List-o-mania season is well underway so what better time is there to take a step back and think about putting things in an entirely subjective numerical order? We’re kicking off our contribution to the listing extravaganza with our Artists to Listen out for… series. These are the 15 acts we’ve been loving and are excited to hear more from in 2016, starting with a remarkable young pop star in the making and a pair of bands making some delightfully swoonsome melodies.
#15 – Girli
Bright, brash and bombastic, London based Girli doesn’t hold back when it comes to her brand of aggressive pop. Overflowing with attitude and in your faceness, her most recent tracks “ASBOys” and “So You Think You Can Fuck With Me Do Ya” were like a blitzkrieg of japanese influenced, video game loving geektronica, pop, rap and pink (the colour). Think bo-en producing Daphne & Celeste with Nicki Minaj doing the chorus and you’re getting there but that still doesn’t do it justice.
It’s not all confrontation and swagger though, not at all. It’s part social commentary (as well as a big fuck you to people who got on her bad side) and part multi-faceted and intricate electronic compositions. Earlier track “Handbrake” showed off a more laidback tone with a grand sweep to the electronics, more the morning after the night before of “ASBOys” perhaps. Either way, everything she’s done is catchy as fuck and we’d expect a big bouncy sing along from fans when she plays The Great Escape next year.
Stalk Girli: Website / Facebook / Twitter
#14 – Arctic Lake
Operating at the opposite end of the spectrum to Girli are London based trio, Arctic Lake. Whereas Girli is in your face bright colours, Arctic Lake are wistful swirls of electronics washing gently over you and ebbing guitars cushioning your inevitable swoon from all the loveliness.
Emma Foster’s vocals are a soft whisper in the ear as you wander these muted soundscapes of their creation. The music is cool and soothing, a late night of candles and solitude, relaxation and recharging.
Formed in Lancashire but based in London (where they have been finishing off their University studies) the trio have already been playlisted on Radio One and gushed over by countless blogs. So far we’ve been treated to just the three tracks but with education finished (for now) we’re hoping to hear a lot more from them in the coming year.
Stalk Arctic Lake: Website / Facebook / Twitter
#13 – Stalgia
We still know next to nothing about mysterious duo Stalgia but, like Arctic Lake, they make music that is so dreamy and delicate that we cannot help but get lost inside its mistyness. “Rust” and “Tepid” are gentle and becalming with a shroud of melodic darkness draped over their shoulders. The beats and electronics like hazy shafts of light breaking through from above.
The breezy fragility of their sounds gives them a beautiful vulnerability; a gorgeous melancholia that like watching a storm in the distance.
There was talk of an EP from the pair last year that didn’t materialise so fingers crossed that has been held back for a full on assault of 2016.
Alphabet Bands 
some good tips here