The Best Indie Artists Of 2019, Ranked
Ranked By
301 votes
42 voters
Voting Rules
Vote up the indie artists you loved this year.
- 1Folk music, Indie rockSharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and actress from New Jersey.
- 2
Mac DeMarco
Jangle pop, Indie rock, Psychedelic rockMacbriare Samuel Lanyon "Mac" DeMarco is a Canadian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known for his solo career, during which he has released two full-length studio albums, 2 and Salad Days, and one EP, Rock and Roll Night Club. His style has been described as "blue wave", or “slacker rock”. - 3Indie rock, Baroque popVampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, guitarist/keyboardist and backing vocalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer and percussionist Chris Tomson and bassist and backing vocalist Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which included the singles "Mansard Roof", "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma", "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance". The band's second album, Contra, was released in 2010. Their third studio album, Modern Vampires of the City, was released on May 14, 2013, winning them a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2014.
- 4Indie rock, folk punkGirlpool is an indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. Its members are Cleo Tucker (guitar, vocals) and Harmony Tividad (bass, vocals). The band originally did not have a drummer.
- 5Dream pop, indie pop, indie rockHarriette Pilbeam (born May 4, 1993), known professionally as Hatchie, is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. She released her debut EP, Sugar & Spice, in 2018.
- 6Indie rock, indie pop, indie folkStella Donnelly is a Welsh-Australian musician born in Perth, Australia. She spent some childhood years living in Morriston, Wales before moving back to Perth, Australia with her family.
- 7Americana, indie, folkJade Elizabeth Bird (born October 1, 1997) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Her debut EP, Something American, was released in July 2017. Rolling Stone described her vocals as "raw and robust" with Tony Visconti stating "she sings so adroitly, she's very intelligent as a singer and there's nothing she can't do."
- 8Indie popAlice Merton (born 13 September 1993) is a German-Canadian-English singer and songwriter. Merton achieved mainstream success with her debut single, "No Roots", a number-one single in France.
- 9Indie rock, garage rock, garage punkEx Hex is an American rock band formed in 2013. The band consists of Mary Timony, Betsy Wright and Laura Harris. Ex Hex recorded its first single, "Hot and Cold" in Timony's basement, then went on to record Rips, with Mitch Easter and Jonah Takagi.
- 10Indie rockBetter Oblivion Community Center is an American indie rock duo composed of musicians Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. The duo released their eponymous debut album on January 24, 2019, through Dead Oceans.
- 11New Weird America, Psychedelic pop, Electronic musicNoah Benjamin Lennox (born July 17, 1978), also known by his moniker Panda Bear, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and co-founding member of the experimental pop band Animal Collective. In addition to his work with that group, Lennox has released six solo LPs since 1999. His third, Person Pitch (2007), is noted for influencing a wide range of subsequent indie music in addition to inspiring the chillwave genre and numerous soundalike acts.Lennox was primarily raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where he sang tenor in his high school chamber choir, and studied piano and cello. The name "Panda Bear" derived from his habit of drawing pandas on his early mixtapes as a teenager. He is currently based in Lisbon, Portugal.
- 12Indie pop, dream pop, folktronicaThe Japanese House is an English indie pop act from Buckinghamshire consisting of solo artist Amber Bain. She has released four EPs; Pools to Bathe In, Clean, Swim Against the Tide, and Saw You in a Dream, through Dirty Hit. She has also released one full-length LP Good at Falling. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. Many of her tracks are produced by Bain herself and George Daniel of The 1975.
- 13Electronica, hip hop, indie popGrace Shaw (born September 25, 1998), known professionally as Mallrat, is an Australian musician, singer, and rapper from Brisbane. Mallrat has released two EPs: Uninvited (2016) and In the Sky (2018). In 2019, her tracks "Groceries" and "UFO" placed at No. 7 and 70, respectively, in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2018.
- 14Alternative, IndieNever Loved is an alternative/indie band created by vocalist/guitarist Camm Knopp, and featuring drummer Kevin Blackburn, and bassist Jay Gayoso.
- 15Punk rockPup is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada formerly called Topanga. They released their debut self-titled album on October 8, 2013 on Royal Mountain Records. In December 2013, they signed with SideOneDummy Records and released their first LP in the United States on April 8, 2014.
- 16New Wave, Alternative rock, Indie rockWhite Lies are an English post-punk band from Ealing, London. Formerly known as Fear of Flying, the core band members are, Harry McVeigh, Charles Cave, and Jack Lawrence-Brown. The band perform live as a five-piece, when sidemen Tommy Bowen and Rob Lee. join the line up. White Lies' musical style has been described as dark yet uplifting by the media, drawing comparisons to Joy Division, Editors, The Killers and Interpol. White Lies formed in October 2007, after writing songs that they felt didn't suit their original band. After delaying their first performance for five months to build up media hype, they earned a recording contract with Fiction Records days after their debut. The release of singles "Unfinished Business" and "Death" led to tours and festival appearances in the United Kingdom and North America, including a headline performance at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and a place on the 2009 NME Awards Tour. At the beginning of 2009, White Lies featured in multiple "ones to watch" polls for the coming year, including the BBC's Sound of 2009 poll and the BRITs Critics' Choice Award.
- 17
Honeyblood
Indie rock, lo-fi, garage rockHoneyblood is the Scottish indie rock solo project of guitarist and singer-songwriter Stina Tweeddale, originally formed as a duo in Glasgow, Scotland in 2012. Shona McVicar from Cumbernauld (drums/vocals) and Edinburgh-born Stina Marie Claire Tweeddale met when the bands they were playing in (Partwindpartwolf and Boycotts, respectively) were playing the same concert. Tweeddale, who wanted to write and play her own music, approached McVicar about playing together. They formed Honeyblood in 2012. Originally, they intended to add other band members to fill out their sound, but they were asked to play gigs as a duo. It was here they realised they "weren’t missing anything musically." After just their second concert at Wide Days music conference in Edinburgh, Honeyblood drew the attention of FatCat Records, who eventually signed them. - 18Garage rock, New Prog, Experimental rockWhite Denim is a four-piece rock band from Austin, Texas. Their music draws influence from dub, psychedelic rock, blues, punk rock, progressive rock, soul, jazz, experimental rock with home-based recording, jamming approach, intense looping work and unusual song structures. White Denim's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.
- 19Pop, Alternative, IndieNoah Kahan (born January 1, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter of folk-infused pop who signed to Republic Records in 2017. Kahan released his first single, "Young Blood" in January 2017 and released four other singles over the course of 2017. Kahan made his television debut in 2018 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert performing the single "Hurt Somebody". Kahan released his debut Extended Play (EP) carrying the same name in January 2018, including an updated version of titular song featuring fellow Republic Records artist Julia Michaels.
- 20Dance-punk, New Prog, Alternative danceFoals are a rock band from Oxford, England formed in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Yannis Philippakis, drummer and percussionist Jack Bevan, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Smith, and keyboardist Edwin Congreave. They are currently signed to Warner Bros. Records, and have released five studio albums: Antidotes (2008), Total Life Forever (2010), Holy Fire (2013), What Went Down (2015), Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1 (2019), one video album, six extended plays and nineteen singles.
- 21Indie pop, rockJ.S. Ondara is a Kenyan singer-songwriter living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, born August 1992. He released his debut album "Tales of America" in 2019.
- 22Indie rock, lo-fiLaetitia Tamko, better known by her stage name Vagabon, is a Cameroon-born multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer currently based in New York City.
- 23Alternative, indieAlyse Vellturo, known professionally as pronoun, is an American singer-songwriter and one-woman band based in Brooklyn, New York. Her music has been described by critics as indie/synth. and indie pop. Billboard named her as one of their breakout indie artists for 2019. She is also the founder of the record label Sleep Well Records.
- 24Indie rock, heartland rockWild Pink is an American indie rock band from the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City featuring John Ross, T.C. Brownell, and Dan Keegan.
- 25
Houses
Electronic, indie popDexter Miles Tortoriell (born August 5, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of the group Houses and is also known for his work as Dawn Golden and his production for pop and hip-hop artists.
