I’m an avid listener of Indie music and all of its varieties (Rock, Pop, Punk, etc). However, looking back on previous playlists I’ve noticed one thing — a lot of the artists I listen to are mainly male artists or male-lead groups/bands. So I decided to do something about it. I did some research to find female indie artists that I hadn’t really listen to before, so here is a list of female indie artists that I’ve added to my playlists and you should too.
- Maggie Rogers
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Maggie Rogers is a song-writer, producer, and performer from Brooklyn. She first started to release music in 2012, but her first major success was in 2016 with her song “Alaska”. In 2019, she released her debut album “Heard It In A Past Life”, and in 2020 she was nominated for a Grammy in the category: Best New Artist. Her songs have a chill, acoustic feel to them. My fave songs from her 2019 album are: “Light On,” “Alaska,” “Give A Little,” and “Back In My Body.” If you haven’t heard any of her songs, I would 100% recommend giving them a listen.
- Vagabon
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Vagabon (aka Laetitia Tamko) quit her job in Electrical/Computer Engineering to pursue music full-time and we’re glad she did! Her self-titled 2019 album is a mix of influences and emotions and isn’t stuck to one style. I would suggest listening to “Water Me Down” and “Secret Medicine.”
- ella jane
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I first found ella jane on TikTok when she made a video about how she turned her AP lit assignment into an “Indie-pop banger.” The assignment was an open-ended creative project based on any of the books they read that year in class. ella jane decided to take this creative freedom and write a song about Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby”. Then on July 16, 2020 she released that song “nothing else i could do,” and it quickly got lots of love. She only has one other released song (“The City”), but this is definitely just the beginning for her on the Indie-pop scene.
- mxmtoon
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In 2019, she released her first album “the masquerade” which includes the popular song “prom dress.” She describes the songs on the album as “rhyming diary entries” and includes both studio and acoustic versions of each song. This year she has released two EP’s — “dawn” and “dusk”. Her songs have a soft and inviting beat that are perfect to dance and spin around in the grass to with no shoes on.
- Tessa Violet
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Tessa Violet released her first album “Maybe Trapped Mostly Trouble”, in 2014, but her most recent album “Bad Ideas”, was released in 2019. The singer/songwriter sings about relationships, crushes, and self-doubt. I would suggest listening to “Crush,” “Games,” and “Words Ain’t Enough.”
- Clairo
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This list would not be complete without Clairo. The singer/songwriter came out with her first album “Immunity” in 2019, but she had been releasing songs since 2017. Her voice is soft and intimate, and her songs have a daydreamy vibe. She has the perfect music to listen to when you just need to lay down and let your mind wander.
If you like indie music (or if you’re trying to get into it), I hope you give some (if not all) of these artists a listen!