Welcome to AP&R, where we highlight rising artists who are on their way to becoming your new favorite. Below, we’ve rounded up a handful of names from around the world who either just dropped music or have new music on the way very soon. These are the November up-and-comers, artists picked for their standout sound, from towering shoegaze and experimental hardcore to avant-pop.
Read more: 25 best albums of 2023 so far
Hotline TNT
Hotline TNT exist in the same space as Greet Death, Knifeplay, and Wednesday, who they’ll support on tour next year, but they’re making their own indelible mark on shoegaze. The project, led by Will Anderson, features a revolving lineup of members — both live and on record — and thrives on scuzzy, blown-out noise, which is pushed to its greatest form yet on their second album, Cartwheel. Through that colossal sound, emboldened by lyricism that captures the sting of a busted heart and the messy aftermath, they’re also using their increased confidence and a pop slant to create songs that go wide. —Neville Hardman
Tripper
On Nov. 3, Baltimore hardcore outfit Tripper released seven minutes of perfect hardcore sounds. It was their latest project, People Die Every Day, a four-song EP that swerves from powerviolence to classic hardcore, with a whiff of skramz. It runs through rough riffs and thrashing vocals from Alex Szydelska, who spits heavy lyricism with both tenacity and charm. In four songs, Tripper pack a punch. It’s complex, and uniquely experimental, with influences from Punch and Converge that enter the chat thoughtfully, while leaving room for Tripper’s own tight sound, and Szydelska’s noteworthy vocals. Needless to say, these are seven minutes worth spending with Tripper, and we can only hope they’ll give us more soon. —Anna Zanes
Cruza
Cruza are an otherworldly outfit with roots in Orlando and San Diego that create songs like siren calls. They’re alluring and immersive, but it’s not long before a creeping anxiety sets in that makes time slow. It’s no coincidence that their latest EP is called Paranoia Pack, and it’s filled with bleary, nocturnal stunners that play out like a long dream. Their music exists somewhere between neo-soul, psychedelia, and trip-hop, putting them in a similar realm to Nick Hakim or BLK ODYSSY, but there’s no one quite like this experimental four-piece. See for yourself. —Neville Hardman
Dove Armitage
Dove Armitage sits in the middle of post-punk and avant-pop. And over the years, she’s become one of Los Angeles’ alt music scene’s darlings, with an affliction for wild performances and synth-heavy, glitch-pop rhythms, peppered with sticky, dark hooks that ride gut-wrenching basslines. Last week, Armitage released her latest project, Concernless, which saw a shift toward darker, more personal narratives, while leaning further into pop and electronic sounds. On this powerful, danceable EP, Armitage not only got to know her demons, but she’s introducing us, too. —Anna Zanes
Resavoir
Will Miller is a member of Whitney, an indie-rock outfit out of Chicago, but Resavoir acts as an outlet for him to act on jazzier, more soulful impulses. Like his 2019 debut, his latest record, out now via International Anthem, is highly collaborative, with Miller tapping several of his friends to help him shape the album. While the songs take cues from indie hip-hop and bedroom DIY, they also melt into one another. It’s equally meditative, innovative, and transformative — probably the ideal album to put on when the edible hits two hours later than planned. —Neville Hardman
Cold Gawd
Out of Rancho Cucamonga, Cold Gawd are the group reinventing shoegaze’s most special, throwback sounds for a new era. Through a modern post-hardcore lens, the group look back on early aughts nü-gaze and R&B melodies, refining the melting pot of influences that inspire them, and reimagining what it could sound like today. There’s a soulfulness in reverb, and the contrasting tempos from track to track — wading through bluesier, dreamy jams to harder, faster, mildly hardcore tracks. On their journey to “make shoegaze Black again,” according to frontman Matt Wainwright, they’ve created a sound that is at once interesting, comforting, emotional, and ultimately, what makes Cold Gawd so damn good: It’s timeless. They will be performing at Substance Fest Nov. 9, and alongside MIKE, the Alchemist, Wiki, and Zulu at Terragram Ballroom later this month. —Anna Zanes
glass beach
Last month, glass beach made their grand return with the dark new single, “the CIA.” The LA crew thrive when you can’t predict their next move and usually confound anyone who tries to guess. Naturally, “the CIA” exists in a strange space, someplace where prog, post-punk, and jazz coalesce, while their latest offering, the frantic “rare animal,” ups the stakes. Now, as they prepare for their second record, plastic death, nothing is off limits for the post-emo crew and their ever-growing universe. —Neville Hardman
