Welcome back to our weekly NMF roundup. Here’s what we think you should be listening to this week!

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Count On It - Adam Paddock

IYL: MOSES., Max Lew, Nitro X, Xander Sallows

The intersection between energetic pop & intimate singer-songwriter is where Adam Paddock's diverse discography feels right at home. Double-take-worthy horn arrangement married to unassuming, soaring vocals driven by familiar acoustic instrumentation is the formula; power-packed, community-focused live shows are the result. People are the point. 
 As strong of an entrance as one can dream to make, Adam Paddock burst into the Ohio scene when he opened for Waka Flocka Flame & MAX as his first full-band show EVER, in the fall of 2020. Since this grand entrance, Paddock has opened for other nationally-acclaimed acts such as Judah & the Lion, Jake Miller, ella jane, Kings Kaleidoscope, Ripe, Truslow, Anna Vaus, Abby Holliday, Gable Price and Friends, Post Sex Nachos, and The Wonderlands. This success led to selling out his debut headlining show, resulting in a near-sell out at an upgraded venue in February of 2022. Paddock has solidified his stake in the legendary Columbus scene with his headlining show, 'COLUMBUS AGAINST THE WORLD' at the iconic Newport Music Hall in March 2023, with nearly 1000 in attendance. This spring, the boys take on part 1 of their east coast tour and will roll out their debut album, ‘Sweet Ohio Light.’

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Stick Season (Forever) - Noah Kahan

IYL: Zach Bryan, Mt. Joy, Lizzy McAlpine, Caamp

Over the past year, GRAMMY-nominated Vermont singer & songwriter Noah Kahan has exploded from his New England roots into the global mainstream and has been touted as one of this year’s biggest and best new artists. At the core of his music are vulnerable lyrics and an unfiltered yet relatable honesty, as the critically acclaimed artist pens songs straight from the heart and cracks jokes with his signature, self-deprecating sense of humor. Across his three albums and an EP, Kahan has garnered global renown for his singular mix of Folk, Americana, and Rock, landing more than five billion streams, a Double Platinum Certification for his hit single “Stick Season,” and collaborations with Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, and more. His widely adored, Platinum-Certified album, Stick Season, is inspired by his New England roots and earliest musical inspirations—from Paul Simon to Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)—conveying a vivid representation of what he loves, fears, and struggles with most passionately. Noah embarked on his sold-out “Stick Season Tour” across North America since the album’s release last year, selling over half-a-million tickets and performing in the biggest venues of his career, with stadium and arena dates already sold-out for his 2024 world tour. Noah has dropped the final release of the Stick Season series—Stick Season (Forever), led by his new single “Forever”—further solidifying himself as one of the most successful breakout artists of the year.

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Don't Forget Me - Maggie Rodgers

IYL: MUNA, HAIM, Sylvan Esso, Kacey Musgraves

Writer/producer from Easton, MD. LP3 coming soon. 🌸

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The Alibi - Dylan

IYL: Cate, Maisie Peters, Caity Baser, NERIAH

23-year-old Dylan might be destined for pop glory, but the influence of more alternative sounds colours her tongue-in-cheek characterisation of herself as “a wannabe rock star in a pop star’s body”.
Her candidness and determination is part of what has amassed her an incredibly loyal and passionate fan base to form around her via her own sold out headline performances across the globe including a mammoth UK & US stadium tour alongside Ed Sheeran and her own sold-out worldwide headline shows.
Growing up, she was raised on a diet of classic rock. “My career is entirely my dad’s fault – he’s very straight-down-the-line but he brought me up on a lot of rock’n’roll like AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, and Rainbow,” she explains.
With impeccable pop anthems destined to continue hooking people into her world, she’s keeping her ambitions fittingly bold. “I want to be respected as a songwriter – for me it really is just about the music,” she explains. “And I want to headline Wembley – that’s everything I’ve had my sights on.”

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Antes - Nina Cobham

IYL: Xadi, Lucy Park, Kevitch

Fusing English with the Spanish language that she grew up around, having spent a period of her formative years in a small mountain town absorbing the country’s rich lexicon and culture, 22-year-old Nina Cobham’s broad-reaching, bilingual storytelling feels like the natural next step for UK alternative pop.
Pop - or her more intimate, nuanced version of it - is however something that’s only started to seep into the Manchester-based musician’s palette in recent years. Learning piano from a young age before teaching herself to play guitar aged 11 with the specific aim of translating her stories and ideas into songs, Nina spent her subsequent early teenagehood exploring a more traditional singer-songwriter route, influenced by the likes of Taylor Swift and Corinne Bailey Rae and encouraged by her sound engineer-turned-pastor father and a house that had always been filled with music.

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1-800-To-Dope - Cano

Braden Cano is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter and composer from a small Ohio town. Cano’s intimate sound is a reflection of his surroundings and experiences while growing up. His craft has been constantly growing and changing since he first touched an instrument at a young age and continues to reach new limits through the release of his debut EP “1-800-TOO-DOPE.”
His music, while having beautiful instrumentals and production, also encapsulates the simplicities and joy of life, beauty of love, and his journey with mental health.

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I'm A Problem - Caity Baser

IYL: Bellah Mae, Michael Aldag, Mimi Webb

Can balance spoons on my face

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Heartbreaker - Dreamer Boy

IYL: Huron John, LAUNDRY DAY, Victor Internet, Jelani Aryeh

Dreamer Boy, born Zachary Arthur Taylor, is a genre-bending artist fusing Americana, R&B and indie-rock to paint a warm picture all his own. Hailing from Waco, Texas and then later spending time living in Nashville, Tennessee (where the Dreamer Boy project began.) Taylor brings a southern twang and country songwriting sensibilities to the pop world together with his band The Lone Stars, a 6 piece band that formed in Los Angeles.

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Tattoos - Natalie Jane

IYL: Lauren Spencer Smith, Jessica Baio, Alexander Stewart, Jordi

Comment a panda emoji on my tiktok if you see this❤️🐼

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Never Be Lonely feat. Zoe Wees - Jax Jones

IYL: Joel Corry, Sigala, MNEK, Becky Hill

Welcome to DEEP JOY. 😈

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Thrill Again feat. UPSHAL - ZHU

IYL: Tchami, What so Not, Hayden James, Gorgon City

ZHU is ready to move again. After spending a year stuck inside, the Grammy-nominated musician and producer is turning his eyes to the future, when clubs reopen and pure rave energy can overtake a crowd of writhing bodies yet again. Most of his third album, DREAMLAND 2021, was made at home during quarantine, but as he crafted the new set’s grimy techno and sweaty house tracks, he imagined the record as the score to a world starting to spin back into motion—even if, for now, that feels out of reach. Over the years, ZHU has won acclaim for exactly these kinds of forward-looking experiments, including a Best Dance Recording nomination at the 2014 Grammys for his breakout hit “Faded.” His debut album GENERATIONWHY topped Billboard's Dance/Electronic albums chart and landed on the Billboard 200, and he’s had dozens of tracks hit the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. These accolades have earned him partnerships with like-minded brands including Luminosity and Leica. And ZHU continued his productive streak in 2020 with a busy run of singles—including “Only” with Tinashe, “Desire” with Bob Moses, and the Kito and Jeremih collab “Follow”—and a string of live-streams for Digital Mirage, Insomniac, and Lollapalooza. But all of this success has never been the point—ZHU just wanted to head to the dancefloor and dream up better worlds. DREAMLAND 2021 basks in that impulse. He imagines everyone united under one roof raving—a party with enough energy to take over the whole world.

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Carelessly Doomed feat. Kota The Friend - Chanel Loren

IYL: Ashli, PANIA, Shanae, CD

British Caribbean artist Chanel Loren has always felt stuck between two worlds. Born and raised in South-East London, Chanel started performing from a young age and her love for dance, music and theatre was an integral part of her upbringing. In her teens, Chanel was accepted to study at the iconic BRIT School in London but at 17 her family relocated to Australia.
Chanel found herself plucked and placed in a foreign land in one of the most transitional periods of her life. No longer surrounded by friends and community; instead, the feelings of embrace and welcome were replaced by an inner need to mute her individuality to fit in. As a result, Chanel found solace in music and poured her emotion and creative spirit into producing songs. In doing so, she found a unique space that allowed her to create music in her own lane and on her own terms.
Emerging as one to watch in 2022 with her debut single 'Playlist', an immediate earworm which has garnered praise from tastemaker media across the globe. Chanel Loren represents the shifting and constantly evolving nature of alternative R&B. A love for neo-soul, indie, UK Garage and everything in-between meets her desire to chase and explore the eccentricities of alternative music. Her music on its own strikes out hard, representing the confidence and core artistic identity that is flourishing, as Chanel prepares to step out onto radars around the globe.

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Don't - The Future Babes

IYL: The Head, SUNDRONES, The Stir, Rebels Of The Jukebox

The Future Babes are a rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, known for timeless songwriting and colorful guitar tones. Fronted by Carson Fleischman and Ian Klin, the band started as three best friends blowing off steam after school along with McClain Hendon, scruffy drummer and guitar pedal enthusiast. After putting some songs together, they quickly got completely hooked on loud guitars and unflinching lyrics. After releasing their debut self-titled EP, their single "Cold Blooded" caught the attention of rock fans across the country after getting spun by legendary Los Angeles DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. The band also found many of its fans in Germany leading to the addition of "Cold Blooded" to multiple Spotify Germany official playlists.

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The band has since opened for national acts including Collective Soul and Paul Rodgers of Bad Company. Their single “Cold Blooded” has been streamed over 300 thousand times on Spotify and was played on historic radio stations like KROQ in Los Angeles and Q104 in New York.

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“Watch out for this band in the future, because if this is where they start, who knows where they will end." -Paste Magazine.

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Suddenly Okay- Blake Rose

IYL: Mokita, Quinn Lewis, Jake Scott, Charlie Oriain

Hailing from Perth, Australia, Blake Rose brings a depth to his music that is wise beyond his years. Marked by profound and picturesque lyricism, his songs are vibrant, powerful, and deeply authentic. At only 21-years-old, his single “Lost" was released to critical acclaim by the likes of Beats1's Zane Lowe praising it on air. The track was instantly added to Spotify’s highly-coveted New Music Friday in the US, Canada, and a long list of other countries. Ones To Watch called his previous single "Hotel Room," “not just a debut single, but a promise from the aspiring Rose to be a force of nature.”

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Love Me Better - Corbyn Benson

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Maybe Life is Good - Em Beihold

IYL: Stephen Sanchez, EMELINE, Jax, PEGGY

Via music, Em Beihold converses and connects much like your closest friend would. She isn’t afraid to be blunt, disclose her insecurities, or laugh unexpectedly, yet she’s got nothing but love. It’s why she’s quietly emerged as an identifiable and inimitable platinum-certified pop songstress with north of 1 billion streams and widespread critical acclaim. She’s the girl on the red carpet with the $10 coat who sends her hair stylist a picture of Jessica Rabbit as inspiration for a late-night TV appearance. The Los Angeles native climbed into the pop culture conversation with the 2022 platinum smash “Numb Little Bug.” It has generated over 500 million global streams in addition to cracking the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and lifting Em to #1 on the Billboard Emerging Artists Chart. She only accelerated her rise with the Egg In The Backseat EP, making her late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She incited the applause of The New York Times, Stereogum, Teen Vogue, V Magazine, and Variety who hailed, “Beihold is very much part of the new guard.” She lent her voice to a duet version of Stephen Sanchez’s “Until I Found You,” which exploded to the tune of over 230 million Spotify streams. Moreover, they lit up The Late Late Show with James Corden together during a smoldering performance. Yet, she opens up even more on a series of 2023 singles for Moon Projects/Republic Records.

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Stupid in Love feat. HUH YUNJIN of LE SSERAFIM - MAX

IYL: Party Pupils, Jake Miller, John K, PRETTYMUCH

Multiplatinum Warner recording artist MAX has been labeled a “Young Pop God” by GQ, named a “top pop star to watch” by Billboard and was nominated for “Best New Pop Artist” at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Since the breakout success of his full-length album Hell’s Kitchen Angel, MAX has garnered more than 2.5 billion streams and has toured the world multiple times over. He yielded an inescapable smash with “Lights Down Low,” which generated over half a billion streams globally and is certified triple platinum in the US. MAX’s new music continues to dive deeper into spreading a message of being true to who you are, wearing what you want to wear, loving who you want to love and creating safe spaces where everyone can feel accepted.

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Vodka Soda - STRAUN

IYL: Hannah Trager, LVRBOY, David Alexander

The soundtrack to your twenties

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A Second To Myself (Deluxe) - DOUBLECAMP

IYL: The Astronomers, Caye, Alt Bloom, Landon Conrath

We're two friends making some music and trying to spread some good vibes. If you like sad songs to happy music, we might just be your new favorite band. Being human is definitely not easy, so we're out here hoping to find more people to talk about it with. If you're reading this, we hope you're having a great day. Feel free to hang out as long as you'd like :)

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Embarrass Me - Phoebe Green

IYL: Pixey, Abbie Ozard, The Big Moon, Greta Isaac

“A thrilling pop debut that deserves to be heard… worlds within worlds of indie pop brilliance” NME - 4* “A future star” Rolling Stone UK - 4* “This is next level stuff” Dork - 5* “Pushes musical boundaries well past the present day” DIY - 4½* “Fearless diarising in smart Big Pop” Uncut - 4* “Highlights and accentuates her brilliant ability of penning narratives and churning out infectious alt-pop cuts” The Line Of Best Fit - 4*

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Beacon - MORGXN

IYL: Paper Jackets, Stereo Jane, GUNNAR, Kids America

feeling machine.