Making music is anyone’s business. Making it a career, as a woman, is a feat pursued only by the brave-hearted. Furthermore, a female with a vision for future pop to step out of bounds, from the safety of ‘just a woman fronting a boy band’ and into their own fully-fledged, exclusively female artistry is noteworthy.
Take note of these five fierce female artists we’re backing in 2020.
RACKETT - Oxytoxic
Having proven herself as ‘one of the girls’ with her all-female band, RACKETT has taken another huge leap of faith and stepped up to claim her name as a solo artist. After a year of veiled evolution, RACKETT emerged in 2019 with a new future-pop sound in Machinations. Having followed this up with her latest single Oxytoxic, RACKETT is currently touring her new music and live show, once again opting for femme energy in duo form with female bass player, KJ (She Shinjuku).
Hayley Williams - Simmer
Paramore powerhouse Hayley Willams has recently risen from a hiatus to claim an independent voice and presence to her name in her debut single Simmer. Having led Paramore into global success with her powerful vocals and stage presence, can she lead her vision for vulnerable, moody pop into 2020 and beyond? The answer is 1000% yes. Simmer is a delicate juxtaposition, with lyrics "nothing cuts like a mother" delivered with gracious intensity. Simmer is poised and in control, bringing us to boiling point in anticipation of her debut solo album due for release May 8th.
Bones - Pretty Waste
Femme force, Bones is London-based Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg. Within seconds of listening to Pretty Waste, fierce vocals coupled with pioneeristic sonic augmentation makes them (in their words) ‘fantastic freaks you’ve never seen’. The outspoken duo demands the expectations of how a woman should uphold herself be challenged in Beautiful Is Boring. With pussy riot attitude to the soundtrack of grimy electronica, Bones is breaking the mould and restructuring the idea of what ‘punk’ should sound like.
Halsey - Manic
Halsey has built a career on surviving heartbreak and her new album Manic continues to allude to her unrelinquishing appetite for love and evolution. Saving face is not Halsey’s style, she bares it all with lyrics from her single You Should Be Sad touching on the consideration of motherhood, "I’m so glad I never ever had a baby with you" adding another dimension to her masterful, manic persona. The album captures a softer side to Halsey with moments of country surfacing throughout her signature synthetic production, creating the perfect balance of organic wholesomeness with the electronic fantasy.
Nasty Cherry - Season 1
In 2019, Mumma Charli XCX gave us Nasty Cherry. The hand-picked cherries have been serving ripe indie-electronica and shameless content we can’t get enough of and then topped it all off with their debut EP, Season 1. Slipping into cookie-cutter punk would have sufficed, however Nasty Cherry have designed their own signature recipe of pop-punk, layering electronic beats and synth with bratty vocals and IDGAF guitar solos. Gorging on the Charli XCX produced Netflix series I’m With The Band gave us a glimpse into the emotionally complex task of producing an all-female band and the triumph of women working together to work it out.
