New Music Friday 2/21/25

Welcome back readers to another installment of New Music Friday! This list is curated by the Voltage Live Staff and the the community. Did we miss your favorite release this week? Let us know on Bluesky!

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!

How the Good Girls Die - Caroline Romano

IYL: Caroline Dare, Lily Hain, Emma Mowery

the loudest sort of introvert ⚡

People Watching - Sam Fender

IYL: Blossoms, Inhaler, Gerry Cinnamon

If Sam Fender’s debut album, 2019’s “Hypersonic Missiles”, introduced a smart, street-wise British songwriter with a penchant for euphoric, hard-hitting guitar anthems, it was 2021’s peerless “Seventeen Going Under” that sent the Newcastle artist stratospheric. An acute observer, Fender turns the mirror not only on the streets he grew up walking, but on himself too. The record is a tough-talking but also tender account of Fender’s childhood, finding his feet in the North of England amongst all the complexities and anxieties that weighed so heavily on his shoulders. It’s also a coming of age story, marrying relatable family themes and broken friendships with devastatingly colossal choruses.

“Seventeen Going Under” is also a record that has taken Sam right across the globe, playing to bigger rooms and wider stages, whilst reaping a clutch of awards too (BRITs, NMEs, Ivor Novellos, and a prestigious Mercury Prize nomination).

Having headlined his first festivals in the UK in the Summer of 2022, and sold out all 45,000 tickets of his most recent headline performance in London, Sam Fender has inadvertently become one of Britain’s most celebrated and successful musicians of a generation.

Mountain Music (The Summit) - Nina Nesbitt

IYL: Gabrielle Aplin, Wrabel, Winona Oak

Dear wanderer, 'Mountain Music' is yours now ⛰️⛰️

This album is for the girl who grew up in the small town, the twenty-something trying to find her way in the big city and the person I am now looking back at the view of it all. The beauty, the magic, the messiness and everything in-between. Mountain Music held my hand through some of my hardest moments and I really hope it can hold yours too.

Don’t Fall Asleep To This - The Ivy & Lyncs

IYL: Laur Elle, Abigail Osborn, Troy Ogletree, LAVE, joan, Nightly

Lyncs is a 5'3" orchestra kid gone rogue from the 717 // Just when you think you have The Ivy all figured out as a dreamy synth-pop band, they’ll throw a curve ball, incorporating lo-fi bedroom sounds, rock guitars or R&B-inspired instrumental interludes into their indie pop. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based duo comprising singer/songwriter/guitarist Wyatt Clem and songwriter/synth player/bassist Shawn Abhari always keeps you guessing.

Dubbed by Earmilk as “one of the most promising indie pop acts to come out of Oklahoma,” The Ivy burst onto the scene in 2017 when their songs “Gold” & “Have You Ever Been in Love” went viral, climbing the Spotify charts & receiving millions of streams, winning over critics and drawing comparisons to The 1975.

Wyatt and Shawn met studying at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Oklahoma City & discovered their musical styles complemented each other. Shawn loved emo and pop punk like Green Day and Blink-182 & Wyatt was influenced by R&B and the blues. When they came together, these disparate influences balanced out beautifully.

With three critically acclaimed EPs under their belts, The Ivy have fans around the world, shared the stage with the Band Camino, performed at Lollapalooza and are making indelible waves in the indie pop scene.

Where Will You Be - Jack Hartman

IYL: The 4411, jake minch, Elias Hix

Jack Hartman is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from Franklin, TN, whose heartfelt music reflects a journey deeply rooted in personal loss and inspiration. Jack has released several singles and an EP titled There Is No Cancer In Heaven. Now a senior in high school, Jack is dedicated to pursuing a career in music. He is currently working on his first full-length album, set to be released in 2025.

Gimme Love - POW

IYL: STURN, ONE PACT, EPEX

POW, the five-member global boy group from GRID Entertainment debuted in October 2023, is bursting into the music scene with a “bang”. Each member stands out as a vocalist, bringing distinct tones and captivating stage presence. Led by YORCH, a former child actor from Thailand, the group includes HYUNBIN, JUNGBIN, DONGYEON, and HONG, each showcasing their unique styles.

Following the release of their digital single "Valentine" in January 2024, POW returned eight months later with their pre-release track “Sunset”. Their 2nd EP “Boyfriend”, which was released this October 2024, is generating major buzz.

Rabbit Hole - Madeline The Person

IYL: Maddie Zahm, Lexi Jayde, Dylan Conrique

Touch Me - Control Room

IYL: WHOWHENWHY, Confession, Wenzday

Control Room is a high-energy house duo originating from small towns in Northern Canada. Consisting of Paul Biegel and Caleb Larsen, the duo met as college roommates, where they created the vision for their artist project. Since then, their music has been featured on some of the world's biggest stages, including EDC Las Vegas, Shambhala Music Festival, Ultra Miami, HARD Summer, and ADE. They have accumulated over 2 million streams, won the award for Best Electronic Record at the Independent Music Awards in India, and been featured in Rolling Stone.

Control Room has garnered support from some of dance music’s top acts, such as Nicky Romero, Don Diablo, Habstrakt, Dr. Fresch, Wax Motif, and Marten Hørger. The duo is on a mission to push the boundaries of bass house by merging the impact and energy of bass music with the musicality and emotion of melodic house. They take pride in their work ethic—cooking up bangers daily and perfecting the recipe for your favorite records.

Melodies Like Mark - Eliza Niemi

IYL: Stella Kola, curled around, Nina and Alfred

On Progress Bakery, Eliza’s simple, miraculous music is given further form and shape by another group of precious collaborators – invaluable guest musicians Jeremy Ray, Evan Cartwright, Steven McPhail, Kenny Boothby, Ed Squires, Carolina Chauffe, Dorothea Paas, Louie Short, and Avalon Tassonyi. Together with Louie Short, who recorded, mixed, and produced the album along with Jeremy Ray and Lukas Cheung, Eliza has cultivated a richness in sound and texture that prods and provokes the ticklish ear. Barely audible guitar tinkering, a brief lo-fi field recording of trumpets, the harmonic clicking of a looped synthesizer, a flourish of reeds, a child’s conversation, each uncanny sound perfectly placed, rippling out under a soft breeze.

You Happened - KNOX

IYL: Braden Bales, Hastings, Alex Coles

Knox crafts anthems powered up by a hands-on D.I.Y. approach, alternative adventurousness, and unassuming pop rock ambition. A few years back, he wholeheartedly devoted himself to music. His debut How to Lose a Girl in 7 Songs EP yielded the breakout “Sneakers.” On its heels, “Not The 1975,” cracked the Top 20 at Top 40 radio and Top 10 at Hot AC, landed a SESAC Songwriter Award, and adorned his 2023 EP, I’m So Good At Being Alone? He also garnered acclaim from the likes of Billboard and collaborated with everyone from HARDY and Bilmuri to Rosie. Establishing himself as a showstopping live presence, he supported The BAND CAMINO and Quinn XCII, going on to eventually sell out two of his own headline tours and ignite the stage at Lollapalooza and the 2024 MTV VMA Block Party. However, Knox is just going to continue to captivate and surprise throughout 2025 and beyond.

Feel It Again - Arrows in Action

IYL: Honey Revenge, Letdown., Hot Milk

hi, we're Jesse, Matt, and Victor. we make up the band Arrows in Action and we are stoked you care enough to read this bio.

the band formed in college in Gainesville, FL, and has turned into something beyond our wildest dreams, something we owe to everyone who has listened to and loved our music.

more than anything we want to create a space where everyone feels welcome and hopefully make some great music along the way :)

hope you'll stick around for the journey, welcome to the chaos.

Workhorse - Isabel Pless

IYL: Moira & Claire, vivi rincon, Annika Bennett

just me, my guitar, & my linguistics degree against the world.

Sink Now, Swim Later - Sienna Spiro

IYL: Jade LeMac, Hunter Metts, sombr

More More More - Mt. Joy

IYL: Caamp, Houndmouth, Wilderado

When Mt. Joy (singer / guitarist Matt Quinn, guitarist Sam Cooper, bassist Michael Byrnes, drummer Sotiris Eliopoulos, and keyboardist Jackie Miclau) came together to record their sophomore album Rearrange Us, the band was in rough shape — adrift in a miasma of situational and romantic agony, digging themselves out of relationships that had soured in the harsh light of a life permanently spent in a van somewhere between Stockton and Peoria. Not that Mt. Joy wasn’t grateful for the opportunity to live out even the most wayward chapters of the archetypical rock-and-roll narrative. The band’s 2018 Dualtone Records debut was nothing short of life-changing. Over the course of a year, what was first a bedroom project was now a band that Rolling Stone called “your new folk-rock heroes.” Industry publications called the album “a major breakthrough” (Billboard), and single “Silver Lining” hit #1 on the AAA Radio Charts. The resulting project is a triumph of spirit and self-knowledge: Rearrange Us —produced by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse) — is the sound of a band growing into themselves both musically and personally. Matt Quinn’s songwriting is at once more painterly and less precise, like perfectly rendered vignettes from a largely disjointed memory of a dream, as the band veers from folk-stomps to psychedelic reflections to gospel elegies with a well-honed verve — all to create a welcome salve to the transience of getting older and chasing a dream.

Somewhere - Caamp

IYL: Mt. Joy, Houndmouth, Wilderado

Ohio boys, making beautiful noise

Butterfly - MARINA

IYL: Melanie Martinez, Mother Mother, Ashnikko

MARINA is an award-winning, platinum-selling singer-songwriter who burst on to the scene in 2009. She has since released five acclaimed albums including ‘The Family Jewels’ (2010), ‘Electra Heart’ (2012), which debuted at Number 1 on the UK’s Official Charts, FROOT (2015), Love + Fear (2019), which debuted TOP 5 in the UK and Top 10 on the U.S. Albums chart, and most recently 'Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land' (2021), which featured the Ivor Novello nominated hit "Man's World." Each of Marina’s records have been accompanied by global sell-out headline tours with shows at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals worldwide. She has amassed over 4 billion worldwide streams and over 1 billion video views.

Miscellaneous - Southcourt

IYL: October Tuesday, Hi I'm CJ, ELZABAD
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