May 21, 2025 |
In 2025, the UK’s music scene is a sublime, bubbling broth made up of many ingredients. It’s rich with the flavour of countless genres, each thriving in their own right. Pop, rap, rave, R&B, jazz, jungle, neo-soul, indie, electronic, you name it – in every corner we have world-class pioneers leading the way and, simultaneously, ripping up the rule book. Featured inside 10 Magazine Issue 74, a portfolio of musicians all vary in age, genre, background, sexuality and stages of career. What they share, however, is self-assuredness, determination and confidence.
As someone who has interviewed many musicians over the years, it’s obvious when an artist doesn’t yet have faith in their own work. After speaking to each of the following rising stars, I found it refreshing to have come across a group of 10 artists, all dramatically different. who so clearly know themselves and what they want. They’re even going as far as to set boundaries and take the necessary time to pause between projects. Whether it’s JGrrey moving to the coast, Nabihah Iqbal heading to the Catskills for a two-month artist retreat or Cari taking a moment of reflection by revisiting the shop she once worked in, these artists are making the music that they want to make, when they want to make it. Oh, and they all happen to be women. Best get to know them now before you have to scramble for arena tickets – if anyone can do it, it’s this bunch.
Yunè wears KNWLS
Yunè Pinku speaks with a soft Irish accent that could lull you into a deep sleep. By comparison, the music she makes is high-tempo experimental dance, so her speaking voice and songs are equally hypnotic. She’s pacing up and down a Soho street when we speak. Pinku – real name Asha Nandy – has just returned from touring with the Canadian indie- electronic composer Dan Snaith, aka Caribou. “It was amazing because doing a bus tour around America is basically the dream,” she tells me.
Despite her Irish lilt, Pinku, 22, was born and raised in London, though she remembers going to many traditional music gigs since her mother, who is from Cork, worked at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith. Her father is Malaysian and it doesn’t get much cooler than her earliest gig memory – watching Avril Lavigne from a high-rise building in Kuala Lumpur.
She played piano as a child but fell into music after initially wanting to explore fashion. She even interned at Prada for all of one day. “My teenage dream was to work in fashion and live The Devil Wears Prada in real life. Then I got the offer to work in music and was like, sure why not!” she laughs. As well as putting out three EPs, most recently last year’s Scarlet Lamb, and touring with Caribou, she’s also recently “cracked” her wardrobe. “I think honestly I just dress like a man in the 1970s. An old rock star!” That may be so, but she certainly doesn’t sound like an artist of yesteryear. In fact, you’re sure to be seeing much more of her in the future.
aken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
SOUNDS OF THE UK
Portrait ANNA STOKLAND
Text ISOBEL VAN DYKE
Fashion assistant GEORGIA EDWARDS
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and SONYA MAZURYK
