i see lots of recommendations based on these artists, like snail mail, angel olson, phoebe bridgers, etc but i find their songs don’t really hit the spot (not experimental enough?) i want music that has a good combo of experimental + emotional + unique. if it helps i’m also a big fan of joji, beabadoobee, arcade fire, grimes, roar, sir chloe, and monsune. and yes i love depressing songs
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if i like mitski, japanese breakfast, fka twigs, who else would i like?
I definitely second Big Thief, starting with UFOF since it's more experimental.
Hozier, Weyes Blood, Margaret Glaspy, Sufjan, Joanna Newsom (very experimental but in like a very lyrically poetic way, once you fall in love with her stuff it's hard to fall out of love with it), Sharon Van Etten, Laura Marling, Julia Holter (underrated af)
And if you like TJH, Amber's music has always reminded me of Marika Hackman. They also dated I believe and may have collaborated too (not sure). Very similar vibes. Also, Bon Iver!!
I second Julia Holter!
I definitely second Weyes Blood
St. Vincent, Bat for Lashes and PJ Harvey
+1 St. Vincent, Bat for Lashes
I love listening to Jay Som and Arlo Parks along with the other women you mentioned, while Porridge Radio has a great variety of rock on their 2020 record Every Bad that may hit the spot (see: Long vs Nephews). (Also, just in case you haven't listened to Wolf Alice, I highly recommend if you like beabadoobee.)
90's indie:
Cat Power
Sleater-Kinney
Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville
Low
Slowdive
Cibo Matto
Pretty much everything from the 80's 4AD roster like Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance for something similar to Grimes and FKA Twigs.
The ladies of art pop:
Kate Bush
Tori Amos
Bjork
Laurie Anderson
Suzanne Vega
Sheena Ringo
Grace Jones
Akina Nakamori and her album Fushigi
Siouxsie & The Banshees
damn are we like the same person?
u may like fiona apple— she’s a fucking emotional rollercoster. here’s a playlist i made for my friends if ur interested.
arca is another highly emotional and experimental artist. her music videos are also the fucking shit if you are interested in analyzing them. video is sorta nsfw
I definitely second a lot of the suggestions in the comments. You might also enjoy Caroline Polachek, The Japanese House, Lucy Dacus, and Jessie Ware.
the knife, fever ray, lim kim, sevdaliza
Sir Chloe rocks. I also like the following bands: GRLwood, Mal Blum, Destroy Boys, McCafferty, Lulalong
Melody's Chamber Orchestra, Alvvays, Y La Bamba, Cocteau Twins, Camera Obscura, Sharon Van Etten
Lorde, rosalía
Jay Som!
Now, Now
The Giant in the Lighthouse
Jay Som
Boygenius
U.S. Girls, ALASKALASKA
The Japanese house I think!
Mazie and Sidney Gish are really good and have more interesting indie pop with production/lyrics/song structure.
Grace Potter, Weyes Blood, Empress Of, PJ Harvey
Julien Baker!
Diamanda Galas
Portishead matches a lot of your description and is one of my favourite ever!
Experimental, check. Emotional, check. Unique, check. Depressing, check. I also believe portishead inspired one or two of the artists you listed, wouldn’t be surprised if Grimes cited portishead
Little Dragon
Tei Shi
Purity Ring
Cocorosie
Jay som
Soccer mommy Haim Phoebe bridgers
clairo
Vox's new album "This Body" and most of her other stuff seems like it would hit this nail on the head.
Check out Hatchie, maybe king krule, big thief, fever ray, nilüfer yanya
jim, and i cannot stress this enough, o'rourke. listen to his records 'eureka' , 'insignificance' and 'halfway to a threeway'
Dillion!! Look up 'Thirteen Thirty Five'
Also: Stay High by Tove-Lo
Dude I thought this was a legit food question.
Superhumanoids
Radiohead, Bjork, Massive Attack, Telepopmusik
check out Broken English by Marianne Faithful
Half Waif
070 shake.
Christine & the Queens maybe?
Phoebe Bridgers, Bat For Lashes, Sufjan Stevens, Angelo De Augustine, Soccer Mommy, The Tallest Man on Earth
Pronoun
check out the japanese house. you'll love them.
Check out Pile, Jockstrap and deerhoof! Every album by Pile is amazing, but their most recent, Green and Grey is wonderful. Jockstrap has an ep called City Hell you might like, and Deerhoof has so many amazing albums, and I always recommend Mountain Moves or Breakup Song.
Bjork.
The albums 22, A Million and i,i by Bon Iver should hit experimental, emotional, unique.
Frank Ocean would fit right in
Crystal Castles maybe? They’re closest to Grimes out of the bands you listed.
Sales
This entire comment section looks like my dream-pop section in my music player.
•Björk
•Lorde
•Sophie
•Lets eat grandma
•Anohni
•Arca
•Holly Herndon
•Caroline Polachek
•Bishop Briggs
•Charli XCX
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