In recent months on Dazed, we’ve looked at how Australian drill group ONEFOUR fought censorship – and won. We’ve also ranked Robyn’s 5 best tracks, documented playbody: the club night bringing connection back to the dancefloor, and hosted a head-to-head conversation between Cortisa Star and OPIA. We’ve also got a new Dazed Mix from claire rousay.

We’re three-quarters of the way through 2025, and as we race towards the new year, all bets are off. Despite the sometimes unspoken uncertainties that colour the day-to-day realities of many, music continues to offer the potential for shared communal spaces and serve as a source of collective solace. That said, the global music community still faces ongoing economic challenges related to touring, releasing, and promoting music. Tough conversations are happening, and many more will follow. Regardless of the difficulty setting, however, new and under-discussed talents from the world of underground music continue to use connection and craft to find their way.

For the third edition of our quarterly roundup for 2025, we continue to reflect on and acknowledge musicians, artists, producers, and DJs from around the globe, all with strong communities, real visions, and important statements to make. Here are ten essential Q3 releases, all available on Bandcamp. 

VALESUCHI, FUTURO CERCANO

WHO: The Chilean producer and DJ exploring the slipstreams between techno and IDM across Latin America.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: In Valesuchi’s hands, everything old is new again, and everything new could be a pathway back to somewhere ancient and deeply felt. On her second album, Futuro Cercano, she imagines braindance and body music as one and the same, while integrating a disparate range of influences drawn from different eras, genres and geographic regions. Across the rolling percussive grooves of “L.O.S” and the jacked-up marching synth-funk qualities of “Fortune”, you can hear and feel something close to a genuine cyborg embrace. If you’re looking for big ideas and even bigger beats, Valesuchi has got you covered.

FOR FANS OF: Niño Árbol, Hieroglyphic Being, Loraine James.

JOHNNY SAIS QUOI, LOVE ON ICE

WHO: A somewhat mysterious singer-songwriter and producer breathing new life into 80s slanted new wave and Italo-pop.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: The debut from the staggeringly well-listened Johnny Sais Quoi, Love On Ice is a masterful investigation of the glossy, chrome-plated synthesisers, yearning melodies, and uncut, muscular machine funk sounds of the 80s, as recast through a modern independent lens. From the zero-gravity ambience of “No Guilty Pleasure” and the bubbly late-night dancefloor propulsion of the title track, to the syrupy, screwed down night sounds of “Move It”, the album reveals Johnny Sais Quoi as an artist with an ear for pop and the experimental. It’s easy to get lost in a maze of memories while listening to Love On Ice.

FOR FANS OF: Bullion, Jack J, mark william lewis.

IMANI-J, EXPECTATIONS

WHO: The Haitian New Zealand teenager putting her own spin on R&B, neo-soul and afrobeats.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Over the last six months, Imani-J has turned out a small but perfectly formed collection of songs about aspiration and love, rendered with a youthful energy and the sentimentality of an old soul. Collectively, this material makes up her debut EP, Expectations. Recalling the warm melodies of 90s US R&B, “See You In Jupiter” is a textbook will-we-make-it-work relationship song with a universe-sized chorus. Several songs later, she hits a strident afrobeat pocket on “Part Of Me”, where, in an optimistic style, she ponders what a life in music might have in store for her. Will she risk it all?

FOR FANS OF: Sasha Keable, Tyla, Summer Walker.

GUEDRA GUEDRA كدرة كدرة, MUTANT

WHO: A Moroccan producer and DJ who folds the soundscape of life across Africa into his own singular take on bass music.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: If you want, you could imagine Mutant as a flat map of the world, repurposed as an evidence board with pins and strings illustrating lines of connection between Morocco, Tanzania, Guinea, Jamaica, London, Detroit, and other locations. Song by song, Guedra Guedra weaves folkloric musical traditions with the more contemporary forces of techno, dub, and the UK’s hardcore continuum, arriving at a sound that transcends the limitations of Western logic and musical systems. ‘Drift of Drummer’ feels like tumbling through a jittery acid techno stargate. Meanwhile, ‘Paradigm’ evokes late-night dancing and islands in the sun.

FOR FANS OF: Blawan, Helado Negro, Nídia & Valentina.

ARIDNI ORCA, THE BELL, THE SWAN & THE GOLDEN THREAD

WHO: The London-based avant-pop artist who trades in noise and folkloric melodies in equal measure.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Indira Force, aka Aridni Orca, earned her stripes during the 2010s in the trip-hop band Doprah, as a solo artist under the indi alias, and in the ambient duo New Dawn. Slow-cooked over six years, her new album, The Bell, the Swan & the Golden Thread, is a ten-song epic. Underpinned by her ethereal voice and classical harp, the album is as expansive as waves crashing against a rocky coastline. ‘Crushed’ mixes Kankyō Ongaku chords with full noise and alien evocations. On “Will o' the Wisps”, she takes us raving with the faeries. You’ll want to see where this rabbit hole goes.

FOR FANS OF: Luzmila Carpio, Björk, Baths.

DEKI ALEM, FORGET IN MASS

WHO: A punk-leaning Swedish hip-hop duo keeping things moody and mercurial in Stockholm.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Across Forget In Mass, twin brother duo Deki Alem pursue losing oneself in a massed crowd. It’s a feeling they’ve felt at football games, concerts and dance parties, and see as a provocation to unplug from the notification-heavy scroll of modern life. As they stated in a recent Dazed interview, “We wanted Deki Alem to be the backdrop to people’s experience of fun and joy and escapism and all the good shit.” Having previously rapped in Swedish, Forget In Mass sees them leaning into English and the influence of a range of late 20th-century UK genres. It’s a comforting listen.

FOR FANS OF: Tricky, Nourished By Time, SAULT.

JOANNE ROBERTSON, BLURRR

WHO: A Glasgow-based singer-songwriter, painter and poet captivating eyes and ears around the globe.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Six albums in, Joanne Robertson just keeps getting better and better. On Blurrr, created in collaboration with the gifted cellist Oliver Coates, she reaches into the transcendent, evoking the feeling of walking miles of rugged coastline or wandering through misty city streets without seeing a soul. Written between painting sessions and while raising a child, Blurrr is one of those records that is bigger than joy and heartbreak. Inside the contemplative quietude of “Gown” or the spectral landscapes of “Ghost”, she summons up a space where we can finally rest our weary limbs and find some real peace.

FOR FANS OF: Grouper, Jessica Pratt, Nick Drake.

L LEWIS, INTERVALS

WHO: An Australian jazz musician who mixes his compositions up with a Melbourne state-of-mind.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: In recent years, Naarm/Melbourne has been a hotbed of creativity for modern jazz and ambient music in the South Pacific. On Intervals, L Lewis explores the interzone between these spaces, but rendered with rhythms and textures drawn from electronica and the sampledelic side of instrumental hip-hop. On the second half of the project, he checks in with Space Ghost, Hector Plimmer, Joseph Shabason, Jonah Gabriel, and Alex Albrecht, who turn in some dreamy remixes of his fusion compositions. I’m not saying there’s something for everyone on here, but I’m not not saying that either. Intervals is a tidy dose of the good stuff.

FOR FANS OF: Clear Path Ensemble, Chaos In The CBD, Nala Sinephro.

AMAARAE, BLACK STAR

WHO: The Ghanaian-American alternative pop star who effortlessly connects scenes and genres with her borderless vision.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Is Amaare the ultimate global club girl? Throughout her latest album, Black Star, she traverses the beatscapes of Ghanaian highlife, Amapiano, Baile Funk, regional East Coast US club music, Eurodance, classic house, techno, and beyond. Landing somewhere between Y2K chic and hyper-modern futurism, Black Star presents a stunning, borderless vision. Building on this, the feature list is equally expansive: Bree Runway, Charlie Wilson, Naomi Campbell, PinkPantheress... the list absolutely goes on. The beat goes on as well, with producers like El Guincho, WondaGurl, and Kyu Steed helping her bring the party 365 days a week. Banger after banger awaits.

FOR FANS OF: Charli xcx, Kelis, FKA twigs.

JAMES K, FRIEND

WHO: A genreless New York singer-songwriter, producer and DJ who brings a hazy dream logic to everything they touch.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING: Three albums in, james K’s star is only continuing to rise. On Friend, she uses trip-hop, ambient and shoegaze as the primary colours for a palette that is expansive enough to incorporate g-funk, IDM, dream pop and jungle/drum & bass. The first time I heard “Days Go By”, it gently flowed into an inner-city street through surprisingly high-fidelity outdoor cafe speakers on an empty, misty morning. At the time, james K’s clockwork rhythms, woozy synths and ethereal vocals sounded practically perfect. “Doom Bikini” is another killer cut. On every listen since, Friend has yet to let me down. 

FOR FANS OF: Tracey Thorn, My Bloody Valentine, Leila.