With the year winding down, we at The Most Radicalist wanted to take this opportunity to look back on the wonderful year of music we’ve just had with a ‘Best Of’ list. We asked our writers to pick out their top emerging artists of the last 12 months and needless to say we were presented with both an exceptional and deliciously eclectic group of artists.

We’ll be unveiling the full list over the course of the next few days so stay tuned!

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TIRZAH



We don’t think anyone was ready for the much-awaited debut album from South London-based songstress Tirzah to be so damn beautiful. Drifting away from her dancier roots, Devotion’s soulful understated pop has put her firmly back on the map. Produced and co-written by renowned composer and life-long friend Mica Levi, Tirzah’s cooly-delivered vocals and emotionally explorative lyrics have won the hearts of many this year. Receiving a rare 8.3 rating and ‘Best New Music’ accolade on Pitchfork as well as well as appearing in a number of high profile ‘Album of the Year’ lists, Tirzah’s triumphant return has also been accompanied by a summer of magical live performances. With her biggest headline show to date at London’s Village Underground selling out well in advance, Tirzah’s next performance on home soil with be a monumental 3-night residency at Scala. Catch her whilst you can. -Holly Mullineaux



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LAURAN HIBBERD



As soon as we heard Lauran Hibberd’s ‘What Do Girls Want?’ we knew that this artist was something special. The ferocity of her confidence, pitch-tipped vocal and to-the-point lyrics, make her guitar-led music a thoroughly engaging listen, one that instantly attaches itself to your memory and later pops back up while in the shower. Yes, you’ll be singing ‘What do girls want? / Honey, if I knew, I still wouldn’t tell you’ in the shower. Speaking about the single, the Isle of Wight musician says: “For me, ‘What Do Girls Want?’ is a good punch to the mouth. It’s sarcastic, and bleakly honest. It highlights what it feels like to be young, and obsesses over the ideas that come with being just that.” She’s pulled a fair few punches throughout the year, like 'Call Shotgun' and 'Fun Like This', both of which are face-scrunching and head-bopping-worthy moments. Look out for Lauran Hibberd next year, we’ve got a real good feeling about this one. -Hannah Thacker



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BOY AZOOGA



We’d be amiss if we didn’t mention just how totally enamoured we were with the zany musical funhouse that was Boy Azooga’s eccentrically-titled debut album 1, 2 Kung Fu! over the summer. One can’t help but be charmed by its boisterous leaps between the fizzing psych-funk of ‘Face Behind Her Cigarette’ and the monumental all-guns-blazing blues-rock of ‘Loner Boogie’ only to be completely disarmed by the haunting balladry of such cuts as ‘Jerry’ or ‘Waitin’’. Indeed, Davey Newington (band-leader of the Cardiff-based four-piece) proved himself to be one of the UK’s most incisive emerging songwriters of 2018 and we can only wait patiently for the band’s follow-up LP, that we hear is already in the works… -Karl Jawara



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FIL BO RIVA

 

Fil Bo Riva is currently gearing up for a huge European tour in 2019, as well as the release of his debut album Beautiful Sadness on the 22^nd of March 2019. 2018 was a similar success story, with a tour supporting Milky Chance giving him a lot of a live opportunities, and the release of ear-catching tunes such as ‘L’Over’ (which we talked about here) and ‘Go Rilla’ (which you can read about here) continuing to bring him new fans every day. The latter has even had a musical video made, which has racked up over 100,000 YouTube views in less than a month. -Dan Peeke



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-Check in tomorrow for four more picks from TMR's Top 20 of 2018.