Rock
Snail Mail was formed in 2015 by Lindsey Jordan (vocals, guitar), Ryan Vieira (bass), and Shawn Durham (drums). They released their first EP, Sticki, and then went on a brief tour in 2016 before releasing their second EP, Habit. Shortly after the new EP, Vieira and Durham left the band. They were replaced with Alex Bass (bass) and Ray Brown (drums). The new members went on tour in 2017, and in June 2018 released their first studio album, Lush. Lush features three singles released earlier this year: “Prisine”, “Heat Wave”, and “Let’s Find an Out”.
Folk
Joshua Tillman began his career by recording and distributing demos in his spare time. After a year of this, Tillman was opening for Jurado. Tillman released 8 albums under the moniker “J. Tillman”, and then in 2012 he released his album Fear Fun under his new name, “Father John Misty”. He has produced 3 additional albums as Father John Misty, with his newest album, God’s Favorite Customer, releasing in June 2018. He has done collaborations with several artists including: Kid Cudi (“Young Lady”, 2013), Lady Gaga (“Sinner’s Prayer” & “Come to Mama”, 2016), and Beyoncé (“Hold Up”, 2016).
Pop
Bleachers was founded in May 2013 by Jack Antonoff, who is a member of the bands Fun and Steel Train. In February 2014, his first single, “I Wanna Get Better”, was topping charts and was used as the lead single for the studio album Strange Desires (2014). Strange Desire featured the band’s other singles: “Shadow”, “Rollercoaster”, and “Like a River Runs”. Since then, Bleachers has released another studio album, Gone Now (2017) and produced a soundtrack for the movie, Love, Simon (2018).
R&B
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of, is about to release her second studio album, Us, this week on October 19, 2018. The album includes several of her singles released this year, including “Trust Me Baby”, “Love for Me”, and “When I’m with Him”. Us is preceded by her first studio album, Me (2015), along with three EPs: Systems (2013), Tristeza (2014), and Google Play: Live at the Milk JamRoom (2016).
Electronic
At the age of 27, Mike Hadreas started a project on MySpace called Perfume Genius. In 2010, he released his first studio album, Learning. Shortly after the release of the album, he opened for A Sunny Day in Glasgow. He has released 3 more studio albums and performed several of his singles on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. His most recent album, No Shape (2017), made it to #185 on the Billboard 200 list.