Meet four artists who have caught our attention already in 2026: Pem, Bellah, Mudd the student, and Skinship.
The first month of the year draws its curtains closed – finally. It’s been a cold, long January, but amid the dark skies and bitter winds, a brightness persists. New music. We’ve had several noteworthy albums already in 2025, from A$AP Rocky’s long-awaited release of Don’t Be Dumb to Norwegian artist Sassy 009’s hazy Dreamer+ and My Ghosts Go Ghost, the new album from By Storm, the new offshoot of US hip hop collective Injury Reserve. We’ve also had the overdue comeback of global forces like Harry Styles, Robyn, Mitski and Arctic Monkeys, who all shared return singles to great avail.
But what’s new? What fresh talents are cocooning out of the weedy undergrowth of obscurity and into the sunlight of success? In an all-new monthly Wonderland feature, we pick out four of the best rising artists who are set to make a real splash. From the intricate and delicate folk of Pem to Bellah’s sexy and sophisticated take on R&B, and from the chaotic craftsmanship of Korean creative Mudd the student to Skinship’s genre-less anarchy, get to know January’s New Noise below…
There’s something refreshing about seeing ‘gardener’ listed as one of an artist’s talents. It suggests a richness and vitality to their craft, a closeness to nature. And Pem certainly fits that box. The multidisciplinary blends field recordings and analogue snippets into a gorgeously subtle folk core. Listening to the rising artist’s new debut EP, “other ways of landing”, feels like floating atop a calming lake, running through fields of soft, long grass. Watching the night’s sky drift past.
Pem’s vulnerability cuts through. The organic nuance of her music filters through to her tender vocal showings and inward, meditative songwriting. Having toured with folk favourites Jacob Alon and jasmine 4.t, she is another stellar talent to augment this current British folk renaissance.
What was your favourite thing about 2025? What sucked?
Fav – I played some really lovely shows in Europe over the summer and met some lovely people on tour!
Sucked – Many flat tyres
What’s the story behind your new EP’s title, “other ways of landing”? How does it portray the project’s themes?
I was working in a small patio garden early last year and saw a tiny oak tree seedling growing out of a crack in the paving. I liked the idea of something as massive as an oak tree trying to grow in such a tiny, impossible space. It’s a nice metaphor. I’d moved house seven times in one year but kept returning to work in the same gardens. It sparked the title other ways of landing which for me, is about feeling quietly and strangely rootless, arriving somewhere unexpected but trying to stretch out a few branches anyway.
You are an avid gardener. If your new EP was a plant, what would it be?
It would be a nettle. It’s bare in winter like the first song on the EP other ways of landing. In spring (m4 windy) it pushes up tender leaves that you can pick to make tea with, then in summer (to earth & easily moved) it spreads like crazy and stings if you get too close and throws out flowers which means you can’t eat it anymore and then it starts wilting and dying back in autumn ready to go again next year like the last song ‘milk, blue’.
You are playing a headline show at Old Church in Stoke Newington in March. Are you a natural performer, or is it something you’ve grown into?
I used to feel so sickly nervous before and after shows because it felt so exposing but now I really enjoy it and get nicely lost in it.
What are you most excited about in 2026?
My first UK headline tour with my wonderful band!
Unlike the other artists in this portfolio, Bellah has a wealth of experience at the top of her scene – the UK R&B space. But she’s been away for a while – three years, there or there abouts – and so her curent comeback obtains the excitement of an artistic genesis.
Growing on the elegance and effervescence of her 2022 EP “Adultsville”, we’ve been blessed with a few new cuts from Bellah of late. “Boo Thing Bootcamp” is a contemporary R&B classic, whereas “Smoov” hints at the singer-songwriter’s inclination for rhythm. But the most recent track, “Typical”, is the strongest showing so far. Enlisting Tampa-raised Grammy-nominee Destin Conrad, the single is anthemic and colour-laden, with the chemistry between the pair seamless.
You’re back in the limelight after a few years away. How are you feeling about being an artist right now?
I’m always an artist, but I’ll say it is nice for people to witness me being an artist. Releasing music, showcasing the art that I’ve been creating and talking about the process gives me a lot of joy, and it helps me to make sense of it all.
What’s one thing you’re leaving in 2025?
The fear of being perceived. Which feels so strange based on the career I’ve chosen to pursue, but it’s a real thing. I think you can be working towards success and still be scared of it. So 2026 is the year that I truly don’t care how I make it, but I’m gonna make it.
Where do you think UK R&B is at right now? What’s good? Where do we go from here?
I think UK R&B is in a beautiful place and is really reflective of the ground work that has been put in over so many years. I think it’s diverse, I think it is interesting. Where I believe we go from here is more investment on this side of the pond for artists that clearly have raw and unrefined talent. Let’s stop chasing trends and start building.
You’ve just collaborated with Destin Conrad. How did the link-up come about? What’s the story behind the song?
I have been a fan of Destin for a very very, very long time. His vine days. He even used to post unfinished demos on YouTube with a filter on it and I used to be obsessed with them. Like real stan culture. I was in LA and got an opportunity to be in a session with him and fell in love. The song just came. It’s about the push and pull of a toxic situation and the hyper awareness of knowing that you have no intention of changing your behaviours.
What are you most excited about this year?
Honestly, I just can’t wait to not care. I want to exist this year fully as the artsy fartsy, deeply pensive, eclectic, free-spirited person that I was created to be. I’m excited for people to perceive me as I am and not as the show I believe I’ve had to put on. Because in this break I’ve realised that I’m really fab and I’m really enough,and so it’s gonna be a hell of a show with the material I’m working with.
If you’ve not heard of Balming Tiger – the alternative K-pop collective reshaping the left-field of Korean music – you probably should have. A group of fiercely artistic individuals, the work they do as a group doesn’t suffice the creative itch – as proven by this members startling solo debut album.
Mudd the student, perhaps Balming Tiger’s most eccentric character, shared his first album, LAGEON, towards the end of the year. The 14-track project is a stylistically developed, at times challenging, at times irresistible tapestry of genre and tone. Experimental yet often insanely ear-worm, Mudd’s songsmithery is sharp, peculiar, and deeply individual.
Where does the name Mudd the student come from?
Mudd is another name I’ve gone by for a long time, and “the student” was added to reflect the idea that there’s something to learn from everything.
Define your musical approach as an emotion and as a colour.
I think my first album feels gloomy and hazy, but at the same time it doesn’t lose its sense of glamour.
You are a key member of Korean collective Balming Tiger. How has your work in that group informed your solo work?
Each member has completely different tastes and personalities. Being around them has helped me discover areas I wouldn’t have known on my own, and that’s been a huge help to me.
You shared your debut solo LP late last year – what inspired the album, musically and thematically?
Musically, I wanted to blend the rough, imperfect aesthetic of ’90s alternative music that I love with elements of the present. They exist at totally different points. I wanted to show myself as I am, living in this absurd internet era.
What are you most excited about in 2026?
I’m really excited about the upcoming performances that are waiting ahead.
Skinship is an artist who feels emblematic of the current unshackled nature of pop music. The solo project of Korean-British songwriter Theo Spark (one half of WOOZE), Skinship represents everything from anarchy to boundaryless sonic expression.
He got a tattoo on stage recently. He’s a life drawing model. His new sophomore single, the rip-roaring “I Make Me Wanna Go Dancing With Me”, is a hilarious statement of self-obsession and assurance, told atop a progressive instrumental that covers everything from stomp clap rock n’ roll, to murky trip hop and stadium pop. He won’t be for everyone, but he’s compeling, challenging, and one hell of a character – just read his wild answers below…
Name three non-musical things that inspire your sound.
Park Ji Sung’s work rate, David Seaman’s moustache, David Seaman’s ponytail.
You’ve just shared your sophomore single, “I Make Me Wanna Go Dancing With Me”. How does the track showcase who you are as an artist?
It’s a head-on car crash between George Michael and Nine Inch Nails, with a sprinkling of Queen and Queens of the Stone Age.
Apart from yourself, what makes you want to go dancing?
You.
Describe your live set in three words.
Choke me daddy
What are you most excited about for 2026?
WWIII
January’s new noise January’s new noise January’s new noise January’s new noise January’s new noise January’s new noise
Words – Ben Tibbits
