Anderson .Paak: I know he’s pretty popular but I feel like it’s mostly because of his Silk Sonic stuff. His solo albums are great, especially Malibu. He’s an incredibly talented musician and entertainer. I would strongly recommend anyone watch his Tiny Desk if you haven’t already.
Atlus: Pumps out a lot of music, not all of them are bangers. But he has a lot of good songs.
Josh A / iamjakehill: I grouped them because they do a lot of music together but they are each fantastic on their own. Save Our Souls is such a great album.
Brothers of Metal: Fun power metal band that makes music about Norse mythology. Makes you want to ride out into battle. I’ve shown this band to multiple people who are not metal/power metal fans and they love it.
Lorna Shore: I know Through the Hellfire went viral and they are pretty popular for a Deathcore band. But they definitely deserve more recognition. I used to listen to a lot of Deathcore in high school 15 years ago and Lorna Shore single handedly got me back into it. I must’ve listened to all of Pain Remains at least 50 times. I can’t get enough of Ramos’s vocals and Archey’s drumming.
Light the Torch: If you loved Killswitch Engage with Howard Jones vocals then you will love this.
Their debut album, Together We’ll Burn Like Autumn Leaves is solid gold all the way through; the second studio album I Saw a Bright Light is almost as solid. I like them so much I tracked down all the members’ previous bands and solo projects and B-sides.
Way too many to list but I’ll throw one out. Do you like Radiohead, REM, The National, Pixies, Frank Turner, or Dinosaur Jr.? Well, they (or their lead singer) all love Mark Mulcahy’s music enough to have recorded a cover song for the tribute album when Mark’s wife passed.
Mark led the band Miracle Legion, released some solo work, and led the band Polaris (not the metal band from Australia), best known as the band from the show The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Also noteworthy: Miracle Legion toured and released an EP with The Sugarcubes, aka Bjork’s band.
Song recommendations: The Backyard, All For The Best by Miracle Legion - Hey Sandy, Saturnine by Polaris - Taking Baby Steps, The Fiddler, Hey Self Defeater by Mark Mulcahy.
Album recommendations: Drenched by Miracle Legion, Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete by Polaris, and Fathering by Mark Mulcahy.