Ones to Watch 2025: the music acts set to break out this year
Share:
The turn of a new year always brings fevered speculation over the great new acts primed to make a splash over the next 12 months. Last year marked huge musical breakthroughs from the likes of Chappell Roan, Doechii and Tyla. So who could fill their rising star boots in 2025?.
Whose single will we be playing on repeat all summer? Which bands will pack out festival tents across the land? And which emerging names will get almighty legs-up from completely nailing their stadium support slots, and become stars in their own right?.
Read on for our acts to watch in 2025: all of these incredible talents deserve to have an absolutely massive year. Raised in the sleepy suburbs of Dallas before fleeing for the bright lights of Brooklyn, Allison Ponthier’s escapist country-pop harnesses the perfect level of angst, and 2024’s EP Breaking The Fourth Wall tackles shame, smouldering envy, and the eternal queer dilemma: do I want to be them, or be with them? “She's the people's princess, Pitchfork songstress and I'm a gross fly on the wall,” she sings on her most recent single Skin. “Do I want her life or as a wife?.
Well, here's what I would say if she called…” Signed to the major label Interscope since 2020, things seem to be ramping up for Ponthier at the moment; building on previous EPs Shaking Hands With Elvis and Faking My Own Death, she’s been working with an impressive roster of songwriters lately. Casey Smith (who co-wrote Chappell Roan’s After Midnight, and Olivia Rodrigo’s Jealousy, Jealousy) and frequent Kacey Musgraves collaborator Tommy English are among those involved. All signs point to a game changing support slot – and a potential debut album to keep a close eye on – at some point next year.
