Hailing from Boston, Joe Talkowski is our latest tip for fans of Rex Orange County, Declan McKenna, Gabriel Black or Tobias For Now. Listening to the opening of ‘start a fire’, Talkowski’s approach has a juvenile feel - but so it should; he’s only seventeen after all. The simple introduction, with its repeated motifs of making music and fire, sets up the listener to be surprised by the playful rap verses to follow. His youthful confidence comes across as the tempo switches up, his positivity apparent in lines like, “I make good ass music, yeah it’s catchy now, / and you didn’t expect it, but I’m rapping now.” Sure, this isn’t a shout out to listeners, who have likely not come across this young Bostonite before, but rather to friends, family, acquaintances who judged his music before it really hit the ground running. This isn’t a groundbreaking song about youth or wider cultural or social issues, but it doesn’t have to be - it’s carefree, catchy as hell and one that we’ll be replaying all summer. - Hannah Thacker