10 Rising U.K. & Ireland Acts to Watch in 2026
Written by admin on January 8, 2026
These new names promise fresh music and/or major festival appearances this year.
At the start of 2026, the conversation around emerging talent from the U.K. and Ireland feels arguably louder and more vital than any year in recent memory. Many success stories for new names have played out over the past 12 months, signalling the dawn of the next generation of homegrown stars. Olivia Dean, Lola Young and Myles Smith consolidated their momentum on the global stage, while the likes of Skye Newman and Sienna Spiro proved that breakout buzz can scale quickly, each turning early releases into charting moments.
That wave has continued to ripple outward. Newer musicians breaking through are driving conversation once again and building audiences on their own terms. You only have to look at some of the names in our list below to garner a sense of this cultural shift: rapper Kidwild, for one, has flourished as an independent act after a previous major label deal fell apart; Kwn, an R&B star from London, is finally seeing the fruits of her labour after several years spent finding her feet as an artist.
A renewed appetite for U.K. and Ireland voices across pop, rap, indie and beyond is certainly something to celebrate, especially as we look towards festival season, where many of these names can truly stake their claim for greatness. Combined, their potential is mighty promising – and with fresh music in the pipeline, they are all bound to continue to surprise and delight us in equal measure this year.
Here are 10 new musicians from the U.K. and Ireland to look out for in 2026, presented in alphabetical order.
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Bleech 9:3
From: Dublin, Ireland
Label: Ra-Ra Rok Records
Look out for: Dublin’s latest – and undoubtedly, most exciting – rock exports embody the surreal, knotty, dark heart of grunge, putting their tender approach and hooky songcraft in service of empathetic lyrics about addiction, trauma, and resilience. In the latter half of 2025, the four-piece began racking up serious live credentials, selling out their own three-night Blue Basement residency in London as well as opening up for Shame and fellow buzzy upstarts Keo. Expect to see them popping up on dozens of festival bills this summer.
Key track: “Jacky” -
Deela
From: London, England
Label: Independent
Look out for: Expectations are high for Deela’s next era. Keen for her brand of trap to reflect her Nigerian roots, her work to date is a smorgasbord of alté, Afrobeats, dance and pop influences; you can catch a glimpse of the similarly genre-busting Amaarae about her sound, but there’s a character to it that transcends any outside influence. The delight from the crowd evident at Deela’s surprise appearance at Little Simz’ blockbuster O2 Arena show last autumn suggest future star status is upon her.
Key track: “Why Always Me?” -
EsDeeKid
From: Liverpool, England
Label: Lizzy Records
Look out for: EsDeeKid spent the last few months of 2024 playing to rooms of little more than a handful of people, and ended the following year with a slew of U.K. chart smashes and whispers of a colossal publishing deal. Phew. Given these isles have lacked a marquee release or major breakthrough from a homegrown rap star in recent years, his rise feels genuinely thrilling, spurred further by a viral theory that Timothée Chalamet had been moonlighting undercover as this masked Scouse artist. How long he can keep up his anonymity is anyone’s guess, but for now, we’re enjoying the ride.
Key track: “4 Raws” -
Keo
From: London, England
Label: Island
Look out for: Keo have been quietly brewing up a storm, going from underground concern to cult adoration, thanks to a huge, endearingly vocal Gen Z fanbase. With a sold-out U.K. tour on the horizon and their first festival headline slot in May, plus a recent major label deal, 2026 promises the rock band’s inevitable crossover moment. Against a backdrop of guitar work that’s gnarled yet expansive, frontman Finn Keogh finds the beauty in frailty with writing that picks apart his own tumultuous teenage years spent jumping between cities, schools and toxic relationships.
Key track: “Thorn” -
Kidwild
From: London, England
Label: Independent
Look out for: Keen U.K. rap fans may recognise 20-year-old Keaton Edmund, AKA Kidwild, from Stormzy’s 2019 “Vossi Bop” video or collaborations with Nemzzz and LeoStayTrill. He has lurked around the big time for a hot minute and garnered millions of listeners along the way – but in 2026 he may the year he finally takes the spotlight with the release of his debut mixtape, slated to drop in the spring. Wrap your eyes around his evocative, drill-adjacent beats, which are rendered to deliriously gorgeous effect.
Key track: “Victory Lap” -
Kwn
From: London, England
Label: RCA Recordings
Look out for: Kwn is primed to step up a league in 2026. Raised in Walthamstow, east London, the artist born Khyra Leah Wilson has been releasing music for a number of years, but it was her warm and luscious With All Due Respect EP, plus a sultry Kehlani remix (“Worst Behaviour”), that formed the foundation of her recent breakthrough. The latter was one of the most feted tracks in R&B last year and became a huge singalong at sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic, while the crooner was named Billboard‘s R&B Rookie of the Month in March.
Key track: “Worst Behaviour” -
Nectar Woode
From: Milton Keynes, England
Label: RCA Records/Since 93
Look out for: Nectar Woode’s tender and beautifully rhythmic soul-pop melodies capture both the sparks of intimacy and the heart-pounding ache of yearning. These next 12 months are going to see songwriter fly: those who attended a recording of Later… With Jools Holland in London last spring left convinced they’d seen a performance from a bonafide star-in-the-making, while Elton John has already lavished praise on Woode. In the summer, she spent time in Ghana working on new, “super jazzy” material – here’s hoping we get to hear the results soon.
Key track: “Tell A Lil Lie” -
Sean Trelford
From: Cambridge, England
Label: Island/Adventure Recordings
Look out for: In a recent interview, this 19-year-old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist said that his seemingly effortless knack for melody can be attributed to his mother’s “regimented ELO and The Beatles listening” on long car journeys. You can hear shades of both in his winding, superbly mellifluous choruses, as well as subtle nods to The Zombies’ ornate harmonies and sense of colourful ingenuousness. Trelford’s own beautiful, characterful voice has a grandeur that only comes from studying the pop greats.
Key track: “Left Out” -
Sienna Spiro
From: London, England
Label: Capitol Records
Look out for: BRIT Rising Star nominee Sienna Spiro’s output to date has seen her work primarily in contrasts: classical instrumentation imbued with bold pop structures; giddy charm wrapped in the confidence and vocal prowess expected from a singer at least 10 years her senior. The 20-year-old was raised on a diet of jazz, soul and blues music, and her deep alto voice dazzles like shafts of light through a stained-glass window. After the success of the internet-breaking “Die on This Hill”, be sure that she’s beavering away on an equally astounding follow-up (or two).
Key track: “Die on This Hill” -
Skye Newman
From: London, England
Label: Columbia Records
Look out for: With three U.K. top 20 singles to her name already, Skye Newman is the artist in this list most likely to catapult into genuine stardom. The chart success and wider industry excitement around her is justified: the 22-year-old’s husky but powerful tone glows with feeling and gives vivid life to her songs about the tangled threads of grief and family life. It’s little wonder she supported Lewis Capaldi on his recent U.K. arena tour, given that her voice can also hold its own against a soaring balladry.
Key track: “Hairdresser”
