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.

Our penultimate selection for the Top 20 of 2019 features Fil Bo Riva, Shigeto, Sinead O'Brien and Halls.

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Fil Bo Riva



Despite diving his time between Rome, Berlin and Dublin, Fil Bo Riva has managed to pack a brilliantly received debut album into an already packed year. Beautiful Sadness is an eclectic mix of music that isn’t afraid to break the boundaries of genre, barrier and culture. In a recent interview with him, Bo Riva told us of the importance of The Beatles on his writing, to expect his future releases to cross even more genre boundaries and that he really wants to perform in South America. He already has a European tour lined up for 2020, so be on the lookout for everything Bo Riva delivers next year. - Dan Peeke

Shigeto



Shigeto is a drummer and music producer, heavily influenced by his father's jazz and R&B collection. The result is a brand of tasteful jazz-inspired minimal house music. Growing up in a town called Ann Arbor, Michigan, it makes sense that Zachary was drawn to the Detroit music scene, which was less than 50 miles east of his hometown. However, he only began making his own music when he was living in Brooklyn, NYC and London. He’s collaborated with live musicians and rappers such as ZelooperZ, Kaleena Zanders, whilst honing in on his skills as an electronic music producer. Shigeto was liberated when he left jazz school – in his words “you don't have to be a certain type of musician or trained in a certain way in order to contribute to something”. This year, going full circle, Shigeto has split with his signature brand of beats orientated production in order to really hone in on jazz in a very pure yet expansive way on his EP Versions. The EP sees luxuriant saxophones, raindrop-like electric pianos and expressive bass playing on ‘Back to Basics’, whilst contrasting tracks ‘Riverbank’ and ‘Devine Family’ see cymbals glisten like moving water, and contain more free experimental sections. Acting as a true sonic sanctuary, Versions takes you on a journey, through blissful rhythms and graceful melodies that are heart-warming and awe-inspiring, sending you into the ether and back, resolving in contentment and inner peace. Over the next couple of months, Shigeto prepares to tour Japan, Australia and North America. With any luck, we hope he’ll soon be playing in the UK soon so we can witness some of the magic. - Ellie Rose-Davies



Sinead O'Brien



Finally content with a solid live act, Limerick native and current London inhabitant Sinead O'Brien has transformed her philosophical poetics into a fully fledged musical force to be reckoned with over the last year. Spring-boarding from her spellbinding Speedy Wunderground single 'Taking On Time', that was recorded over the course of one day with producer maverick Dan Carey, O'Brien quickly signed a deal with tasteful Sony offshoot Chess Club Records - a label known for catching big things early on. Revealing two further singles 'A Thing You Call Joy' and 'Limbo', which were both notably accompanied by some wonderfully elegant visuals, Sinead has since taken her musings on tour with the likes of Australian psych-rock heroes Pond and fellow Irish stars-in-the-making whenyoung. With whisperings of a Dan Carey-produced EP in the works 2020 is set to big a big year for Sinead and co. - Holly Mullineaux



Halls



A few months ago, musician Sam Howard aka Halls reached out to us with his new project - Infinite Loss. Upon listening to ‘The Gift’, the first track to grace the pages of TMR, we were struck by the artistic complexity, stylistic variation and striking lyricism that Howard has crafted. His music walks the line between electronic experimentation, neo-classical composition and jazz improvisation. It really came as no surprise to hear that Infinite Loss was four years in the making, although it wasn’t perfectionism holding Halls back; it was, sadly, grief. If you’ve read any of our reviews of ‘The Gift’, ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Face To Face’ or ‘Baby’, you’ll know that following the launch show of Halls’ sophomore record Love To Give in 2014, Howard learned that his father was diagnosed with cancer and six months later, he unfortunately lost his battle with the disease. As can only be expected, this short, sharp shock left this young musician utterly heartbroken. It’s within tracks like ‘Baby’ that we hear the depth of loss experienced by Halls over recent years. And yet, there’s a sense of healing to be found here too. For example, in ‘Face To Face’. Howards cautiously sings, “I always think of you, / It’s been nearly three years, / Now I’m starting a new life, / New Hope.” We chose Halls for our Top 20 OF 2019, not only because he’s immensely talented, but with more people than ever receiving a cancer diagnosis Infinite Loss is essential listening for a greater understanding of the world we now live in. - Hannah Thacker