Indie Archives - Page 3 of 3

Along with crisp air, colorful leaves, shorter days, and cozy sweaters, the change of season always brings fresh new music. Autumn 2025 is no exception, as we spotlight four rising indie artists carving out their own space with innovative songwriting, distinctive sounds, and tracks you’ll have on repeat well past Thanksgiving. Presented by TuneCore Accelerator, this roundup highlights exceptional acts that deserve a place on your fall playlists.

King Hendrick$

All roads lead home for King Hendrick$. Best known for 2024’s smash street anthem “Leaving the Lot,” the prolific indie rapper hails from Natchitoches and wears his experiences growing up in the central Louisiana town like a badge of honor. With sharp storytelling and unfiltered lines, the Bayou State native’s tenth album in three years is long on wit, grit and honesty. At the heart of ‘Baller Academy (Deluxe)’ lies “They Mobbin’,” a raw, autobiographical track with reflective, jazzy instrumentation. The sparsely arranged “Risked My Life To Floss” is an equally compelling highlight. Throughout the project, Hendrick$ ponders the challenges of the grind. Yet for all his insight about the harsh realities of the world, King recognizes the need to balance bravado with levity. “I wake up and bake up instantly” he proudly proclaims at the outset of “Cowhide Boots,” a welcome party ode and one of the unquestionable peaks of his latest release.

DUUNES

It makes sense that NYC alt-rocker DUUNES (a.k.a. Harrison Cohen) was weaned on bands like The Killers, Kings of Leon, Young the Giant and Cage the Elephant. After all, his kick-ass viral rendition of the latter’s “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” amassed over 25 million views across Tik Tok, YouTube and Instagram. But Cohen’s penchant for crafting original songs with big choruses and undeniable hooks goes far beyond his good taste in covers. Alternative music lovers will want to get acquainted with winners like “Ballerina Fingers,” his punchy and powerful ode to drug-addled passion. And DUUNES’ edgy new earworm, “One Hand Clap,” should only help his ascent. Harrison’s songs have even graced the airwaves of WFUV and he was recently handpicked by indie sensation Joe P to support that beloved radio station’s Racket NYC showcase. With dynamic sold-out live shows in Manhattan and Boston under his belt and more East Coast, Midwest and Pacific Coast dates on the horizon, now is the time to dig into DUNNES.

Låpsley

Revered indie artist Låpsley first rose to prominence as a teenager on the strength of her 2016 debut album ‘Long Way Home’ – which featured the hits “Hurt Me” and “Operator.” Subsequent offerings like 2020’s ‘Through Water’ and 2023’s ‘Cautionary Tales of Youth’ saw her evolve and become more assertive not only musically, but as an outspoken queer artist documenting her stormy coming-of-age experiences while standing up for climate issues. As a songwriter, Låpsley also penned popular tunes for other artists like Barry Can’t Swim, ODESZA, and Paloma Faith and delivered a platinum hit for Joel Corry (“Out Out”). Now she’s back with ‘I’M A HURRICANE I’M A WOMAN IN LOVE.’ Her stunning new deluxe album counts the haunting, self-assured single “Sound of Silence,” the downright contagious bop “Woman Like That” and her heartfelt, can’t-miss ballad “Featherweight Champion of the World.”

CRAY

Los Angeles based artist and producer CRAY – short for Cheney Ray – first made a name for herself a decade ago as a passionate gamer on Twitch. A love of electronic music prompted her to pivot to DJ work, where she found success thanks to epic sets at events like HARD Summer and Electric Zoo. Tours with Skrillex and headlining dates in Australia followed and gave way to her own original songs, including memorable singles like 2016’s “4never,” 2018’s “Fractions” and 2019’s “…eat your heart out.” While her COVID-era offerings like “Mean Girls,” “Mommy’s Boy” “Kids” and “Don’t Trust Me” marked a shift into punk/pop terrain, CRAY’s adventurous spirit has since spawned a distinct and electrifying new sound. Case in point is “Till Death,” which has a suggestive and sinister vibe. CRAY says the groundbreaking, genre-bending single was “inspired by our favorite enemies-to-lovers books.”

witty’s charting a different path for this nebulous cluster. On the 20-year-old’s electrifying album #wings, nearly every track sounds like he started without any clue how it would end. “She” dreams up a cosmic pluggnb canvas for TJAYY before ditching the idea and unleashing a chiptune breakdown worthy of a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon boss fight. “I make my music really fucking loud because it’s the only time where I can feel immersed in something,” he says of his sound, which he calls “cryy.” “It allows me to think and feel like a person for a little bit. When I’m outside, there’s nothing going through my brain, just fried.”

witty says he grew up listening to Pokémon soundtracks and that it was pluggnb, not classical training or a jazz music education, that taught him how to write chord progressions. He’s also obsessed with video games, particularly the cartoonish fighting game Brawlhalla, which he’s played professionally since age 14. Under the handle STING RAY, he’s won thousands of dollars at tournaments and been one of the top 15 players for the last five years—even reaching number two in the world. “I feel like the gaming got me good at music,” he says. “I looked at it through the perspective of improving in a game.” One way to interpret his work is through the lens of video game music, which he went to Berklee College of Music to study before he was kicked out. VGM treats vocals and instruments like elements to manipulate and mash up, emphasizing chaos that synchronizes with in-game clicks and actions. “the light left my iris” reminds me of the kind of epic symphony that would suit a cutscene.

bunii, another leader of the scene, grew up listening to ayowitty and now works with him actively. The 17-year-old convinced his hero to collaborate after he saw his music on a repost channel. His solo music is much more guitar-forward, all math rock freakouts and intricate chord progressions. He lists Paramore, MCR, American Football, and Japanese rockers like susquatch and The Cabs as fixations. But even the most analog songs shimmer with producer tags: BASTARDS! Before getting into the guitar, bunii started making beats after hearing the pluggnb of Autumn! and Genius’ beat deconstruction videos.

This so-called indie music is delightfully immature and cracked at the seams, recorded in that climactic sliver of adolescence when you’re not a clueless kid but also not so old that you’re jaded. Many of the artists are self-taught. “Whenever I’m in my room, there’s always a guitar in my hand,” says bunii. In high school, which he just graduated from, he developed distinct chord progressions by rewiring elements from his favorite jazz pieces. Parts of the skyscraping “grand mal” came from Kenny Dorham’s jazz standard “Blue Bossa.”

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King Hendrick$

DUUNES

Låpsley

CRAY

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