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 March up-and-comers, artists picked for their standout sound, from Detroit rap to Eastern psychedelic funk.
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Winona Fighter
When you listen to Winona Fighter, you can tell that Coco Luther cut her teeth in the Boston scene. It’s in the punchy, raw, and utterly anthemic punk music her now Nashville-based band play. Live, the group are stratospheric, as proven by their SXSW sets over the last week. Whether it’s in the lyricism or onstage, the slogan for Winona Fighter is always the battle cry “everyone is welcome, equal, and needs to get on their fucking feet.” There’s much on the horizon for the band, who recently signed to Rise Records, released three powerful singles, including the most recent track, “I’M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE,” and will be supporting Bayside, Finch, and Armor for Sleep this summer — alongside numerous festival dates. —Anna Zanes
King Isis
King Isis is clearly fascinated by the magic of rebirth. Co-produced with Hello Yello, their new EP, shed, purges the past and reaches toward a brighter, glass-half-full future instead. With that transformation comes a darker, grittier, and more spellbinding sound, in contrast to the vibrant alt-pop of their 2023 debut EP. “MONKI” is a clear standout, flexing their deep, soulful voice while the rest of the band back them up with a steady, sinewy crawl — a transition that makes the Oakland-born artist feel light-years away from their acoustic cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” As they cast away their old skin, they become someone who isn’t afraid to take up space. —Neville Hardman
HiTech
This year in Austin, there were a few bands on the tip of everyone’s tongue — and HiTech were definitely one of them. The Detroit-bred trio, a collaboration between rapper-producer-DJs King Milo, Milf Melly, and 47Chops, took audiences by storm with their own intoxicating iteration of the Detroit ghettotech sound, infused with the city’s deep-rooted techno. The rap group’s gutturally industrial, synthy, melodic dance music has made a name for them over the years that extends well beyond the Midwest. And unlike so much club music, there’s nothing nostalgic about their sound. For HiTech, the goal is to turn a new page in the book of club music. And they seem to be on their way. After their memorable performances last week in Texas, and the acclaimed mayhem of 2023’s album DÉTWAT — we’re clamoring for their forthcoming album, due sometime this year. —Anna Zanes
YHWH Nailgun
There’s a Reddit thread titled, “YHWH Nailgun are wicked.” However trite, it’s a hard statement to discount, and might actually be the best way of describing the art-punk group. Last week, throughout SXSW’s surrounding festivities, the Brooklyn-based quartet stunned audience members with their amorphous, tactile set, a kinetic shock to the system through sound and delivery. Each member writhes onstage as if in a vacuum, responding in their own, lawless way to the clashing of drums and jazzy cymbal patterns, blistering synths, and vocalist Zack Borzone’s almost intelligible spewing of lyrics. There’s something seductive about the almost violently chaotic nature of their music and show, which Borzone dances through, convulsing, threatening to foam at the mouth with the unending energy of Iggy Pop, and an element of controlled focus that’s all his own. —Anna Zanes
LAIR
There’s not a bad album on Guruguru Brain, the independent music label out of Amsterdam that brings Asian music up from the underground, and that holds true with their latest signees, LAIR. The six-piece’s new album, Ngélar — helmed by Kikagaku Moyo’s Go Kurosawa and released last month — is deeply groovy, made from instruments that are built from clay in a nod to their native Jatiwangi, Indonesia (the country’s largest manufacturer of clay roof tiles). “Tatalu,” in particular, is a heady number that balances hypnotic Eastern psych with muggy funk. The band recently made their U.S. debut with three shows at SXSW, an impressive series of performances that brought onlookers into their joyous world and promises bigger things to come. —Neville Hardman
Reyna Tropical
Fabi Reyna picked up a guitar when she was 9 and, having no one to look up to except white rock bands, became her own role model instead. That eventually yielded Reyna Tropical, a project between Reyna and her “musical soulmate” Nectali “Sumohair” Diaz, that paid tribute to the vast musical terrain of their native diaspora. However, when Sumo passed away in 2022, she pledged to keep the band alive to honor his legacy and continue their mission to uplift culture and identity. That celebration of life, love, and purpose runs through her long-awaited debut album, Malegría, which arrives later this month, to great effect. —Neville Hardman
