Welcome to The Front Row Files – a brand new deep-dive series shining the spotlight on the ten most exciting artists from across the alphabet. Each edition, we’ll be championing ten bands or solo artists whose names begin with a single letter – across genres, geographies, and gig sizes – and digging into why they’re poised to blow up in the next three years.
These aren’t just flavour-of-the-month finds. We’ve scoured lineups, lurked in your favourite venue’s DMs, haunted Bandcamp pages, and watched countless support sets so you don’t have to. Expect rock, country, indie, metal, and everything in between. Each artist featured comes with a For Fans Of (FFO) tip and a Track You Should Start With.
Kicking things off, here are 10 artists starting with the letter A you need to get in your ears immediately.
1. Artio
Leeds trio Artio are industrial strength heartbreak and euphoria bottled in synths and stadium riffs. Fronted by the magnetic Rae Brazill, the band carve between glitchy alt-pop, cinematic choruses, and snarling distortion with the precision of a surgeon and the guts of a headliner. Their sound is somewhere between a fistfight in a dream and your next favourite festival set.
But it’s not all gloss and chaos – underneath the surface is a band dissecting mental health, identity, and survival with blistering honesty. Artio feel like the start of something seismic – and if you’ve caught them live, you’ll know exactly what we mean.
FFO: PVRIS, Paramore, Yonaka
Start With: Split Sout
2. Alright
This Blackpool five-piece are the definition of Northern indie optimism. With jangly guitars, anthemic hooks, and lad-next-door charm, Alright are pulling the golden thread of British guitar music into 2025. There’s something unashamedly feel-good about their sound – like finding a tenner in your festival shorts or bumping into your summer crush on the front row.
Still riding the buzz from support slots with the likes of The K’s and Skinner Brothers, they’ve got the songs to back it all up. Think beers, big choruses, and bouncing crowds.
FFO: The Kooks, The Wombats, The Rifles
Start With: Tangerine Dream
3. Astoria
A little ambient, a little anthemic, Astoria are the sound of indie rock coming of age. Hailing from Leeds, their five-piece lineup blends atmospheric guitar work with emotional pull – think slow builds, soaring vocals, and a cinematic edge that wouldn’t be out of place closing out a Netflix teen drama in tears.
They’re not afraid of space in their music, letting emotion swell before it hits – and when it does, it leaves a mark. If you like your rock thoughtful but loud, Astoria might just be your new obsession.
FFO: The 1975, Radiohead, Nothing But Thieves
Start With: Where The Light Lives
4. Alyssa Flaherty
Alyssa Flaherty is country soul soaked in grit and grace. Her voice aches with experience, wrapping heartbreak and hope together in lyrics that hit like diary entries. There’s a quiet storm about Alyssa – she doesn’t shout to be heard, she just commands attention.
With Americana roots and modern polish, she sits at the crossroads of Nashville storytelling and Maryland vulnerability. There’s a confidence here that only comes from someone who knows exactly who they are – and exactly where they’re going.
FFO: Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, Sara Bareilles
Start With: Broken By You
5. Alex Spencer
You know those rare moments when a voice stops you in the street? That’s how Alex Spencer started – busking in Manchester, guitar in hand, crowd forming. Now, he’s moving fast, balancing youthful sincerity with melodies that stick like chewing gum on your Converse.
There’s no artifice here – just big feelings, strong songs, and choruses that land straight in your chest. Alex feels like the next chapter in Britain’s love affair with honest lads and acoustic guitars. Get in now, before he’s selling out arenas.
FFO: Sam Fender, Tom Grennan, Ed Sheeran
Start With: Bucket List
6. Adam Brucass
Country rock with a Viking twist? Somehow, it works. Adam Brucass is Essex’s outlaw-in-chief, taking American country tropes and filtering them through a UK lens. With gravel in his voice and heartbreak in his lyrics, he’s got all the makings of a modern cowboy with something new to say.
There’s big riff energy, cinematic storytelling, and an unapologetic swagger to everything he releases. File under “could headline The Long Road Festival one day.”
FFO: Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Kip Moore
Start With: That Guy
7. Arkayla
If indie-rock had a darker, more rebellious sibling, it’d sound like Arkayla. This Manchester band balance jagged guitars and sleek melodies with a live energy that hits like a brick. Their sound is urgent, unfiltered, and armed with a lyrical bite.
Every track feels like it’s about to combust – in the best way possible. There’s poetry here, but it’s buried under layers of distortion, defiance, and drive. The kind of band you’d stumble on at a 2am showcase and talk about for months after.
FFO: Nothing But Thieves, Royal Blood, The Hunna
Start With: Ella Malone
8. Air Drawn Dagger
Self-described as Electro-Emo Angst-Pop, Sheffield’s Air Drawn Dagger are one of the most genre-fluid, chaotic-good acts in the UK scene right now. Their music sounds like a sugar-rush tantrum in the middle of a glitter storm – a little pop, a little punk, a lot of bite.
With frontwoman Maisie leading the charge, they fuse hyperpop and riot grrrl energy into something cathartic and completely addictive. If you like your music dramatic, digital, and dripping in eyeliner – this one’s for you.
FFO: Poppy, Wolf Alice, My Chemical Romance
Start With: Sanctified
9. The Ansells
The Ansells are bringing swagger back. This Birmingham trio serve up slick guitar licks, tight grooves, and enough northern charm to bottle. Their tracks strut, their lyrics bite, and their choruses hit like a long-lost mid-00s indie banger.
There’s a raw edge to their recordings that hints at sweaty pub gigs and cider-stained Converse – and it’s glorious. The kind of band you want to follow on tour, pint in hand, lyric tattoo on the horizon.
FFO: The Libertines, The Cribs, Courteeners
Start With: Sweep It Under The Carpet
10. Airport Dad
Nottingham’s Airport Dad sound like the inside of a dream you had when you were 17 and everything was beautiful and painful at the same time. Their blend of shoegaze, grunge, and slacker indie feels like a hazy memory – fuzzy around the edges, unforgettable in the middle.
They don’t shout – they ache. Their sound is slow-building, cinematic, and devastatingly emotional. Think big feelings, small venues, and lyrics that make you stare out of bus windows dramatically.
FFO: Slowdive, DIIV, The Smashing Pumpkins
Start With: Acatelepsy
Up Next: The Letter B
That’s the A-Team. Ten artists we’re backing to break through, blow up, or at least burn brightly enough to change your playlists. Stick around as we work through the alphabet – genre-hopping, scene-diving, and spotlighting the best new music this side of the charts.
Got a B artist we need to hear? Slide into our DMs – the Front Row never sleeps.
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