With a dire economy and a news agenda where hatred tended to be the only thing trending, last year was draining for so many Brits. Thankfully, the UK music scene remains capable of providing escapism, so we’ve compiled a list of our favourite rising musicians for 2025 who all have the future in the palms of their hands and might just end up soundtracking the year ahead. From raw raps that elevate single mums to stadium-sized soul ballads about healing broken hearts, each of these promising artists is someone well worth getting familiar with.
With their biggest song, Home, amassing a whopping 375 million streams on Spotify, the Essex electro-pop duo Good Neighbours are soaring thanks to their arena-ready self-empowerment anthems, giddily high falsettos and a chantable sound that’s like MGMT and The Suburbs-era Arcade Fire just had a baby. On that track their nostalgic lyrics long for their mum’s cooking and a simpler life away from the chaos of climate-change news reports, while the sunny deposition of their sound is driven by instrumental tracks that quite literally whistle forward with optimism.
On why there’s so much whistling in their music, Oli Fox, 29, says, “I guess when you’re a child, it’s one of the first tricks you learn in your adolescence, so maybe the whistling sound triggers a little nostalgia trip for us.” The other half of the duo, Scott Verrill, 28, says they started the project to provide escapism for anyone feeling conflicted by tech-driven 21st-century life. “Towards the end of last year, times were hard for us and we were honestly just trying to brighten up our lives. So yes, we’re glad this has also positively rubbed off on everyone who’s discovered us.”
Having already amassed a global fanbase in such a short time, the duo say they want to continue with the mission statement found in the lyrics of another catchy hit, Keep It Up – “Who cares if you jump through hoops? Just get up!” The goal is to create more smiles than frowns. “That lyric was a mission statement to ourselves and our friends at the time to just get your head down and keep doing you until it works!” says Fox. The fact that Good Neighbours are able to make everyone who listens to their music feel like an old friend should ensure they travel far.
Portrait courtesy of Good Neighbours. Taken from 10 Men Issue 61 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
THE NEW NOISE
Creative Editor PAUL TONER
Text THOMAS HOBBS
Fashion assistant GEORGIA EDWARDS
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and SONYA MAZURYK
