Honorable Mentions

Sam Fender, also known as the Geordie Springsteen, has been blazing a trail since his 2019 debut 'Hypersonic Missiles'. Despite looks that could land him on Love Island, Fender is a unique beast. His music is what should be a very unfashionable brand of whole-hearted Americana, but instead of talking about the lost wheat fields of Kansas, the subject matter very much focuses on working class life in the UK, particularly his own upbringing living largely below the poverty line