Surfacing is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Released in 1997, it was produced by McLachlan's frequent collaborator, Pierre Marchand. It was released in July 1997, coinciding with the start of McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour. The album reached the top position on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums chart, number two on the US Billboard 200 and became her first album to reach the top 50 outside of North America, achieving that in the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. It was certified as Diamond in sales in Canada and as 8× Platinum in sales in the US. Critical reviews were mixed; some of the more positive reviews praised the songwriting, while the album's detractors criticized it as banal and slow.
Neko Richelle Case is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a powerhouse [which] seems like it might level buildings," "a 120-mph fastball," and a "vocal tornado". Critics also note her idiosyncratic, "cryptic," "imagistic" lyrics, and credit her as a significant figure in the early 21st-century American revival of the tenor guitar. Case's body of work has spanned and drawn on a range of traditions including country, folk, art rock, indie rock, and pop and is frequently described as defying or avoiding easy generic classification.
Jennifer Diane Lewis is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley.
Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Jonathan Meiburg, a singer-songwriter. The band's music is notable for its imagery based in nature, cerebral yet intimate melodic songs, as well as Meiburg's vocals.
Haley McCallum, professionally known as Haley and formerly Haley Bonar, is a Canadian-born American singer and songwriter who was raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. She has lived in Duluth and currently St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2009, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she spent a year writing songs for her 2011 album Golder. She plays acoustic guitar, baritone electric guitar, electric guitar, and Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric piano, either solo or with her Twin Cities-based band, including Jeremy Ylvisaker, Robert Skoro, and Jacob Hanson.
The Secret is the second extended play (EP) by American singer Austin Mahone. It was released on May 27, 2014 through Cash Money Records. The lead single, "What About Love", peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. To promote the project, Mahone appeared in several televised performances and embarked on a world tour.
Austin Garrick, also known as Watts, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, musician and composer from Toronto, Ontario. He has produced for artists such as Ghostface Killah, Redman, Method Man, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Gesaffelstein. He is one half of synth-pop duo Electric Youth, who first rose to prominence upon the release of their song "A Real Hero", from the acclaimed soundtrack of the motion picture Drive.
Sarah Allison Jaffe is an American singer-songwriter from Denton, Texas. Known for her distinctively clear vocals, she has worked as a singer-songwriter across many musical genres, including acoustic-folk, indie pop and hip hop.
Freelance Whales was an American indie rock band which formed in Queens, New York, United States, in 2008.
The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is an American band formed in 2008 by Sean Ono Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The couple have stated that they started the band as a way to spend more time together, and while they released a number of recordings and went on tours as a duo, they consider Midnight Sun, released in April 2014, their first real record. Their tour to support the release of the album in May and June 2014 included opening for Beck as he started the East Coast leg of his tour that year.
Poliça is an American pop band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 2011. The band consists of Channy Leaneagh, Chris Bierden (bass), Drew Christopherson (drums) and Ben Ivascu (drums), with Ryan Olson joining the band in a studio context as its producer.
Purity Ring is a Canadian electronic pop band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, formed in 2010. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist/producer Corin Roddick and vocalist Megan James. They released their debut album Shrines in 2012 to critical acclaim, followed by Another Eternity in 2015 and Womb in 2020. The band released an EP, Graves, on June 3, 2022.
Chvrches are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving from the synth-pop genre, Chvrches also incorporate indietronica, indie pop, and electronic dance into their sound.
San Fermin is an American indie rock collective, led by Brooklyn-based composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. Known for combining indie rock, pop, and classical influences into lush compositions, they released their self-titled debut album on Downtown Records in 2013. This was followed by the records Jackrabbit and Belong in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Their fourth album, a double album titled The Cormorant I & II, was released in full in March 2020.
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler and Island Records A&R Ziggy Chareton, which led to him signing a deal with the record label. Mendes' self-titled debut EP was released in 2014, followed by his debut studio album Handwritten in 2015. Handwritten debuted atop the US Billboard 200, making Mendes one of five artists ever to debut at number one before the age of 18. The single "Stitches" reached number one in the UK and the top 10 in the US and Canada.
Saintseneca is an American folk rock band from Columbus, Ohio, that was formed in 2007 by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zac Little. The current band is made of Zac Little, Caeleigh Featherstone, Jessi Bream, and Andy Cook. They are known for their diverse range of instrumentation in both their recordings, as well as in their live performances. The band have released three EPs and four albums Last (2011),Dark Arc (2014),Such Things (2015), and Pillar of Na (2018). The band utilizes a wide range of acoustic instrumentation with more contemporary elements such as synthesizers and electric guitars.
Sylvan Esso is an American electronic pop duo from Durham, North Carolina which was formed in 2013. The band consists of singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn. They made their debut with the single "Hey Mami" and released their eponymous debut album on Partisan Records on May 12, 2014. It reached No. 39 on the Billboard 200. They released their second album, What Now, with Loma Vista Recordings on April 28, 2017, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Electric Youth is a Canadian synth-pop duo from Toronto, Ontario consisting of Bronwyn Griffin and Austin Garrick.
The Firewatcher's Daughter is the fifth studio album by Brandi Carlile, released on March 3, 2015, on ATO Records. The lead single, "The Eye", was released in December 2014. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album at the 2016 awards.
CLAVVS is an independent Brooklyn-based synth pop duo originally formed in Atlanta, Georgia. Composed of four-time Grammy Award-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist Graham Marsh and writer/vocalist Amber Renee, CLAVVS was formed in 2013 in East Atlanta Village after the pair met at a house party.
