2020 is now upon us and a new year of music on the horizon, with this in mind the Last Mixed Tape delves deep and highlights 10 promising emerging acts set to make an impact in the next twelve months.

Sinead O’Brien

Sinead O’Brien’s post-punk poet sound is a strikingly one, with the singles ‘A Thing You Call Joy’ (which featured in TLMT’s Top 50 Songs of 2019) and ‘Limbo’ O’Brien carves out her own music which is filled with lyrical twists and turns, raw statements and angular structures.

April

The definition of an artist on the cusp of a break-out year, April’s lo-fi R&B meets bedroom-pop sounds is laid out in a number of incredibly promising sketches on her Sound Cloud page. Add o this with an impressive turn at Ireland Music Week 2019 and a recent tour supporting Alec Benjamin, and 2020 could be a very big year for the emerging artist.

Toygirl

Toygirl’s debut single ‘Reign’ made for a unique introduction to the group’s lush alt-pop sound, characterized by intricate songwriting, melodic weaving and textured beats. How the five-piece continue this momentum in 2020 will be exciting to see.

Blushing Boy

Blushing Boy’s debut ‘Consumer’ set the tone with its isolating textures, the bone-rattling beats punctuated by angular guitar and a brooding vocal, marking out the band as a very promising new prospect for 2020.

Nerves

Nerves collide jangled indie-pop with the harder element of garage-rock to create a sound that has both impact and depth. Mix this with the trio’s live reputation and they could very well be the band to take 2020 by the scruff.

Rachael Lavelle

With its sprawling densely textured landscapes, the gothic sound of ‘Perpetual Party’ marked a clear sonic sea-change for Rachael Lavelle that made an immediate impact upon its release. It will be very exciting to see what Lavelle has up her sleeve as we move into 2020.

Skinner

Skinner’s most recent single ‘Sometimes My Brain Is Goo’ made for a tense knife-edge listen that found him merging a myriad of genres into one cohesive sound. An artist with a true sense of definition to his music, Skinner’s 2020 output is an exciting prospect.

Milk.

Texturally widescreen indie band Milk released two stand-out singles over 2019, the hook-laden ‘Drama Queen’ and sonically melting ‘Temperature’ highlighting the four-piece as a band with a strong sense of identity. How Milk expands on these very promising tracks is an interesting prospect indeed.

Kynsy

Kynsy made her way into TLMT’s highlights of Ireland Music Week 2019 with a set at Lost Lane that introduced the Irish music scene to music that merged jangle-pop clarity with heart-on-sleeve lyricism, melodically striking interludes and a compelling take on the indie genre that makes Kynsy stand out from the pack. It’s early days for the artist (a debut single is still forthcoming), but she’s definitely one to watch in 2020.

Aoife Nessa Frances

Aoife Nessa Frances will start 2020 with the release of her debut album Land Of No Junction following a string of stellar singles, including the brilliant ‘Blow Up’. Frances’ music is one of great atmosphere brought to the fore by strong stark songwriting and a hypnotic milieu that makes each song as compelling as the last.