The Future of Music 2021

While my top album choices prove to be somewhat laid back in many ways, that is not the case with the individual Single or Song choices - which seem rather more sparky and effervescent. Some significant quirky but fairly sophisticated electronic pop! :

1. Run the Jewels feat. Royal Blood - The Ground Below (Royal Jewels Mix) | Ooh La La | JU$T
2. Grimes - Darkseid w/ 潘PAN | Delete Forever
3. 100 gecs - hand crushed by a mallet (Remix) | Money Machine | gecgecgec (Remix)
4. Carpenter Brut - Blood Machines Theme | Maniac
5. Jayda G - Both of Us | Are U Down
6. Jessie Ware - Save a Kiss | What's Your Pleasure | In Your Eyes | Spotlight | Soul Control | The Kill
7. The Weeknd ft. Rosalía - Blinding Lights | In Your Eyes ft. Kenny G | Too Late | Save Your Tears
8. Dua Lipa - Physical | Hallucinate | Don't Start Now
9. Billie Eilish - No Time To Die | Therefore I Am | My Future
10. Madalen Duke - Born Alone Die Alone | Part Goddess Part Gangster | Run Boy

This was an unusually arduous task this year as there was generally very little overlap of the main lists - with each magazine and music body advocating for a different set of artists. As a result I have a fairly unprecedented Long List of 150+ candidates - straddling near enough every major genre out there bar classical.

From the Long List I chose circa 20 that appealed to be most - while on a different day I would undoubtedly have made a different selection. Music is such an emotive subject - and for me, like many things. it is dominated by what prevailing mood and plain of existence I find myself on.

As is often the case I find myself leaning towards slightly quirky and whimsical electronic pop - typically female-fronted. While there are a few interesting choices in there too. I did not deliberately set out to make the Long List so eclectic - it is very much a product of these times - and like said has some fairly significant genre coverage including a number of rising stars in instrumental jazz - those alas did not make the short list which follows, then book-ended by the full Long List I compiled from all those leading music resources.

On this occasion I've decided not to do all that pigeon-hole genre assignment as I don't really find it that helpful for my own tastes and rather becomes a limiting exercise instead of a more open exploration.

Note also that I had to disqualify a number from the listing as I had already featured them last year - Inhaler therefore does not feature at all, while I really like Griff - but covered her in last year's selection! This is an incredibly International selection this year with artists coming from all corners of the world - versus the usual UK/US lean.

Apart from Spill Tab at the top of the pile both Short and Long Lists are alphabetical by artist :

* Asterisk / Bold denotes personal favourites - as above!

• 24kGoldn
• 220 Kid
• Aggi Dix
• * Alaina Castillo
• Alewya
• * Alfie Templeman
• Amaarae
• Anxious
• Aquiles Navarro
• As Everything Unfolds
• * Ashwarya
• Astrid Engberg
• Attalie
• AWA
• Baby Keem
• Baby Queen
• BackRoad Gee
• Bad Boy Chiller Crew (BBCC)
• Berwyn (BBC Sound of 2021 : #3)
• BLOXX
• Boncyan
• Bree Runway
• Bríet
• Calabashed
• Cat Burns
• Chloe Moriondo
• Cj Pandit
• Claud
• * Claudia Valentina
• CMAT
• Coach Party
• Courting
• Daine
• DEAR-GOD
• Death Tour
• Demie Cao
• Denise Chaila
• Drug Store Romeos
• Dutchavelli
• Enny
• Erika de Casier
• Felix De Luca & Shatter Hands
• Flo Milli
• Folly Group
• For Those I Love
• Fousheé
• Fred again..
• Frosty
• Genesis Owusu
• Girl in Red
• Goya Gumbani
• Gracey
• Greentea Peng (BBC Sound of 2021 : #4)
• ** Griff (BBC Sound of 2021 : #5) (alas already included in 2020)
• Gustaf
• Hollow Sinatra
• * Holly Humberstone (BBC Sound of 2021 : #2)
• Hope Tala
• Ideal
• India Jordan
• Isola
• Ivorian Doll
• Jany Green
• Jockstrap
• Johan Kull
• Johanna Burnheart
• Joesef
• Jordana
• Josie Man
• * Julie Bergan
• Kamal
• KennyHoopla
• Kid Kapichi
• * Klein Zage
• KMRU
• Kynsy
• Lil Halima
• * Logic1000
• Lol K
• Loose Articles
• Lou Hayter
• * Louie Blue
• Louisa Melcher
• Lowertown
• Lucinda Chua
• * Lucy Deakin
• LustSickPuppy
• Lynks
• Malady
• Marijannah
• Martha Skye Murphy
• Martyn Bootyspoon
• Meet Me @ The Altar
• merci, mercy
• Michelle
• Mina Okabe
• Miriam Bryant
• MoMa Ready
• Myke Towers
• The Mysterines
• Nathan Dawe
• Nayana Iz
• NewDad
• Nicolas Cage Fighter
• Noisy
• Nublu
• Offica
• ONEFOUR
• Orion Sun
• Pa Salieu (BBC Sound of 2021 : #1)
• Pixey
• Park Hye Jin
• Powfu
• Priya Ragu
• * PVA
• * Pyra
• R.A.E
• Raheaven
• Remi Wolf
• Romero
• Rose Gray
• Scalping
• * Shadi G
• Shaybo
• Skullcrusher
• Smoothboi Ezra
• * Sofia Kourtesis
• * Spill Tab ***** [My Artist of the 2021]
• Sprints
• Sweeping Promises
• * Tate McRae
• * Tayo Sound
• Tessa
• The Goa Express
• The Lathums
• The Lazy Eyes
• The Lounge Society
• The Snuts
• Tiana Major9
• Tori Handsley
• Tuomo
• * Wargasm
• Wendy Eisenberg
• Where Did Nora Go
• Witch Fever
• Wordcolour
• Yard Act
• Yung Raja
• Zola Mennenöh
• Zsela

This list contains confirmed releases - a lot of favourites still under TBC though - as below. These are the properly named ones that have a set release date already (alphabetical as usual) :

• Ashnikko - Demidevil
• Die Antwoord - 27
• Grimes – Miss Anthropocene Rave Edition
• Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails over the Country Club
• Logic1000 - You’ve Got the Whole Night to Go EP
• Sia - Music
• Slowthai - Tyron
• Rihanna - R9
• Rosalía - R3
• Young Thug - Slime Language 2