In recent months on Dazed, we’ve interviewed Tara Lily, Fousheé, and God Colony. We’ve also dug into The Ye-I Conspiracy, looked at five essential tracks from Nines, investigated how pop got its sense of humour back, and hosted a Dazed Mix from Kamixlo.

We’re three-quarters of the way through 2024, and a lot is happening out there. Despite the sometimes unspoken uncertainties that colour the day-to-day realities of many, music continues to function as a shared communal space and a source of collective solace. In the wake of the pandemic’s lockdown years, the global music community still faces ongoing economic challenges around touring, releasing and promoting music. Regardless of the difficult setting of the moment, however, new and under-discussed talents from the worlds of underground music continue to use community and craft to find a way.

For the third edition of our quarterly roundup for 2024, we’re continuing to reflect and acknowledge musicians, artists, producers and DJs from across the globe, all with strong communities, real visions, and important statements to make. Here are ten essential Q3 releases, all available on Bandcamp.

PRIVATE JOY, DESIRE!

WHO: The Manchester-based vocalist and producer retooling street soul, R&B and jazzy house for 2024.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: After fronting and producing the Manchester soul band Lovescene and collaborating on some remarkable street soul, house and jungle/drum & bass records with Ruf Dug, Hidden Spheres, Finn and Lenzman & Redeyes, Pops Roberts, aka Private Joy steps into centre stage with her debut EP. Released through London DJ Bradley Zero’s Rhythm Section International label, Desire! sees her explore the intricacies of intimacy through a short collection of soft and sensual jams for the lovers and the lovesick. From uptempo harp-house on “Let Love Find A Way” to the 80s synths of “Pure Love”, Desire! plays out like a yearning daydream.

FOR FANS OF: Bô’vel, Sade, Mary J Blige.

GREATSOUTH, SELF-TITLED

WHO: A Māori indie rock artist making modern-day protest music at the bottom of the globe

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: On his self-titled debut EP, the Auckland musician Payton Taplin, aka Greatsouth, sings introspectively about themes of economic hardship, aspiration, hometown pride, and the ongoing implications of colonisation in New Zealand through an urban indigenous lens. The results are a slow-cooked boil-up of indie rock, punk and lo-fi R&B that feels equally indebted to 2010s internet music, classic UK/US alternative rock and Te ao Māori (the Māori world). Opening with the breezy, jangle-pop of “Please!”, Greatsouth builds to a crescendo on Taplin’s cost-of-living crisis anthem “Nada In My Wallet” before closing out on an electronic note with “SPEEDSTAR”.

FOR FANS OF: King Krule, The Beths, The Sundays.

DE SCHUURMAN, BUBBLING FOREVER

WHO: The second-generation bubbling house producer helping elevate Afro-diasporic sounds in the Netherlands.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Throughout his second archival collection, Bubbling Forever, Den Haag-based electronic musician De Schuurman draws on over 35 years of musical history while he adds elements of trap, techno and found sound into the bubbling house scene’s neon-lit fusion of dancehall, electro, electronic dance music, hip-hop and R&B. Mentored by his uncle, DJ Chippie, who has long been credited as one of the genre’s founders, in the late 00s, Schuurman helped revive the genre with his eccentric aesthetics and undeniable rhythmic sensibilities. Following on from 2021’s Bubbling Inside, Bubbling Forever reaffirms Schuurman’s status as a central figure within the movement.

FOR FANS OF: Siu Mata & Amor Satyr, Bitter Babe, DJ Travella.

YETSUBY, B_B

WHO: A South Korean producer and DJ with a flare for turning out abstract, atmospheric electronica at a breakneck rate.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: In Salamanda, the Seoul-based duo she shares with Uman Therma, Yetsuby co-creates fourth-world and kankyō ongaku (environmental music) inspired soundworlds that – much like Studio Ghibli or the more esoteric end of 1990s video game music – evoke the familiar and strange. Working solo, she spins these aesthetics into a more abstract and chaotic space. On her latest, b_b, she crafts a form of hypermodernist ambient-not-ambient music that feels like the perfect soundtrack to the increasingly fractured world around us. Whether she’s crafting twitchy, maximal shapes on “Poly Juice”, or dialling it all the way down on “Maxilogue: Potion, Materials”, across b_b, Yetsuby delivers.

FOR FANS OF: Two Shell, Jon Hassell, A. G. Cook.

CIEL & CCL, TILDA’S GOAT STARE

WHO: Two longtime friends turn first-time collaborators via propulsive retro-techno-futurism.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Inspired by Tilda Swinton’s multi-role appearance in the cult feminist cyberpunk film Teknolust (2002), progressive/psychedelic-minded dance music and the cinematic end of dubstep, Tilda’s Goat Stare is the debut EP from Ciel and CCL. A mixture of slow-smouldering original tracks and a couple of taunt remixes provided by Priori and Yushh, Tilda’s Goat Stare evokes late nights in basement clubs and early mornings spent dancing under the stars before sunset. From the demanding bass whomp of the title track to Yushh’s syncopated reimagining of “Goblin Mode”, the EP delivers. Hopefully, we’ll hear more from these two in the future.

FOR FANS OF: The Black Dog, Slikback, Polygonia.

SENAERYA, LOVE DREAM

WHO: A mysterious pianist turned producer transforming dreams and memories into euphoric electronica.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Named in homage to the 19th-century Hungarian classical composer Franz Liszt’s piano nocturnes suite “Liebesträume”, Senaerya’s Love Dream EP is her Valentine’s note to music. Over four bubbly mixed-tempo tracks, she expresses a rose-tinted euphoria about life, love, and the tender moments between. The product of a mixed Hispanic-European upbringing where she was exposed to salsa, merengue, classical dance and piano, Senaerya transformed into a producer after being exposed to the expansive possibilities of modern electronic music. Released by the label-not-label, The Tabula Rasa Record Company, Love Dream locates her alongside a generation rethinking creativity in the time of algorithms.

FOR FANS OF: Jacques Greene, Jamie xx, Four Tet.

VARIOUS ARTISTS, DISPOSABLE HEROES OF HIT EM

WHO: A global network of like-minded music makers turning out their own takes on the latest internet genre, Hit Em.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: In July, the experimental producer and English professor Drew Daniel (The Soft Pink Truth/Matmos) tweeted about a dream where a girl at a rave told him about a new genre called Hit Em: crunchy tunes written in 5/4 time at 212 bpm. Within a few days, his mentions had been overrun by producers from around the world having a go at it. Released by Suitably Bizarre, Disposable Heroes of Hit Em is the first Hit Em compilation. Over 16 twitchy tracks, sixteen dialled-in electronic musicians put the internet genre through its paces, sometimes landing on genuine sonic gold.

FOR FANS OF: Matmos, Machinedrum, Venetian Snares.

FCUKERS, BAGGY$

WHO: The new New York trio bringing 1990s big beat and 2000s indie-dance back into the spotlight.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: This year, there’s been a revival around the electroclash, nu-rave and blog house music that soundtracked countless basement parties during the second half of the noughties. Serendipitously, Shannon Wise (vocals), Jackson Walker Lewis (producer), and Ben Scharf (drums), aka Fcukers, have tapped into the beating heart of this shift. However, as their debut EP Baggy$ reveals, their influences stretch back further into the last two decades of the 20th century via trip-hop, dubby post-punk, and the boombastic party styles that followed. Fcukers are here for a good time, whether they’re here for a long time, however, remains to be seen.

FOR FANS OF: Jessy Lanza, Groove Armada, Ladytron.

TOTAL BLUE, SELF-TITLED

WHO: A West Coast three-piece using new age, ambient jazz and soundtrack music to reach into the depths of the infinite blue.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: If you’ve ever enjoyed a vaporwave record or found yourself digging into obscure 1980s ambient music via the YouTube algorithm, you’ll want to spend some time with Total Blue’s self-titled debut. Released via the remarkably curated Music From Memory label, Total Blue sees three longtime Los Angeles-based musician friends, Nicky Benedek, Alex Talan and Anthony Calonico, teaming up for an ode to late 20th century home studio production and the colour blue. Through a glorious confluence of digital synthesisers, fretless bass, guitar, and MIDI wind instruments, they welcome us into a vivid dreamscape where the sky meets the ocean. Stay awhile.

FOR FANS OF: Tangerine Dream, Éric Serra, Gigi Masin.

MISS KANINNA, KANINNA

WHO: The First Nations rapper/singer-songwriter helping to reshape the sound, look and energy of hip-hop, RnB and pop in so-called Australia.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: In 2023, the Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali artist, Miss Kaninna, burst out of lutruwita (Tasmania), with her debut single, “Blak Britney”. Since then, she’s been winning over audiences nationwide by participating in the 2024 Laneway tour and rocking crowds at festivals like Meredith, Sun Cycle and Beyond the Valley. With Kaninna, Miss Kaninna shows off her versatility and attitude, effortlessly switching between unapologetic raps and sultry singalongs over low-slung southern rap beats, amapiano, afrobeats and reggaetón. Kaninna is a globally-minded project underpinned by Miss Kaninna’s lived experiences. It’s a party, but the social politics matter as well.

FOR FANS OF: Janet Jackson, Doja Cat, Little Simz.