Hank Heaven

Hank Heaven never intended to be a songwriter. Raised in New York's Hudson Valley in a family of professional musicians, Hank emerged as something of a guitar wunderkind, enamoured with and excelling in the swing music of yore. Still a teenager, they toured the world with jazz bands before moving to Brooklyn and becoming a guitarist for hire with magnetic indie acts such as Samia, Del Water Gap, and Gus Dapperton.

But early in 2022, Hippo Campus singer Jake Luppen co-produced the start of a new quartet called Peach Fuzz-Samia, Hank, Ryann, and Raffaella Meloni. Around that time, Luppen realised Hank had melodic ideas and tuneful bits of their own. He encouraged Hank to develop these songs. Call Me Hank-a charming and smart five-track debut, where an aching piano ballad about dejection shared room with sharp and hooky rejoinders about substandard partners-emerged as one of 2023's most promising EPs. Hank had plenty to say and so many ways to say it, hopscotching from hyperpop to pop-country and from melancholy to mirth. The evolution of Hank, both musically and personally, has since been brisk by necessity. In the first category, Hank has realised they've essentially spent their whole life preparing to make guitar-based pop, and there's no need to betray that on Loaded Dice, their debut LP coming fall of 2024.

Storefront Church

Los Angeles–based songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Lukas Frank trades the drum kit for a broader palette with his cinematic solo project, Storefront Church. Once a sought-after drummer for artists including Phoebe Bridgers, Frank’s shift into composing his own music sparked a dramatic evolution, one that blends noir-tinged indie rock, orchestral breadth and emotional intimacy into something singular.

Debut album As We Pass (2021) wove together shadowy landscapes, aching melodies and reflections on time passing and identity shifting, built with a revolving cast of collaborators. Frank’s follow-up, the high-ambition Ink & Oil (2024), expands the scope further, with a live orchestra, tackling themes of family history, mental health and faith.

Sophia Stel

Sophia Stel is a Vancouver-born alt-pop artist whose music blends dreamy synths, raw emotion, and introspective storytelling. Her self-produced debut EP Object Permanence explores themes of attachment, distance, and memory, drawing from her upbringing in a large family and a desire for authentic connection. Influenced by artists like Sufjan Stevens and A.G. Cook, Sophia approaches songwriting intuitively, crafting songs that feel like vivid snapshots of thought and feeling. Her unique sound is a masterful blend of ethereal atmospheres and lively dance beats. 

A skater and advocate for analog living, Sophia’s off-screen lifestyle feeds her creativity, keeping her grounded and observant. Her breakout singles like “You Could Hate Me” and “Everyone Falls Asleep in Their Own Time” capture her lo-fi, emotionally rich aesthetic, solidifying Sophia Stel as a fast emerging force in the indie and alternative music scene.

Ouri

Montréal-based electronic musician Ouri creates highly sensuous, abstract dance music, incorporating pop/R&B influences on releases like 2021's Frame of a Fauna.

Born in Paris and raised in South America, Ouri was trained in piano, harp, and cello as a youth. Relocating to Montréal to attend university, she began making and performing electronic music using a combination of hardware and software, and started collaborating with several other artists from throughout the city's music scene, including CRi and Odile Myrtil. She made her debut with 2015's Maze, a six-song EP of lush, experimental dance tracks. This was followed by the 2017 full-length Superficial, as well as a collaborative EP with Mind Bath.

Ouri made her debut on Ghostly International with 2018's We Share Our Blood EP, her most vocal-heavy work to date. She continued releasing singles on her own, and formed the art-pop duo Hildegard with Helena Deland, releasing their self-titled debut in 2021. Ouri made her long-awaited solo debut with the complex, innovative Frame of a Fauna the same year.