New Artists to Watch as presented by Obscure Agency – July 2025
In partnership with Obscure Agency
By Matt Emma
Some artists refine their work quietly, without the need for spectacle. Others take risks in full view. Obscure Agency’s selection of July moves between those two approaches, tracing different paths toward clarity, identity, and momentum.
These are not trends. These are positions. Each artist included here is doing something specific, focused, and worth revisiting.
Nathaniel Paul
Pontoon rock. That’s how Nathaniel Paul defines his sound, a grittier, more weathered cousin of yacht rock, born not on the coasts but on the lakes of the American Midwest. It’s music made in a closet studio, yet meant for open water. Built on contradictions, it moves between shoegaze haze and analytical weight, with echoes of progressive rock and post-industrial melancholy.
Raised in Michigan City, Indiana, Nathaniel’s songwriting is steeped in the duality of his surroundings: sand dunes brushing up against steel mills, beauty next to burnout. That tension runs deep in his new album The Girl with No Tattoo, released on July 18. The record is shaped by heritage, classical roots, and a refusal to follow anyone’s blueprint but his own.
Nathaniel’s background in classical guitar, mornings spent with Chopin, and lifelong ties to the Midwest all inform his textured, often introspective music. Yet what makes his work feel timeless is its honesty. There’s no posturing here, just a deep need to connect, to a place, a memory, or a version of yourself that might’ve slipped away.
While Nathaniel also performs with acclaimed indie duo The Bergamot, his solo project is a space for raw experimentation. From collaborations with producers like Matt Wiggins to orchestral performances with the South Bend Symphony, he’s charting an unpredictable path. One that refuses to compromise soul for strategy.
Whether he’s releasing acoustic ballads like When Stars Weep or directing award-winning documentaries (State of the Unity is now on Apple TV), Nathaniel is making his way as an independent artist. In a world increasingly automated, his music is defiantly human.
Starry Venus
Based in Sedona, Arizona, Starry Venus crafts music between the earthly and the celestial. Her recent EP SOUL, released in May 2025, it’s spiritual, intimate and awakening. Built from layers of handpan, piano, vocals, and synths, the EP explores intuitive creation as a form of deep listening, both inward and outward.
There’s no strict genre to box her in. She moves freely through sound, guided more by energy than structure. Each track feels alive, shifting and breathing like ritual not performance. Songs like Do You Feel It merge soulful textures with cinematic weight, grounding transcendence in something tangible and felt.
But music is only one part of her expression. Filmmaker, performance artist, and screenwriter, Starry’s world expands through multiple mediums. Her debut microshort Starborn, written, directed, and scored by her, stars Andrea Wright and features the track Stars from the EP. It has already made waves in over 25 international film festivals, winning awards and amplifying her work on a global scale.
Together with violinist and co-producer Kira, Starry co-founded OMWE Productions, a creative house for expression and transformative storytelling. With dance remixes, immersive videos, and a full-length feature film in development, she’s crafting a new kind of myth.
Aiko
Some songs begin as private gestures. Mi Amor, one of Aiko’s latest singles, was written as a bilingual confession to her partner, Spanish drummer Kat Almagro.
The two met as competitors at Eurovision 2024, each representing a different country. Over the course of rehearsals and pre-parties, their connection grew. Shortly before the final show, they became a couple and later revealed their relationship publicly after leaving Sweden. For Aiko, Mi Amor marked not only a personal milestone, but also her first queer relationship, opening a new layer in both her life and music.
The song was initially written in English, with Spanish elements woven into the lyrics. After sharing the track with Kat, they decided to create a full Spanish version together and submitted it to Benidorm Fest for a chance to represent Spain at Eurovision 2025. Though the song took a different path, it sparked strong anticipation among fans and was officially released on April 30.
Co-written with Teya and inspired by early 2000s Spanish pop-rock, the track balances clarity with warmth. The accompanying video was filmed in a theater setting and avoids overproduction. Instead, it centers on movement, color, and shared presence, allowing the viewer to simply observe the dynamic between Aiko and Kat as it unfolds naturally.
Born in Moscow, raised in Czech Republic and now based in Brighton, Aiko has built a distinctly international profile. She represented Czechia at Eurovision 2024, completed a 23-date European headline tour, and performed at festivals including SXSW, The Great Escape, Rock for People, Metronome, and ESNS. She is set to appear at Sziget and EXPO Japan later this year. Her music has been featured in Netflix’s Elite, Love Island UK, and MTV’s Teen Mom, with airplay from KEXP, BBC Radio, and BBC Introducing. She was also the first Czech artist to appear on a Times Square billboard through Spotify’s EQUAL program.
Her newest single I Need a Minute, released on July 4, explores the experience of feeling overstimulated and socially drained. It offers a quieter contrast to the vibrancy of Mi Amor, and continues Aiko’s shift toward more introspective, fan-connected releases.
Outside of traditional campaigns, she is also developing The Bonbonniere, an interactive project where listeners vote on which track should come next. With Kat now serving as her drummer and musical director, Aiko’s creative direction is growing more collaborative, without losing its personal focus.
Hugo Oak
Hugo Oak is a Dutch vocalist, producer, and songwriter whose work moves between soul, electronica, and cinematic minimalism. His music often features layered harmonies and gospel-inspired textures, all performed and produced by himself. Based in Nijmegen, he crafts songs that are both personal and carefully constructed, balancing rawness with precision.
After releasing his debut album Brightly Dark in 2016 on Krooks Records, Hugo became the lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for Satori & the Band From Space.
In 2023, following the passing of his father, Hugo stepped away from touring to return to solo work. His new single S.M.S.tt.D (“Sold My Soul to the Devil”), released on June 20 via Quetame Records, marks that transition. Written during a flight from Mexico to Los Angeles, the track reflects on disorientation, distance, and emotional cost. It’s fully self-produced, with sparse arrangements and vocal layering that prioritizes feeling over ornament.
SMS.tt.D was the last track he shared with his father. Its release signals not only a return to his solo path but also a deeper investment in autonomy and authorship. Future collaborations are on the horizon, but this phase is defined by clarity rather than reinvention.
No theatrics, no excess. Just songs built to hold weight and carry it.
Canned Pineapple
Canned Pineapple operates with the urgency of a band that knows exactly who they are, even as they question what it means to “make it.” Based in Brighton and formed by Seán Drury, Oakley Gardiner, Gabe Rice, and Charlie Pringle, the group pushes a sound that is as irreverent as it is intentional. Call it scuzz-pop or power pop with post-punk edges. What matters is that it hits.
Their latest EP, Big Break, produced by Tom Rees (Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard), is a sharp six-track dive into their own mythology. Bright guitar textures, doo-wop undertones, and garage rock distortion meet a dry and direct look at artistic ambition in the streaming era. This is not nostalgia. It is a reflection, shaped by four years of touring, writing, and living shoulder to shoulder.
The single Ain’t It Strange? captures that spirit with clarity. Originally filmed as a lyric video in one take, the track combines emotional ambiguity with a performance that leaves space rather than answers. The band never says exactly who the song is about. And maybe that is the point.
Over the past year, Canned Pineapple have moved fast. Since their appearance at New Colossus Festival, New York in early ’24, Canned Pineapple have had an explosive year, appearing on festival line ups alongside the likes of The National Honor Society, playing packed out UK and European tours and festival slots across the UK.
Big Break does not offer resolution. But it documents the process with honesty, detail, and full-volume conviction.
Wandour
Wandour is a producer from Jakarta whose work explores structure through melody. His foundation in melodic house remains, but his recent output traverses genres with clarity from synth-pop to ambient electronica, from subtle techno influences to clean, vocal-led phrasing.
His breakout track September in London has surpassed 300,000 streams and received support from platforms like XLR8R. But what defines Wandour is not its reach, but its restraint. Each production feels considered, never overstated. There’s no need for spectacle when the arrangement speaks for itself.
Having lived between Jakarta, Shanghai, and London, his music reflects constant transition. It’s built around movement, but never rushed. Some tracks carry the feel of a late-night drive. Others feel designed for pause. All of them center on tone and emotional clarity rather than volume or trends.
Now focusing on connecting scenes across Asia, Wandour approaches electronic music not as a niche, but as a shared space. He isn’t looking to define a genre. He’s refining a language, one rooted in mood, memory, and attention.
Obscure Agency continues to highlight independent voices that operate outside conventional formats. Whether solo or collaborative, personal or expansive, these projects make room for complexity without losing coherence.
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