Tiktok sensations, Lorde’s favourite singer and an English Rose — just some of the homegrown talents I’m tipping for success this year…
Alessi Rose
A pop queen who deals in piercing but confessional songs about her exes, Alessi Rose is the newcomer best placed to put a British spin on the emotionally messy storytelling of Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams and Chappell Roan.
‘If people don’t want me to write songs about them, they shouldn’t do bad things,’ says the unapologetic 22-year-old from Derby, and she’s as good as her word on tracks including debut single Say Ur Mine and recent release Pretty World, an intimate pop ballad.
Despite playing her first gig only a year ago, she’s already making waves on the live circuit too, having starred at the Latitude, Reading and Leeds festivals while building a dedicated army of fans (the ‘Delulu Girls’) attracted by the honesty of her lyrics.
She starts a UK tour at SWG3, Glasgow, on April 2 (alessirosemusic.com).
Alessi Rose is the newcomer best placed to put a British spin on the emotionally messy storytelling of Olivia Rodrigo , Gracie Abrams and Chappell Roan
Myles Smith
Following in the footsteps of Adele, Sam Fender and 2024 winners The Last Dinner Party, singer-songwriter Myles Smith is the latest recipient of the BRITs Rising Star award — an accolade which suggests the 26-year-old from Luton is on the way to being the breakthrough male pop star of 2025.
Having taught himself guitar and piano, he started playing open-mic nights and pub gigs when he was 12.
After initially using TikTok to post cover versions, he began to upload his own material — intimate, country-tinged tunes ‘about everyday moments’ with the catchiness of Coldplay — and secured a solo deal with RCA in 2023.
His 2024 single Stargazing is closing in on 600 million streams on Spotify, and you can catch him on a UK tour which starts at the O2 Academy, Leeds, on February 15 (mylessmith.co.uk).
Myles Smith performing at the 2024 Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee last September
Fabiana Palladino
Former backing musician Fabiana Palladino was initially a slow-burning success. Having studied music at Goldsmiths University in London, she became a member of Jessie Ware’s touring band, and was 36 by the time she released her Covid-delayed debut solo album last April.
Things have sped up since then, with that self-titled LP — a mixture of sultry vocals and silky, modern R&B — attracting admiring glances from New Zealand singer Lorde, who hailed it as the best album of last year and is now collaborating with Fabiana.
The daughter of celebrated bassist Pino Palladino, one of British music’s most sophisticated session men, she’s also developing into an accomplished producer. ‘The songwriting is traditional, but the production isn’t,’ she says.
She plays Cross The Tracks, a London festival, on May 25 (fabianapalladino.com).
Fabiana Palladino’s self-titled LP attracted admiring glances from New Zealand singer Lorde last year
Good Neighbours
Originally two solo artists, Oli Fox and Scott Verrill have prospered as a duo since pooling their resources in November 2023.
Essex singer-songwriter Fox — whose solo career saw him supporting Sigrid on her 2018 UK tour — and South Londoner Verrill have roots in alternative pop, but their songs are bright and accessible, looking to American acts such as MGMT and Bleachers for inspiration.
Their dreamy debut single Home was a sensation on TikTok before it was released in January 2024, while the pair are also creating a stir with surprising cover versions, including takes on Lana Del Rey’s Video Games, Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso and Taylor Swift’s Wildest Dreams.
A new single, Ripple, arrives this month before they head off on a six-week North American tour with Foster The People (wearegoodneighbours.com).
Oli Fox and Scott Verrill have prospered as a duo since pooling their resources in November 2023 as Good Neighbours
Brooke Combe
Hailing from Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, Combe is an elegant soul girl with a powerful, smoky voice — and invaluable indie-rock connections.
Introduced to the music of Diana Ross and Gladys Knight by her mum, she learnt how to play drums, guitar and piano while developing as a singer, signing with a major label and releasing an eight-track mix-tape, Black Is The New Gold, in 2023.
She’s since moved on to Liverpool independent label Modern Sky, and made an album, Dancing At The Edge Of The World, with The Coral’s James Skelly. ‘We’ve created a real summer soul album,’ she says of the record, which is out on January 31. With Adele taking a planned sabbatical, there’s a gap in British music for a big-voiced soul diva. Combe has timed her arrival perfectly.
She begins a UK tour on April 3 at the Arts Club Liverpool (ticketmaster.co.uk).
Brooke Combe is an elegant soul girl with a powerful, smoky voice — and invaluable indie-rock connections
Welly
With the return of Oasis, 2025 could also herald a new wave of British bands. If that is the case, then Welly — a five-piece named after their Southampton-born lead singer and producer — are well placed to capitalise.
Their songs, dominated by guitars, keyboards and satirical lyrics, owe more to Blur and Pulp than to the Gallagher brothers, but there’s an irreverence at play that could chime with the mood of the coming year. ‘Music, especially British music, hasn’t been fun for a long time,’ says Welly.
The band’s debut album, Big In The Suburbs, is out on March 21, and they start a UK tour at The Louisiana, Bristol, on February 1 (worldwidewelly.com).
Five-piece band Welly could be set to capitalise on the new wave of British bands in 2025
Best of the new releases…
Bryan Adams: Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2024 (Bad)
Bryan Adams live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2024
The Groover From Vancouver’s latest box set zooms in on last year’s three-night London residency, in which he played a different album in full at each show. It’s out as a 4-LP vinyl package (£95) and 3-CD box (£45), with a Blu-Ray disc added to each set. The jewel is 1984’s Reckless, a blue-collar rock masterpiece.
Adams is now curating his legacy rather than breaking fresh ground, but hits like Summer Of ’69 and Heaven come into their own onstage. The bundle is completed by 1996’s 18 Til I Die, and 2022’s retro-flavoured So Happy It Hurts.
Ed Sheeran: +-=÷x (Tour Collection: Live) (Atlantic)
Ed Sheeran has chosen to showcase his ongoing Mathematics world tour, which reaches its final date in Dusseldorf in September
Responding to requests from fans for a live album, Sheeran has chosen to showcase his ongoing Mathematics world tour, which opened in Ireland in 2022 and reaches its final date in Dusseldorf this September. A sister release to 2024’s ‘best of’ package, Tour Collection: Live is a hits-heavy affair, out as a double CD, double cassette tape, and digitally.
Sheeran now tours with a live band, but it’s his simpler songs, his loop pedals and crowd-pleasing asides that steal the show, with Shivers, Thinking Out Loud and Sing among the highlights.
Robbie Williams: Better Man (Columbia)
Robbie Williams portrayed as a CGI monkey in the soundtrack to his new biopic
As the soundtrack to Robbie’s new biopic — in which the singer is portrayed as a CGI monkey — Better Man features re-recordings of his hits, with additional contributions from the film’s cast. The new versions are patchy, but Let Me Entertain You, taken from 2003’s triumphant Knebworth Park residency, reiterates his stature as pop’s great showman.
There are three intriguing covers, too, including a reworking of the disco hit Relight My Fire (once a hit for Take That featuring Lulu), 1960s soul standard Land Of 1000 Dances, and My Way.
