The next wave doesn’t arrive with a warning. It shows up in a crowded room, on a small stage, in a song you hear once and can’t shake. This week, it’s five artists from three cities and two continents — a debut years in the making, a solo turn from one of folk’s most powerful voices, a honky-tonk band doing it the independent way, and two Sydney acts writing their next chapters.
Emma Ogier — FLY 1111
Houston singer-songwriter Emma Ogier didn’t rush this one. FLY 1111, her debut album, is out now via Lost Highway Records, produced by David Baron. Across twelve songs written over the last four years, it looks straight at what a creative life actually costs — the sacrifices, the doubt, the work of trusting yourself when the answers aren’t obvious — blending country and folk songwriting with indie rock.
People were already listening before the album landed. Her single “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” was shared by Clairo, Ethel Cain, and Audrey Hobert. The album also includes “Believing,” “Hands Tied,” and “Rocksteady/HeavyMetal” featuring Eden Joel.
Ogier is marking the release on stage, with three headline shows: November 13 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, November 15 at White Oak Music Hall in Houston, and November 16 at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville. Home, then the road. That’s the order that matters.
Radie Peat — No Human Tongue Can Tell
If you know Lankum, you know Radie Peat’s voice. It’s the one that cuts through the drone and the low end and holds the room still. Now she’s stepping out on her own. No Human Tongue Can Tell, her debut solo album, is out on Rough Trade Records.
The record is nine folk songs, made with Lankum producer and ØXN bandmate John “Spud” Murphy, centred on female struggle, suffering, strength, and endurance — love and all its complications never far away. Peat opens with “Hares on the Mountain,” a reworking of the traditional English ballad, and the album also includes “Still I Love Him” and “The Moon and Stars.” She plays nearly everything herself, alongside a handful of collaborators.
It’s a singer who has spent years inside one of folk’s most respected bands deciding what she sounds like alone — heavy, haunted, and hers.
Cory Grinder — Scared to Death
Cleveland honky-tonk and Western swing artist Cory Grinder is doing this the way independent music is supposed to be done. His new album with The Playboy Scouts, Scared to Death, is out now — recorded to one-inch tape at The Electric Co. in Akron, Ohio — and he’s taking it on the road through the rooms that built him.
The National Independent Venue Association has certified his fall run as its second Live Independent Tour: 13 dates across nine states in the South and Midwest, playing exclusively at independently promoted shows at independent venues. Presented by One Night Live, the touring initiative of the Live Music Society and DTour, it kicked off November 3 at Eastside Bowl in Nashville and wraps November 22 at Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland.
Just a band, a new record, and thirteen rooms where the crowd is close enough to matter.
Middle Kids — “big freak”
Sydney trio Middle Kids are back, and they’re back on their own terms. “big freak,” their new single, is their first release since signing a global deal with Australian independent label Mushroom Music — a full-circle move for a band signed to Mushroom’s publishing arm since their 2017 debut single “Edge of Town.”
Produced in Sydney by band member Tim Fitz, “big freak” pairs crunchy guitars with soaring indie power pop, and sits in that uncomfortable stretch between adolescence and adulthood — the feeling of being a big weirdo inside and waiting for everyone else to find out. It’s the band’s first taste of new music since their third studio album, Faith Crisis Pt. 1, released in 2024, and it arrives after their return to the live stage at Yours & Owls Festival.
“big freak” is confident, direct, and unbothered about fitting in. The next era starts here.
Giselle Kwong — “Lifeline”
Also from Sydney, singer-songwriter Giselle Kwong is building toward something bigger, one single at a time. “Lifeline,” produced by Fletcher Matthews, is a biting anthem of self-reclamation — a song about being treated like somebody’s backup plan, and deciding you’re done with it.
The chorus says it plain: “I’m not your lifeline!” Kwong pairs soaring melodies and punchy production with lyricism that doesn’t soften the point. Being somebody’s last resort doesn’t define your worth, and she sings it like she means it.
“Lifeline” is the second single from her debut EP, due early in 2027, following her recent single “This Way.” A songwriter with plenty to get off her chest, and the voice to carry it.
None of them are waiting for permission. They’re putting out the work, playing the shows, and letting the songs do the talking. That’s the next wave. Get in early.
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