New Music Friday 1/10/25
Category
Happy New Year Readers! I'm pleased to bring you the first 2025 New Music Friday. This one is big since we kept you waiting for so long!
If you'd like to be featured on New Music Friday, you can fill out THIS FORM to submit any upcoming releases and maybe you'll be featured on next week's NMF!
F.E.M.M.E. - Molly Grace
IYL: Boys Go To Jupiter, Emmy, Maris
Nashville-based burgeoning pop sensation Molly Grace burst into the spotlight in late 2023 adorned in sparkles, winning the hearts of fans through her witty crowdwork, irresistible stage presence, and reigning vocals–and she hasn’t slowed down since. Drawing inspiration from icons like , , and , Molly fuses pop, funk, and disco into an enticing blend of fresh yet timeless sounds. In 2024, she hit the road on her first headline run, the “Lovesick Tour,” captivating audiences across the Midwest, Northeast, and West Coast. She’s played iconic Nashville stages like Basement East and Exit/In, performed to over 2,000 fans at GEODIS Stadium for Nashville Soccer Club, and made an unforgettable Bonnaroo debut in 2024, which was named “Best Festival Set” by The Nashville SCENE. One thing is certain about Miss Molly Grace – if you see her perform, you will leave a fan.
Fresh off of signing with Nettwerk Music Group, she will be releasing her dazzling, anthemic new single “F.E.M.M.E.,” on January 10th, produced by Cody Fitzgerald (Lawrence, Pom Pom Squad), and making her way around the East Coast on her “But I’m A Pop Star!” Tour starting in February, rounding the corner towards a debut LP to come.
Molly Grace is the embodiment of a fire sign: charming, passionate, and playful. She is fabulous, enticing, magnetic, magical, everything; a supernova on the brink of explosion. So, throw on something sparkly and join the ride—she’s just getting started!
Come Around - Lisa Curtis
IYL: Semler, Jaedynn Latter, Corrina
Lisa Curtis is a 20 year old singer songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. She released her first single, "Hand Me Downs," in October of 2021 and now has reached over 1 million streams on her music. She was first recognized for her songwriting on Tiktok and has continued to reach more people with her lyrics. Now motivated to share her music, she released her first EP in October of 2021 and released her second single "Bored Again" on July 7th, 2022. Her most recent single "Gasp of air" went viral on multiple platforms which demanded a release. That song now has over a million streams on Spotify alone in just 3 months. Her raw takes on simple ideas generate comitted listeners and brings a heartfelt audience together. You can follow her on social media to learn more and stay up to date on her latest projects.
Growing Pains - Outsider Heart
IYL: Paloma, Five AM, Census
Black painted doors, the sound of designer shoes on wet cement, the smell of cheap perfume, the energy in the air of a packed room, the sweat dripping from your hair. Each is a reminder of your individualism, a party that no one would let you have.
Emerging from a passionate live scene in Columbus OH, 'Outsider Heart' shimmers under the dying light of the modern day rock band. Combining angsty pop melodies and infectious rock instrumentation, Outsider Heart blends fabulous and youthful attitudes in a glimmering new light.
Outsider Heart is a group of prolific songwriters and audio-visual creatives hell-bent on proving that it's better to be an outsider.
You Oughta Know - Pretty Jane
IYL: Night Cap, West 22nd, Ethan Regan
Pretty Jane’s mastery of unexpected and unfettered intimacy lives up to their moniker of “Music that feels like kissing your friends.”
Meeting first by dating the same set of twins, the Detroit-born and Nashville-based trio didn't like each other at first. In a mosaic of alternative and indie punctuated by unassuming pop appeal, their music yearns for connection, intimacy, for home or the past.
Fearlessly flaunting personalities just as outsized as these emotions, they’ve amassed ten million-plus streams and 120k+ followers, earning them early acclaim from A1234, SHEESH.
The band crowd-surfed their way to a sold out debut headline show in Nashville, where they’ll be headlining the Light The Nations festival in October.
The band continues their intimate tone on an upcoming 2025 EP through Create Music Group.
Same Old Song - The Lumineers
IYL: Vance Joy, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
The Lumineers are one of the world’s most beloved bands with 24 #1 hits. The band has become a touring juggernaut, selling out arenas throughout the world. “Ho Hey” was their first hit single from their self-titled debut. The album rose to #2 on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 on its way to 3x RIAA platinum certification in the U.S. and Canada and two GRAMMY® Award nominations including “Best New Artist.” CLEOPATRA followed in 2016, debuting at #1 in the U.S., Canada, and the UK on route to RIAA platinum in the U.S. and 2x platinum certification in Canada. The Lumineers’ third album, III, proved a critical and popular phenomenon upon its 2019 release, highlighted by such singles as “Life In The City” and “Gloria,” the latter which topped the charts at Americana, Adult Alternative, and spent six consecutive weeks at #1 on Alternative. The band released their fourth album BRIGHTSIDE in January 2022. The album was top ten in both the U.S. and Canada and the title track reached #1 on Billboard’s Alternative National Airplay and Adult Alternative Airplay charts. The Brightside World Tour saw over 1.1 million tickets sold across 120 cities, 29 countries and 6 continents including two record-breaking sold-out stadium shows at Coors Field in Denver and Wrigley Field in Chicago. The band achieved the highest-attended concert at Coors Field and broke their own record by grossing $3.6 Million at Wrigley Field.
With You - Dean Lewis
IYL: Lewis Capaldi, Calum Scott, James Arthur
Songwriter from Australia. Trying to write genuine music about things that happen in my life.
Waitin' On You to Wear Off - Vincent Mason
IYL: Ty Myers, Hudson Westbrook, Gavin Adcock
The Smile of the Snake - ARTEMIS
IYL: Tom Harrell, Emmet Cohen, Yoko Miwa Trio
The brainchild of pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, ARTEMIS is a powerful ensemble of modern jazz masters. Named for the Greek goddess of the hunt, the multinational, multigenerational group was founded in 2017 under the banner of International Women’s Day. After hearing the band perform at the Newport Jazz Festival, Blue Note Records President Don Was signed them to the label and tour dates followed across Europe and the US. Now, three years after the release of ARTEMIS’ critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, the ensemble returns with a marvelous follow-up that highlights the improvisational strength of its members as well as their respective gifts as composers. "IN REAL TIME" showcases Renee Rosnes (piano), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Nicole Glover (tenor sax), Alexa Tarantino (alto sax, flute), Noriko Ueda (bass) and Allison Miller (drums). “Our new album is an authentic representation of the collective and individual,” Miller says. “Our growth as a band is clear from the first downbeat and the chemistry is palpable. Simply put, we sound like a band!”
Hello, Anxiety (feat. Kai Bosch) - Litany
IYL: Your Smith, Yumi Zouma, Young & Sick
live laugh litany
Highway 65 - Paige Plaisance
IYL: Jobi Riccio, Taylor Grace, Christina Vane
Paige Plaisance is a Louisiana songstress. Growing up on a farm near the muddy Mississippi River, Plaisance honed her skills on the piano until she moved to Austin where she now resides. She plays with her band The Yeah You Right Boys.
Pillow Talk - Party Nails
IYL: Tegan and Sara, Suki Waterhouse, MS MR, Caroline Rose
Before she was Party Nails, Elana Carroll was the tween-dream-open-mic-queen of Chatham, NY. Garageband, meanwhile, sparked a passion for technology, revealing an artist equal parts frontman and engineer, ham and bone. Elana’s love of the studio has only grown, while a growing audience continues to adore her onstage.
Party Nails debuted in 2015 on Neon Gold’s famed blog with Break, toured in 2017 (with PVRIS and Lights), produced and wrote with produced feminist rock duo Deap Vally and lent her vocal magic to LŪN, Urban Heat, Battle Tapes, MitiS, Getter, and more. Elana’s music has been in movies and television (Glass, Girls, The L Word: Generation Q, Nancy Drew, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) featured in Billboard, PAPER, Noisey, Earmilk, Paste, etc, and on Spotify playlists Fresh Finds, Undercurrents and more. She operates Top Coat recording studio in Los Angeles, where she records, produces and mixes for Party Nails and others. She’s also pretty funny (check “Rockin' on the Rag,” her period pride canticle for Loren Bouchard’s Apple animated series Central Park).
Charades - Max Cooper III
IYL: The Far Out, Jace Bodner, B Roach & the Acted Distracted
From tapping out rhythms on pots and pans as a small child to composing heartfelt, genre-blending songs, Max Cooper III has followed a musical journey that began before he could even remember. His passion ignited early when his parents bought an upright piano for his sister — but by age three Max was the one teaching himself piano by ear, keeping perfect time and writing songs by five.
Now he’s ready to release his debut EP “The Overthinker”, out Feb. 28, 2025. Nearly two years in the making, the collection of 5 new songs takes listeners on a journey of self-reflection and emotional depth. It’s the culmination of years of songwriting, with some tracks reaching back to his high school days.
“All the songs share a common thread,” Max says of the EP. “I’m always in my own head way too much —my thoughts affecting my life, which is why I titled this project The Overthinker.” The EP delves into the turbulence of internal struggles, often juxtaposing upbeat melodies with deeply poignant narratives. His music is a dynamic fusion of genres, weaving together acoustic pop, jazz, the occasional theatrical flair and whatever else ignites his creative spark.
Look Up - Ringo Starr
IYL: Jeff Lynne, The Byrds, Traveling Wilburys
De Guerre - spill tab
IYL: KALI, Jelani Aryeh, BETWEEN FRIENDS
👀😍💗🤪🐌🫒🫒🫒
What It Feels Like - Aly & AJ
IYL: Hayley Kiyoko, Lindsay Lohan, Cher Lloyd
What It Feels Like, the new Aly & AJ single, embraces new life stages in our objectifying culture. It is a song, written by a new mother and a new aunt, about the beauty in noticing physical changes and resolving to admire them, prioritizing positivity and using family and sisterhood as a foundation to lean on during difficult mental health moments. It is also a response to an industry that doesn't tend to value women as they grow through life and represents a sound that is authentically two sisters who want to make rock music at any cost.
The song was recorded in Topanga Canyon with producer Jonathan Wilson. Aly gave birth during the session and the two sisters hope that this spirit of fertility, nature, womanhood, motherhood, sisterhood and growth comes bursting out of the recording. As the lyrics state, "That's ok I'm not afraid. I want to know what it feels like."
After selling out shows across their last headlining run, including a raucous hometown show at The Greek Theatre in LA, Aly & AJ will appear at several festivals before a headlining run later in 2025 to promote their forthcoming album, Silver Deliverer. 2025 marks their 20th year as a band.
Scissors (feat. Maren Morris) - Julia Michaels
IYL: Alessia Cara, Olivia O'Brien, JP Saxe
In 2017, Julia Michaels released her 5x-platinum selling debut single “Issues.” A year later, her peers recognized her stunning work with Grammy® Award nominations for “Best New Artist” and “Song of the Year.” She released a series of critically acclaimed EPs, including 2017’s fan-favorite Nervous System and 2019’s critically acclaimed Inner Monologue Part 1 and Inner Monologue Part 2. She also embarked on The Inner Monologue Tour, which marked her first-ever U.S. headline tour following an enviable run touring with Maroon 5, Keith Urban, Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan, and P!NK. 2021 saw Julia release her highly anticipated full-length debut album, Not In Chronological Order, while her music continued to connect with songs like “What A Time” and “Heaven” going on to achieve Platinum status. To date, she has also notched 25 Billboard Hot 100 entries as a songwriter, including two number 1’s for Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me,” in addition to four top 10 hits. She received her third Grammy® Award nomination in the category of “Song Of The Year” for the hit song “If The World Was Ending” and her fourth Grammy® Award nomination for her work on H.E.R.’s album Back of My Mind. She recently contributed original songs for the Disney film, “Wish,” starring Oscar winner Ariana DeBose. She continues collaborations to extend her incredible songwriting legacy.
When We Kiss - Olly Alexander
IYL: Zara Larsson, Clean Bandit, Calvin Harris
Your New Favorite Songs - Wallows
IYL: Dayglow, The Backseat Lovers, Her's
Wallows are Braeden Lemasters, Cole Preston, and Dylan Minnette.
Act 4: Atonement - Mon Rovîa
IYL: Hazlett, Tiny Habits, Jonah Kagen
The Love you pour out is never a waste, never in Vain | The people must rise. 🎈
Aurora - hallpass
IYL: Edgehill, Blank Space, The Braymores
hallpass is an indie/alternative rock group from Athens, GA, originating from a friendship between two musicians introduced by their older brothers. hallpass has evolved from casual living room jams to an ambitious group making a name for themselves with their refreshing, feel-good, and raw rock sound, driven by their energetic stage presence.
The hallpass debut EP, ‘Sabeline’ was released in August of 2023. From rock and roll to acoustic folk, the four featured songs externalize all the experiences and emotions of their years at the University of Georgia. The EP was followed by their captivating stand-alone single, ‘Who We Are’.
Their second studio EP, 'Oscillate’, is their most recent release. Finding their unique sound, the five songs cater to fans ranging from lighthearted pop-rock to driving alt-rock. ‘Oscillate’ is streaming now on all platforms!
do you - chrysalis
IYL: eilonwy, Ella Luna, Rocco!
chrysalis is the indie folk-rock project of Indigo Ansin, blending intricate guitar, rich vocal arrangements, and deeply personal songwriting. Influenced by Alanis Morissette, Joni Mitchell, and Faye Webster, Indigo writes about relationships, identity, and emotional experiences. With over 800,000 streams and a performance at Boston Calling, their music resonates with listeners for its raw authenticity. Indigo is set to release their sophomore album, showcasing a fresh yet authentic evolution of their sound.
