From dark alt-pop to mind-melting techno-rock, the 10 acts to look out for in 2025

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Roisin O’Connor open image in gallery Scottish singer Jacob Alon writes beautiful and devastating poem-like songs Lola Young Admittedly, calling Lola Young “one to watch” rings a little untrue. ROC open image in gallery Scottish band Brògeal channel the spirit of The Pogues Brooke Combe “I fear the day I’m happy in a relationship because I won’t have anything to write about,” lamented Brooke Combe earlier this year. Selfishly, we’re hoping the 24-year-old Scot has enough material to continue serving up Motown-flavoured alt-pop nuggets like “Talkin’ About Heartaches”, and barnstorming kiss-offs such as “Are You with Me?” At the centre of it all is Combe’s voice, perfectly imperfect in the way the best soul singers often are – with a good deal of grit in there, too. It’s a dark sort of romance that pulses through songs like “Dinner @ Brasserie Zedel” – the Liverpudlian’s love letter to her favourite Soho eatery.