With the year winding down, here at TMR we're taking the opportunity to look back and pick out our top emerging artists of the last 12 months.

It's been a hell of a year for new music - from South London's rough and ready indie scene, to silky electronic producers soundtracking parties on both sides of the Atlantic, there's been something for everyone.

Here, we're finishing up our Top 20 of 2017 - all the best fresh talent that defined the last year.

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SHAME



Boisterous post-punks Shame have been building a reputation for the last few years. Sweat-soaked, topless live antics are just the tip of the iceberg with this lot - holed up in the same South London pub that spewed forth Fat White Family, they've been crafting their debut album Songs Of Praise since they were school kids. A sarcastic, snarling takedown of modernity and the everyday anxiety of generation Brexit, led by indie classic in waiting 'One Rizla', don't bet against Songs Of Praise topping end-of-year lists in 12 months' time. -Tom Connick



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DAMA SCOUT



Few bands have emerged this year with as much blazon creativity as Dama Scout. From their brilliantly bizarre, and sometimes down-right terrifying, self-made music videos, to their increasingly improvised live sets (supporting the likes of Weaves, Happyness and Jay Som), the Glasgow/London trio - Eva, Lucci, Danny - are a truly unique new outfit. Blending jarring, wonderfully wonky alt rock, with dreamy melodies and moments of contagious power pop, the group are doing things completely their own way, setting their own agenda and it's a pleasure joining them for the ride. There's really no one quite like Dama Scout. -George O’Brien



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MAVI PHOENIX



Until she dropped her Young Prophet EP in the first quarter of this year, Mavi Phoenix was a relatively unknown name. Yet her angular style of urban pop which fuses elements of rap and R&B has made her a hot name on the up-and-coming scene. Despite growing up in Austria, her family has roots in Syria – her Grandfather arrived in Vienna as a refugee in the 70s, and Phoenix attended English speaking schools and listening to Bowie.  It’s this cosmopolitan upbringing which perhaps explains the varied and at times futuristic elements of her music: ‘Love Longtime’ is a minimal, autotuned ballad, whist ‘Janet Jackson’ uses spacey synths and vocoder to great effect. We can’t wait to see what she has in store for us in 2018. -Holly Manners



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STELLA DONNELLY



This year Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly made her EP debut with the brazenly-titled, Thrush Metal, and wide acclaim from the global blogosphere. Looking at her musical from a literal perspective, it’s all based around her voice and guitar, but Donnelly goes way beyond your run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter with her soft, affecting vocals, purposeful use of strings and lo-fi recording that makes it feel as though you’re watching Donnelly in the cosy warmth of an open mic night (but without the amateurs). For the vast majority of her immediate listeners, it would have been the biting, acoustic rawness of ‘Mechanical Bull’ (released in March) that would have caught their ear. That being said, any one of Donnelly’s intimately genuine songs could be a worthy introduction, no less so than ‘Boys Will Be Boys’. Sheathed in a calming, lullaby-esque melody and the Perth performer’s soothing tone, ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ unravels itself as a much more serious, darker song than first appearances may have led you to presume. As Donnelly explained upon the track’s release alongside the revealing George Foster-directed video, this song is “my attempt at making sense of society's tendency to blame the victims of sexual assault and rape and make excuses for the perpetrators.” It’s one of those tracks that causes you to pause, consider, reflect and perhaps take something new from. Reminiscent of fellow Australian troubadours Julian Jacklin and Courtney Barnett, we’re betting that Stella Donnelly’s guaranteed rise will following suit over the next couple of years. -Hannah Thacker



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NERVOUS CONDITIONS



Nervous Conditions are a sprawling 8 piece alternative orchestra from Cambridgeshire consisting of 2 drummers, bass, synth, violin, guitar and saxophone all lead by their brilliant front man Connor Browne. Over the last year, Nervous Conditions have established themselves as one of the most sought after live acts in the London scene, having played for every decent promoter in the capital as well as performing as krautrock legend Damo Suzuki's backing band for an entirely improvised one off show. Sounding something like a meeting point between David Bowie's sax-heavy final album Blackstar and The Fall in their hey day, these newcomers are certainly not following the crowd in terms of sound. With nothing to listen to online yet apart from an electrifying live video of 'Village Mentality' (a set list highlight), we're chomping at the bit to hear some quality recordings of their unique and experimental compositions. If they're anywhere near as good at their live show then we're in for a treat.  -Holly Mullineaux