Sophie K on the new music you have to hear now

Erm, where the fuck did June go?! It’s officially been the fastest-moving month of 2022. Since this has been written here it makes it fact. I must say the highlight of the month had to be the Kerrang! Awards. The team came out swinging with the beefiest guestlist I have seen in my career in music. I am 90 per cent sure Billie Joe Armstrong thinks I am the weirdest of the weirdos because I stared for far too long, but my face just couldn’t play it cool.

Anyway, I've got some releases for you and I am not lying when I say its a broad mix…

I AM OBSESSED – officially obsessed – with Alissic, a spooky mix of avant-pop with the occasional screaming vocal. Her voice is reminiscent of Britney Spears and her tracks would be perfect for The Craft or Pretty Little Liars. It took me ages to decide whether to mention this, but she is the wife of Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon. I say I had to decide as I hope that her career isn’t defined by that, which can often happen, because her music speaks for itself and shows her talent as an artist. The latest track Everybody’s Dead Inside may be one of my favourite releases of 2022.

Vomit Forth are a four-piece death metal band from Connecticut. I know I have covered artists who are pretty much pop too, but what I love about 2022 is you can be a fan of just well-written music. Vomit Forth were never going to be anything but crushingly heavy with a name like that. The band have just signed to Century Media, and are due to release their debut album Seething Malevolence this month.

For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to catch Dead Posey at Download this year, you missed out. This band are dripping in LA-cool rock’n’roll. They've had amazing success as a band so far in their short career, from touring with bands like Theory Of A Deadman and Palaye Royale, and getting tracks on the TV shows Lucifer and Teen Wolf. This is all before the release of a debut album, so this should give you some idea for what their future holds. This band could have great things on the horizon as I do feel that their songs have attitude but also are a radio presenter's dream.

Baby Storme has managed to build a dedicated following on TikTok, with over 1.5million followers. Unsurprising, as she has the cool style of a Bratz doll and the voice of an angel – she is exactly the kind of artist you would expect to do well on TikTok. Her latest track reminds me of summer 2013 as she had that same airy indie-pop sound of a band like Echosmith but with an edge. Like lots of Gen-Z TikTokkers, she's only at the start of her 20s, but portrays all the confidence of a seasoned 40-year-old battling the industry. I admire that, she uses her platform to speak of her struggles as an artist and all the while has a dedicated following even the majors dream of for their artists.

Artists like ZULU make me excited to be alive! If you love hardcore then this band is for you. I remember going to gigs 12 years ago and being the only woman, let alone person of black heritage. My favourite part of 2022 is seeing that black people all over the world were listening to pop-punk, death metal and hardcore – we just weren’t represented as much, and bands like ZULU are switching things up. It’s not just me that feels this way and you can see that when scrolling through hundreds of YouTube comments echoing the same sentiment. ZULU are a band who have been making waves in the hardcore scene and have stirred up a lot of excitement over the course of their two EPs, and landed a deal with Flatspot Records last year. Keep your eyes peeled on this one – big things to come.

Hear Sophie K present The Breakfast Show on Kerrang! Radio, weekdays from 7am