Five Indie Artists You Need to Listen to This Summer!
The last decade has shown a decline in the popularity of the British indie scene in comparison to the love that Britpop music received in the 90s and early naughtiest. But that does not mean their is a lack of talent in modern day indie-rock music – it’s just harder to spot. I handpicked these five artists as I believe they are all underrated and deserve more appreciation and exposure. Let me know what you think in the comments!
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Cucamaras
The fourtet that formed in 2019 has since tried their best to grow Nottingham’s indie scene one gig at a time. This year they released their first EP, ‘Buck Rogers Time’, consisting of five singles, with the strongest in my opinion being ‘Cotton Wool’ and opener, ‘Porcelain’. Lead vocalist, Bowley, told NME that the band’s sound developed as a result of the pandemic, “We couldn’t actually do ‘band stuff’, so we just talked about and shared music instead”.
The band are now making waves further than hometown, Nottingham, and in fact across the continent, as they’re being invited to play at smaller festivals across Europe. Additionally, the band has been named in NME’s Top 100 Essential Artists for 2023, highlighting the respect and belief the band already has from mainstream music media.
Cucamaras on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Zy8a1P2tEwHdQK56s0v8T?si=3vabIZD7SgC_nVoVpssVSg
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Danny Mellin
The Oxfordshire-based singer songwriter has released a total of ten singles so far, with themes including the importance of good mates, girl trouble and everyday life struggles. Danny told ‘The Bucket Playlist’ blog that he plans to keep releasing singles because he believes it’s a better way to distribute music. In lockdown, Danny developed his sound from mostly acoustic guitar songs to indie rock, with the help of newly formed band. Danny became influenced by heavyweights of the modern indie rock scene, Sam Fender and Arctic Monkeys – inspiring him to make a “bigger sound”.
Using TikTok to promote his singles and reply to fans, with his great vocals and hard hitting lyrics, Danny is slowly but surely building his own fanbase. The recent single, ‘Ordinary Day’ is already a personal favourite, with its high tempo, classic indie rock guitar rifts as well as perfectly unrefined vocals. This year Danny and his band completed a headline UK tour – I think this is just the start!
Danny Mellin on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0kmWqI1anuHvgq589NVsAr?si=C1dGRlaXTT-OspcYYSzl_w
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Ora Violet
Ora Violet are a band trying to break barriers within the indie rock scene. The band that formed in 2019, consists of five members, each with a different nationality, allowing them to create a culturally diverse sound drawn from their different backgrounds. Everything from their music to their song cover art is ambiguous, unique and artistic.
This year, the band released their first full project with EP, ‘Have You Met Me’ consisting of five guitar heavy tracks. Ora Violet said on Instagram: “We are so proud of this, so much work went into it, this is us now”. The standout tracks for me are ‘Feel the Same’ and ‘Last dance’ with the second being about frontman, Tommy’s struggle with addiction and coming to terms with his sexuality.
Despite being so new, the group have already had some success, as they were chosen to support Duran Duran at Hyde Park in London last year as well as having upcoming headline shows in the UK.
Ora Violet on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/649PbKfSwqkPEsos9mHuUJ?si=69SJB_20R_axTKMM6fp-Ww
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BERRIES
This London-based garage rock trio are an exciting group and you should give them a listen! The all female line-up and intricate yet rocky beats gives them a new and individual sound. In terms of their songs influences, they told ‘Gigrader’ that: “it can totally vary sometimes we write songs about different moods or a feeling rather than an actual topic”.
BERRIES return with their first release since their debut album last year, with new track. “Control”. The new track is certainly one of my favourite of their songs, with it’s grungy guitar and layered melodic vocals it stands out as a great single all round. The band is currently going from strength to strength as they have just successfully completed a headline UK tour and announced a string of smaller UK festivals that they will be playing at this summer.
BERRIES on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3S3lyrc9kKx4EPWCduLKi5?si=eAQBLXf0Ssqhrg6kNnZRxg
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CVC
CVC also known as Church Village Collective are a Welsh psych-rock band that are working hard to showcase their music not just across South Wales but worldwide. The band have gained popularity with their debut album ‘Get Real’ as they received a very decent review from NME (one of the Uk’s leading music magazines) as well as having over 63,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The album sounds well put together and all the songs fit together excellently whilst having a variety of subgenres. For me, the standout tracks were the beautifully melodic and effortless ‘Sophie’ along with the catchy and authentic ‘Docking The Pay’.
The band have just finished a North American tour, including massive festivals and the fun doesn’t stop there as they will be completing a UK headline tour with many venues already sold out in the next few weeks.
CVC on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4UVp2DRjYXq2ZWQwA5QLuD?si=ZouTa1KxRo6JIF8QeAXaUw