Five Artists You Need to Know

Either I'm really, really late on these artists or I'm just on time to hop on the bandwagon. I try to listen to new music as often as I can, whether it's new artists on the scene or just new artists to me. I'm sure I could go on for a while about the music I've been listening to lately, but these are five that I've been listening to more than the others, the five standout artists and bands for me.

1. Tobias Jesso Jr.

Listen, in doing more research about this guy, I found out that he's six foot seven and from Vancouver and has brown, curly hair. So now that I've found out that this man is not only ridiculously talented, but he's also my dream man. With all of that aside, I've been really digging Jesso's music lately. His first demo came out in 2013, but his debut album Goon didn't get released until 2015. Jesso Jr.'s music is really cool. It's indie soft rock with a huge focus on piano. All of his songs are very soothing and soulful. His voice kind of sounds like it belongs on a record from The Beatles, which is a comment I would normally roll my eyes at, but you know, it's true. Even if he only has one album out, I can't get enough of it! Plus, he co-wrote "When We Were Young" by Adele so I mean, dude's a genius.

Favorite songs: "True Love" and "Leaving LA"

2. Catfish and the Bottlemen

Coming at you with a Welsh group now. This isn't a new band by any means. They formed in 2007 and have two albums under their belt, but I just recently got back into them and felt like they needed some more love after their second album came out. Reminiscent of The Kooks, The Wombats and Arctic Monkeys, Catfish are pretty much the band that I keep under my belt to perfectly balance my love of pop music. Despite me wanting to roll my eyes repeatedly at comments made by the lead singer diminishing One Direction's success and seemingly pop music in general, the group is still great, so I just try to focus on the music (same with The 1975). Another cool indie group who focuses more on the rock spectrum. The songs are generally pretty fast-paced with some nice instrumental interludes on tracks. There are a few slow songs to offset the general theme of the albums and overall,  the band has produced two pretty killer albums.

Favorite songs: "Hourglass, "Heathrow" and "Kathleen."

3. The Strumbellas

Another band that isn't necessarily new (their first EP came out in 2009 and their most recent album is their third), but they are new to me. They came up over and over again on the Pandora stations we were playing at work and every time a new song would come up, I would take a picture of it so I could listen to them when I got home. Needless to say, I fell in love with the happy, upbeat music from the group. Discovering them for myself for the first time during the summer months was perfect timing because I swear, their newest album is chock full of the perfect summer songs. Roll down your windows and slip on your sunglasses and just cruise along to their newest album Hope.

Favorite songs: "Young & Wild" and "Spirits"

4. Perlo

I talked about Perlo a while back on my blog and yes, I'm still loving them. The group consist of Marie Hsiao (Mree) and Henri Bardot. Their music is so ethereal and relaxing and dreamy. They still only have their four song EP out, but really, I haven't gotten sick of it yet. The songs are so complex with multiple layers and different focuses that I swear every time I listen to the songs, I find something new about them. They are one of my go-to groups (and separately, as solo artists) to go to when I just need to relax with some slow tunes.

Favorite song: "Right Where You Left Me"

5. EXES

Okay, okay, so I know this group only has two singles out at the moment, but I'm telling you, they're great. I used to listen to Allie McDonald's covers on YouTube forever ago. I still followed her on Twitter and when I found out that she was working on new music with Mike Derenzo, I freaked out. So yes, there are only two songs, but they are two amazing songs that you should listen to right this second. They're like cool indie-pop tunes that make me want to wear winged eyeliner and kimonos with fringe and really distressed high waisted shorts. I wish I could explain the feeling the songs give me better, but that's the best I can do.

Favorite song: "18"

What artists have you been listening to lately?