I love music so, so, unbelievably much. Almost more than my family, in fact! (Almost). So when I have the opportunity to share songs I’ve discovered, or to shove my music taste in other people’s faces, I do it. Here’s an opportunity!
My music library is my lifeline, but it does have its flaws. Admittedly, it’s not very diverse. About 95% of my music is sung by male singers, and 90% of that 95% is white male singers, most of them heterosexual cismen. There’s a lack of non-white singers in the alternative music scene, and alternative music (which is the big “umbrella” over sub-genres like alt-rock, alt-indie, indie, etc) is my favorite genre overall, so I mostly only have white male singers to listen to. But there are female alternative musicians out there, of course! If your music library lacks a little girl power, here are ten female artists within the alternative genre that are worth checking out.
1. girl in red
A queer artist from Norway who specializes in bedroom pop. She writes and produces all her music herself. Favorite song: “say anything”.
2. Snailmail Alt-rock at some of its best, her album “Lush” topped a lot of critics’ lists last year. Favorite song: “Heatwave”.
3. Zeph
An Asian-American and Instagram-famous teen, she’s so far only released one full song, called “Forever & Always”. It’s lovely, delicate, and very aesthetic. Fun fact: She’s dating Chris from the “Chris! Is that a weed?” Vine.
4. Fenne Lily
I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to a lot of Fenne Lily, but I adore her song “For a While”. It helped me get me through some rough times last semester.
5. soccer mommy
An alt-rock badass whose music and melodies are always impressive. Favorite song: “Your Dog”.
6. Jay Som
A Filipina-American dream-pop artist with an almost ethereal voice. Favorite song: “Peach Boy”.
7. Phoebe Bridgers
A mellower alt-rocker with some amazing lyrics. Favorite song: “Motion Sickness”, which somehow gives me The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants vibes. It seems like a song any of them could relate to, except maybe Tibby. Maybe including Tibby too. I don’t know.
8. BANKS
A very powerful siren singer who will empower you and make you feel like a bad b*tch. Favorite song: “Gimme”.
9. Donna Missal
Another siren singer! Also powerful! Favorite song: “Keep Lying”
10. Lunar Vacation (it’s a coed band, but the lead singer is female and many of their songs are from/about a girl’s perspective)
Very indie! Almost beach pop! Maybe actually beach pop? Maybe actually alt-rock? Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that their music is amazing. Favorite song: “Blue Honey”.
So there you have it! I promise you they’re all worth looking up. Happy listening!