chaosincurate's 2025 Favourites (6/12) - Breakout Artist of the Year

This category is dedicated to bands and artists that have taken a huge leap forward in living up to their creative potential. The band or artist that I choose here is a band or artist which has always seemed promising but has always seemed to be missing something that takes them from a talented act to keep an eye on, to a genuinely great act.

Sorry (2025 project: COSPLAY)

This was a tricky category this year. It feels as though all the up-and-comers up-and-came all at once last year, but after finding Sorry's 2020 album 925 a little barebones and primitive, albeit compelling enough to show promise, I decided to give their new album a listen when it came out this past year. I was thrilled to find they took a big step forward in their sound (which may have happened during their 2022 album which I'm yet to hear in fairness, but lets pretend that doesn't exist for this post). There is still potential here -- their sound can still get more exciting and/or experimental as it seems to mostly inhabit a liminal space between something basic and something truly unique -- but they are absolutely approaching their potential quickly and I'm really hoping they can make it properly click into place in their next attempt. I can absolutely see it happening.

A particularly good example of their improvement, in my opinion, is Waxwing. It sticks to that spacious production that they are clearly drawn to, but they introduce enough into it to keep the song interesting and expand their canvas, allowing them to make full use of their sonic palette. Whether they're throwing in mangled guitars or muffled and chopped vocals to the instrumental, it works, and they should absolutely take that success and run with it on the next album. The song develops far more satisfyingly than any other song I've heard from them, and really feels unique and noteworthy without sounding like a totally different band. It's not the only success on the album, but it is the biggest one, and the one I think they should use as a blueprint going forward.