A New Sound: The Female British Artists Set To Define 2025
Flowerovlove
This south-London artist’s dreamy pop music is primed to conquer the States
It's a big day for Flowerovlove - real name Joyce Cissé – who is in New York preparing for her first ever gig in the city. The show is capping off what has been a busy year for the young British singer, who has been releasing music and touring extensively. ‘I’ve fallen in love with NYC,’ she says. ‘I’ve been here for, like, not even 24 hours, but it’s amazing!’
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Aged 19, Cissé – whose stage name started as an Instagram handle – has been making music for a number of years, having released tracks from her south-London bedroom since her mid-teens. Though she is yet to enter her twenties, you immediately get the sense that she knows herself and exactly what she wants.
Towards the end of last year, Cissé released her latest EP Ache In My Tooth, a collection of upbeat, earworm pop anthems about her love life. She expects the project will be a bit of a late bloomer: ‘I feel like it’ll probably be one of those things that will blow up a year after coming out – everyone’s going to be like, “What was this gem?”’ Cissé first broke out in 2021 with her EP Think Flower. Since then, her sound has evolved from indie to alt-pop, and now to what she describes as ‘clean pop’. That said, she’s quick to point out that the latter can mean anything, really. ‘What does that even mean, right? Like, pop just means popular.’ When I ask about her bucket-list collaborators, she answers without hesitation: Harry Styles. Meanwhile, New York lends itself to big aspirations. ‘My dream venue is Madison Square Garden,’ she says. ‘I think it’s so iconic.’ See you there.
FILE NEXT TO: Sabrina Carpenter, Rachel Chinouriri, Harry Styles.
WHAT TO PLAY: ‘ARE U SERIOUS?’
WHEN TO LISTEN: Any time you’re in need of a serotonin hit.
Grace Carter
After years of soul-searching, the singer is ready to embrace her sunnier side, with an evolving sound to match
Grace Carter isn't exactly known for making cheerful music. Her discography largely consists of heartfelt ballads that touch on emotionally charged topics, including difficult family relationships. By contrast, her personality is vibrant and infectious, and she’s slowly moving into a new, happier era. ‘I want to be able to have moments of light and shade when performing,’ she says. This philosophy is evident from her latest single ‘You Got TheThing’, her most upbeat song to date.
She explains that, unlike her previous tracks, the new music does not concern anyone specific, but is rather ‘more about feeling really good and wanting that feeling to stay’. Carter was born in London but grew up in Brighton, before eventually moving back to the capital. In Brighton, she attended Blatchington Mill School – the singer Celeste was a few years above her – and recalls spotting Rag’n’Bone Man and the hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks, all of whom are from the area, in the crowd at gigs.
‘There was definitely a scene of people doing their thing. I think that was really inspiring for me, especially as a young brown person in Brighton. It’s not the most diverse place ever but, actually, I could see a lot of myself in many of the people who were in the same circle as I was.’
Carter has been writing music from the age of 12 and releasing songs since she was 19. After her powerful debut single ‘Silence’ went viral for its raw emotion, Dua Lipa asked her to join her on her 2017 tour. Then, Lewis Capaldi and Jorja Smith came calling (Carter has opened for both). She placed third on the BBC’s Sound of 2019 list, alongside Rosalía and King Princess, and has racked up more than half a million monthly listeners.
She frequently works alongside her network of London creatives, namely her friend Priya Ahluwalia, who directed the music video for Carter’s song ‘Riot’. When she’s not stepping outwearing Ahluwalia’s designs, she prefers to channel the pared-back elegance of Sade – ‘simple, but effective’.
FILE NEXT TO: Joy Crookes, Mahalia, Olivia Dean.
WHAT TO PLAY: ‘You Got The Thing’.
WHEN TO LISTEN: On long, introspective walks around the city.
Chloe Qisha
A pop superstar in the making is back with a buzzy new EP
Chloe Qisha loves a good 'sad happy song.' You know the kind: a sonically upbeat tune that makes you want to dance in spite of the occasionally heart-wrenching lyrics. The type of song that you only realise is sad after listening properly. ‘That’s always my goal,’ she tells me. ‘To make the songs feel like some-thing you could get up and dance to with your friends, but then when you actually get into it, you’re like, “Oh God.”’
The Malaysian-born, London-based singer dropped her debut EP at the end of last year, blending breathy vocals with catchy alt-pop beats. Her chic aesthetic(she wears a sharp power suit on the cover of her latest, self-titled EP) oozes cool, as does the nonchalance of her sound. Qisha describes the new release as being ‘about themes I felt were true to me in the past year and a half. That ranges from leaving a work relationship and the feeling of being smothered by a partner, to entering the music scene and being a bit scared of that’.
Despite her fears, the confidence that she exudes and the EP’s high production level would make you think she’s been at it for much longer. ‘I hope that, if anything, it gets people really excited about what’s to come, because we’re just getting started.’
Right now, Qisha has one main source of musical inspiration: Troye Sivan. ‘I’ve been obsessed with him and everything he does since his YouTuber days. Not just as a musical influence, but as a pop icon,’ she says. As well as Sivan, she cites Abba, LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads as major influences on her sound, plus the current holy trinity of pop: Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter. What’s next for the rising star? Simple:‘ More music and more bangers!’
FILE NEXT TO: Troye Sivan, Olivia Rodrigo, Lava La Rue.
WHAT TO PLAY: ‘I Lied, I’m Sorry’.
WHEN TO LISTEN: When you need to dance and cry at the same time.
Nia Smith
This Brit School alumna is set to be the new sound of soul
Nia Smith could sing the alphabet and it would leave you mesmerised. Her more recent Instagram followers may have discovered her via her viral, vocally flawless cover of Bakar’s ‘Hell N Back’, but a quick scroll will show artists such as Gracie Abrams and Caity Baser commenting on Smith’s videos as early as 2021. It’s no wonder: her voice has the capacity to transfix a room no matter what she sings.
Luckily for all of us, the Brixton-born-and-raised powerhouse has just released Give Up The Fear, her debut EP. ‘I felt naked!’ she says of her feelings after putting out the project. Smith creates the kind of music that makes those of us who don’t drive wish that we did, simply to blast these songs through the speakers. It’s addictive, scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs R&B, directly inspired by Smith’s surroundings. ‘I just need drama in my life,’ she says. ‘I feel like that is my thing. Situations, arguments – I need to hear all the tea, to feel all the tea.’
Her best-known hit ‘Personal’, which sees dancehall icon Popcaan included on the remix, came out earlier this year and quickly surpassed two and half million streams. Then came the EP and a tour of North America, supporting fellow Brit Elmiene. And, of course, opening for SZA in Hyde Park.
Growing up in Brixton, she explains, greatly impacted her sound. ‘I’ve got Caribbean heritage, so I grew up hearing reggae at home. Living somewhere like Brixton, you can walk down the street and hear reggae, hip-hop and loads of different sounds, and you get to experience so many cultural backgrounds. I think it’s just really inspiring to know there are people like me who live in the same place.’ What would be her dream venue to play? ‘A homecoming at Brixton Academy.’
FILE NEXT TO: Jorja Smith, Snoh Aalegra, SZA.
WHAT TO PLAY: ‘Don’t Cry’.
WHEN TO LISTEN: In the car, at full volume.
Rose Gray
An electrifying debut packed with future club classics is all too apt for an artist who came of age on London’s dancefloors
'My style icon is Lady Miss Kier, the lead singer from Deee-Lite,’ says Rose Gray in a sweet, soothing north-London accent. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given Gray’s eclectic wardrobe and fiery auburn hair. Her signature look is as bold as her music is raucous; appropriately, her upcoming debut album is titled Louder, Please.
The record sits somewhere between pop-rave and electroclash, with flourishes of Balearic house beats. ‘I feel very ready to putout this body of work,’ she says. ‘I’ve waited a really long time, and it just feels right – everything has happened for a reason in order for it to come out now. It’s a nice feeling.’ The Walthamstow-raised artist is palpably excited: having worked on the album for the past two years, she is counting down the days until its release– but she’s also already thinking about the next one.
For several reasons, Gray’s debut has been a long time coming. Having grown up singing in school choirs, she signed a record deal as a teenager but ended up leaving her label and, devastatingly, was forced to abandon the 100-something songs she’d written. She found solace in London’s underground nightlife: ‘There was a club in Hackney called Bloc that was quite Berlin-esque,’ she says of her formative partying years.
Gray spent many a night out at south-London mega club Printworks, and even worked the door at Fabric, which was voted one of the best clubs in the world earlier this year. Since then, she has played both venues, and now has her sights set on Tottenham’s 15,000-person-capacity space Drumsheds: ‘I’d love to do what Sault [the mysterious collective fronted by Cleo Sol] did and takeover the whole place. It was an experience.’
On the new record, Gray worked closely with the American hitmaker Justin Tranter – ‘I’ve been a fan of [Tranter’s] work sinceI saw them on tour with [Lady] Gaga in 2012, then they went onto become this pop god’ – as well as the Irish-Chilean artist and producer Sega Bodega. She’s ready to grab 2025 by the horns, no matter what the public reception to her work will be: ‘Whether people like the album or [not], I’m really proud of it and I love it.’
FILE NEXT TO: Charli xcx, Jade, Robyn.
WHAT TO PLAY: ‘Hackney Wick’.
WHEN TO LISTEN: Pre-club, post-club, or on the beach in the South of France with a beer in hand.
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