]
• Rozie Ramati [Alternative / Indie]
• RuntheRed [Alternative / Indie]
• SALIMATA [Dance / Electronic]
• Sam Paige [Pop / R&B / Country / Indie]
• The Scratch [Irish Folk Rock / Heavy Metal]
• Sharp Pins [Lo-Fi Power Pop]
• she’s green [Alternative / Indie]
• Sienna Spiro [R&B / Soul]
• Silver Gore [Alternative / Indie]
• Snack Munson [Alternative / Indie]
• Sofia Isella [Alt-Pop / Indie-Pop / Grunge / Alt-Rock]
• Sophia Stel [Alt-Pop]
• The Sophs [Alternative / Indie]
• South Arcade [Alternative / Indie]
• Spanish Horses [Indie-Rock / Post-Punk / Jangle-Popo / Power-Pop]
• Spitting Glass [Metalcore / Deathcore]
• Split Chain [Nu-Gaze / Shoegaze / Nu-Metal]
• sugarglaze [Alt-Pop / Hyperpop]
• Tendai [Alt-R&B / Soul / Alt-Pop / Gospel / UK Garage]
• Tiffi M [Alternative / Indie]
• Tooth [Alt-Rock]
• TSO [Symphonic / Progressive Rock / Neoclassical Metal]
• TTSSFU [Alternative / Indie]
• TX2 [Emo / Pop-Punk / Alt-Rock]
• Tyler Ballgame [Alternative / Indie]
• Victor Jones [Rock]
• Villanelle [Grunge / Punk / Alt-Rock]
• Violet Grohl [Alt-Rock / Indie-Rock / Alt-Pop]
• Wisp [Shoegaze]
• Yakkie [Rock]

• Cece Natalie [Disqualified for me - existing Significant Album Release]
• EsDeeKid [Disqualified for me - already popular in 2025! + existing Significant Album Release]
• Geese BBCSO #4 [Disqualified for me - already popular in 2025! + existing Significant Album Release]
• sombr BBCSO #3 [Disqualified for me - already popular in 2025! + existing Significant Album Release]

• Lana Del Rey - Stove [JAN]
• Bruno Mars - The Romantic [FEB]
• Charli XCX - Wuthering Heights [FEB]
• Gorillaz - The Mountain [FEB]
• Ladytron - Paradises [MAR]
• Robyn - Sexistential [MAR]
• Skindred - You Got This [APR]
• Busta Rhymes - Vengeance [TBA]
• Grimes - BOOK 1 [TBA]
• Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2 [TBA]
• Rihanna - R9 [TBA]

• 54-40 - Porto
• Agnes - Beautiful Madness
• Ailbhe Reddy - Kiss Big
• Alter Bridge - Alter Bridge
• Ari Lennox - Vacancy
• Artio - Soul Rot
• A$AP Rocky - Don't Be Dumb
• Beyond the Black - Break the Silence
• Buzzcocks - Attitude Adjustment
• Callum Beattie - Indi
• Cast - Yeah Yeah Yeah
• Cavetown - Running with Scissors
• Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine
• The Cribs - Selling a Vibe
• Crystal Lake - The Weight of Sound
• DaBaby - Be More Grateful
• The Damned - Not Like Everybody Else
• Demob Happy - The Grown Ups Are Talking
• Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
• DZ Deathrays - Easing Out of Control
• Edenbridge - Set the Dark on Fire
• The Format - Boycott Heaven
• Francis Rossi - The Accidental
• Geologist - Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?
• Goldfinger - Nine Lives
• The Hara - The Fallout
• I Promised The World - I Promised The World
• James Adrian Brown - Forever Neon Lights
• James Walsh - It's All Happening
• Jamie MacDonald - Jamie MacDonald
• Jamie O'Neal - Gypsum
• Jordan Ward - Backward
• Joseph - Closer to Happy
• Joyce Manor - I Used to Go to This Bar
• Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore - Tragic Magic
• The Kid Laroi - Before I Forget
• Kreator - Krushers of the World
• *Kula Shaker - Wormslayer
• *Labrinth - Cosmic Opera : Act I
• *Lana Del Rey - Stove
• Lande Hekt - Lucky Now
• Lexa Gates - I Am
• Louis Tomlinson - How Did I Get Here?
• Lucinda Williams - World's Gone Wrong
• Madison Beer - Locket
• Mary Lattimore & Julianna Barwick - Tragic Magic
• *Megadeth - Megadeth
• *Mika - Hyperlove
• @onefive - Doh Yoh
• Ov Sulfur - Endless
• The Paper Kites - If You Go There, I Hope You Find It
• Peaer - Doppelgänger
• Peter Peter - Heated Rivalry (Original Series Soundtrack)
• *Poppy - Empty Hands
• The Protomen - Act III : This City Made Us
• PVA - No More Like This
• Sault - Chapter 1
• Searows - Death in the Business of Whaling
• *Sébastien Tellier - Kiss the Beast
• Shackleton - Euphoria Bound
• Soen - Reliance
• Softcult - When a Flower Doesn't Grow
• *Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X
• The Soft Pink Truth - Can Such Delightful Times Go on Forever?
• Sondre Lerche - Turning Up the Heat Again
• Textures - Genotype
• They Might Be Giants - Eyeball
• Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel - Celestun
• *Van Morrison - Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge
• Whitelands - Sunlight Echoes
• Xiu Xiu - Xiu Mutha Fuckin' Xiu: Vol. 1
• Ye - Bully
• Yumi Zouma - No Love Lost to Kindness
• Zach Bryan - With Heaven on Top

• Ásgeir - Julia
• Angel Dust Cold 2 the Touch
• Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Laughter in Summer
• Big Big Train - Woodcut
• Bill Callahan - My Days of 58
• *Bruno Mars - The Romantic
• Buck Meek - The Mirror
• *Charli XCX - Wuthering Heights
• Chet Faker - A Love For Strangers
• Clawfinger - Before We All Die
• Converge - Love Is Not Enough
• Crooked Fingers - Swet Deth
• Danny L Harle - Cerulean
• Daphni - Butterfly
• Dream Nails - You Wish
• Ella Mai - Do You Still Love Me?
• The Enemy - Social Disguises
• Gena (Liv.e and Karriem Riggins) - The Pleasure Is Yours
• Gogol Bordello - We Mean It, Man!
• *Gorillaz - The Mountain
• Heavenly Highway - To Heavenly
• Hemlocke Springs - The Apple Tree Under the Sea
• Hen Ogledd - DISCOMBOBULATED
• Hey Colossus - Heaven Was Wild
• Hilary Duff - Luck... or Something
• Howling Bells - Strange Life
• Iron & Wine - Hen's Teeth
• Jay Buchanan - Weapons Of Beauty
• Jill Scott - To Whom This May Concern
• Joji - Piss in the Wind
• Karnivool - In Verses
• Keli Holiday - Capital Fiction
• KMFDM - Enemy
• Lala Lala - Heaven 2
• Leigh-Anne - My Ego Told Me To
• The Lone Bellow - What a Time to Be Alive
• Ludovico Einaudi - Solo Piano
• Mandy, Indiana - Urgh
• Maria BC - Marathon
• Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx IV
• May-a - Goodbye (If You Call That Gone)
• Mayhem - Liturgy of Death
• Megan Moroney - Cloud 9
• The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - Deface the Currency
• Mirah - Dedication
• Michael Monroe - Outerstellar
• Mumford & Sons - Prizefighter
• New Found Glory - Listen Up!
• Nick Jonas - Sunday Best
• Nothing - A Short History of Decay
• Paul Gilbert - Wroc
• Peaches - No Lube So Rude
• Puma Blue - Croak Dream
• Puscifer - Normal Isn't
• Rafael Anton Irisarri - Points of Inaccessibility
• Ratboys - Singin' to an Empty Chair
• Ray Stevens - Ray Stevens Favorites Old and New
• Remember Sports - The Refrigerator
• Ringo Starr - TBC
• RJD2 and Supastition - According To..
• Rob Zombie - The Great Satan
• Robbie Williams - Britpop
• Sarah Kinsley - Fleeting
• Silversun Pickups - Tenterhooks
• Stephen O'Malley - Spheres Collapser
• Stone - Autonomy
• Story of the Year - A.R.S.O.N.
• Sylosis - The New Flesh
• Telenova - The Warning
• A Thousand Horses - White Flag Down
• Ulrika Spacek - Expo
• Voxtrot - Dreamers in Exile
• The Wave Pictures - Gained / Lost
• A Wilhelm Scream - Cheap Heat

• Aaron Hibell - Synchronicity
• Art School Girlfriend - Lean In
• Axel Rudi Pell - Ghost Town
• Bernard Butler, Norman Blake, and James Grant - Murmurs
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy - We Are Together Again
• Book Of Churches - Book Of Churches
• BTS - TBA
• Charlie Puth - Whatever's Clever!
• Crack Cloud - Peace and Purpose
• Cry Club - High Voltage Anxiety
• The Dandy Warhols - Pin Ups
• Daniel Avery - Tremor (Midnight Versions)
• Daniel Romano's Outfit - Preservers of the Pearl
• Gladie - No Need to Be Lonely
• Gotthard - More Stereo Crush
• Haircut One Hundred - Boxing the Compass
• Hunter Hayes - Evergreen
• *Ladytron - Paradises
• Luke Combs - The Way I Am
• Mallavora - What If Better Never Comes?
• Matt Corby - Tragic Magic
• Melissa Etheridge - Rise
• Memorials (Verity Susman and Matthew Simms) - All Clouds Bring Not Rain
• Morgan Evans - Steel Town
• Morrissey - Make-Up Is a Lie
• The Notwist - News from Planet Zombie
• The Orielles - Only You Left
• Outfit - Preservers Of The Pearl
• Paula Kelley - Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out
• Peach PRC - Porcelain
• Prong - Live and Uncleansed
• *Robyn - Sexistential
• The Scratch - Pull Like a Dog
• Seafret - Fear of Emotion
• Soft Machine - Thirteen
• Squeeze - Trixies
• Status/Non-Status - Big Changes
• Surfbort - Reality Star
• Sweet Pill - Still There's a Glow
• Teenage Bottlerocket - Invisible Man
• Tigers Jaw - Lost on You
• The Twilight Sad - It's the Long Goodbye
• Twin Peaks - Freezing in Chicago — Live at Thalia Hall, December 31st, 2017
• Tyketto - Closer to the Sun
• Vial - Hellhound
• Yonaka - Hope You're Satisfied

• Archspire - Too Fast to Die
• Attila - Concrete Throne
• Ber - Good, Like It Should Be
• Bryan Adams - Tough Town
• The Bevis Frond - Horrorful Heights
• Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?
• Jason Aldean - Songs About Us
• Joe Jackson - Hope and Fury
• Joe Pernice - Sunny, I Was Wrong
• John Corabi - New Day
• Lantlôs - Nowhere in Between Forever
• Meghan Trainor - Toy with Me
• Reverend and the Makers - Is This How Happiness Feels?
• *Skindred - You Got This
• Tiga - HotLife

• Melanie C - Sweat
• Social Distortion - TBA

• Stitched Up Heart - Medusa