The Groove’s Emerging Artist List: Ones To Watch For 2026
The Groove’s Emerging Artist List: Ones To Watch For 2026
Introducing The Groove’s emerging artist list for 2026!
We’ve got 16 exciting bands, duos, and solo musicians to share, whether they’re an artist on the cusp of a big break, or someone who should be on your radar as we move through the year.
If you’re a music lover keen to expand your library, check out these artists below, find out why we’re backing them, and why The Groove believes 2026 is going to be a grand old year for these guys.
Let’s dive straight into our Ones To Watch For 2026 list!
Dictator band. Image credit: John Jokey
DICTATOR
Dictator are exactly what an emerging artist should be: musicians making music that doesn’t sound like anyone else. The Scottish four-piece fuse hip-hop, jazz, indie and funk with quirky lyricism that often conceals a stronger message. 2026 is already off to a good start, with the release of single ‘Screwball Scramble’ earning them spots on the revered Spotify & Apple Music’s curated new music playlists, likely a mere teaser of what’s in store this year for an exciting band.
balu brigada
New Zealand is on the line. Kia Ora Balu Brigada, or brothers Pierre and Henry Beasley, who are now based in New York. Demonstrating a knack for alt-pop music that’s fun, fresh and funky, their infectious hooks catapulted them into the public eye last year, and will have you moving and grooving from first listen. The duo are touring the UK and Ireland at the start of May with energetic debut album, Portal, only released last August and already well into the millions on streaming platforms.
Balu Brigada, brothers Pierre and Henry Beasley. Image credit: Christen Peters
nectar woode
Nectar Woode promises to inject 2026 with her sunshine vocals, buoyant song style, and charismatic presence. Woode brings soul, charm, and pavement-skipping melodies to the playing field, with close to a million monthly listeners of Jools Holland-approved singles. This will surely be the year she joins the ranks of mainstream recognition alongside her peers in the wave of refreshingly independent, British female talent intent on carving out a larger space in a male-dominated industry.
just mustard
Textured, shoegaze rock emerges from Ireland in the form of Just Mustard, an experimental five-piece who blend ethereal elements with distorted industrial sounds. Their magnetic swirling style, endorsed by The Cure’s Robert Smith, has seen them support Fontaines DC and Wolf Alice on tour. Find them performing around the UK in April, with October release ‘WE WERE JUST HERE’, the lead single of which was featured in Netflix film ‘The Woman In Cabin 10’, starring Kiera Knightley..
Just Mustard, experimental Irish five-piece. Image credit: Kate Lawlor
GOLDIE BOUTILIER
We crowned her 2nd place on The Groove’s albums of the year countdown, with ‘Goldie Boutilier Presents… Goldie Montana’, and we’ve been singing her praises since its release in September, but the Canadian solo artist is well due a grand rise to fame in 2026. Releasing music through her stage alter ego, Goldie Boutilier’s songs are sharp, smart, and stylised to the nth degree - without coming across as contrived. No UK tour dates have yet been announced, but we’re hopeful they will be.
Fletchr Fletchr
Early fans have hailed them ‘the next big thing’, and they’ve already supported Imagine Dragons, but Fletchr Fletchr’s huge sound will easily fill larger venues through their own accomplishments this year. Fronted by basically-brothers Rohan Fletcher and Adam Saunders, the four-piece are grounded in rock, with influences spanning jazz, liquid drum and bass, and classic indie. Catch them at the 100 Club in London at the end of this month for an intimate introduction.
Genesis Owusu, Australian solo performer. Image credit: Genesis Owusu
genesis owusu
Genesis Owusu is a rapidly rising, genre-bending phenomenon making waves in his home country of Australia. Gaining fans with every razor-sharp performance and cultural commentary release, he goes in just as hard on the beat as the lyrics. Last year, Owusu previewed unreleased material on the stage and at small-scale fan events, so with a 3rd album likely on the horizon for 2026, it’s almost a given that the UK will soon be let in on one of Australia’s most promising stars of the decade.
Victoria canal
Coldplay’s Chris Martin called 2022 single ‘Swan Song’ ‘one of the best songs ever written’, and only a couple of weeks ago, The (literal) Beatles shared Victoria Canal’s cover of ‘Blackbird’ via their Instagram account. The British singer-songwriter has a gorgeous tone and writing ability that sits on the fence between soothing and eerie. Her trajectory shows no signs of slowing in 2026 as she makes good on the promise of last year’s debut album, titled ‘Slowly, It Dawns’.
British band, World News. Image Credit: Shawn O’Shea
WORLD NEWS
World News turn 70s escapism into four-minute soundscapes, with a catalogue of tracks that drag you in and pull you under. A four-piece British band, they’ve spent 2025 tearing it up in low-ceiling basement rooms, with an intriguing live aesthetic that blends glittering decor with pinstripe suits. With the release of their debut album this year, we expect that 2026 will see World News break out of these dim-lit venues, enhancing a sound that’s polished, cool, and ever so more-ish.
UK band, Westside Cowboy. Image Credit: Chuff Media
westside cowboy
They describe their sound as ‘Britainicana’ – a mix of sleazy-rock, indie folk, and country. Last year, four-piece Westside Cowboy won Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition, and they’ve since enjoyed a foray of buzz, backed by intimate live shows garnering new fans at every turn. ‘So Much Country Til We Get There’, out this Friday, will be the band’s second body of work to put them on the map, swiftly followed by a UK tour at the end of the month in venues they’ll likely soon grow out of.
AMBER MARK
Amber Mark has been honing her craft for the last decade. But 2025 saw the American artist land highly coveted support slots for Sabrina Carpenter (including at Madison Square Garden), providing her with a formidable platform to showcase her expansive discography and exponentially grow her fanbase. Mark’s catalogue is sassy, sultry, and funky: it’s everything pop needs. You can find her across the UK in April, headlining her own tour with October album, ‘Pretty Idea’.
Amber Mark. Image Credit: UMG / 1824°
jAMES smITH
Interviewed last year, James Smith spoke of a new album out for release at some mid-point in 2026, embracing a larger band sound reminiscent of influences including Oasis. Leaning into a more authentic, electric vibe in the vein of recent singles ‘Golden Age’ and ‘Jesus Is A Woman’ – which landed in at second place on our top songs of 2025 - the British songwriter is starting 2026 with a new song out this week, in a year that should see him break out of the self-labelled ‘soft boy’ box.
Tom A. Smith, British singer-songwriter. Image Credit: Katie Anderson
tOM a. sMITH
At the age of 21, not many can say they’ve played Glastonbury and been handpicked to support Elton John. But one listen to Tom A. Smith, and it’s not hard to see why. Producing cutting-edge songs like magic tricks from his sleeve, Tom A. Smith is the kind of artist who comes out of ‘nowhere’ and quickly attaches to the fabric of the music industry. In fact, he’s already been grafting for years, and his coming-of-age style is sarcastic, gripping, and relentlessly driven to succeed.
sWEET UNREST
Harnessing the theatrics of Sundara Karma and the swagger of David Bowie, Sweet Unrest fill a sweet spot in the alternative scene – creating heartfelt music that mixes classic rock riffs with modern indie flair, unafraid of a drop of punk and a dash of chaos. The band’s live shows are raucous, high-energy affairs, and with some more festival slots and a UK tour taking place from next week, they’re bound to spend 2026 turning crowds into fans with their growing list of maximalist belters.
Sweet Unrest, UK band. Image Credit: Farris Simmon
Chloe slater
British songwriter Chloe Slater ended her year absorbing swathes of the fangirl seas she met while supporting Role Model on his UK tour. The clue is in the name: Slater’s music aims and fires, most recently in chilling single ‘War Crimes’, commendably donating merch profits to the Palestinian who designed the artwork. Her songs carry the anger and disillusionment felt by young people balancing a developing identity with a wider sense of injustice, and no doubt many more will find her in 2026.
Sombr
Following August’s release of debut album ‘I Barely Know Her’, we labelled Sombr ‘the rising star of a generation’. He’s since been nominated for a ‘Best New Artist’ Grammy, and landed smash-hit single ‘Back To Friends’ in our 2025 countdown, so it’s no surprise the New Yorker is on our emerging artist list too. Having already amassed a loyal Gen Z fanbase, now gradually expanding further afield, this is surely just the beginning for Shane Boose – a future indie-pop-rock star rolled into one.