BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2025 longlist has been announced, with breakout stars like Chappell Roan and Barry Can’t Swim joined by newcomers including Myles Smith and Good Neighbours.
The award is given to rising artists with “the best chance of mainstream success” in the next 12 months. Past winners include Adele, Sam Smith, Michael Kiwanuka, PinkPantheress and Haim.
Last year’s winners, The Last Dinner Party, went on to score a number one album and a Mercury Prize nomination for their debut release, Prelude To Ecstasy.
This year’s longlist also includes indie band English Teacher and Northern Irish rap act Kneecap. The winner will be announced on BBC Radio 1 and BBC News in January.
The 11 acts in the running are:
- Barry Can’t Swim
- Chappell Roan
- Confidence Man
- Doechii
- English Teacher
- Ezra Collective
- Good Neighbours
- KNEECAP
- mk.gee
- Myles Smith
- Pozer
The nominees were chosen by a panel of more than 180 music industry experts and artists including representatives from Spotify, the Glastonbury Festival and the BBC; as well as musicians such as Sir Elton John, Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, The Blessed Madonna and Sam Smith.
US pop star Chapell Roan is the clear frontrunner, after an electrifying year that saw her go from Olivia Rodrigo’s backing vocalist to breakout pop star.
Rejecting the trend for whispery bedroom pop, her songs are full of cheerleader chants and exuberant hooks that document her coming of age and the discovery of her sexuality.
Last week, she was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including best new artist and album of the year, for her debut The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess.
Also hotly-tipped are London jazz ensemble Ezra Collective, who won the Mercury Prize in 2023 for their soulful and ebullient album Where I’m Meant To Be.
This year’s follow-up – tited Dance, No One’s Watching – is both an invitation and an invocation, with supple funk grooves that propelled the album into the top 10.
Shape-shifting rapper Doechii also makes the list, cementing her rise as one of hip-hop’s brightest new voices.
Born in Florida, she rose to attention with the viral 2021 hit Yucky Blucky Fruitcake, after which she toured with SZA and Doja Cat.
She is also nominated for the best new artist Grammy, and her recent mixtape Alligator Bites Don’t Heal was called “one of the year’s very best albums” by Rolling Stone.
Making a very different brand of hip-hop are Kneecap, who rap in both English and Irish about the aftermath of the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
The trio, who use the stage names Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, released their second album earlier this year alongside a “mostly true” movie depicting their origin story.
Representing London’s rap scene is Croydon-born Pozer, whose debut single Kitchen Stove has been streamed more than 30 million times on Spotify since February.
After a period when solo artists were in the ascendance, this year’s longlist has a healthy showing for bands, who occupy five of the 11 spots.
They include UK pop-rock duo Good Neighbours, who tap into a rich vein of feelgood nostalgia on tracks like Home and Daisies; and Australian electro-pop outfit Confidence Man, already known for their theatrically-choreographed (and fantastically fun) stage shows.
There’s a second Mercury Prize winner on the list in the shape of Leeds band Englilsh Teacher.
Combining art-rock angularity with biting social satire, their debut album This Could Be Texas was called “one of the finest debuts of the decade” by indie publication The Line Of Best Fit.
Edinburgh producer Barry Can’t Swim also makes the longlist, following a summer of huge festival appearances that saw crowds swoon to his upbeat, elegaic brand of dance music.
The list is completed by rising singer-songwriter Myles Smith, who scored a top 10 hit with the gospel-infused pop hit Stargazing earlier this year; and US guitar prodigy Mk.gee (pronounced “ma-ghee”), whose debut album Two Star & The Dream Police has quietly become a word of mouth success.
Now in its 23rd year, the Sound Of list has tipped everyone from Stormzy and Dua Lipa to Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga for success.
This year’s nominees may be more recognisable than previous acts were at this stage in their careers.
That’s down to a change in the eligibility criteria that recognises the difficulties of achieving crossover success in the streaming era.
To qualify, artists could not have had more than two UK top 10 albums or two UK top 10 singles by 30 September 2024.
The winner will be announced in the New Year, with the top five revealed in reverse order between Monday 6 and Friday 10 January.
Radio 1 will also host a special concert with performances from artists on the longlist on Monday 2 December.
The application for tickets is now open on the BBC Shows and Tours website.
The concert will be hosted by Sian Eleri and Jack Saunders, who said the 2025 longlist was “one of the strongest in a while”.
“It’s a reflection of the freedom artists are feeling creatively at the moment. Can’t wait to see who the top five are!”